Zerohedge

Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has terminated more than 1,000 workers, the agency said on Feb. 13.

Some of the employees who were fired were probationary employees, or had been with the agency for less than two years. None of the terminated workers were in “mission-critical positions,” the agency said in a statement.

The VA expects the terminations to cut costs by more than $98 million per year.

“At VA, we are focused on saving money so it can be better spent on Veteran care. We thank these employees for their service to VA. This was a tough decision, but ultimately it’s the right call to better support the Veterans, families, caregivers, and survivors the department exists to serve,” VA Secretary Doug Collins said.

“To be perfectly clear: these moves will not negatively impact VA health care, benefits or beneficiaries. In the coming weeks and months, VA will be announcing plans to put these resources to work helping Veterans, their families, caregivers and survivors.”

The terminations were attributed to President Donald Trump’s focus on making the government more efficient.

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), run by Elon Musk, has been reviewing various agencies in recent weeks as part of the effort.

The Trump administration also offered buyouts to government workers. About 75,000 workers accepted the buyouts before the program closed, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Thursday.

Trump signed an executive order earlier in the week that said the administration would hire no more than one worker for every four employees that depart.

The order also said that each agency head shall work with DOGE to ensure that new hires are in high-need areas and that vacancies should not be filled if DOGE advises against it.

“Now, agency heads will coordinate and consult with DOGE to significantly shrink the size of the federal workforce and limit hiring to essential positions only,” Leavitt told reporters during a press conference on Wednesday.

VA employees who accepted the buyout offer, which keeps workers employed and paid through Sept. 30, were exempt from the new round of terminations, Collins said.

Among those fired at the VA were researchers who were “told to immediately stop their research and pack their bags,” Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), a former chairwoman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, said in a statement.

She accused Trump and Musk of enacting “indiscriminate cuts and arbitrary mass firings” and said she’s demanding the VA provide her with details about the terminations.

“For years the VA has been grossly understaffed, which has only made it harder for our nation’s veterans to receive care. These reckless firings will only exacerbate this issue,” the American Federation of Government Employees said in a statement posted to social media platform X.

Musk and Trump have defended the moves.

“It’s not optional for us to reduce the federal expenses. It’s essential. It’s essential for America to remain solvent as a country, and it’s essential for America to have the resources necessary to provide things to its citizens and not simply be servicing vast amounts of debt,” Musk told reporters at the White House this week.

“What we’re trying to do is reduce government. We have too many people,” Trump added later.

The VA had about 472,000 employees as of early 2024, including part-time and seasonal employees. The VA still has more than 43,000 probationary employees, Collins said on Thursday.

Financial Times is reporting Saturday that Ukraine has rejected the Trump administration’s bid to take a 50% ownership stake in Ukraine’s rare earth minerals as compensation for continued US defense and budgetary aid.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent met with President Zelensky Wednesday to review a draft deal, but no details were given. Bessent reportedly handed Zelensky the written proposal to consider, but no other details were given.

It appears still early in the negotiations, however. “We are still talking,” Zelensky said from Munich Saturday. “I have had different dialogues.”

The thrust of Trump’s complaint about Ukraine and plans to rectify the situation was seen in his earlier comments, saying, “We’re telling Ukraine they have very valuable rare earth (minerals). We want what we put up to go in terms of a guarantee. We want a guarantee. We’re handing them money hand over fist.”

“I want to have security of rare earth. We’re putting in hundreds of billions of dollars. They have great rare earth, and I want security of the rare earth (minerals). And they’re willing to do it,” he had explained.

Trump and top officials later articulated that the US wants a guarantee of $500 billion worth of Ukraine’s estimated trillion dollars of rare earth wealth.

FT writes Ukraine’s rejection of Bessent’s proposal as follows: 

Zelenskyy wants American and European security guarantees to be tied directly to any deal on the mineral reserves, according to four people familiar with the US-Ukraine negotiations. He is also keen for other countries, including EU states, to be involved in future natural resource exploitation.

But the deal proposed by Trump and delivered by Bessent only referenced the US getting Ukrainian resources in exchange for past military assistance, and did not contain any proposals for similar future assistance, according to a person familiar with the document.

If accurate, then this is indeed all about Trump recouping US losses, after months ago mocking Zelensky as the “world’s greatest salesman” for his ability to procure billions in US taxpayer dollars. Meanwhile…

ZELENSKIY: UKRAINE’S MARTIAL LAW PREVENTS HOLDING ELECTIONS

The now rejected proposal reportedly laid out that Ukraine would transfer transfer partial control of its valuable mineral resources to Washington in place of making financial repayments.

Zelensky now sees himself as having a little leverage with the Trump administration, amid fears of a ‘bad’ peace deal with Russia…

Zelensky personally BLOCKED deal with the US over Ukraine’s minerals

‘It’s not ready to protect us’

Trump demands 50% of Ukraine’s rare earths https://t.co/qODemyy45Z pic.twitter.com/FsI7EzUS7b

— RT (@RT_com) February 15, 2025

The war-ravaged country is known for having one of the largest confirmed reserves of lithium, and also has semiconductor-grade neon gas that is critical for chip production – as well as beryllium, uranium, manganese, zirconium, apatite, iron ore. 

The polar vortex is coming back across large swaths of the Lower 48 this weekend and through next week. 

“Bitterly cold Arctic air will pour into the central U.S. next week, bringing record-breaking low temps, dangerous wind chills (30-50 below zero), and possible heavy snow from the Plains to the Northeast,” NWS Weather Prediction Center wrote on X. 

For everyone hoping for the first signs of spring, meteorologist Ryan Maue squashed those hopes—at least for now—with his post on X: “Don’t even bother next week. It’s going to be too cold to go outside. A week-long Polar Vortex event will crush your soul.”

Don’t even bother next week. It’s going to be too cold to go outside.

Week long Polar Vortex event will crush your soul. pic.twitter.com/pjvQkMmnTD

— Ryan Maue (@RyanMaue) February 14, 2025

“Roses are red, violets are blue, and the polar vortex is coming for you! The most unusually cold blob of air on the planet will be over the United States next week as the polar vortex returns for the second time this year,” said Ben Noll, a meteorologist at New Zealand’s National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research. 

Roses are red, violets are blue, and the polar vortex is coming for you!

The most unusually cold blob of air on the planet will be over the United States next week as the polar vortex returns for the second time this year. pic.twitter.com/0Y3ooiAK29

— Ben Noll (@BenNollWeather) February 14, 2025

Bloomberg data shows that the last polar vortex sent the entire nation into a deep freeze, with snow even in New Orleans. 

Meteorologists are already chatting about blizzard risks for next week across the Mid-Alantic and Northeast states.

HUGE WISE GUYS OF WEATHER Sunday 5 pm AM970 the Answer. NYC and streaming live with the master of the polar vortex, @judah47 eastern blizzard on the table Thursday so tune in. graphic:
euro snow forecast around PHL https://t.co/zwp3wFwieT…… Sunday 5pm call in 866-970-9622 pic.twitter.com/U7rS7whxwU

— The American Storm (@BigJoeBastardi) February 14, 2025

This Winter will not be complete without a crippling blizzard from DC to NYC and Boston. Now, up to 1 in 3 chance to hit the jackpot. ❄️📈 pic.twitter.com/k0CVvnxj8x

— Ryan Maue (@RyanMaue) February 14, 2025

0z Euro is another dream run for DC to Boston… my confidence is increasing in a potential major snowstorm for this area. I said yesterday I was 50/50, now I’m more like 70/30 on big hit vs. coastal scraper. #EcWx pic.twitter.com/IjDBvGZP3t

— Ryan Kane (@ryankanerWX) February 15, 2025

This winter has been harsh across much of the Lower 48 (read here & here & here & here).

So why have global warming alarmists remained silent about these cold blasts? Could it be that their USAID-funded propaganda budget has dried up? 

Authored by Mark Jeftovic via BombThrower.com,

“Sooner or later, everyone sits down to a banquet of consequences”

–  Robert Louis Stevenson

From the “Karma’s a bitch” dept…

Today is three years to the day that the Canadian government under Justin Trudeau and deputy PM Chrystia Freeland invoked the Emergencies Act which claimed unprecedented powers and authority (which a federal court later found to be unconstitutional)  including the  seizure of citizens’ bank accounts – not only of those who were present at the demonstrations in Ottawa, but even anybody who contributed funds to the protestors.

On this day just three years ago – the Canadian government enacted martial law, seized your bank accounts for wrongthink, and brutally put down a peaceful protest.

Never forget. Never forgive and never vote Liberal again. pic.twitter.com/6BKfdWDBMK

— Mark Jeftovic, The ₿itcoin Capitalist (@StuntPope) February 14, 2025

It sent shockwaves throughout the world – this was sort of heavy-handed action one expected to see in communist, totalitarian shitholes.

But such actions in Canada, a purported bastion of civil society and a liberal democracy within the “rules-based” global order was unthinkable. It nearly crashed the Canadian banking system, and behind the scenes it looked like the Senate wasn’t going to play ball.

Trudeau hastily rescinded the order, after brutally suppressing the demonstrations on the ground in Ottawa. “Declare victory and withdraw”, as Kissinger would have framed it. A few weeks later the RCMP began unfreezing the bank accounts, and a couple of the banks apologized for seizing their customers funds.

But that bell could not be unrung.

It was a seminal moment that would have many far reaching consequences, including the election of Donald J Trump as the 47th president of the United States of America.

Here’s how Trudeau helped re-elect Trump:

For want of a nail, the horse was lost
For want of a horse, the rider was lost. 
For want of a rider, the battle was lost,
For want of a battle, the kingdom was lost.

Step 1: It orange-pilled RFK Jr.

First, invoking the Emergencies Act and seizing bank accounts of lawful citizens appalled countless international observers, among them, a certain Robert F Kennedy Jr, in fact in RFK Jr’s case, it flat-out orange-pilled him.

Trudeau’s only legacy will be that he orange-pilled RFK Jr.

And RFK Jr getting orange-pilled led to Trump embracing Bitcoin.

Trump’s embracing Bitcoin led to the Dems “panic pivot” on crypto.

Trudeau and Freeland have done more to bring on hyper-Bitcoinization than any other… https://t.co/w5UMgiSApc

— Mark Jeftovic, The ₿itcoin Capitalist (@StuntPope) July 30, 2024

A year later RFK Jr gave the keynote address at Bitcoin2023 in Miami, and the very first words out of his mouth were:

“I became a Bitcoiner when I saw what the Canadian government did to the truckers.” 

I was there and it was a powerful moment. I was messaging Steve Bannon some of the bullet points as they were being delivered and he was hanging on every text. Bannon, I had noticed, had seemed transfixed by RFK Jr for nearly a year.

A few months later Bannon floats the idea of a Trump / RFK ticket, saying it would bring about a “massive landslide”.

Step 2: RFK Jr. Orange-Pills The Bad Orange Man

When Donald Trump embraced Bitcoin isn’t exactly certain. Someone changed his opinion on it, as he wasn’t a fan as late as 2019…

I am not a fan of Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrencies, which are not money, and whose value is highly volatile and based on thin air. Unregulated Crypto Assets can facilitate unlawful behavior, including drug trade and other illegal activity….

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 12, 2019

The Bitcoin Magazine crew who brought RFK Jr to Miami certainly had talks with Trump ahead of Nashville, but it was clear that RFK Jr and Trump were talking to each other and seemed practically fated to wind up on the same side in the coming electoral showdown.

At the following year’s Bitcoin conference, this time in Nashville, Trump also gave a keynote (as did RFK, again). Trump had adopted RFK’s pro-Bitcoin positions point-for-point, and going one further with the idea of a National Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.

Like RFK Jr. in 2023, Trump came out against Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) saying he would ban their development – Bitcoin was freedom money, CBDCs were serfcoin.

Step 3: RFK Jr throws in with Trump

They don’t end up as running mates, as Bannon floated – but after the first assassination attempt (where I think we for real flipped into an alternate reality) – RFK Jr joins Team Trump. The game theory of RFK Jr splitting off votes from Trump (as some of the pundits hoped would be the case), goes away.

Now the two deep state wrecking balls are playing for the same team, and at least one of them was orange-pilled by Justin Trudeau.

Step 4: The Crypto Lobby Gets Behind Trump

At this point the crypto folks pile on with the Bitcoin crew, they all learn the political playbook fast, and start getting behind team Trump, which now includes RFK Jr and this starts to look like a crypto bros vs nocoiners election.

Hey, if that’s the way the political game is played, then let’s play.

The Bitcoiners may not like that team crypto caught the tailwind, but it doesn’t matter now. At the time they were all pushing for the Republican ticket because the Dems, personified by Elizabeth Warren and her “Anti-Crypto Army” had been outright hostile to the entire industry for years, running Operation Chokepoint 2.0 against them, and serving up non-stop Wells notices…

The Dems actually read the room for a change and try to effect a panic pivot to tone down the Bitcoin Derangement Syndrome, but the best they could do was some weird woke crypto pronouncement called “Opportunity Agenda for Black Men” (since deleted from the Kamala Harris website) that promised $20K forgivable loans to black men, and – because they’re black, I guess – access to weed.

It was a stunning condescension that basically framed blacks as mentally ill, deadbeat potheads. As I wrote in The Bitcoin Capitalist Letter just before the election:

These smug libs still don’t get how paternalistically racist they are being every time they promote a policy that says, in effect, “Blacks are hopeless, deadbeat, stoners: here’s a policy that will help them get their shit together”.

Also, $20K isn’t entrepreneurial seed funding, it’s asswipe money.

Fucking morons.

We all know what happened next.

Step 5: Landslide

The election was a total blowout – my Polymarket bets hit across the board. I cleaned up.

Welp. Time to fire up the VPN so I can hop onto Polymarket and scoop up my winnings…. pic.twitter.com/xX7vUPmm7w

— Mark Jeftovic, The ₿itcoin Capitalist (@StuntPope) November 6, 2024

Now I have an RSS feed setup in my mail reader and I just marvel at the tempo and wildness of the EO’s coming out of the Trump admin: renaming the Gulf of Mexico America, mass firings, budget freezes, DOGE, Kash Patel, Tulsi Gabbard, et al – and irony of ironies, a tariff war against Canada that’s thrown this country’s political class into chaos.

Trudeau has since announced his resignation – arguably precipitated by the crisis that erupted with he tried to oust his Deputy PM and Finance Minister, Chrystia Freeland over differences on how to handle the Trump tariffs. 

What goes around, comes around…

Karma’s a bitch.

*  *  *

Sign up for the Bombthrower mailing list and get a free copy of the Crypto Capitalist Manifesto here »

Follow me on Twitter here or Nostr: npub1elwpzsul8d9k4tgxqdjuzxp0wa94ysr4zu9xeudrcxe2h3sazqkq5mehan

Ashley St. Clair, a conservative influencer known for ‘America First’ views, revealed on Friday evening that she had given birth to a child fathered by Elon Musk. 

Wore my MAGA hat on the plane and made it out alive. A true accomplishment in the world of deranged liberals. pic.twitter.com/ClH1teGsEP

— Ashley St. Clair (@stclairashley) July 30, 2019

“Five months ago, I welcomed a new baby into the world. Elon Musk is the father. I have not previously disclosed this to protect our child’s privacy and safety, but in recent days it has become clear that tabloid media intends to do so, regardless of the harm it will cause,” St. Clair wrote on X. 

She continued, “I intend to allow our child to grow in a normal and safe environment. For that reason, I ask that the media honor our child’s privacy, and refrain from invasive reporting.” 

Alea Iacta Est pic.twitter.com/gvVaFNTGqn

— Ashley St. Clair (@stclairashley) February 15, 2025

Musk has not confirmed St. Clair’s claim. However, if true, this would mean the special government employee running DOGE and juggling SpaceX and Tesla, among other companies, now has thirteen children. 

Well not officially… 

In a separate post on X hours later, St. Clair thanked followers and said she would be logged off the social media platform “for a while.” 

“In all sincerity, appreciate the kind words. Wish I did not feel the need to make a statement. Kids should be off limits for journalists,” she wrote, adding, “Will be spending time with my family & logging off for a while.” 

In all sincerity, appreciate the kind words. Wish I did not feel the need to make a statement. Kids should be off limits for journalists

Will be spending time with my family & logging off for a while.

— Ashley St. Clair (@stclairashley) February 15, 2025

Daily Mail noted, “Musk has at least 12 other children with three women: Justine Wilson, Claire Elise Boucher AKA Grimes, and Shivon Zilis.” 

Musk has been one of the loudest voices on the demographic timebomb unfolding across the Western world. 

This is how great civilizations throughout history have ended.

People assume it was due to conquest, but it was actually often simply too much prosperity leading to low birth rate and population collapse, which ultimately enabled them to be conquered. https://t.co/ncrHlx7lPG

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 7, 2025

In 2022, he said: “A collapsing birth rate is the biggest danger civilization faces by far.” 

“We’re not overpopulated, we’re underpopulated … need to have babies by whatever means, whether it’s IVF, surrogacy, whatever the case may be,” Musk told a crowd on the campaign trail last fall. 

ELON: WE NEED TO HAVE BABIES BY WHATEVER MEANS POSSIBLE

“I still run into a lot of people who think Earth is overpopulated.

So I’m hammering this point: We’re not overpopulated, we’re underpopulated.

We need to have babies by whatever means, whether it’s IVF, surrogacy,… pic.twitter.com/esaPWVf9PB

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) February 15, 2025

Also, on the campaign trail last August, President Trump said in-vitro fertilization would either be covered by the government or insurance companies. 

“We are going to be, under the Trump administration, we are going to be paying for that treatment,” Trump said before adding, “We’re going to be mandating that the insurance company pay.”

Several weeks ago, Vice President JD Vance declared he wants “more babies in the United States of America.” 

🚨JD VANCE: “Let me put it very simply. I want more babies in the United States of America.” pic.twitter.com/uNuiqG1GxS

— Autism Capital 🧩 (@AutismCapital) January 24, 2025

VP Vance noted that the US had “failed a generation” by celebrating abortion.

He added: “We need a culture that celebrates life at all stages, one that recognizes and truly believes that the benchmark of national success is not a GDP number or our stock market, but whether people feel that they can raise thriving and healthy families, in our country.”

Trump’s second term will focus on restoring the family unit – something Marxists within the Democratic Party have been hellbent on destroying for half a century. 

As for St. Clair’s claim, we’re sure Musk will be lining up a post for that …

… and maybe even with a meme.

Oh. And this: Who is next? 

Time for a Polymarket bet?

Authored by Jeff Louderback via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Hours after Robert F. Kennedy Jr. gained Senate confirmation as secretary of Health and Human Services, President Donald Trump signed a new executive order establishing the President’s Commission to Make America Healthy Again.

Trump made the announcement on Feb. 13 in the Oval Office, where Kennedy was sworn in by Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch.

Kennedy will serve as chair of the task force, which will investigate the “root causes of America’s escalating health crisis,” including childhood chronic diseases, according to a White House fact sheet.

Within 100 days, an assessment of the childhood chronic disease crisis will be released, the executive order said.

The investigation will target the “over-utilization of medication” and also highlight the impact of food ingredients and chemicals along with “certain other exposures.”

The impact of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), antipsychotic drugs, mood stabilizers stimulants, and weight-loss drugs will also be studied.

According to the executive order, the commission will look into contributing causes to childhood chronic diseases like “the American diet, absorption of toxic material, medical treatments, lifestyle, environmental factors, government policies, food production techniques, electromagnetic radiation, and corporate influence or cronyism.”

Federally funded health research should “avoid conflicts of interest” by transparency and open-source data, a White House fact sheet said.

The commission will demonstrate “gold-standard research on why Americans are getting sick in all health-related research funded by the federal government,” the fact sheet said.

Upon completion of the research, a strategic report based on the assessment will be released, according to the executive order.

“The commission shall not reconvene, following submission of the strategy, until an updated mission is submitted to the president through the executive director,” the executive order reads.

Kennedy ran for president as a Democrat and then as an independent before leaving the race in August 2024 and backing then-former President Donald Trump.

After ending his White House bid, Kennedy established the “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) movement and vowed to end the nation’s chronic disease epidemic.

HHS manages 13 agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the National Institutes of Health.

In the Oval Office, Kennedy thanked Trump before a pool of reporters.

“I have prayed each morning for the past two decades for God to put me in a position to solve the childhood chronic disease epidemic, and now, thanks to you Mr. President, we will make this promise a reality,” Kennedy said.

Addressing Trump, Kennedy added: “And I’ve told you before, genuinely believe that you are a pivotal historical figure, and you are going to transform this country.”

The commission will include Trump’s Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy Vince Haley, Office of Management and Budget lead Russel Vought, and Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, who was also confirmed on Feb. 13.

Department heads from the EPA, Veterans Affairs, Education, Housing and Urban Development, and several economic advisers will also compose the task force as will the commissioner, and CDC and NIH directors.

Before Kennedy was sworn in, Trump said Kennedy is “absolutely committed to getting dangerous chemicals out of our environment and out of our food supply, and getting the American people the facts and the answers that we deserve after years in which our public health system has squandered the trust of our citizens.”

*  *  *

You can help MAHA by purchasing high quality supplements at ZH Store

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has revealed more details of the content of his Wednesday call with US President Donald Trump, in Saturday remarks given before the Munich Security Conference.

Zelensky disclosed that he repeatedly urged Trump to meet with him in person, and there was no assent from Trump on the matter.

“I think I said first that we have to meet. But we understood each other because I didn’t say (anything) about it once,” the Ukrainian leader said.

Zelensky as well as European leaders have expressed deep frustration that Trump chose to call Russia’s President Putin first, wherein they talked for 90-minutes, amid fears that Zelensky will be cut out from US-Moscow negotiations to end the war.

French President Emmanuel Macron has demanded that Zelensky be at the table, and that nothing can be decided regarding a future peace deal without consulting Ukraine.

Also on Saturday, Zelensky said that his country can’t hold elections as martial law is still in effect, amid growing criticism that he’s extending martial law to stay in power, and establishing anti-democratic norms.

His term expired in May 2024, but he asserted, “I’m focusing on the survival of our country, and I am doing it really all my term.”

“I’m ready to speak about elections if you want,” he said, claiming that “Ukrainians don’t want, totally don’t want, because they are afraid, because otherwise we will lose the military loan, the war loan, our soldiers will come back home, and (Russian President) Putin will occupy all our territory.”

He argued that he has maintained the unity of the country amid the Russian invasion…

“So it’s not about myself. It’s about the future of our country. The question is to survive to save Ukraine, our independence, our people, (and) our homes. And if somebody doesn’t like (it), they can choose another citizenship,” he said.

He was also asked about the question of the US taking NATO membership off the table, somewhat shocking European allies this week.

“If we are not in NATO, then as I said, NATO has to be in Ukraine. We will need an army comparable with soldiers of Russia; it’s 1.3 or 1.5 million soldiers,” he said.

Zelensky claims: only Putin and ‘few voices in US’ want elections in Ukraine

Zelensky: only Putin and ‘few voices in US’ want elections in Ukraine

– By “few voices,” the cocaine clown means the Trump administration, the Senate, Congress, the FBI, and the CIA. pic.twitter.com/bIRIiIYfbx

— Russian Market (@runews) February 15, 2025

Of course, such a scenario would certainly lead to runaway escalation with Russia, which Trump has vowed to seek to avoid at all costs. Zelensky has stood accused of fearmongering in order to induce greater US and Western intervention in the conflict.

Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The Louisiana Department of Health said it will no longer promote mass vaccination, according to a memo released by the state’s surgeon general this week.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health (LDH) confirmed that Louisiana Surgeon General Ralph Abraham had ordered his staff to stop engaging in media campaigns and community health fairs to encourage vaccinations and shared the memo with The Epoch Times on Friday.

“The State of Louisiana and LDH have historically promoted vaccines for vaccine preventable illnesses through our parish health units, community health fairs, partnerships and media campaigns,” the memo said. “While we encourage each patient to discuss the risks and benefits of vaccination with their provider, LDH will no longer promote mass vaccination.”

Louisiana state officials will still provide and stock vaccines, according to the memo, which stressed that healthcare providers talk about the benefits and risks posed by vaccines with patients and answer all questions based on scientific evidence.

In a separate letter posted on the state health department’s website on Feb. 13, Abraham was critical of blanket government mandates for vaccines and said that federal officials were erroneous in how they pushed for COVID-19 vaccines. He said individuals should make their own decisions instead.

His letter chided what he called “inaccurate and inconsistent guidance on masking, poor decisions to close schools, unjustifiable mandates on civil liberties, and false claims regarding natural immunity.”

“But the greatest missteps were on vaccines and some continue to this day,” the Republican surgeon general wrote. “Within months of their approval, COVID vaccines were shown to have no third-party benefit in terms of reduced transmission, yet they were still mandated—through both policy and social pressure.”

Describing that as an “offense against personal autonomy that will take years to overcome,” he was then critical of current Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines that recommend 6-month-old children get vaccines for COVID-19.

“Government should admit the limitations of its role in people’s lives and pull back its tentacles from the practice of medicine,” Abraham said, noting that he wants to regain the “public trust” by “acknowledging past missteps, refocusing on unbiased data collection, and providing transparent, balanced information for people to make their own health decisions.”

In Democrat-controlled New Orleans, the city council passed a resolution on Thursday vowing to continue supporting vaccination efforts.

The city’s health department director, Jennifer Avegno, said state-supported efforts have led thousands of people to receive vaccines in the past. However, she anticipates vaccination rates for preventable diseases will drop due to the state’s new policy and asserted that vaccines are most effective when they are widespread.

“‘[The Louisiana Department of Health] will no longer promote mass vaccination.’ Now, I don’t know what that means. Every year I’ve been here, and before me, the New Orleans Health Department and the state Health Department has worked together on really successful mass vaccination events,” Avegno told local TV station Fox8.

Avegno also said that it’s not clear what vaccinations the state health department will not promote.

Both the CDC and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have said that COVID-19 vaccines’ benefits outweigh their risks. As recently as mid-January, the CDC released a study that asserted that 2023–2024 booster shots had “reduced the risk of COVID-19 hospitalization among older adults” by around 50 percent and that children who got the vaccines saw a reduction in COVID-19-associated emergency room and urgent care visits.

However, over the past several years, a number of studies have cast doubt on COVID-19 vaccines’ effectiveness and questioned whether they can lead to more long-term health issues. The FDA and CDC say that mRNA vaccines produced by Pfizer and Moderna are associated with a higher risk of developing myocarditis, which is inflammation of the heart muscle, and pericarditis, which is inflammation of the outer sac that lines the heart.

This week, the U.S. Senate confirmed former independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees both the FDA and CDC. Kennedy has long been critical of certain vaccines, including ones for COVID-19 and childhood illnesses.

Kennedy said during the Senate confirmation hearing that he is not anti-vaccine but only wants vaccines to be rigorously tested as well as more transparency for federal health agencies.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Sheryl Crow and other white liberal women across the nation have melted down in recent weeks over President Trump and special government employee Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, which has uncovered vast amounts of fraud and corruption with moves to dismantle the Deep State (DC Swamp Uniparty “Unmasked” As These Seven NGOs) and streamline the federal government. 

On Friday evening, Crow posted a video on Instagram from what appears to be a wealthy neighborhood, with some houses lined with tall iron fences and gates. She informed her followers that she had sold her Tesla SUV to support the public news organization NPR, citing concerns that DOGE could defund the taxpayer-funded news network.

“There comes a time when you have to decide who you are willing to align with. So long Tesla,” the musician wrote on Mark Zuckerberg’s social media platform. 

She noted, “Money donated to @npr, which is under threat by President Musk, in hopes that the truth will continue to find its way to those willing to know the truth.” 

So Sheryl, what is “truth” in MSM?

Is your version of the truth a taxpayer-funded censorship blob pushing misinformation and disinformation campaigns about anything that is optically displeasing to the federal bureaucracy? 

USAID Funded Massive ‘News’ Platform, Extending ‘Censorship Industrial Complex’ To Billions Worldwide https://t.co/TtPKH590Dr

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) February 8, 2025

Last year, NPR CEO Katherine Maher made some bizarre comments about truths… 

“The Wikipedians who write these articles aren’t focused on finding the truth. For our most tricky disagreements, seeking the truth isn’t the best place to start. Reverence for the truth might have become a bit of distraction that is preventing us from finding consensus and getting important things done,” Maher said. 

🚨 Former head of the Wikimedia foundation and current CEO of NPR, Katherine Maher: “The Wikipedians who write these articles aren’t focused on finding the truth. For our most tricky disagreements, seeking the truth isn’t the best place to start. Reverence for the truth might… pic.twitter.com/5Biqhxq0F1

— Autism Capital 🧩 (@AutismCapital) December 24, 2024

In terms of NPR, some of the so-called truths the public broadcaster pushed out over the years were found to have “blatantly ideological and partisan” coverage, according to a recent House Oversight and Accountability Committee’s Subcommittee on Delivering DOGE. 

House Panel Asks PBS, NPR Chiefs To Testify On Alleged “Biased Content” https://t.co/a05xx025Qm

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) February 4, 2025

A senior NPR editor revealed about a year ago how the public broadcaster “turned a blind eye” to the Hunter Biden laptop story because “it could help Trump.” Again, truths… 

“An Open-Minded Spirit No Longer Exists Within NPR” – NPR Veteran Excoriates Outlet Over Hunter, Russiagate Activism https://t.co/QfaTBSvqbq

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) April 9, 2024

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr chimed in: “I know celebrities are hesitant to weigh in on hot-button issues, so I appreciate Sheryl Crow making an argument here—not through words alone, but through her actions—that Congress should not force taxpayers to subsidize NPR.” 

She got rid of the best car to support the worst “news” organization

— Dominus Ignota (@dominustweet) February 15, 2025

“She got rid of the best car to support the worst  “news” organization,” an X user said in response to Carr’s post. 

Authored by Nathan Worcester via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

WASHINGTON—After reporters revealed the names of multiple Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) employees, threats have proliferated against them and the department’s head, Elon Musk.

Sources familiar with DOGE staff described a mood of resilience among those working to fulfill President Donald Trump’s pledge for government reform.

“The young DOGE engineers seemed surprised and initially unprepared to be personally targeted by so much animus,” one source familiar with DOGE’s operations, speaking on the condition of anonymity as they were unauthorized to speak to the media, told The Epoch Times. “But they are energetic and dug in.”

Even as DOGE faces criticism from many congressional Democrats and is beset by lawsuits seeking to restrict its access to government data, its early results—including billions in cuts identified to The Epoch Times by the White House—may just be the tip of the iceberg.

DOGE aims to deliver $2 trillion in federal spending cuts during its 18-month lifespan. It ends in 2026 on the 250th anniversary of July 4th, 1776.

A source familiar with DOGE said it was “still in the sorting stage.”

As DOGE seeks to overcome hurdles, billions could be just the beginning.

The Mood Amid Threats

The Epoch Times has reviewed numerous posts on the social media platform Bluesky that are aimed at DOGE and its reported staff members. Many disseminated personally identifiable information, including names, ages, and home addresses.

A source told The Epoch Times that federal law enforcement was dispatched to protect family members of DOGE employees after their names were leaked. As of publication time, the Department of Homeland Security had not confirmed that with The Epoch Times.

On Bluesky, an anonymous user called DOGE workers “Nazi scum,” adding, “The only good nazi is a dead nazi.” The post listed the reported names of several DOGE workers.

A Bluesky user whose name matched that of an employee at Boston University’s business school posted a “Wanted” graphic with DOGE employees’ names, faces, and the words “Dead or Alive.”

A statement from the university described the post as one from “an employee on his personal social media account,” adding, “the views expressed do not reflect the values of Questrom School of Business.”

Members of Congress, including DOGE oversight leaders, voiced shock and anger at the threats.

“That’s horrible,” Rep. Blake Moore (R-Utah), co-chair of the House DOGE Caucus, told The Epoch Times. “I haven’t really seen the severity of it, but that’s horrible.”

On the other side of the aisle, a spokesperson for DOGE critic Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.) told The Epoch Times that she “strongly opposes political violence toward anyone, for any reason, in all forms.”

A spokesperson for Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) said the congressman “condemns threats against DOGE employees.”

Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-Calif.), who is also concerned about DOGE’s impact, told The Epoch Times, “I unequivocally condemn violence of any kind.”

Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.), who oversees the House DOGE Caucus’s defense and veterans’ affairs portfolio, told The Epoch Times that “if those people broke the law by doxxing these folks and doing that and threatening them, they should be thrown into prison.”

“I don’t mean jail. I don’t mean a fine,” he added. ”People that are doing these death threats need to go to prison, or it’s not going to stop.”

Under the Privacy Act, agency officials or others who disclose the personally identifiable information of federal employees could be guilty of a misdemeanor and fined up to $5,000. Threats on social media may also cross the line into threatening interstate communications, which carries a penalty of up to five years in prison.

Read the rest here…