Editor Daily Rundown: Energy-Starved Europe Dims The Lights, Cuts The A/C

Vince CoglianeseAugust 4, 2022

ENERGY-STARVED EUROPE DIMS THE LIGHTS, CUTS THE A/C… JAZZ SHAW: Lights out, cold showers in Europe

We still see news coverage coming out of Europe issuing “warnings” about a possible energy crisis, spurred in part by the removal of Russian oil and natural gas from the European market. […]

The President of the European Commission warned people this week that the time to start conserving and building stockpiles of oil and natural gas was yesterday. And it’s not just going to be Germany and Italy that are suffering. It will be the entire continent. […]

Germany previously secured a third of its natural gas from Russia. That amount has been slashed in half and may fall to zero before winter arrives. The Germans are shutting off the heat to public swimming pools and showers. Public spaces with outdoor lighting are having a percentage of the bulbs removed. Thermostats in government buildings and public schools are being lowered.

In the Netherlands, a new public program has been launched called “Flip the Switch.” People are not allowed to run the water in their showers for more than five minutes. Laundry is to be air dried on clothes lines, not in electric dryers. And citizens are being told to use sun shades and hand-held fans to keep cool and shut their air conditioners off. Spain just passed a law forbidding people from setting their thermostats lower than 27 degrees Celsius (81 degrees Fahrenheit) in summer, nor raising them above 19 degrees Celsius (66 degrees Fahrenheit) in the winter. No details as to how they plan to monitor and enforce that law have been provided yet.

SENATE FINALLY HOLDS A SINGLE HEARING ON SPECIES-ENDING DESIGNER VIRUSES… GOP Senators Review U.S. Government’s Funding, Promotion Of Research That May Have Created COVID-19

Senators on a key Homeland Security Subcommittee argued for an expansive review of gain-of-function research, which opponents argue may have created the COVID-19 virus, during a first-ever hearing Wednesday.

Gain-of-function research is broadly defined as any research or experimentation that can make a virus or disease more transmissible or deadly. President Barack Obama imposed a moratorium on such activity in 2014, but President Donald Trump lifted the ban in 2017. Although Trump instituted a committee within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to review gain-of-function research proposals, critics like Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul argue that the body is effectively toothless.

Paul, the ranking member on the Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Spending Oversight, said in opening remarks that the hearing was necessary due to “the emerging threat posed by gain-of-function research.” Paul described the method as “controversial,” noting that it has the “potential to unleash a global pandemic that threatens the lives of millions.”

The HHS Framework for Guiding Funding Decisions about Proposed Research Involving Enhanced Potential Pandemic Pathogens (P3CO) employs too limited a definition of gain-of-function research to provide effective oversight of proposals, participating GOP senators and all three testifying scientists agreed. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases head Dr. Anthony Fauci has argued that under the P3CO framework, the Wuhan Institute of Virology did not engage in gain-of-function research.

FAUCI IS LYING, SAYS TOP SCIENTIST… Renowned Molecular Biologist Accuses Fauci Of Lying To Congress About Gain-Of-Function Research

“Gain-of-function research of concern involves the creation of new health threats–health threats that did not exist previously and that might not have come to exist by natural means for tens, hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands of years,” Ebright said.

“The statements made on repeated occasions to the public, to the press and to policymakers by the NIAID director, Dr. Fauci, have been untruthful. I do not understand why those statements are being made because they are demonstrably false,” Ebright explained Wednesday.

Ebright’s assertion that the NIH-funded research is GoF work directly contradicts previous testimony by Fauci before the U.S. Senate.

“The NIH has not ever and does not now fund gain of function research in the Wuhan Institute of Virology,” Fauci said in May 2021. “Dr. Baric does not do gain of function research and if it is, it is according to the guidelines and is being conducted in North Carolina, not in China.”

FAUCI ONCE WARNED OF DEADLY LAB LEAKS… FLASHBACK: Fauci Warned Of Accidental Pandemic Caused By Lab Accident In Foreign Countries A Decade Ago (VIDEO)

Dr. Anthony Fauci’s 2012 views regarding gain-of-function (GoF) research resurfaced Wednesday after Republican Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall referenced his previous comments in a Senate hearing on the subject.

In a 2012 piece, Fauci said that GoF research, which involves modifying pathogens to make them more lethal and more infectious to humans, was worth the risk of an accident for the potential scientific benefits. However, in words that now hang eerily over the COVID-stricken world, he warned that unregulated labs in foreign countries could lead to an accidental pandemic due to a leak of a disease.

“The issue that has been intensely debated is whether knowledge obtained from these experiments could inadvertently affect public health in an adverse way, even in nations multiple time zones away,” Fauci wrote a decade ago. “Consider this hypothetical scenario.”

“An important gain-of-function experiment involving a virus with serious pandemic potential is performed in a well-regulated, world-class laboratory by experienced investigators, but the information from the experiment is then used by another scientist who does not have the same training and facilities and is not subject to the same regulations,” Fauci posited. “In an unlikely but conceivable turn of events, what if that scientist becomes infected with the virus, which leads to an outbreak and ultimately triggers a pandemic?”

DESANTIS TAKES ON DOCS WHO CHOP CHILDREN… ‘They Wanna Castrate These Young Boys’: DeSantis Says Doctors Should Be Sued For Child Sex Change Surgeries (VIDEO)

Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called for medical professionals who perform sex change surgeries on children to be sued during a Wednesday speech.

Doctors are performing double mastectomies on young girls and castrating boys despite the fact that most cases of gender dysphoria are resolved on their own when children grow up, DeSantis said. His administration has discouraged child sex changes in official guidance, while the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is encouraging these medical interventions.

“[They] talk about these young kids getting ‘gender-affirming care.’ They don’t tell you what that is,” DeSantis said. “They’re actually giving very young girls double mastectomies; they want to castrate these young boys. That’s wrong.”

“You don’t disfigure 10, 12, 13-year-old kids based on gender dysphoria. 80% of it resolves anyways by the time they get older,” DeSantis said. “I think these doctors need to get sued for what’s happening.”

WHOOPI SAYS GOD GAVE US FREE WILL SO WE CAN USE IT TO KILL BABIES… NICHOLAS FONDACARO: Goldberg says “God doesn’t make mistakes” and thus it’s in his plan to have women choose abortion.”God made us smart enough to know when it wasn’t going to work for us. That’s the beauty of giving us freedom of choice.” “My relationship [with God] is always choppy,” she adds. (VIDEO)

WHITE HOUSE: CATHOLICS MUST SUBSIDIZE ABORTIONS… AND THE LAW WON’T STOP US… ‘We Follow The Law Here’: Reporter Confronts Jean-Pierre On Biden’s Executive Order Surrounding Abortion (VIDEO)

“Why does the president want to force pro-life Americans, including Catholics, which he is one, to subsidize abortions?” he asked.

“Federal law makes clear [that] doctors must provide emergency medical care, including abortion services to subsidize women facing life-threatening conditions,” Jean-Pierre said. “We are working to ensure that pregnant women whose life and lives are in serious jeopardy receive the care that they need. This is what it is. This is what we’re trying to do. This is what the president promised that he would do.”

The press secretary said the executive order provides exceptions for medical providers with particular religious or moral beliefs to opt out of performing an abortion.

Jensen then suggested the executive order will violate the Hyde Amendment, a legislative provision blocking federal funds for abortions except in cases of rape, incest, or the life and health of the mother. This prevents the funding of abortion under Medicaid, Medicare, the Children’s Insurance Program and the Indian Health Service.

“On the proposal to have Medicaid fund travel expenses for women seeking abortion, how would that not violate Hyde if it’s using taxpayer dollars to pay for abortions?” he asked.

“This EO will not violate the Hyde Amendment, it is law, and we follow the law here,” Jean-Pierre said.

SUPREME COURT JUSTICE KARINGE ISSUES OPINION… Karine Jean-Pierre Says SCOTUS Unconstitutionally Overturned Roe (VIDEO)

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Wednesday the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade was “unconstitutional.”

Speaking at the press briefing, Jean-Pierre said the decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that overturned Roe v. Wade was an “unconstitutional action.”

“From day one, when the Supreme Court made this extreme decision to take away a constitutional right, it was an unconstitutional action by them,” Jean-Pierre said.

IS THE DOJ EVEN INVESTIGATING ATTACKS ON PRO-LIFERS? … ‘You Need To Follow The Law’: Ted Cruz Grills DOJ Official On The Handling Of Pro-Abortion Attacks (VIDEO)

Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz grilled the Assistant Attorney General of the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Criminal Division, Kenneth Polite, over the handling of pro-abortion attacks during a Wednesday Senate hearing.

Cruz expressed concerns that the DOJ is “politicizing the enforcement of justice” following their handling of the vandalisms and fire bombings on pro-life crisis pregnancy centers across the country. He said there have been at least 82 attacks against pro-life institutions as of July 27, where they have been covered in red paint, graffiti and egged by “pro-abortion radicals.”

Despite these attacks, the DOJ established a “Reproductive Rights Task Force” on July 12, Cruz said.

“I have zero doubt that if pro-life supporters were vandalizing and firebombing abortion clinics across the country, DOJ would declare it a national emergency, and you might as well send out the National Guard,” Cruz said. “But because your politics and the politics of the agency you work with happen to agree with the vandals, there has been no task force, there has been no priority. Why is that?”

“Senator, respectfully, I believe we agree that politics cannot and should not play any role in the investigative or prosecutorial decisions of the Department of Justice,” Polite said. “We take very seriously any incidents of violence that occur within this country. I can tell you that those incidents that you’re reflecting upon, if they are ultimately being considered by the Department of Justice, they will be taken—”

“Hold on a second, if they’re being considered? You don’t know sitting here today if they’re being considered?” the senator interjected.

“Senator, a number of these incidents are priorities not only of the criminal division, but of the civil division, as well as our civil rights division,” Polite responded.

Cruz then asked if any cases have been brought to the DOJ regarding these attacks, to which Polite declined to comment.

MMA FIGHTER TAKES DOWN NYC ASSAILANT WHO WAS SUCKER PUNCHING STRANGERS… NY POST: MMA fighter springs into action to take down NYC assault suspect (VIDEO)

A mixed martial arts fighter sprang into action to subdue a homeless man who was allegedly attacking people in the heart of Manhattan’s Soho shopping district.

Ro Malabanan, who has a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and a yellow belt in judo, was walking to his boxing instructor job last Wednesday morning when he saw Samuel Frazier sucker-punch a construction worker, the fighter told The Post.

Malabanan, 44, checked in with the victim before running after the suspect and taking him down from behind, the good Samaritan explained to his Instagram followers.

“My jiu-jitsu instincts just kicked in. I jumped on his back,” Malabanan said. “He tried to swing me off then — but for those of you in the know — a seatbelt position dragged him down to the floor, and I immediately took his back and pinned him to the ground.”

UNDOING THE DAMAGE… San Francisco DA Revokes Plea Offers Made From Soros-Backed Predecessor

San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins announced a new policy Wednesday to hold drug dealers more accountable and revoked over 30 plea offers made by former San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin.

The DA’s office announced that it will begin applying a weight limit threshold of five grams of drugs to prevent drug dealers from being referred to a lower city court system, according to a news release from Jenkins’s office. The new policy also makes additional penalties available against people dealing drugs within 1,000 feet of a school and allows San Francisco prosecutors to ask the court for pre-trial detention in “extreme” fentanyl dealing cases, according to the release.

“The previous administration’s policy had no weight limit threshold, was not adhering to CJC [Community Justice Center] guidelines, and allowed drug dealers, arrested with as much as 500 grams of fentanyl and who had multiple open fentanyl cases, to be referred to CJC,” the DA’s office stated in the release.

MR. PELOSI TRIES TO DEFEAT DUI CHARGES… Paul Pelosi Pleads Not Guilty To DUI Charges (VIDEO)

Paul Pelosi, the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to two misdemeanor charges filed against him for driving under the influence.

Pelosi’s attorney, Amanda Bevins, filed the not guilty pleas at Napa County Superior Court for his two misdemeanor charges, according to the Napa County District Attorney’s Office. Pelosi did not appear in court due to California state law allowing for misdemeanor defendants to appear through their attorneys unless instructed otherwise by a judicial officer.

Authorities arrested Pelosi on May 28 on one count of allegedly driving under the influence and one count of allegedly driving with a blood alcohol content of 0.08 or higher. Both charges count as misdemeanors in the state of California. A Jeep struck his 2021 Porsche while he was allegedly under the influence in the town of Yountville.

JULY 4 SHOOTER CONFESSED, NOW PLEADS NOT GUILTY … Suspected Highland Park Shooter Pleads Not Guilty After Allegedly Confessing To Crime

The suspect in the July 4 Highland Park, Illinois, mass shooting has chosen to plead not guilty to the crime, despite reportedly claiming responsibility weeks ago, according to Fox News.

Robert Crimo III, 22, pled not guilty Wednesday for 21 first-degree murder counts and 48 counts each of attempted murder and aggravated battery with a firearm in county court, the outlet reported. The shooting at a July 4 parade left seven people dead among 47 named victims, Fox News said.

County prosecutor Ben Dillon claimed the 22-year-old confessed to the attack following his arrest during Crimo’s initial July 6 court hearing, which the suspect attended remotely, according to Reuters. Crimo allegedly tried to flee the shooting while wearing women’s clothing to avoid being discovered, ABC News reported.

WHAT’S GOING ON WITH THE ALLEGEDLY THWARTED JULY 4 TERROR ATTACK IN RICHMOND? … NBC12: Federal court to take over alleged Richmond shooting plot case

On July 6, the Richmond Police Department said a tip from a “hero citizen” prevented a mass shooting at a July 4 event at Dogwood Dell.

In Wednesday’s court hearing, Richmond Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney told the judge that there was no specific information that Dogwood Dell was the location for the alleged shooting plot.

“I am asking you as an officer of the court and based off what I just told you, does the commonwealth have information that either of these individuals were involved in something that could potentially have affected dogwood Dell in the Fourth of July,” Judge David Hicks asked Richmond Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Clinton Seal, “where I’ve advised you my children were present because I need to know that before I determine I can hear anything else on this matter.”

Seal replied “no.”

On Wednesday afternoon, the Richmond Police Department said “Chief Gerald Smith stands behind the investigative work done by Richmond Police Detectives to stop a mass shooting planned for July 4th.”

FLASHBACK… JULY 6… *ANOTHER* JULY 4TH MASSACRE NARROWLY AVOIDED… THIS TIME, THE SUSPECTS ARE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS… ‘ONE OF THE MEN HAD BEEN DEPORTED SEVERAL TIMES’… Potential Virginia Mass Shooters Were In US Illegally, One Deported Multiple Times, Police Say (VIDEO)

Two men who were allegedly plotting a mass shooting in Virginia are in the state illegally, with one of the men having been deported several times, according to authorities.

Richmond Chief of Police Gerald Smith said during a press conference Wednesday that “a hero citizen picked up the phone and overheard a conversation there was a mass shooting being planned here in the city of Richmond, Virginia,” according to NBC 12.

“There’s no telling how many lives this citizen hero saved from one phone call,” Smith said. “One phone call saved numerous lives on the Fourth of July.”

“We know what their intent was but we don’t have a motive,” he added.

Authorities arrested 52-year-old Julio Alvarado-Dubon and 38-year-old Roman Balacarcel, who allegedly planned to shoot up Richmond’s Fourth of July celebration. Both men were charged with being non-citizens in possession of a gun. Smith said the men are roommates.

Alvarado-Dubon had two rifles, a handgun and 200 rounds of ammunition and was arrested July 1. Balacarcel was surveilled by authorities and arrested Tuesday with the same charges.

Smith said it was “frustrating” that one of the men had been deported several times and was able to re-enter the country.

RIP… Indiana Rep. Jackie Walorski Killed In Car Crash

Republican Indiana Rep. Jackie Walorski died Wednesday in a car crash that also reportedly killed two of her staffers.

Walorski, a fifth-term congresswoman representing Indiana’s Second District, was one of three people killed while traveling in an SUV near Nappanee, Indiana, ABC 57 first reported. Walorski, age 58, is the fifth member to die during the 117th Congress, and the fourth Republican. The congresswoman’s district director Zachery Potts and communications director Emma Thomson were also reportedly killed in the collision.

The driver of the other vehicle also reportedly died. […]

The White House announced that it would fly its flags at half mast on Wednesday and Thursday in memory of Walorski.

THE NFL SAYS IT WANTS DESHAUN WATSON TO BE SUSPENDED FOR AT LEAST A YEAR… NFL To Appeal Deshaun Watson’s 6-Game Suspension

The National Football League (NFL) said Wednesday it is appealing the six-game suspension of Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson.

According to CBS Sports NFL insider Jonathan Jones, the NFL is seeking to change the six-game suspension to an indefinite one, lasting a minimum of one year. The NFL filed its brief Wednesday afternoon and, in addition to the suspension, is reportedly seeking a monetary fine and treatment for the Browns quarterback, according to ESPN.

Former federal judge Sue L. Robinson suspended Watson on Monday for six games in the upcoming NFL season, after more than 20 women accused the star quarterback of sexual misconduct. Robinson found that Watson, who has denied the allegations, had violated the NFL’s personal conduct policy.

In the judge’s 16-page report on her findings, Robinson recounted the first complaint against Watson, which alleged he “engaged in lewd and indecent sexual behavior during a private massage,” and noted there were “a total of 23 other lawsuits having similar allegations.” Robinson stated in the findings report that Watson allegedly “engaged in sexualized conduct during the massage sessions.”

“I find this evidence sufficient to demonstrate that Mr. Watson’s conduct undermined the integrity of the NFL in the eyes of the therapists,” she wrote, according to the report. In the statement, Robinson described the three-time Pro Bowler’s alleged behavior as “more egregious than any before reviewed by the NFL.”