Study: Pandemic Lockdowns Linked to ‘Significant’ Memory and Cognitive Decline in Seniors

/0 Comments/in , /by

Amidst the ongoing discourse surrounding the mental health implications of pandemic-related lockdowns, a new study conducted by Dr. Anne Corbett and her team at the University of Exeter Medical School has brought attention to a concerning aspect—accelerated cognitive decline among seniors.

The study delved into neuropsychology data from 3,142 individuals, all aged 50 or over, who had been participating in a comprehensive dementia study in Britain spanning multiple decades. What makes this research particularly noteworthy is its examination of cognitive changes before, during, and after the pandemic, offering insights into the long-term effects of societal restrictions on the elderly.

The findings revealed a significant worsening of executive function and working memory across the entire cohort in the first year of the pandemic, with the average age of participants being 67.5. This decline persisted into the second year, painting a concerning picture of the lasting impact of pandemic-related measures on cognitive health.

The researchers pointed out a correlation between cognitive decline and specific lifestyle changes during the pandemic. Reduced exercise and increased drinking were notably associated with cognitive deterioration across the entire cohort. Moreover, depression, a recognized factor in cognitive decline, was prevalent among those who contracted COVID-19. Loneliness, exacerbated by the lockdowns, was identified as a particularly detrimental factor for individuals with mild cognitive impairment.

Notably, the study shed light on the role of the British government in these cognitive declines. The government, through the National Institute for Health and Care Research, not only limited citizens’ ability to exercise outdoors but also closed gyms, golf courses, sports courts, swimming pools, and indoor sports facilities—a move that the study suggests played a part in the observed cognitive decline.

“The scale of change is also of note, with all groups—the whole cohort and the individual subgroups—showing more than a 50% greater decline in working memory and executive function, and many effect sizes reaching a clinically significant threshold of greater than 0·3,” remarked the researchers.

Delete Facebook, Delete Twitter, Follow Restoring Liberty and Joe Miller at gab HERE.

Pro-Palestinian Protests Attempt to Derail Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony

/0 Comments/in , /by

On Wednesday, hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters swarmed the streets surrounding Rockefeller Center, clashing with NYPD officers and attempting to derail the annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony in support of Gaza. The incident unfolded along Sixth Avenue, where ralliers, waving Palestinian flags and carrying signs calling for the “end to genocide,” gathered alongside tourists waiting for the iconic ceremony.

The protesters, chanting “river to the sea,” a slogan often criticized as antisemitic, aimed to disrupt the festivities in line with their plans announced earlier in the week. The demonstration coincided with the UN-recognized International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, adding a political dimension to the holiday tradition.

Despite NYPD’s efforts to maintain control, the situation escalated as protesters confronted officers, referring to them as “f–king Nazis.” Attempts were made to knock down barricades, and additional police units were called in as law enforcement sources reported attacks on officers. Some protesters were taken into custody, though specific charges remain unclear.

The crowd, unable to reach the NYC Christmas tree, redirected their protest around the News Corp building, housing The Post and Fox News, which had been targeted by pro-Palestinian protesters on previous occasions. One protester climbed on a pillar, and another displayed a sign bearing a swastika, comparing the Israel Defense Forces to German Nazis.

Tourists, eager to witness the annual tradition, expressed frustration at the disruption. Some condemned the protest as embarrassing, while others commended the NYPD for maintaining control despite verbal abuse.

The NYPD had anticipated potential disruptions, implementing a high-security presence for the Christmas tree lighting ceremony. Despite the chaos, the 91st annual ceremony proceeded without significant issues. The unusually rowdy protest dissipated after an hour, transitioning into a march through Manhattan towards Times Square, where protesters shouted, “Shut it down.”

Photo credit: Flickr

Delete Facebook, Delete Twitter, Follow Restoring Liberty and Joe Miller at gab HERE.

Biden Administration Hopes for Extension of Israel-Hamas Ceasefire as Deadline Approaches

/0 Comments/in , /by

The Biden administration is hoping Israel and Hamas will agree to extend their ceasefire, which is set to expire in a matter of hours.

Israel and Hamas initially agreed to a four-day pause in fighting that would include the release of 50 hostages, held by Hamas or other Gaza-based terrorist groups since Oct. 7, in exchange for the release of three times as many Palestinians held in Israeli jails and a surge of humanitarian aid. They then agreed to extend the deal by two days, which is nearing its expiration.

United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is set to travel to Israel later this week, said Wednesday that the Biden administration is hoping for both sides to agree to another extension because it would mean the release of additional hostages.

“What it has enabled, first and foremost, is hostages being released, coming home, being reunited with their families,” Blinken said. “It’s also enabled us to surge humanitarian assistance into the people of Gaza who so desperately need it. So its continuation, by definition, means that more hostages would be coming home, more assistance would be getting in.”

Israeli officials indicated in the beginning of the ceasefire that they were willing to extend it one day for every 10 hostages Hamas agrees to release. Hamas and the other groups took roughly 240 people hostage during the terrorist attacks. (Read more from “Biden Administration Hopes for Extension of Israel-Hamas Ceasefire as Deadline Approaches” HERE)

Delete Facebook, Delete Twitter, Follow Restoring Liberty and Joe Miller at gab HERE.

School District Helps Students ‘Transition’ Without Notifying Parents in Plot to Bypass State Laws: Lawsuit

/0 Comments/in , /by

Arizona’s largest school district with roughly 55,000 students, Mesa Public Schools, is being accused of helping children “transition” their genders without notifying parents, according to a lawsuit filed last week.

Rachel Walden, a member of the governing board of MPS, accused the Arizona school district of a scheme to bypass state laws requiring parental notification. America First Legal filed the lawsuit last Monday on behalf of Walden.

According to a press release published by AFL, the district has been “encouraging and assisting students to identify as members of the opposite sex without notifying parents.”

“[S]ince at least 2015, MPS has maintained a policy of helping students who want to ‘transition’ their genders. Under this policy, MPS employees ask students whether they want their parents informed about the transition,” the AFL explained. “If students do not want their parents informed, MPS employees are required to keep this information hidden from parents. This policy of parental non-notification used to be explicit and in writing. After controversy arose in the local community about the non-notification policy, MPS revised its written documents to obfuscate the policy.”

The lawsuit accuses MPS’ new policy of “pay[ing] lip service” to state law while “still allow[ing] school employees to talk to students about their sexual identity without parents’ knowledge.” The board “never voted to adopt or authorize” the change, it added. (Read more from “Arizona School District Helps Students ‘Transition’ Without Notifying Parents in Plot to Bypass State Laws: Lawsuit” HERE)

Delete Facebook, Delete Twitter, Follow Restoring Liberty and Joe Miller at gab HERE.

Elon Musk’s Responds to Advertisers Boycotting Twitter With Three Simple Words (VIDEO)

/0 Comments/in , /by

Elon Musk wasn’t having any games played by advertisers who pulled their business from Twitter, or X, in the wake of the billionaire entrepreneur’s response to a tweet many deemed to be antisemitic. It wasn’t a pretty exchange, and Musk has regretted his engagement, calling it the most “foolish” thing he’s ever done on the platform since taking it over.

Here’s what set off the firestorm earlier this month (via The Guardian):

Elon Musk tweeted his fervent agreement with an antisemitic statement on Wednesday night.

A tweet posted by @breakingbaht on Wednesday night read: “Jewish communties [sic] have been pushing the exact kind of dialectical hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them.

The billionaire owner and CTO of X, formerly Twitter, responded the same evening: “You have said the actual truth.” In another reply, he wrote: “I am deeply offended by ADL’s messaging and any other groups who push de facto anti-white racism or anti-Asian racism or racism of any kind.” Musk has feuded with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) before, threatening to sue over its accounting of hate speech on his social media network.

The ADL’s CEO, Jonathan Greenblatt, decried Musk’s endorsement of the antisemitic conspiracy. He wrote: “At a time when antisemitism is exploding in America and surging around the world, it is indisputably dangerous to use one’s influence to validate and promote antisemitic theories. #NeverIsNow.”

That backlash has come in the form of boycotts and ad-pulling from corporate America, which Musk responded with three simple words: go f**k yourself.

[WARNING: video contains explicit language.]

(Read more from “Elon Musk’s Responds to Advertisers Boycotting Twitter With Three Simple Words” HERE)

Delete Facebook, Delete Twitter, Follow Restoring Liberty and Joe Miller at gab HERE.

Seniors Evicted as NYC Converts Senior Center Into Migrant Shelter

/0 Comments/in , /by

Dozens of seniors in New York, including a 94-year-old Army veteran named Frank Tammaro, were evicted from their senior center, which was then converted into a migrant shelter.

City officials have estimated that tens of thousands of migrants have entered the city since last spring, which is costing around $5 million per day. Mayor Eric Adams, who previously boasted about NYC being a “sanctuary” for migrants, has more recently complained about the influx of migrants.

Tammaro told Fox News that he had lived in the center for five years, and intended to spend the rest of his days there until he and the other members were notified that they were being kicked out. After he was evicted, Tammaro’s family found out that the center was turned into a migrant shelter.

“I do get upset when I see them handing out all this money and all these things, and I’m paying taxes and getting kicked out,” Tammaro said. “I’ve never got anything from the city. Or the state.”

The veteran’s daughter, with whom he now lives, echoed the same sentiment. “I don’t understand it at all. It’s not fair to anybody,” Barbara Annunziata said. “These migrants, they’re getting everything. They’re getting everything and I can’t get nothing for [Tammaro]. It angers me.” (Read more from “Seniors Evicted as NYC Converts Senior Center Into Migrant Shelter” HERE)

Delete Facebook, Delete Twitter, Follow Restoring Liberty and Joe Miller at gab HERE.

There’s a Muslim Revolt Brewing Against Joe Biden

/0 Comments/in , /by

I’m not feeling sorry for anyone in the Democratic Party regarding this simmering 2024 election issue. Still, it should cause some people to realize how insane their base has become. It goes beyond the woke lexicon that’s often dismissed, and rightfully so, by most. These people are pro-terrorist—and there’s a discussion on how to cater to these people, including possibly placing conditions on new military aid to Israel, which is currently eradicating Hamas’ influence in the Gaza Strip. . .

Politico has a lengthy piece in Dearborn, Michigan, the mecca for Arab Americans, where support for Palestinian rights unites the older and younger generations here. It’s also a piece that mentions erroneously how this community thinks there’s a genocide being committed against their people. There is a difference between collateral damage and intentional killing. Israel has gone beyond to ensure civilian deaths are kept to a minimum, whereas Hamas is trying to maximize it by refusing to let civilians leave Gaza City. The number of differences between the two sides is many and defined, but the media continues to hound Israel for their justified war to eradicate the terror group. It’s Hamas that is committing war crimes in Gaza, not Israel, but don’t mention that to this community, which is a voter bloc that could take out Biden in 2024 (via Politico):

These residents here in Dearborn, which borders Detroit-proper, and Farmington Hills, which is a half-hour drive northwest of Detroit, are a diverse lot — young and old, Christian and Muslim, representing a mix of families whose ancestors arrived here almost a century ago from Lebanon and historic Palestine and those who landed here just a decade or two ago fleeing conflicts in Iraq, Yemen and Syria, among other countries.

What unites the Arab American residents in metro Detroit at this moment is a sense of abandonment by their representatives in government. As the official Palestinian death toll surpasses 10,000, residents feel blindsided by what they see as the White House’s apathy towards Palestinian lives and its unconditional material support for Israel’s military operations. According to a new poll from the Arab American Institute, support for Biden’s reelection in 2024 has plummeted by 42 percent among Arab Americans, who typically vote blue. Nationwide, 68 percent of Arab Americans support a ceasefire in Gaza and think the U.S. should stop sending military supplies to Israel.

Many Arab Americans in this swing state of Michigan, who overwhelmingly voted for Biden in 2020, say they are considering sitting out the next presidential election.

“We’ve never experienced something like this before,” says Takween Dwaik, a 53-year-old mental health counselor, who grew up in the Al-Shati refugee camp in Northern Gaza, which was recently bombed. Some of her siblings and their families have been injured by airstrikes while evacuating. Dwaik has also lost a nephew and her husband lost an infant grand-niece to the shelling. “The thing that hurts so bad is that the weapons get paid for with our tax money.

“They’re using our tax money to kill our loved ones.”

Hamas is terrorist trash, who garner an astonishing amount of support from the Palestinian population. The new polling delivers a kill shot to any narrative about a two-state solution. You cannot live peacefully when one side thinks daily about how to kill you.

(Read more from “There’s a Muslim Revolt Brewing Against Joe Biden” HERE)

Delete Facebook, Delete Twitter, Follow Restoring Liberty and Joe Miller at gab HERE.

Did Letitia James’ Case Against Trump’s Business Empire Just Completely Fall Apart?

/0 Comments/in , /by

Documents and testimony from former President Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial this week may undermine New York Attorney General Letitia James’ case against him.

The bank James alleges Trump defrauded was eager to land him as a client over a decade ago, according to documents presented Wednesday during his civil fraud trial and reported by The Associated Press, and a 17 -year employee of the bank testified Tuesday that the adjustments the bank made to his net worth were not unusual. Judge Engoron ruled in September in the lawsuit brought by James that Trump defrauded banks and insurance companies by inflating his net worth and overvaluing assets.

After then-managing director of Deutsche Bank, Rosemary Vrablic, met with Donald Trump Jr., she wrote in a November 2011 email to colleagues that they were “whale hunting” — a term Vrablic explained Wednesday refers to a very wealthy client, according to the AP.

Trump’s legal team introduced emails and documents Wednesday that detailed the bank’s interest in cultivating a relationship with Trump.

The bank’s projected revenue from business with Trump increased from $13,000 in 2011 to an estimated $6 million in 2013, a document that was introduced during the trial showed, according to The Hill. (Read more from “Did Letitia James’ Case Against Trump’s Business Empire Just Completely Fall Apart?” HERE)

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr

Delete Facebook, Delete Twitter, Follow Restoring Liberty and Joe Miller at gab HERE.

Bank Investigator Raises Concerns Over Chinese Firm’s Money Route to Hunter Biden and Joe Biden’s Account

/0 Comments/in , /by

A bank money laundering investigator expressed concerns about money sent from a Chinese firm to Hunter Biden’s joint business venture that eventually made its way into Joe Biden’s bank account, according to House Oversight.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer released a June 2018 email from the money laundering expert to colleagues laying out his concerns about $5 million sent from a Chinese firm to Hudson West III, Hunter Biden’s business entity, and subsequent payments to Hunter Biden’s Owasco P.C. bank account.

“Since the initial funding of $5,000,000.00 from Northern International Capital Holdings (HK) Limited on 08/08/17 as a business loan, it was noted that there was no loan agreement document submitted,” the email revealed by Comer reads. The bank and the names of its employees are redacted.

“The funds in the account have primarily funded 16 wires ranging from $157,494.19 to $400,000.00 totaling $2,915,375.25 to [redacted] CLEARING SERVICES LLC (Further Credit Owasco PC — Law Firm in D.C). These payments were indicated as management fees and reimbursements. We find it unusual that approximately 58% of the funds were transferred to the law firm in a few months and the frequency of the payments appear erratic,” the email continues.

“It was also previously indicated that HUDSON WEST III LLC does not currently have any investment projects at this time, which raises further concerns as millions in fees are being paid but does not appear to have any services rendered by Owasco P.C.” (Read more from “Bank Investigator Raises Concerns Over Chinese Firm’s Money Route to Hunter Biden and Joe Biden’s Account” HERE)

Delete Facebook, Delete Twitter, Follow Restoring Liberty and Joe Miller at gab HERE.

House Republicans Launch Website for Biden Impeachment Inquiry, Vowing ‘Transparency’

/0 Comments/in , /by

House Republicans unveiled on Wednesday a website dedicated to the corruption-focused impeachment inquiry against President Joe Biden.

During a press conference with fellow party leaders, House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY) said the website provides the public with a “one-stop shop” to check out findings and updates from the three committees conducting the probe.

“It also includes a timeline which lays out exactly what the Biden crime family did to get us to this point,” she added. “Transparency is the hallmark of America. With each new fact, we find it becomes more clear that Joe Biden is compromised and unfit to lead.”

Among the features that appear on the impeachment inquiry website is a “By The Numbers” section that shows statistics of the number of subpoenas issued, “direct payments” to President Biden,” and more. There is also a “subscribe” option that allows users to get updates sent to them by email. (Read more from “House Republicans Launch Website for Biden Impeachment Inquiry, Vowing ‘Transparency'” HERE)

Delete Facebook, Delete Twitter, Follow Restoring Liberty and Joe Miller at gab HERE.