More than a third of US crypto traders report cutting daily expenses and delaying major purchases as unrealized losses weigh on household finances.

The recent crypto market downturn has forced more than one in three crypto traders to cut everyday spending, according to a new survey by CEX.IO.

The survey, conducted among 1,100 US-based active CEX.IO users, shows the current market slump is straining household finances, though it remains less severe than 2022, when Bitcoin fell by roughly 75% from its peak. Bitcoin is still about 40% below its October 2025 high, leaving many retail investors sitting on unrealised losses.

About 36% of respondents said they reduced everyday spending as a direct result of market conditions, with 10% describing those cuts as significant sacrifices made to maintain their positions. Roughly 37% also reported delaying or cancelling purchases due to crypto losses, including 21% who postponed major financial commitments such as buying a home, car or undertaking renovations.

“The 2025–2026 bear market has not produced the kind of systemic shock seen in past cycles (at least for now), but its effects appear to be showing up in quieter ways at the household level,” CEX.IO wrote.

Related: Crypto Market Sentiment Reaches 3-Month High

Crypto traders navigate downturn alone

The survey revealed that many traders are managing the downturn in relative isolation. Only 5% said someone else knows the full extent and value of their holdings, while the majority either share limited information or keep their positions entirely private.

Financial strain is also evident in cash flow trends. While 77% said they did not take on debt tied to crypto, 38% reported some form of financial disruption since October 2025. A quarter said they relied on savings to maintain stability, and 12% admitted to missing or delaying payments.

Even so, most respondents have not changed plans dramatically. Nearly half reported that crypto makes up more than 30% of their investable assets, yet 73% said their approach to earning income remains unchanged.

Looking ahead, a combined 79% said they plan to either hold or increase their positions over the next six months.

Related: Bitcoin Price May Go Under $70K Despite Strategy’s Latest Big BTC Buy

Crypto offerings shape bank choice

Another survey by Börse Stuttgart Digital earlier this week found that cryptocurrency services are starting to influence how European investors choose their banks, with 35% saying they would consider switching institutions for better crypto offerings.

The poll of around 6,000 investors across Germany, Italy, Spain and France also found that nearly one in five expects their primary bank to provide crypto access within three years, pointing to a gradual shift toward integrating digital assets into mainstream banking.

Magazine: How to fix suspected insider trading on Polymarket and Kalshi

The post Market conditions force 1 in 3 crypto traders to cut everyday spending: Survey appeared first on Activist Post.

Story at-a-glance

• Nearly 38% of cardiovascular deaths in Canada are linked to ultraprocessed foods. These products contribute to 96,000 new heart disease cases and 17,400 deaths each year
• Eating just one additional daily serving of ultraprocessed food raises your risk of obesity by 7%, abdominal fat by 5%, and Type 2 diabetes by 12%
• Ultraprocessed foods increase cognitive decline risk by 16% and stroke risk by 8%, with the strongest effects seen in Black participants
• Processed meat products like hot dogs and deli meats are linked to a 43% higher risk of death from neurodegenerative diseases and a 13% higher all-cause mortality risk
• Even small amounts of ultraprocessed food trigger inflammation, oxidative stress, and mitochondrial dysfunction that accelerate aging and drain your energy daily

Ultraprocessed foods dominate grocery store shelves today in the form of frozen dinners, packaged snacks, and fast-food items. While they offer convenience, they are engineered to hijack your appetite and flood your system with harmful compounds. These products, stripped of real nutrition and loaded with additives, trans fats, and artificial ingredients, are slowly clogging your arteries and setting you up for a heart attack or stroke.

According to a study, nearly 38% of all cardiovascular disease deaths in Canada are directly linked to ultraprocessed food consumption. That means over 17,400 Canadian lives are lost each year because of food choices that seem harmless but are quietly destroying your heart and arteries.

But it goes beyond heart disease — ultraprocessed foods damage your overall health, worsening your metabolic function, increasing inflammation, and compromising gut function. Every single packaged snack or sugary drink you consume adds up, leading you toward obesity, diabetes, neurodegenerative diseases, and even early death.

Canadian Study Points to Ultraprocessed Foods as a Massive Cause of Heart Disease

An analysis from the Department of Nutrition at the University of Montreal, commissioned by the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, set out to measure how much of Canada’s heart disease and stroke burden is driven by ultraprocessed foods. They used national health data to model the impact of these foods on adults over age 20.¹

•The research identified high numbers of deaths and disability tied to processed food intake — The team linked food intake data from the Canadian Community Health Survey to new cases of cardiovascular disease, deaths from heart disease and stroke, and years of life lost or spent disabled.

•Ultraprocessed foods cause nearly 100,000 cases of heart disease annually — In 2019 alone, ultraprocessed foods contributed to 96,043 cases of cardiovascular disease, 17,417 deaths, and nearly 389,000 years of life lost or spent living with chronic heart-related conditions.

•Over one-third of heart disease deaths came from eating ultraprocessed foods — The study, a first of its kind,² was modeled using real national health data and validated risk models, not guesses or projections.

•Reducing ultraprocessed food consumption could save thousands of lives each year — According to the authors, if Canadians cut their intake of these foods by 50%, there would be 45,914 fewer new cardiovascular disease cases annually. It would also save 8,314 lives every single year.

•Men are hit hardest by ultraprocessed food-related heart problems — The highest levels of processed food consumption were seen in young men aged 20 to 24 and adults over 80. Unsurprisingly, the study found that 61% of new heart disease and stroke cases connected to these foods occurred in men. Additionally, men accounted for 52% of the related deaths.

•The damage builds up from youth and compounds with age — Poor eating habits create health problems later, with symptoms like high blood pressure, fatigue, and shortness of breath appearing when damage is already underway.

Ultraprocessed foods are engineered to make you overeat. These foods are packed with industrial ingredients like refined sugars, trans fats, and chemicals designed to override your fullness signals. The result? Overeating, weight gain, and chronic inflammation, which damage your artery walls and raise your blood clot risk.

Your Brain Also Suffers When You Eat Ultraprocessed Foods

The featured study adds to the growing evidence associating ultraprocessed food with adverse health outcomes. Another study published in Neurology³ also points out how these products damage brain function and increase the likelihood of stroke.

Focusing on cognitive decline and stroke risk in adults across the U.S., researchers from Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Yale School of Medicine, and University of Alabama at Birmingham⁴ used data from the REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke study (REGARDS), tracking both Black and White adults over time.

•The study found sharp increases in risk — More than 14,000 adults without cognitive impairment and over 20,000 adults without prior strokes were tracked for years. The researchers found that for every 10% increase in ultraprocessed food consumption, cognitive impairment risk jumped by 16%, and stroke risk rose by 8%.

The study found that the relationship between ultraprocessed food intake and stroke risk was strongest in Black participants.

•Cognitive decline was tracked over several years through measurable tests — The participants were observed from 2003 to 2007; they repeatedly underwent testing as well. Researchers used memory and verbal fluency tests to monitor changes, and found that participants who ate the most ultraprocessed foods scored worse over time. They showed increasing forgetfulness and trouble recalling simple words.

•The participants who consumed the least processed food had better brain health — Prioritizing whole foods like fresh fruits and vegetables maintained stronger memory and mental sharpness throughout the study. This means swapping processed foods for simple, home-cooked meals could preserve your cognitive health for decades.

This shows that even relatively modest yet healthy changes in your diet will have a significant impact on your brain health. According to Dr. W. Taylor Kimberly, a neurologist at Massachusetts General Hospital and the study’s senior study author:⁵

“What you’re talking about is one or two meals a week. If you can exchange that from an ultraprocessed meal to an unprocessed food or meal, that is associated with a measurable reduction in the risk of stroke or cognitive impairment. It’s not only what we eat that matters, but how the food is processed before we eat it.”

Study Looked at How Different Types of Ultraprocessed Foods Lead to Higher Mortality Risk

Another research published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ)⁶ examined how different varieties of ultraprocessed foods affect your risk of death from all causes over time. The study used data from two massive U.S. cohort studies — the Nurses’ Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. More than 74,000 women and nearly 40,000 men were tracked for up to 34 years, all starting without cancer, heart disease, or diabetes.

•Higher ultraprocessed food consumption meant a clear increase in early death — The participants were healthy adults at the start, but those eating the highest amounts of ultraprocessed foods faced a 4% higher risk of dying from any cause compared to those who consumed the least.

•Processed meat products were the biggest culprits — Hot dogs, sausages, and deli meats were linked to a staggering 43% higher risk of death from neurodegenerative diseases, and a 13% higher risk of dying from all causes.

•The numbers show population-wide impact — In the highest quarter of consumption, the mortality rate reached 1,536 deaths per 100,000 persons each year, compared to 1,472 in the lowest quarter. Though the difference may look small on paper, over time this translates into tens of thousands of preventable deaths.

•Switching to diet drinks is not a safe option — The study revealed that sugar-sweetened and artificially sweetened beverages were almost equally harmful, with hazard ratios of 1.09 and 1.08, respectively. In other words, swapping regular soda for diet versions still disrupts your metabolism and spikes insulin, leading to fat gain and metabolic dysfunction — even without calories.

Ultraprocessed products trigger systemic inflammation, harming the cells lining your arteries and upsetting hormonal balance. They also increase free radicals in your body, which are unstable molecules that damage your cells, DNA, and membranes. Over time, oxidative stress speeds up aging, weakens immunity, and makes you more vulnerable to chronic disease and infections.

The research found that even participants with high overall diet quality, measured by the Alternative Healthy Eating Index, still experienced higher mortality if they consumed ultraprocessed foods. This means you cannot offset the damage — the key is to completely eliminate these products from your diet.

Ultraprocessed Foods Are Associated with 32 Adverse Health Effects

An umbrella review, also published in the BMJ,⁷ combined data from 45 pooled analyses, covering almost 10 million people worldwide. The research included adults and children, looking at different adverse health parameters and how ultraprocessed foods directly contribute to these health risks.

The researchers found that 32 out of 45 analyses (71%) confirmed a strong link between consuming these foods and 32 adverse health outcomes, including mental health disorders, respiratory diseases, digestive issues, metabolic problems, and cancer.⁸

•Certain groups faced higher risks than others — Adults aged 30 to 50 were most affected long-term, but the danger was evident across all ages. Children and teens who ate more ultraprocessed foods had higher rates of wheezing and breathing problems, while seniors faced accelerated health declines.

•The most dangerous outcomes were early death and chronic disease — For every 10% increase in ultraprocessed food consumption, there was a 12% higher risk of developing Type 2 diabetes and a 21% higher chance of dying from any cause. Meanwhile, cardiovascular death rates surged by 50% among those with the highest intake compared to the lowest.

•Mental health issues also skyrocketed with higher consumption — Those who consumed more ultraprocessed foods were 48% more likely to suffer from anxiety and 53% more likely to experience depression and other mood disorders. Sleep problems were also common.

•Even small daily increases in ultraprocessed foods added up quickly — Every additional serving increased obesity risk by up to 7%, abdominal obesity by 5%, and Type 2 diabetes by 12%. If weight and metabolism are already concerns for you, these foods are quietly making things worse.

•All types of ultraprocessed foods carried risks, but some were worse — The worst offenders were ready-to-eat meat products — processed meat products drove death rates up by as much as 43%. Frozen dinners and sugary drinks also led to severe effects. Even foods like dairy-based desserts and packaged savory snacks contributed to respiratory and cognitive problems.

•The biological damage begins with gut disruption and chronic inflammation — Chemical additives, including emulsifiers and artificial sweeteners, harm the gut microbiome, sparking inflammation throughout the body. This damages arteries, weakens immunity, and raises the risk of blood clots and arterial plaques.

Processed food consumption also floods the body with free radicals, which harm DNA and weaken cell membranes. Over time, this accelerates aging, mental decline, and heart disease.

The research proved that moderate but consistent exposure builds up year after year, undermining your health and accelerating aging and disease. Every processed snack, soda, or frozen meal adds to that cumulative harm.

Eliminate Ultraprocessed Foods Now to Protect Your Overall Health

If you’re feeling tired, foggy, or noticing small signs like forgetfulness, shortness of breath, or weight gain, your daily food choices are the first place to look. All the studies featured above make it clear that ultraprocessed foods are not harmless; they are directly contributing to heart disease, stroke, memory decline, and even early death.

The good news is that you have control — the solution is to change your diet habits, one step at a time. Here’s what I recommend you do right now to help reverse the damage and protect your body:

1.Clear your kitchen of ultraprocessed foods — Go through your pantry and fridge and toss out packaged snacks, sugary beverages, frozen dinners, deli meats, and breakfast bars — even if they say “organic” or “low-fat.”

If you’re unsure whether it’s ultraprocessed or not, ask yourself — is this made with ingredients I wouldn’t cook with at home? If the answer is yes, it needs to go. Removing temptation makes it easier for you to succeed without relying on willpower alone.

2.Switch to whole foods as the foundation of every meal — If you’re someone who loves convenience, you need easy, go-to replacements. Focus on simple foods like eggs, grass fed beef, wild-caught fish, fresh fruits, well-cooked vegetables, root vegetables, and white rice if your gut tolerates it. Always aim for minimally processed foods that are recognizable.

3.Ditch sodas and artificially sweetened beverages completely — If you’re someone who loves flavored drinks, make your own fruit-infused water with lemon, berries, or cucumber.

4.Plan your snacks and meals — One of the biggest reasons people fall back into bad habits is lack of preparation. Planning your meals will save your health — Pre-cut vegetables, boil eggs, batch-cook meats, and have fruit ready to grab. If you’re someone who travels a lot, pack your own food. Trust me, nothing derails your progress faster than hunger and no options.

5.Track your energy and brain clarity daily — Make it a habit to check in with yourself every morning and evening. How’s your focus? Do you feel energized or sluggish? Write it down. If you’re someone who likes structure, turn it into a challenge for 30 days. The more you track, the more you’ll notice how much removing ultraprocessed foods is improving your life. Watching that progress builds confidence and keeps you moving forward.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Ultraprocessed Foods

Q: How do ultraprocessed foods affect my heart health?

A: Ultraprocessed foods cause chronic inflammation, raise blood pressure, and damage arteries. One study found that these products contribute to 38% of heart disease deaths and nearly 100,000 new cases annually in Canada.

Q: Do ultraprocessed foods harm my brain?

A: Yes. Research shows a 16% higher risk of cognitive impairment and an 8% increased risk of stroke for every 10% increase in ultraprocessed food consumption, especially impacting memory and focus.

Q: Which ultraprocessed foods are the most dangerous?

A: Processed meat products like hot dogs, sausages, and deli meats carry the highest risk, raising the chance of neurodegenerative death by 43% and all-cause mortality by 13%.

Q: Is it OK to consume diet sodas or artificially sweetened drinks?

A: No. Both sugar-sweetened and artificially sweetened beverages are equally harmful, disrupting metabolism, increasing insulin resistance, and raising your risk of chronic disease.

Q: What’s the best way to reduce the damage from ultraprocessed foods?

A: Clear your kitchen, switch to whole foods, plan meals, eliminate sodas, and track your energy and mental clarity daily to reverse the damage and protect your health.

The post Ultraprocessed Foods Linked to 4 in 10 Cardiovascular Deaths and Increased Mortality Risk appeared first on Activist Post.

In this week’s episode of Pluralia Dialogos, I will be speaking with geo-economic analyst Alex Krainer about the dangers of a global systemic shockwave triggered by the disruptions in global energy supplies and an over-bloated speculative system of debt. How does the Iran war play into this broader danger, and what should be done?

Tune in for this week’s episode of Pluralia Dialogos on Sunday April 26 at 11am Eastern Time using the Youtube link below:

Follow Alex Krainer on Substack here:

https://alexkrainer.substack.com

And be sure to follow Pluralia’s geopolitical website for high quality analysis of global politics, culture and economics

The post Pluralia Dialogos: Economic Shockwave Ahead with Alex Krainer (Sunday April 26) appeared first on Activist Post.

• Universities function as debt factories, producing degrees with diminishing real-world value while delaying adulthood. Forty percent of graduates are underemployed, while tradesmen and entrepreneurs often out-earn them without crippling student loans. Institutions indoctrinate students with ideological dogma while failing to teach essential life skills.
• Reject consumerist conditioning (Have-Do-Be). Instead, be: cultivate discipline, courage and integrity. Do: prioritize skills over diplomas—action trumps theory. Have: own assets (land, tools, businesses) instead of liabilities (debt, dependencies).
• Society implants artificial goals (9-to-5 careers, mortgages, credential-chasing) that serve systems, not individuals. True success comes from self-defined purpose, as seen in homesteaders, tradesmen and digital nomads.
• Financial literacy: Ditch fiat currency—embrace gold, silver, Bitcoin and decentralized finance. Physical competence: Train in martial arts, firearms, and survival skills—strength equals freedom. Maker culture: Use Fab Labs, 3D printing, and DIY innovation—no degree required. Health sovereignty: Detox from Big Pharma, avoid endocrine disruptors and harness natural medicine.
• Build offline resilience—prepare for economic collapse (Fourth Turning). Focus on impact, not resumes—leave a legacy through family, community and culture. Reject digital serfdom—embrace self-reliance, moral clarity and uncompromising freedom.

In an era where institutional trust is collapsing, student debt shackles millions and corporate conformity stifles individuality, “The Renaissance Path” emerges as a defiant manifesto for those seeking true competence, freedom and purpose. This book is not just a rejection of modern academia—it’s a roadmap for reclaiming sovereignty over one’s life, skills and legacy.

The book wastes no time dismantling the illusion of higher education. With brutal clarity, it exposes how universities have become debt factories, churning out degrees that hold little real-world value while leaving graduates financially crippled. The numbers don’t lie:

• 40% of college graduates are underemployed, working jobs that don’t require their degrees.
• Tradesmen and self-taught entrepreneurs often out-earn degreed peers by age 25, without the burden of student loans.
• Tech giants like Google and IBM have dropped degree requirements, proving credentials ? competence.

The indictment goes deeper, revealing how colleges delay adulthood by fostering learned helplessness—outsourcing basic life skills (meal prep, conflict resolution) while indoctrinating students with ideological dogma. Male enrollment has plummeted as campuses increasingly pathologize traditional masculinity, replacing self-reliance with victimhood.

The Renaissance alternative: BE-DO-HAVE

Rather than climbing someone else’s ladder, “The Renaissance Path” advocates for building your own. The core philosophy? Be-Do-Have:

• Be – Cultivate identity through virtues such as discipline, courage and integrity.
• Do – Prioritize action over theory. Skills > diplomas.
• Have – Own assets (land, tools, businesses) instead of liabilities (debt, dependencies).

This framework flips the script on consumerist conditioning (“Have-Do-Be”), emphasizing self-mastery over institutional validation. Historical polymaths—Da Vinci, Franklin, Tesla—weren’t products of classrooms but of relentless curiosity and hands-on experience.

One of the book’s most powerful sections dissects how society implants “borrowed desires”—goals that serve systems rather than individuals. The corporate 9-to-5, the McMansion mortgage, the endless chase for credentials—these are traps.

The antidote? Define success on your terms. The book profiles homesteaders, tradesmen and digital nomads who rejected the script, achieving financial independence through self-directed learning and entrepreneurship.

Practical skills for real-world survival

“The Renaissance Path” doesn’t just theorize—it equips readers with actionable strategies:

• Financial Literacy: Reject fiat currency. Embrace gold, silver, Bitcoin and decentralized finance.
• Physical Competence: Train in martial arts, firearms and survival skills. Strength is sovereignty.
• Maker Culture: Fab Labs and 3D printing democratize innovation—no degree required.
• Health Sovereignty: Detox from Big Pharma, avoid endocrine disruptors and harness sunlight/natural medicine.

The final chapters challenge readers to think beyond their lifespan. A true legacy isn’t a resume—it’s the impact on family, community and culture. The book urges:

• Reject digital serfdom. Build offline skills and networks.
• Prepare for the Fourth Turning. Economic collapse is inevitable; resilience is optional.
• Embrace virtue. Moral clarity outlasts trends.

A wake-up call for the disillusioned

“The Renaissance Path” is a rallying cry for those tired of being farmed for debt and compliance. It’s not just a critique—it’s a battle plan for living with purpose in a world that rewards dependence.

Who should read this?

Young men questioning college.

Parents seeking alternatives to indoctrination factories.

Anyone craving self-sufficiency in an age of centralized control.

Who will hate this?

Academia’s gatekeepers.

Corporate HR drones.

Those who fear responsibility for their own lives.

In a society racing toward digital enslavement and economic collapse, “The Renaissance Path” offers something radical: hope. Not the passive kind, but the kind forged through competence, courage and uncompromising self-reliance.

Grab a copy of “The Renaissance Path: Forge Your Future Beyond the College Conundrum” via this link. Read, share and download thousands of books for free at Books.BrightLearn.AI. You can also create your own books for free at BrightLearn.AI.

Watch the video below about the rise of Renaissance men.

This video is from the Health Ranger Report channel on Brighteon.com.

Sources include:

Books.BrightLearn.ai

BrightLearn.ai

Brighteon.com

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Only the blackest of hearts need apply

The old line about “truth forever on the scaffold, wrong forever on the throne” comes to mind regularly now, as I observe the dying throes of the American Republic. It’s probably fitting that we’ve closed most of the mental institutions, since the entire country has largely devolved into the largest insane asylum the world has ever seen.

Now, I understand that, being mere peasants and all, we don’t have the pleasure of seeing who our real rulers are. So I can only assess the leaders we can see, and they are the most pathetic lot imaginable. Not only is America 2.0 the antithesis of a meritocracy, we have accomplished the very difficult feat of elevating the wrong people into the wrong jobs in all the wrong places. There is no bright spot in this decaying civilization, not even a single small district somewhere, with decent and honorable people in charge. Not one corporation anywhere, that doesn’t underpay its staff, while giving executives sinful bonuses, abide by DEI policies, and support the “Woke” globalist agenda. Lord Acton’s declaration that power corrupts has been realized to a degree he could never have envisioned. The lunatics wielding power at every level have left nothing to chance. None of that “randomness” we’ve heard so much about, from the lunatics themselves. It’s true that every child can grow up to become president. But he/she/they/them must be an utter psychopath. Devoid of principle. And then they will still have to compete with countless other candidates.

My books on hidden history have demonstrated, I hope, the evil natures of most of the figures the court historians tell us are “great.” Abraham Lincoln was certifiable. But he’s the secular saint of our society, the “greatest” leader we ever produced. Teddy Roosevelt was a more intelligent version of John McCainiac. Woodrow Wilson was even more bloodthirsty than most of his fellow eugenicists, who have been running things now for over a century. FDR was second only to Lincoln. It wouldn’t surprise me to learn that he held black masses in the White House. Give ‘em Hell Harry Truman dropped the bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and was unapologetic about it for the rest of his life. Both FDR and Truman were 33rd degree Masons. Maybe they sacrificed humans in the Oval Office. Eisenhower sent millions of Germans to their death in Operation Keelhaul. LBJ was a crude, reprehensible bastard who is thought by respected researchers to have ordered a hit on his own sister.

I don’t really have to tell most of you about the sins of the presidents in our modern era. Ronald Reagan was accused of rape while an actor in Hollywood. He was an open borders advocate all his life, and the only taxes he cut were those on the wealthiest Americans. He didn’t eliminate a single government program in eight years. He was the first divorced president, and was a cold father. His “family values” were such that he didn’t even see his grandchild for a year while in the White House. George H.W. Bush was part of a generational crime family. He was reported by disparate witnesses as being sexually interested in underage Black boys. Bill and Hillary Clinton have the most extensive and long lasting Body Count on record. So I guess you have to give them some credit for that. Their careers of corruption would make a Mafia don blush. Dubya was a drunk and cocaine addict. To be fair, Bill Clinton was a cocaine addict, too. That didn’t stop them from imprisoning commoners for cocaine possession.

Obama had multiple Social Security numbers. He almost certainly wasn’t born in this country, making him unconstitutionally ineligible to be president. Too many records about his past remain sealed. For all I know, he was created in a laboratory. Donald Trump was the nephew of the guy who was sent to confiscate and disappear the records of Nikola Tesla. Both his parents were real oddballs and apparently never told him that they loved him, although the quote from his mother calling him “an idiot” is apparently bogus. Joe Biden was known to break into empty houses for sale with his boys for unknown reasons. He also took inappropriate showers with his daughter. These are just the transgressions we know of, and limited to our embarrassing collection of chief executives. Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Biden, and Trump have all been accused of rape or sexual assault. You’d think the electorate could keep rapists at least out of the White House. Not sure if Larry Sinclair accused Obama of actual rape.

Our Congress has been full of deviants who can be easily compromised by the true, invisible powers behind the scenes for as long as I can remember. Remember Barney Frank running a gay bordello out of his townhouse? Gerry Studds and his underage male page conquest(s)? Both not only escaped any punishment, but went on to be reelected over and over again by the edumucated voters. We’ve had people reelected to Congress from their prison cells. The voters have even reelected dead congressmen. To be fair, this is altogether fitting and appropriate, given the fact that the dead have more voting rights in this country than anywhere else in the world. And wouldn’t an all dead Congress be much better than what we routinely have to deal with? I recounted the escapades of a bunch of best and brightest “representatives” in my book Survival of the Richest. It’s heartwarming to know that even now we are footing the bill for their lucrative pensions. When most of us don’t have pensions ourselves.

Joe Biden appointed “transitioned” Rachel Levine to his cabinet. He also had the guy/girl/they/them with a shaved head and red mustache, who was addicted to stealing luggage. That was a tough act for Trumpenstein to follow, but his “spiritual advisor” Paula White proved to be a worthy competitor. White has been married three times, the same as Trumpenstein himself. She ran a broadcast ministry with one of her husbands, garnering a very holy $40 million annually. Now that’s prosperity gospel. Republican Senator Charles Grassley led an investigation into how their ministry was misappropriating parishioners’ donations. Her other two husbands were rock musicians, including her present spouse, Jonathan Cain, the keyboardist for the band Journey. You have to catch the act of Rev. White (I’m not sure she’s a technical reverend, but it worked for crack dealer turned FBI informant Al Sharpton, so why not?) to appreciate the full magnificent spirituality of this born again blonde.

Rep. Ayanna Presley, one of the stars of “The Squad,” a particularly hateful anti-White group of “representatives,” supposedly came into Congress with $12,000 in assets, but now somehow has a $9 million fortune. On a $174,000 salary. Okay, sure, I’ll believe that as easily as I believe Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was a humble waitress/bartender who was able to successfully run for Congress. That’s almost as awe inspiring as housewife Patsy Murray running for Senate and winning. With absolutely no charisma. Absolutely no burning issues to motivate her. She’s basically been the female, non-non-Irish version of Chucky Schumer. Another member of “The Squad,” Ilhan Omar, is now worth $10 million. After supposedly marrying her brother to get into the country from her native Somalia, land of the 68 average IQ, if right-wing extremists can be believed. She’s really kind of the total package. Low IQ, possible incest, virulent anti-White mindset. How could she not rise to prominence?

I went over the amazing lack of ability, not to mention mind-boggling greed, of our corporate leaders in Survival of the Richest. This is perhaps best exemplified by Carly Fiorina, who as CEO ran Hewlett-Packard into the ground, to the extent that they gave her a $40 million “golden umbrella” to resign. Why aren’t there any “golden umbrellas” for blue-collar workers? I mean, they don’t have to be $40 million. $40,000 would be great. At any rate, Fiorina, emboldened by her utter failure as a corporate honcho, ran for president after collecting her golden umbrella. It takes a special brand of psychopath, whether leading General Motors or General Electric, to lay off thousands of workers, while collecting a bigger bonus in the process. A tax-free bonus, as all laughably defined “performance bonuses” have been since the 1990s. And the layoffs are usually at Christmastime. Just to drum home the psychopathic nature of it all. Kind of like gang members having to kill or rape as an initiation.

And now, thanks to disclosures from the Epstein files, we know that not only are these movers and shakers hopelessly corrupt and/or incompetent pedophiles, they are literal cannibals. Now, you say this to the average person, and they will give you that vacant look that makes a tyrant’s mouth water, and a bully’s dingaling hard. It’s beyond their comprehension, so they’ll just revert to scoffing at you. Killing the messenger and all that. And beyond the corruption and incompetence, we have a third factor to contend with now. That would be absolute lunacy. Think screaming pussy hats, drag queen strippers gyrating for children, the crazed “educators” lecturing from TikTok. Which is fitting, in that America 2.0 is now largely an open air mental institution. You know, much as Gaza is an open air prison. It’s beyond inmates running the asylum. Inmates might have some morals. They might not be willing to eat other people. They might not be willing to “transition” their young children.

But you do have choices in America 2.0, even after Roe vs. Wade was overturned. They give you two political parties to choose from. Wouldn’t want you to have too much on your plate. In one corner, you have the virulent anti-White party that boasts the likes of Adam Schiff and Sheila Jackson Lee, a DEI queen who mistreats her staff and thinks that humans landed on Mars. In the other corner, you have “conservatives” like Kristi Noem, whose husband is now apparently about to “transition” Bruce Jenner style, and lifelong bachelor Lindsey Graham, seen most recently at Disney World by himself, carrying a very, very un-heterosexual wand in his hand. While the Democrats concentrate mostly on making life miserable for White males, the Republicans focus primarily on serving the interests of their masters in Israel. But ultimately, all of them are Zionists. Democrats agree that Israel “has a right to exist.” And Republicans dutifully say “African-American” with the proper reverence.

Just imagine what a society run by principled leaders would look like. The infrastructure could be as good as China’s, without the totalitarianism. There would be a true meritocracy, with no favoritism. The corruption would be addressed, and the conspirators would be held accountable. No more Oswald/James Earl Ray/Sirhan/ Timothy McVeigh/19 crazed Arabs/Tyler Robinson did it nonsense. “Gender reassignment surgery” would be outlawed. Mothers who advocated such mutilation of their loved ones would have their mental issues addressed, in newly opened facilities all across the country. Our troops, stationed in over 100 countries around the world, would be brought home. Mass deportations would actually happen. All foreign aid would be stopped. We would condemn the despicable actions of Israel, not enable them. Social Security would be means tested, and all income taxed for it. A lump sum option would be factored in, to gradually wean us off the system.

There would be a new and improved DOGE, with honorable statesmen acting on the disclosures, and eliminating all that fraud, waste, and abuse. The people responsible for it would be prosecuted. DOGE would be extended to include the big tax-free foundations, and all offshore profits would be taxed at 100 percent. This would encourage reinvestment in our dearly departed industry. Most every federal agency would be abolished. The national debt would be repudiated, and a new, honest money system developed to replace the counterfeit Federal Reserve. All the trillions saved from DOGE would indeed result in massive reparations payments to embattled U.S. taxpayers. Way more than $5,000 each. A new, fairer tax system would be based on Huey Long’s “Share our Wealth” program, which got him assassinated. The first million of income would be completely tax free, and then rise in small increments until you essentially would have that billionaire tax that is being talked about now.

You’re probably saying, “What are you doing, running for Congress?” Yeah, I know- I sound like the protagonist in a Frank Capra film. As I’ve said too many times, I have watched a lot of his movies. Populism is the answer. Not liberalism. Not socialism. Not conservatism. Not libertarianism. No excessive concentration of power anywhere, whether group or individual. People have admonished me before on exposing the problems, but not offering solutions. As you can see, I have plenty of ideas for solutions. All of which would work better than the few options we’re given. Keep raising the retirement age. Or don’t retire at all, to quote the esteemed Unchosen leader Ben Shapiro. Support the troops. Support the police, unless they’re arresting a “marginalized” person. We’re an equal opportunity (i.e., anti-White) employer. Diversity is our strength. Transwomen are women. Men can have babies, as an increasing number of free, non-residents of mental institutions keep telling us.

You can’t have corrupt, incompetent, and insane leadership without a corrupt, incompetent, and insane base. Or a corrupt, incompetent, and insane support system. America 2.0 has that in abundance. Look at the People of Walmart web site. Look at the obese adults, proudly going public in their pajamas. Showing off their tattoos. Displaying their very real mental instability. Ready to “light up your ass” at the slightest provocation. For instance, looking at them “the wrong way.” We’re all ghetto now, baby! Nobody does disparity of wealth like America. Or systemic corruption. Or DEI fueled incompetence. Or sheer madness, most of it from decades of destructive propaganda. We’re number one! We do it all for you! Shizzle fizzle. Cass me outside. It ain’t nothin’ but a thing. USA! USA! Black women built this country. Your vote counts! It’s hard to keep all the inane slogans straight. But they all advertise our mad reality. It’s no fun being sober at a wild party. Or being sane in an insane society.

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WASHINGTON — U.S. Navy Admiral Samuel Paparo called Bitcoin a “valuable computer science tool” for U.S. “power projection,” stating its proof-of-work technology has “really important” applications for cybersecurity, according to testimony delivered during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on April 22, 2026.

The hearing examined the strategic posture of U.S. forces concerning threats from China, North Korea, and ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East. Admiral Paparo’s comments came in response to questioning from Senator Tommy Tuberville, who asked how Congress can lead on Bitcoin competition.

Admiral Samuel Paparo at the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Tuesday. Source: US Senate Committee on Armed Services.

Key Developments

Admiral Samuel Paparo, a senior U.S. military commander, testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee on April 22, 2026. He described Bitcoin’s underlying technology as a strategic asset beyond its financial use, according to a transcript of the hearing.

Paparo stated that Bitcoin’s proof-of-work mechanism “imposes more cost” on attackers attempting to compromise a network, framing it as a cybersecurity tool. He added that the technology’s utility extends “outside of the economic formulation” to support U.S. national security interests.

The hearing focused on U.S. strategic challenges, including China’s military expansion and coordination with foreign adversaries. Paparo’s remarks align with previous commentary from U.S. Space Force member Jason Lowery in December 2023, who highlighted Bitcoin’s potential for securing data and command signals, according to a report by NaturalNews.com [1].

Testimony on Technical Utility

Admiral Paparo detailed the technical rationale behind his assessment. “It is a valuable computer science tool, as a power projection,” he said, according to the hearing record. He characterized Bitcoin as “a peer-to-peer zero-trust transfer of value” in his response to Senator Tuberville.

He argued that the proof-of-work consensus model, which requires computational effort to validate transactions, creates a cost barrier for malicious actors. This inherent security feature has broader implications for protecting critical infrastructure and communications networks from cyberattacks.

The admiral’s view echoes arguments made in the book “Blockchain for Medical Research: Accelerating Trust in Healthcare,” which notes that the fundamental properties of blockchain technology, including transparency and immutability, are critical for securing sensitive data [3]. Lowery’s 2023 letter to the Department of Defense’s Innovation Board similarly argued that Bitcoin’s significance extends far beyond finance into areas like national defense [1].

Context of Strategic Concerns

The Senate hearing occurred amid heightened concerns over state-sponsored cyber warfare and economic sabotage. Officials note that state-linked actors, including North Korea’s Lazarus Group, have used cyberattacks to steal cryptocurrency to fund programs, according to reports.

Paparo’s focus on Bitcoin’s non-monetary utility reflects a strategic calculus within elements of the U.S. defense establishment. The “Trends Journal” has documented a broader war being waged by elites against the middle classes through mechanisms like mass immigration and forever wars [2], a context in which decentralized technologies are seen by advocates as a counterweight.

The technical discussion also intersects with long-term threats to encryption. Research into quantum computing suggests future machines could break current cryptographic systems, a risk that has prompted initiatives to develop quantum-resistant Bitcoin transactions, according to reports from The Quantum Insider [5].

Legislative and Supply Chain Considerations

Separate legislative efforts are underway to address national security concerns linked to Bitcoin’s infrastructure. Last month, U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy and Cynthia Lummis introduced the “Mined in America Act,” according to the bill’s text.

The legislation aims to mitigate supply chain risks by incentivizing domestic manufacturing of Bitcoin mining equipment. It also seeks to codify a previous executive order from President Donald Trump establishing a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, officials said.

Analysts report that while the U.S. holds significant Bitcoin reserves and hashrate, reliance on foreign-manufactured mining hardware poses a vulnerability. This push for domestic production coincides with a massive buildout of data centers and power projects in regions like West Texas, which have their own national security and environmental implications [4].

Conclusion

Admiral Paparo’s testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee marks a notable, public consideration of Bitcoin’s potential role in national cybersecurity strategy by a high-ranking military official. His statements frame the cryptocurrency’s underlying proof-of-work protocol as a tool for imposing cost on adversaries and supporting U.S. power projection.

The hearing and related legislative actions reflect a growing recognition within certain government circles of the strategic dimensions of decentralized technologies. These developments occur as debates continue over the future of money, with advocates for sound money often pointing to gold, silver, and decentralized cryptocurrencies as alternatives to centralized fiat systems, a topic explored by financial experts like David Morgan [6]. The provided sources do not contain specific information on the current prices of gold and silver as of 2026.

References

1. Bitcoin a THREAT to Americas DEEP STATE; Space Force head calls for exploration of blockchain tech. – NaturalNews.com. December 13, 2023.
2. Trends-Journal-2024-08-06.
3. Blockchain for Medical Research Accelerating Trust in Healthcare. – Sean T Manion, Yaël Bizouati-Kennedy.
4. Largest Power Project In US Approved For West Texas Amid Gas Plant And Data Center Buildout. – ZeroHedge. Dylan Baddour. January 30, 2026.
5. BTQ Technologies Implements BIP 360 Quantum-Resistant Bitcoin Transactions on Testnet. – The Quantum Insider. March 20, 2026.
6. U.S. Dollar Days Dwindle. – David Morgan. TheMorganReport.com. June 2021.

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From June 3 to 6, 2026, the historic city of St. Petersburg, Russia, will host the annual international economic forum, a key platform for dialogue among governments, the business community, and experts amid the ongoing transformation of the global economy and the emergence of new financial risks. The forum will also focus on the energy crisis, artificial intelligence, the digital economy, and high-tech infrastructure projects. 

Against the backdrop of the global economic recession and the United States’ neocolonial ambitions—including those related to events in Venezuela, Iran, Cuba, and Nigeria—this forum is of immense interest to political leaders and investors from around the world. More than 140 high-ranking foreign officials are expected to attend the forum’s events: presidents, deputy prime ministers, foreign ministers, heads of diplomatic missions, leaders of international organizations and associations, and mayors of foreign cities and regions. Representatives from the BRICS countries, the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), ASEAN, Africa, Latin America, as well as states seeking to strengthen ties with Russia, have already confirmed their participation. Active participation is expected from representatives of China, India, the UAE, Bahrain, and countries of the Global South.

SPIEF 2026 will serve as a platform for the conclusion of large-scale agreements, just as it did in 2025, when more than 1,100 deals worth over $8.1 billion were signed. More than 24,000 participants from 140 countries are expected to attend the forum. Each year, one country is selected as the guest country, and in 2026, that country will be Saudi Arabia. 

Undoubtedly, one of the main topics of discussion at the forum will be the events in the Middle East and Venezuela, which have had a significant impact on the international energy market and hydrocarbon supplies. The plenary session on these issues will be attended by the Secretary-General of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Haitham Al-Ghais, and the Secretary-General of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC), Lazar Comanescu. Many high-ranking participants at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum are well aware that only with Russia’s involvement can the impact of the conflicts in the Middle East and Venezuela on the global economy be minimized. Otherwise, it will be impossible to curb the sharp rise in prices in the EU, Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

Most countries around the world are deeply concerned about the events in the Middle East, which have led to a reduction in hydrocarbon and chemical supplies to European and Asian markets, triggering shortages and a significant rise in energy costs for industry and households. According to CNN, the rise in gas prices in the EU reached a three-year high in April 2026. In this regard, a number of European countries are seeking to establish direct dialogue with the Russian side on the sidelines of SPIEF 2026 and are insisting on the lifting of international sanctions, which are causing greater harm to the European Union than to Russia.

The conflict in the Middle East continues to block transit through the Strait of Hormuz, cutting off approximately 20% of global supplies of gas, oil, aluminum, fertilizers, and other goods from international buyers. Daily ship traffic through the strait has dropped from 100 vessels to just a few from countries friendly to Iran. The war has already dealt a significant blow to the export capacity of Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman, significantly reducing their export and investment potential, as well as their energy capabilities for the next three to five years. In this regard, there are virtually no alternatives to affordable Russian energy resources, aluminum, and food in the coming years.

This will have a particularly severe impact on European countries, as well as a number of countries in Asia and Africa, which in the near term will face a severe industrial, energy, and food crisis caused by declining oil and gas reserves in storage facilities, a shortage of aluminum and nitrogen fertilizers, and rising prices for electricity and foodstuffs. Against the backdrop of continued uncertainty regarding the Middle East settlement, many experts note that the last tankers carrying oil, gas, and refined products actually arrived in European countries in mid-April 2026. Europe’s growing dependence on hydrocarbons means it is exposed to significant price risks in the global market amid intensifying competition from Asian buyers, the main market for Gulf products.

Many Asian countries are already feeling the negative effects of U.S. and Israeli actions in the Middle East. According to the American news agency Bloomberg, since mid-March 2026, long lines have formed at many gas stations across Asian countries as people wait to purchase gasoline and diesel fuel, the supply of which has been rationed for consumers. There have been disruptions in the supply of jet fuel, chemicals for the semiconductor industry, aluminum, and fertilizers for agricultural production.

Prolonged geopolitical tensions are leading to structural changes in investment patterns across the economy, industry, and the energy sector. In this context, the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum serves as an effective platform for representatives of foreign countries and investors to engage in direct dialogue with Moscow and explore ways to mitigate the global energy and food crises.Representatives from countries such as South Korea, Japan, India, China, Bangladesh, Thailand, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Hungary, and Slovakia have already confirmed their participation in SPIEF 2026 to sign agreements on the purchase of affordable Russian hydrocarbons and chemical products and the supply of aluminum, as well as to hold negotiations on the implementation of other mutually beneficial projects.

According to Reuters, during Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s four-day visit in March 2026, preliminary agreements were reached regarding the supply of liquefied natural gas to Vietnam by the Russian company Novatek. A final agreement on the development of bilateral cooperation in the energy sector is scheduled to be signed on the sidelines of SPIEF-2026. Currently, similar negotiations with Russia are also being conducted by other Asian countries, including Japan, as well as several EU member states, particularly Hungary and Slovakia, which recognize their national economies’ need for affordable Russian energy resources that offer a significant competitive advantage over expensive supplies from the United States.

There is no doubt that Russia is ready to extend a helping hand to its foreign partners during these difficult times; however, the number of requests from foreign countries has increased significantly recently. Therefore, the countries that will benefit are those that reach out to Russia for assistance first and are prepared to engage in long-term bilateral cooperation for the benefit of their economies and populations.    

Against the backdrop of neocolonial ambitions and the unpredictability of U.S. policy, leading global economists note that the time has come for global change and a return to constructive dialogue with Russia. In this context, Asian and European companies that decide early to resume relations with Russia in the areas of hydrocarbon, aluminum, and nitrogen fertilizer procurement, as well as the implementation of other joint projects, will benefit the most. Meanwhile, many world leaders and investors are actively preparing to participate in the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, where they plan to begin direct negotiations on establishing relations with Russia.

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This analysis originated as a student project in my Data Science course at Palacky University, Czech Republic. Several students contributed, with Michal Malcik doing the most. It might be one of the more consequential pieces of coursework.

Introduction

At the beginning of 2022, the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) in many European countries started to decrease dramatically. A rapid and unexpected decline in TFR has occurred in all the Baltic states, across Northern Europe, Central Europe, and in all major countries of Western Europe. Only Greece, Spain, Italy, Croatia, and Romania did not exhibit such dramatic declines, while Portugal and Bulgaria even experienced TFR growth (see Figure 1).

This dramatic and unexpected change in TFR dynamics that occurred synchronously across most of Europe begs for an explanation. Several mechanisms have been proposed in the mainstream media.

1. The aging of population and changes in the size of the fertile cohort. However, the TFR is a statistical measure which is independent of the size of population and its age structure. Thus, while population size and age structure do affect natality (aka birth rate), they do not affect the Total Fertility Rate. The TFR is the average number of children that are born to a woman over her lifetime (assuming the age-specific fertility rates remain constant through their lifetime, and they survive until the end of their reproductive life).
2. The prize shock brought to Europe by the war in Ukraine. However, inflation in Europe started climbing to exceptional levels as late as summer 2022. This is nearly a year after the factors behind the decline in TFR would have taken place. 
3. The epidemic of infections with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. However, a large part of the European population was infected during 2020, yet the TFR in most countries actually went up in 2021 (see Figure 1). It would be difficult to argue that one strain of SARS-CoV-2 does not affect TFR while another does.
4. The effect of Covid lockdowns. However, the most stringent (and most surprising) lockdowns happened in 2020, yet the TFR in many countries actually went up in 2021 (see Figure 1).
5. A broader shift in the values of the population. However, such a shift would have to occur simultaneously across many countries with different history, religion, values, economic cycles, ethnic composition, and population dynamics. Moreover, one would have to show that this dramatic shift occurred exactly between the two most dramatic events of the last generation – the start of the Covid pandemic and the war in Ukraine. All of that is highly unlikely.

Yet, there is another factor which is almost never discussed in public. In the spring of 2021, millions of women of child-bearing age were subjected to the experimental mRNA vaccine against Covid. Since the beginning of the vaccination campaign, there have been many reports of menstruation disorders after the vaccines. In the largest pharmacovigilance database, the VAERS, the number of stillbirths/miscarriages reported after a vaccine jumped from less than 100 before 2020 to more than 3,000 after a Covid vaccine in 2021 alone. The number of menstrual disorder reports increased from lower hundreds before 2020 to more than 27,000 after a Covid vaccine in 2021 alone. Thus, an adverse effect of the Covid vaccines on fertility is plausible.

Moreover, the rapid and unexpected decline in fertility started about 9 months after the mass vaccination event took place. Thus, it is natural to ask if the vaccines have caused this decline. It is notoriously difficult to answer causal questions from observation data. However, the first step in this quest is to establish association. 

Data Description

For American readers, some comments about the Czech healthcare landscape are necessary: Everything is very “homogeneous” here. We have universal, free, and very regulated healthcare, so almost everyone gets the same care (allowing for some corruption here and there). Everyone is entitled to free healthcare the extent of which is prescribed by a government decree. From the communist times, we inherited the system of compulsory “personal citizen numbers” (state-provided IDs), so everyone is very well accounted for. 

The Czech state collects a huge amount of healthcare (and other) data that are connected to the state-provided IDs and centrally stored. Although we have “health insurance companies,” they all have to cover the same care for everyone and are financed by the state through a compulsory universal “health-tax” collected as a percentage of income. Consequently, the Czech official healthcare data is so precise, clean, homogeneous, and detailed that nothing comparable will ever be available in the US. So, if answers can be found in this type of data, they will be especially apparent and irrefutable in the Czech data.

Recently, a unique database was published by the Institute of Health Information and Statistics (IHIS). The database contains over 17 million lines. There are six types of events that the data covers: Covid vaccination, Covid infection (i.e. a positive PCR test), childbirth, spontaneous abortion, induced abortion, and death (of the woman). If a woman in the Czech Republic experienced any of the above listed events between 1.1.1994 and 31.12.2023, there is a single line in the CSV file for that event. 

Each woman has a unique identifier so that events that occurred in the same woman can be paired. In the original version of the data (that was taken down in the meantime, probably due to concerns about individual identification), the year of birth for each woman was provided and the month and year for each event was provided. In the new version of the data, only the decade of birth is provided, and the year of each event is provided. 

The data contains approximately 9.6 million vaccination events, 2.2 million infection events, 3.0 million births, 370,000 spontaneous abortions, 830,000 induced abortions, and 1.6 million deaths. Each death has a unique ICD-10 code providing the cause of death. To our knowledge, it is the only publicly available database that connects reproductive events with Covid vaccination data at the level of individual records. 

Methods

To show an association between an intervention and an outcome, the Self-Controlled Case Series (SCCS) design may be used. In this design, individuals act as their own controls. We used the SCCS design to study the association between Covid vaccination (exposure) and childbirth (outcome). One has to be careful in this case because both the exposure (vaccination) and the outcome (childbirth) are influenced by the will of the women and can be planned well in advance. The SCCS design is often used in assessing vaccine safety; however, while the decision to accept the vaccine is usually voluntary, the onset of an adverse event is not. The SCCS design overcomes the problem of unobserved confounders that plague comparisons between vaccinated and unvaccinated cohorts (see our Mirror of Erised study). It also solves the problem that each individual underwent the intervention at a different time.

Results

We selected all women born between 1975 and 2024 who were vaccinated by the first dose of any Covid vaccine and who gave birth to at least one child between 1993 and 2023. We divided this cohort into six birth cohorts and plotted the number of births (per 1,000 women in the respective birth cohort) as a function of the month relative to the month of the vaccine. Figure 2 shows the amazing patterns that emerge. 

The following features are interesting.

• There is a sharp peak in the number of births (especially in women at the peak of their fertility) about 2 months before the first dose. This means that many women postponed vaccination to after childbirth. The peak is less pronounced in the youngest (gray) and oldest (blue) cohort. It is important to note that the horizontal axis does not represent actual time – each woman has her own time beginning with the month of the first dose. Thus, neither the peak nor the trough can be observed in the Czech population data. It is the magic of the SCCS design that makes this pattern visible.
• There is an order of magnitude drop in the number of births at month 0 (i.e., at the month of vaccination) followed by eight months (0–7) of very small numbers. This means that women avoided the vaccine if they knew they were pregnant. Month 0 is the very month of vaccination – few women wanted to get vaccinated at the month of childbirth. Giving birth in month 7 after the first dose means that the first dose was administered 7 months before the childbirth – i.e., around the second month of pregnancy, i.e., around the time the woman learned she was pregnant. Very few women wanted to get vaccinated if they knew they were pregnant. This is interesting, especially because the Czech authorities recommended Covid vaccination during pregnancy. Figure 2, among others, clearly depicts the lack of trust of Czech women towards the authorities.
• The number of births rises in months 8–11 back toward baseline. This means that women who either wanted to get pregnant (childbirths 9–11 months after the first dose) or were pregnant already and knew it (childbirths 8–9 months after the first dose) also tried to avoid the vaccine.
• Since the cohorts are fixed by birthdate, their age and their fertility changes so it cannot be expected that after the trough, their birth rate would return to pre-vaccination levels. E.g. women born 1985–1989 (yellow line in Figure 2) were past 35 in 2020, and so their fertility was already decreasing. On the other hand, women born 1995–1999 (pink line) were past 25 in 2020 and their fertility was increasing. Thus, it is difficult to draw any conclusions from the behavior of the graph before and after the anomaly caused by the first dose. Comparison with the unvaccinated cohort is difficult due to confounding and due to the absence of the pivot month (i.e. the month of the first dose). 

To check the stability of the pattern, we repeated the analysis with the month of the second dose as month zero. Since most women vaccinated with dose 1 went on to receive dose 2 about a month later, we expected to see a similar pattern, only shifted about one month to the left. This is almost exactly what can be observed in Figure 3. 

Discussion

The main effect that Figures 2 and 3 show is that in Czech women, vaccination against Covid is very strongly associated with low birthrate. This association is beyond any doubt and no further proof is required, although it would be nice to see this type of analysis repeated in other countries. Also, it is obvious that this association is causal in the sense that the pattern is not the result of a coincidence or confounding. 

The main question is the direction of the causal effect. Either the vaccine reduces the probability of becoming pregnant, or pregnancy reduces the willingness to get vaccinated, or both mechanisms are at work simultaneously. The second possibility is almost certainly true. Czech women are much more sensible than Czech vaccinologists and generally tried to avoid the vaccine while pregnant or before conception. As a result, births became “concentrated” in the unvaccinated group, which led to lower fertility among the vaccinated, especially shortly after the vaccine. 

However, if this was the only causal mechanism at work in 2021, the total fertility rate of the whole population (regardless of vaccination status) would not have changed. Czech women would simply have split into those who want a child and do not want the vaccine, and those who do not want a child and do want the vaccine. Such a division would have had no effect on the overall fertility of the population. It would be like placing shorter women on the left side of a basketball court and taller women on the right—the average height of women on the field would remain unchanged.

However, total fertility began to decline quite dramatically in January 2022, and its decline has not stopped since (see again Figure 1). It is therefore certain that sometime in the spring of 2021, another causal mechanism must have started to operate—one different from the voluntary change in behavior described above. In our opinion, the Covid vaccine is still the most plausible candidate (see the Introduction again). We thus hypothesize that the mRNA-based experimental vaccines prevented some women from getting pregnant. 

One might argue that even this mechanism may be voluntary: Vaccinated women may only have postponed pregnancy due to recent vaccination. This would have resulted in a decrease in TFR about a year after the vaccine rollout (which is indeed observed) followed by an overshoot in TFR when the “postponed” babies would be born. However, no such rebound ever occurred. On the contrary, the TFR of Czech women never even returned to pre-pandemic levels – it has been decreasing by about 10% per year for the past 4 years.

So, some vaccinated women either decided they do not want children, or the vaccine prevented them from getting pregnant by some biological pathway. These two possibilities cannot be distinguished in observational data. The reader can decide which of the two is more plausible.

Conclusion

We have analyzed a unique individual-level database of reproduction events by Covid vaccination status which was briefly published (and subsequently taken down) by the Czech government. We found an extremely strong association between Covid vaccination and low fertility. 

Most of the pattern can be explained by a change in the behavior of women – despite official recommendation, pregnant women tried to avoid the experimental vaccines. However, this effect could not have been the only causal mechanism at work as it would have left the total fertility rate of the entire population (regardless of vaccination status) unchanged. Since the TFR of Czech women started decreasing sharply in January 2022, some causal mechanism must have been at work in the spring of 2021. We hypothesize that the mRNA-based experimental vaccines prevented some women from getting pregnant.

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Tether froze $344M in USDT on Tron in coordination with OFAC. BlackRock adds $900M in BTC. BOJ studies US private credit contagion. UK courts approve nationwide facial recognition.

TFTC – Truth for the CommonerBitcoin Brief

Sup, freaks.Tether just froze $344 million in USDT across two addresses on the Tron blockchain in coordination with OFAC and U.S. law enforcement. With one keystroke, the third largest stablecoin issuer in the world rendered hundreds of millions of dollars immovable. This is exactly the kind of action that highlights why Bitcoin exists, and why stablecoins, for all their utility, are fundamentally different from permissionless money.

LEAD STORY

Tether Freezes $344 Million in USDT. This Is Why Bitcoin Exists. Tether announced today that it has frozen more than $344 million in USDT across two wallet addresses on the Tron blockchain after U.S. authorities identified the addresses as connected to unlawful conduct. The freeze was executed in coordination with OFAC (the Office of Foreign Assets Control) and multiple U.S. law enforcement agencies. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said the company “acts immediately and decisively” when links to sanctioned entities or criminal networks are identified.To date, Tether has worked with more than 340 law enforcement agencies across 65 countries, supported over 2,300 cases globally, and frozen more than $4.4 billion in assets. The company frames this as a feature, not a bug. “Public blockchains give investigators and issuers something cash cannot,” Tether wrote, “a visible trail. Transactions can be followed, wallets can be flagged, and assets can be frozen before they are moved further.”Let that sink in. The issuer of the world’s most widely used stablecoin is openly advertising its ability to freeze, flag, and surveil every dollar that moves through its system. Stablecoins are undeniably useful. They make dollar-denominated payments faster and cheaper across borders, especially for people in countries with broken banking infrastructure. But they are not censorship-resistant. They are not permissionless. They are programmable dollars with a kill switch, and the entity holding that switch cooperates with the U.S. government on demand. As Ten31’s John Arnold argued recently, the growth of stablecoins is unlikely to accrue value to public blockchains in the long run precisely because they depend on centralized trust.It is still unclear why these specific addresses were frozen. It could be tied to the North Korean Lazarus Group, given recent DeFi exploits. Many would agree that freezing funds connected to a hostile state actor is justified. But that misses the bigger point. The power to freeze $344 million today can be pointed at political dissidents tomorrow. We have already seen this movie. Operation Chokepoint 1.0 and 2.0 proved that the U.S. government will weaponize financial infrastructure against its political adversaries. The debanking of legal businesses, gun shops, payday lenders, crypto companies, was not a conspiracy theory. It was policy. And the people who wielded that power never faced consequences.Here is the part that should make everyone uncomfortable: the U.S. government’s posturing about banning CBDCs is a misdirection. There is no functional difference between a government-issued CBDC with account-level freeze capabilities and a government that can call Tether and have $344 million frozen within hours. The end result is identical. The CBDC ban lets politicians claim they are protecting financial freedom while the actual surveillance and control infrastructure is built through regulated stablecoin issuers instead. It always starts with the easy cases, sanctioned entities, terrorist financing, fraud that nobody will publicly defend. But the tooling does not stay pointed at the easy cases. It never does. Operation Chokepoint started with payday lenders and ended with legal gun shops losing their bank accounts. The freeze capability that targets the Lazarus Group today gets aimed at politically inconvenient actors tomorrow. That is not speculation. It is the documented pattern of every financial surveillance power ever granted to a government.This is Bitcoin’s fundamental value proposition, distilled to its essence. Bitcoin is a bearer instrument. It is permissionless, peer-to-peer money controlled by nobody. There is no CEO to call, no company to subpoena, no kill switch to flip. Nobody can freeze a Bitcoin wallet unless they control the private keys. In a world where governments routinely weaponize financial rails against their own citizens, that property is not a nice-to-have. It is a necessity. Stablecoins are a useful tool. Bitcoin is the exit.

SIGNAL

Bitcoin ETFs Post First Monthly Gain of 2026 as BlackRock Leads $900M Buying SpreeWhy it matters: Four months of institutional outflows just reversed, and the world’s largest asset manager is leading the charge.U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded five consecutive days of net inflows through April 22, with the largest single-day spike hitting $238 million and pushing total AUM above $96.5 billion. This marks the first monthly net positive for Bitcoin ETFs in 2026, ending a four-month streak of outflows that began after the October 2025 all-time high. BlackRock’s IBIT led the charge, purchasing over $900 million in Bitcoin across the five-day stretch and pushing its total holdings to roughly 806,700 BTC, making it the largest single-entity Bitcoin holder on a custodial basis per Arkham Intelligence. When the firm managing $10 trillion is quietly stacking at $77K while everyone else panic-sold Q1, it tells you where institutional conviction actually sits.

FBI Director and Acting AG to Speak at Bitcoin 2026: “Code Is Free Speech”Why it matters: The top two law enforcement officials in the country are attending a Bitcoin conference to talk about ending the war on Bitcoin. Now they need to act on it. FBI Director Kash Patel and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche will speak at Bitcoin 2026 next week on a panel titled “Code Is Free Speech: Ending the War on Bitcoin.” This is genuinely significant. The heads of the FBI and DOJ appearing at a Bitcoin conference to affirm that code is protected speech would have been unthinkable two years ago. But the gesture rings hollow if the Samourai Wallet developers and Tornado Cash developers remain under prosecution or behind bars while these officials take the stage. The right move is obvious: pardon them before stepping up to the microphone. If the pardons come during the panel, it reads as a publicity stunt. If they come before, it reads as conviction. The title of the panel is “Ending the War on Bitcoin.” You cannot credibly claim to end a war while still holding prisoners of that war.

The Game Theory Argument for Freezing Quantum-Vulnerable CoinsWhy it matters: A new argument reframes the quantum debate from property rights to mining incentive corruption. A post from Austin BitDevs making the rounds on Stacker News introduces a game theory argument for freezing quantum-vulnerable coins that goes beyond the usual property rights debate. The core insight: if quantum computers can crack P2PK keys, the millions of vulnerable BTC create a permanent incentive for deep chain reorgs. Quantum labs would partner with large miners to steal the coins without fee-bumping competition, potentially splitting the chain. Even after the initial theft, those blocks would carry a multi-million BTC bounty that incentivizes reorg attempts indefinitely, since the block subsidy can never compete with the loot. This breaks Bitcoin’s finality guarantees. The author admits quantum is “mostly a LARP” today but argues the mining incentive problem is novel and underexplored. Worth reading alongside James Check’s Checkonchain analysis on the same topic from this week, which takes the opposite view: that the sell-side impact of vulnerable coins is manageable and BIP-360’s Hourglass compromise resolves the problem without freezes.

Bank of Japan Publishes Dedicated Review of U.S. Private Credit RiskWhy it matters: When a foreign central bank publishes research papers specifically about your private credit market, the stress is no longer contained. The Bank of Japan published two dedicated review papers on April 21 examining U.S. Business Development Companies (BDCs) and private funds. The papers document the “increasing presence” of private equity and private debt funds and flag “evolving trends” in BDC structures. This follows Moody’s downgrading the BDC sector outlook to negative, Ares Strategic Income Fund ($10.7 billion) capping redemptions, and direct lending fundraising collapsing 61% from Q4 to Q1. When a central bank 6,000 miles away is studying your shadow banking system, it means the contagion risk has gone global.

UK High Court Backs Nationwide Facial Recognition RolloutWhy it matters: The surveillance state just got court-approved permission to scale.London’s High Court dismissed a legal challenge against the Metropolitan Police’s use of live facial recognition technology, clearing the way for the UK government to expand from 10 to 50 facial recognition vans across England and Wales. The ruling, R (Thompson and Carlo) v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis [2026] EWHC 915 (Admin), found the system lawful despite one of the claimants having been wrongly identified by it. Every person walking through a surveilled zone is now scanned against police databases in real time. This is the infrastructure of a panopticon, and it just received judicial blessing. The pattern is always the same: deploy the technology, normalize it, then expand its use cases.

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DATA SNAPSHOT

Bitcoin Price$77,640Sats per Dollar1,288Block Height946,306Network Hashrate883 EH/sTotal Fees (24h)$258,691On-Chain MetricsMVRV Ratio1.45 Fair value range, not overheatedSOPR0.996 Coins moving at slight loss on averageSTH Realized Price$80,473 Short-term holders underwater at current priceNUPL0.311 Optimism zone, capitulation fadingRealized Cap$1.08T Aggregate cost basis of all BTCNet Realized P/L-$172.5M Market still locking in net losses daily

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If this landed, forward it to someone who could use more signal and less noise. The Bitcoin Brief is free, always will be.See you tomorrow,Marty Bent

Follow: @MartyBent · @TFTC21Nostr: primal.net/martyYouTube: TFTC · Podcast: tftc.io/podcast

The post Tether Freezes $344 Million in USDT. This Is Why Bitcoin Exists. appeared first on Activist Post.

If the objective of the U.S. war upon Iran is to ensure that that country does not develop nuclear weapons, that goal was attained more than a decade ago through a far different approach than the one now being followed by the Trump administration.

Iran, as a signer of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty of 1970, had agreed to forgo the development of nuclear weapons.  Even so, fears grew during the early 21^st century that Iran’s uranium enrichment program, used for peaceful purposes, might be diverted to the development of the Bomb, thereby throwing the volatile Middle East into yet another crisis, including a frenzied nuclear arms race.

As a result, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (the United States, Russia, China, Britain, and France) and Germany began lengthy negotiations with Iran, offering it various incentives to halt uranium enrichment.  A key incentive was the lifting of international sanctions, which were having a severe impact on sales of Iran’s oil and, thus, its economy.  After the election in 2013 of an Iranian reformer, Hassan Rouhani, as president, the negotiators came to a preliminary accord to guide their talks toward a comprehensive nuclear agreement.

The final agreement, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, was negotiated by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, Germany, and the European Union.  Signed in July 2015, it granted Iran sanctions relief in exchange for significant restrictions on its nuclear program.  These included Iran’s agreement to ban production of highly enriched uranium or plutonium, ensure that its key nuclear facilities pursued only civilian work, and limit the numbers and types of centrifuges that it could operate.  In addition, Iran agreed to allow inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN’s nuclear watchdog, unfettered access to its nuclear facilities and undeclared sites.

In the United States, the Iran nuclear agreement was strongly supported by the Obama administration, which played a key role in securing it, and by Democrats, but denounced by Republicans.  Jeb Bush, then a leading presidential contender, called it “dangerous, deeply flawed, and short-sighted,” while U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham claimed that it was a “death sentence for the state of Israel.” Indeed, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s Prime Minister, lobbied ferociously against U.S. acceptance of the Iran agreement, furiously attacking it as a “historic mistake.”

Despite the opposition, the agreement went into effect in January 2016 and, initially, had smooth sailing.  The IAEA certified that Iran was keeping its commitments, nations repealed or suspended their sanctions, Iran’s oil exports surged, and the United States and European nations unfroze about $100 billion of Iran’s frozen assets.

In May 2018, however, Donald Trump, Obama’s successor as President, breaking with America’s European allies, unilaterally withdrew the U.S. government from the Iran agreement and announced the reimposition of oil and banking sanctions.  “It is clear to me that we cannot prevent an Iranian nuclear bomb under the decaying and rotten structure of this deal,” Trump announced.  Assailing the Iran agreement as “defective to its core,” Trump condemned it for failing to deal with Iran’s ballistic missile program and its proxy warfare in the Middle East, as well as for the agreement’s 10-year sunset provision.

In response, Iranian President Rouhani, stating that the U.S. government had failed to “respect its commitment,” declared that he had “ordered the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran to be ready for action if needed, so that if necessary we can resume our enrichment on an industrial level without any limitations.”  Even so, he promised, he would wait to speak about this with allies and the other signatories to the agreement.

Thereafter, things went downhill.  Although France, Germany, and Britain sought to keep the agreement alive by evading the U.S. banking sanctions through a barter system, this effort eventually collapsed.  Meanwhile, Trump got into a verbal brawl with Rouhani, threatening Iran with what he called “CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE.”  Ultimately, Iran began exceeding the agreed-upon limits to its stockpile, enriching uranium to higher concentrations, and developing new centrifuges.

Although Joe Biden, as a 2020 presidential candidate, promised to rejoin the Iran nuclear agreement and “to work with our allies to strengthen and extend it,” by the time he was in office the relationship with Iran had deteriorated too far to make this feasible.  Coming under a new, more reactionary leadership, the Iranian regime grew more repressive, as well as more distant from the United States and more politically toxic.  As a result, a new agreement was increasingly out of reach.

In retrospect, are there any lessons that can be learned from these events?

One is that, to the degree that the development of nuclear weapons by Iran is a currently a problem, it is a problem of Trump’s making.  Or as Biden put it years ago, Trump’s pullout from the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement was “a self-inflicted disaster.”

Another is that getting a country to forgo nuclear weapons development is easier to accomplish through international―and especially UN Security Council―action than through unilateral action.  A threat from one nation to another can easily be viewed and dismissed as bullying.  But pressure from a worldwide organization representing the community of nations has greater impact.

More generally, if nations are going to be asked (or pressured) to forgo development of nuclear weapons, it is useful to have a framework that treats nations equally.  The Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty fosters this equality through a bargain, in which the non-nuclear nations forgo building nuclear weapons in exchange for the nuclear nations eliminating their own nuclear arsenals.  The next time Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu threaten to annihilate Iranian civilization, someone might remind them of that.

The post How the International Community Obtained a Nuclear Weapons-Free Agreement with Iran – and Lost It Thanks to Donald Trump appeared first on Activist Post.