UK - School textbooks will be updated to include “same sex” couples in their questions, one of the country's biggest education companies has announced. Pearson, which owns the exam board EdExcel and publishes thousands of school textbooks, said it will update all of its products and resources to ensure they are “LGBT inclusive”. A new handbook for secondary schools, produced by the charity Stonewall and sponsored by Pearson, advises teachers on how they can make the curriculum more welcoming for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender pupils.
NEW ZEALAND - CYCLONE Fehi has sparked evacuations and a state of emergency along New Zealand’s west coast as the storm ravages the North Island en route to the nation’s South Island. Winds of up to 80mph (130kph) are expected in southern and central New Zealand. The former tropical cyclone is currently barrelling across New Zealand’s North Island towards the nation’s South Island. A state of emergency has been declared for South Island’s cities Dunedin and Buller.
USA - Overall, CBS reported that 75% of Americans approved of the speech. For such a seriously divisive and polarising President, who is currently languishing with just 39% personal approval ratings, these were sensationally good results. Interestingly, 8/10 Americans in the poll felt the President was trying to unite the country with his speech and two thirds of Americans said it made them feel proud. Less than a quarter that watched said it made them feel scared or angry.
USA - Hours before his first State of the Union, President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he wants to unite the country amid “tremendous divisiveness” and hopes he can do so without a traumatic event affecting Americans. “I would love to be able to bring back our country into a great form of unity,” Trump said. “Without a major event where people pull together, that’s hard to do. But I would like to do it without that major event because usually that major event is not a good thing. I want to see our country united. I want to bring our country back from a tremendous divisiveness, which has taken place not just over one year, over many years, including the Bush years, not just Obama.” he said.
ISRAEL - Israeli envoy Tzachi Hanegbi attended an emergency meeting of international donor states on Wednesday in Brussels to present a $1 billion plan to rebuild Gaza from the ground up. The economic and humanitarian crisis in the region is deepening due to the incessant redirection by Hamas of any resources entering Gaza towards military infrastructure dedicated towards the conflict with Israel, rather than towards investment in the civilian investment and rebuilding for which they were intended. The meeting, called in response to the worsening situation in Gaza and the potential cut in aid to the Palestinian Authority by the United States, was chaired by Norway’s Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Søreide and European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini.
USA - Charles Bausman - Editor's Note: Kudos to Giraldi for stating what everybody knows but nobody is willing to say in print, and to Ron Unz the publisher of the Unz Review. Unz is Jewish, so perhaps that is why he is able to publish something like this. Most Gentile publishers outside the Alt-Right are too scared to, and Jewish publishers simply won't. We need more of this fair, balanced discussion. His [Philip Giraldi] reputation as a career CIA officer and publicist is impeccable. He is one of the few highly respected mainstream writers outside the Alt-Right willing to touch this important subject.
USA - One-click shopping seems to apply to companies, too. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announced Tuesday he’s dipping his toe into health care, and partnering with Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase in the venture. Health care is the latest field for Bezos, who’s spent the last year ascending to become the world’s richest man. In the last five years, the e-commerce power player has also scooped up a number of high-profile companies, from grocery chains to newspapers. And with Tuesday’s news, the question begs what Bezos and Amazon will buy next.
USA - President Donald Trump pushed for greater access to experimental medication for terminally ill patients and also called for drug prices to come down during his first State of the Union. Trump lauded the FDA Tuesday night for approving more drugs and medical devices last year than ever before, but then called for reforms.
USA - Like most folks, you dutifully rub shampoo into your hair daily or a few times each week. After it strips out your hair’s natural moisture and liveliness, you apply a conditioner to get that moisture and liveliness back. Much about modern life seems to follow this general pattern.
USA - The Physicians for Informed Consent is a group of doctors dedicated to educating their patients and the public on infectious disease, the immune system, and informed consent. The group was founded in response to mandatory vaccination laws across the country which remove the rights of parents to informed consent. The group is not anti-vaccine, they are pro-freedom. It is no question that the subject of vaccines is profoundly controversial. On both sides of the argument exists truth and lies that can hinder the ability of some to make rational decisions.
USA - Is the vaccine industry in panic mode? They very well could be, especially after kids vaccinated against the flu keep dying of the influenza virus. Mike Adams, otherwise known as The Health Ranger on his YouTube channel recently theorized that the reason this flu season is so horrendous is because of the vaccine industry. And after gathering more information, it looks like he might be right.
ISRAEL - A unique and rare convergence of a blue blood supermoon eclipse with the Jewish holiday of Tu B’Shvat this Wednesday evening is described in several prophecies from Jewish sources as heralding the end of the era of Ishmael’s dominance over the Temple Mount.
USA - Hip Hop star Jay-Z has blasted traditional Christian values in an epic rant where he claims to be part of an exclusive club of "smart people" who worships "our true lord; Satan." The billionaire rapper has also claimed that "God created Lucifer to be the bearer of truth and light," and that "Jesus never existed" but was merely a "tool created by smart people to control dumb people." During a backstage tirade at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans on Friday, Jay-Z pointed around the room saying, "ya'll being played. There ain't no Jesus. Ya'll slaves to a fake religion. Do you think I got where I am praying to a guy that don't exist? No. I found the guys who invented that guy and I joined the club. Then I worked my way to the top. I earned my new form of humanity and maturity when I fully embraced my older brother, Satan."
SWITZERLAND - Technocrat scientists pushing global warming have no idea how foolish they look as they preach warming disaster while buried in frigid snow. They are sure their science is settled and deniers are all wrong. ⁃ TN Editor
USA - Angela Merkel’s “increasing” trade surplus in Germany could force US President Donald Trump to impose sanctions on European Union (EU) steel and a “quota on automobiles”, it has been claimed. Berlin’s annual trade surplus could be as high as €80 billion (£70 billion) which has encouraged Professor Heiner Flassbeck, the country’s former state-secretary of finance, to declare that Angela Merkel is “cooking the books”.