Ken 006

Fair and balanced, way to go

[Ken 006 @Ken00613]

@OopsGuess Hmm, finger wagging (by Panama representative in the video) is shows he is riding on his high horse. Let's see how it all plays out.

[The Futurizts @TheFuturizts]

Malaysian to Malaysian. 🇲🇾

If you’re keeping money in traditional banks, it is getting eaten away by inflation.

Digital banks offer daily profit, cashback, and are still PIDM protected.

I ranked them from A to F.

🧵👇

[Dan Go @CoachDanGo]

I wore an Apple Watch, Whoop, Oura, and Fitbit Air at the same time for a week.

I expected the data to be similar but did not expect this.

Here's what every wearable owner needs to know:

[Brian Berletic @BrianJBerletic]

🇺🇸🇨🇳🇵🇭 US Continues Turning Philippines into "Asia's Ukraine," Using US-Ukraine Drones

▪️USNI reports US is arming the Philippines with the same drones used against Russia via Ukraine - including maritime drones used to target/destroy commercial shipping and military vessels;

▪️The NYT previously revealed Ukraine drone strikes are actually carried out by the US, meaning similar anti-China operations are likewise conducted by the US simply attributing them to the "Philippines;"

▪️The US is encouraging the Philippines to carry out an escalating self-destructive confrontation with China over useless contested waters, increasingly at the cost of peace and stability for the entire region;

▪️USNI specifically mentions holding shipping "under threat" just as the US has in the Black Sea & the Strait of Hormuz, signaling the expansion of an already global US operation targeting maritime shipping;

▪️This indicates the US is rushing forward, not "retreating" from global conflict, chaos, and pursued primacy;

The link to the story for anyone interested: https://t.co/pXbRmJOoiz

[Daniel Tawfik @dantawfik]

Creatine supplementation is typically used to increase strength and muscle mass. A new UCLA study found it has an entirely different function—it fuels dendritic cells, the immune cells responsible for activating your body's cancer-fighting T cell response.

Published in iScience, the research tested creatine's effects on dendritic cells in both mouse tumor models and human cells. Dendritic cells act as scouts—they capture tumor fragments, process them, and present them to killer T cells to initiate an immune attack. Without functional dendritic cells, T cells can't mount an effective anti-tumor response.

The UCLA team discovered that dendritic cells infiltrating tumors upregulate their creatine transporters—the proteins that pull creatine into cells. Tumor-infiltrating dendritic cells showed markedly elevated creatine transporter expression compared to dendritic cells in healthy tissue, revealing increased metabolic dependence on creatine in the tumor microenvironment.

When researchers engineered dendritic cells to lack the creatine transporter entirely, those cells couldn't survive or function properly. They showed reduced activation, impaired T cell priming ability, and when cultured with T cells, failed to induce T cell proliferation and cytokine production needed for cancer immunity.

The opposite intervention produced opposite results. Giving melanoma-bearing mice daily creatine injections significantly slowed tumor growth. Creatine supplementation increased both the abundance and activation state of dendritic cells within tumors, and those cells produced elevated levels of chemokines that recruit additional immune cells to the tumor site.

Metabolomic profiling revealed why creatine matters: it raises intracellular ATP concentrations in dendritic cells. Tumors create nutrient-depleted, immunosuppressive environments. Dendritic cells operating in those conditions need stable energy reserves to maintain activation signaling pathways. Creatine functions as an energy buffer—maintaining ATP availability even when metabolic conditions are hostile.

The effect translated to human cells. Creatine treatment enhanced activation of human monocyte-derived dendritic cells and improved their capacity to stimulate human T cells against cancer-associated antigens. These are the same dendritic cells used in dendritic cell cancer vaccines, suggesting creatine incorporation during vaccine manufacturing could improve therapeutic outcomes.

Most approved cancer immunotherapies target killer T cells directly, but only 20-40% of patients respond. The dysfunction often occurs upstream—dendritic cells fail to properly activate the T cell response. Bolstering dendritic cell function with creatine supplementation addresses that metabolic bottleneck.

This study extends previous findings from the same lab showing creatine powers killer T cells. Now it's clear creatine supports both sides of the anti-tumor immune response: the dendritic cells that identify and present tumor antigens, and the T cells that receive those signals and execute the attack.

A supplement millions take for athletic performance operates at the metabolic core of immune cell function—providing the energy infrastructure needed for dendritic cells to activate and sustain cancer immunity.

[Afshine Emrani MD FACC @afshineemrani]

I'm a cardiologist. After 40, stop guessing about your health. These numbers tell you whether you're building a long, vibrant life — or quietly declining without knowing it.

I run these on myself. I run them on every patient I care about. Most are cheap bloodwork. All are available now. And together, they paint a picture no standard annual physical will ever give you. Print this. Bring it to your next appointment. Your 60-year-old self will thank you.
ꟷꟷꟷ
𝗙𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗹𝗶𝗻
Target: below 5 μIU/mL. Ideal: 3-4.
This is the 10-year warning bell your standard panel completely misses. Your glucose and A1c can look "normal" for a decade while your pancreas is working overtime to keep them there. Fasting insulin catches insulin resistance 5-10 years before your A1c moves. By the time A1c rises, the damage is already extensive.

𝗛𝗢𝗠𝗔-𝗜𝗥
Target: below 1.0.
Calculated from fasting insulin and fasting glucose. The single best measure of insulin sensitivity. Above 1.0 and your metabolism is already under strain. Above 2.5 and you're insulin resistant — even if every other number looks fine.

𝗛𝗯𝗔𝟭𝗰
Target: below 5.4%.
Not below 5.7% — that's the threshold where medicine calls you "prediabetic." By then you've been metabolically compromised for years. Optimal is below 5.4%. Blood sugar mastery is longevity mastery.

𝗧𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗹𝘆𝗰𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗲 : 𝗛𝗗𝗟 𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼
Target: below 2. Ideal: below 1.
Your metabolic health crystal ball. This ratio predicts insulin resistance, cardiovascular risk, and metabolic syndrome better than any single lipid number alone. A ratio above 3.5 is a red flag regardless of what your total cholesterol says.

𝗔𝗽𝗼𝗕
Target: below 80 mg/dL for moderate risk. Below 60 for high risk.
I've written about this extensively. ApoB counts every atherogenic particle hitting your artery walls. A 2024 analysis found 54% of patients had dangerous levels that standard LDL testing completely missed. If you only know your LDL, you're driving with one eye closed.

𝗟𝗽(𝗮)
Test once in your lifetime.
100% genetic. 1 in 5 Americans are elevated. Triples heart attack risk independently of everything else on this list. Diet and exercise cannot lower it. The 2026 ACC/AHA guidelines now recommend everyone be tested. Most never have been.

𝗵𝘀-𝗖𝗥𝗣
Target: below 1.0 mg/L.
You can have perfect cholesterol and inflamed arteries silently preparing to rupture. hs-CRP measures the fire behind the plaque. The JUPITER trial proved that finding and treating inflammation saves lives — even when lipids look fine. If this number is elevated, your mouth, your gut, your metabolic health, and your visceral fat are the first places to investigate.

𝗩𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗻 𝗗
Target: 50-80 ng/mL.
Not the bare minimum of 30 your doctor accepts. Suboptimal vitamin D is linked to higher inflammation, weaker immunity, increased cardiovascular events, worse mood, and poorer outcomes across nearly every disease I treat. Supplement D3 with K2 — without K2, calcium deposits in your arteries instead of your bones.

𝗧𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗲 (𝗧𝗼𝘁𝗮𝗹 + 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗲)
Men: optimal range 600-1000+ ng/dL total.
Declining testosterone is an independent predictor of cardiovascular death in men. It's tied to insulin resistance, arterial stiffness, visceral fat accumulation, and systemic inflammation. DHEA-S drops 10-20% every decade after 30. Tracking these isn't about vanity — it's evaluating your body's systemic resilience.

𝗕𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲
Target: below 120/80. Aim closer to 110/70.
Every point above optimal is cumulative arterial damage. Buy a home cuff. Measure morning and evening, seated quietly for five minutes, arm at heart level. White-coat readings in the office miss what's really happening. The smartest $40 investment in cardiac self-care.

𝗩𝗢𝟮 𝗠𝗮𝘅
Men over 40: above 40 mL/kg/min. Women over 40: above 35.
Cardiorespiratory fitness is the single strongest predictor of all-cause mortality — stronger than smoking, diabetes, or heart disease as individual risk factors. A landmark study in JAMA found that extreme fitness was associated with the lowest mortality with no upper limit of benefit. You can estimate VO2 max with a timed mile, a rower test, or a wearable. Get faster every year.

𝗡𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗠𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀
Target: as few as possible.
Every medication you're on should be earning its place. I just wrote about five commonly prescribed drugs that do more harm than good with long-term use. Bring your full medication list to every appointment. Ask: "Do I still need this?" Deprescribing is one of the most powerful and underused tools in medicine.
ꟷꟷꟷ

Thirteen numbers. Most available through cheap bloodwork and simple tests. Get them once or twice a year. Here's what I want you to understand: these numbers don't just tell you where you are. They tell you where you're heading. A fasting insulin of 8 today becomes diabetes in five years. An ApoB of 120 today becomes a heart attack in ten. An hs-CRP of 3 today means your arteries are inflamed right now — regardless of how healthy you feel. The standard annual physical checks a fraction of these. It was designed to find disease that's already there. This panel finds the disease that's coming — years before it arrives.

What gets measured gets improved. Optimize with the foundation I write about every week on this platform:
Zone 2 cardio plus resistance training 3-4 times per week. High-protein whole-food nutrition. Sleep 7-9 hours — non-negotiable. Morning sunlight. Stress management. And the targeted supplements I've covered in detail — creatine, magnesium, CoQ10, D3+K2, glycine, omega-3, psyllium husk.
The breakthroughs coming in the next decade — gene editing for cholesterol, cellular reprogramming, senolytics that clear senescent "zombie" cells driving inflammation and aging, GLP-1 drugs rewriting metabolic medicine — will be most powerful for people who've already built the metabolic foundation to receive them.

The future of medicine is personalized. But it starts with knowing your numbers today. Print this list. Book the bloodwork. Own the data. Prevention isn't passive. It's the most aggressive thing you can do for the decades ahead.

[Afshine Emrani MD FACC @afshineemrani]

A Japanese immunologist just made me rethink one of the most basic prescriptions I give my patients.

Dr. Qing Li has spent over 20 years at Nippon Medical School in Tokyo proving something that sounds too simple to be real: the chemicals that trees release into the air walk straight into your bloodstream, lower your stress hormones, and supercharge your immune system in ways no pill has ever replicated.

Here's the study that stopped me. He took 12 healthy middle-aged men on a three-day forest trip. No intense hiking. No meditation program. Just slow walking — about two hours a day — breathing the air among the trees.

Blood and urine samples before, during, seven days after, and thirty days after.

The results: Natural Killer cell activity — your immune system's frontline defense against cancer cells and viral infections — jumped approximately 50%. The number of NK cells rose. Three critical anti-cancer proteins they release — perforin, granulysin, and granzymes — increased sharply.

The boost didn't vanish when they went home. It was still measurable at day seven. Still partially present at day thirty. Two hours a day among trees upgraded their immune defense for a full month.

He repeated the study with women. Nearly identical results. Then he ran the decisive control: same three-day trip, same walking duration, same hotels, same food — but in an urban environment.

Zero measurable change in NK cell activity. Zero.

It wasn't rest. It wasn't "getting away." It was the forest.

The mechanism is what fascinates me as a physician. Trees release aromatic compounds called phytoncides — particularly α-pinene and β-pinene — to defend themselves against insects, bacteria, and fungi. These compounds are most concentrated among pine, cedar, cypress, and oak, especially after rain or in warmth.

When you walk among trees, you inhale phytoncides into your lungs and absorb them through your skin. Once inside your body, they directly stimulate NK cell production and activity. Dr. Li estimates approximately 50% of the immune benefit comes from the chemistry of the forest air itself.

Then he proved something even more remarkable. He put subjects in an urban hotel room and vaporized hinoki cypress essential oil through a humidifier overnight. No forest. No nature walk. Just the phytoncides in the air while they slept.

NK cell activity increased significantly. Stress hormones dropped. The trees weren't even there — just their chemical signature — and the immune system responded.

The other half of the effect is your nervous system. Multiple Japanese field studies showed that forest walks significantly lower cortisol, heart rate, and blood pressure compared to matched urban walks. Parasympathetic activity — your "rest and recover" system — rises. Sympathetic activity — your "fight or flight" system — falls.

University of Michigan researcher MaryCarol Hunter quantified the minimum effective dose. Just 20 minutes in a natural setting — no phone, no conversation, no aerobic exercise — produced a 21.3% drop in cortisol beyond normal daily decline. The sweet spot was 20 to 30 minutes. Benefits continued after that, just more slowly.

As a cardiologist, this data is directly relevant to what I treat every day.

Chronic cortisol elevation drives hypertension, insulin resistance, visceral fat accumulation, systemic inflammation, and endothelial dysfunction — the exact metabolic storm that causes heart disease. Parasympathetic activation improves heart rate variability — one of the strongest predictors of cardiac resilience and long-term survival.

I just wrote about how your immune system hunts and kills cancer cells every single day without you ever knowing it. NK cells are the soldiers doing that work. And Dr. Li proved that two hours among trees supercharges those soldiers for a month.

I've prescribed statins, PCSK9 inhibitors, GLP-1 drugs, blood pressure medications, and every advanced therapy modern cardiology has to offer. I believe in all of them.

But I can't write a prescription for anything that simultaneously boosts cancer-killing immune cells by 50%, drops cortisol, lowers blood pressure, improves heart rate variability, activates the parasympathetic nervous system, and lasts a month — for free.

Except walking into a forest.

The average person now spends over 90% of their life indoors. Cortisol stays chronically elevated. NK cells stay sluggish. The parasympathetic system rarely gets to run. Your biology was shaped over millions of years under a canopy of trees. Modern life put it in a box of drywall and screens.

Your body hasn't forgotten. It's waiting.

What I now tell my patients:

Find any trees. A city park with decent canopy works. Go slow. Breathe deeply. Leave the phone behind. Minimum effective dose: 20 minutes. For the full immune effect: aim for two hours when possible. Once a month maintains the NK cell boost.

The Japanese government has funded forest medicine since 2004. They have certified forest therapy trails and physician-prescribed shinrin-yoku programs. They treat it as evidence-based preventive medicine.

We should too.

This weekend — before the world takes you back — walk into the trees. Feel what your body has been missing.

Nature isn't a luxury. It's medicine your ancestors took for free every single day. And the science now proves what they always knew.

[S p r i n t e r @SprinterPress]

DIPLOMATIC TENSION

What an amazing shot... Araghchi, JD Vance, Kushner, Sharif, and Munir in one frame -
watch how the camera pans to capture the drama...
Munir is laughing as he sends Sharif forward...
Araghchi says they're leaving...
Sharif returns and gestures wildly...
Munir acts like he's seen a missile and looks around...
Vance enters to see why they've come out...
the cameras continue filming.

[AL-fira 🇨🇳 @UlyssesFinn]

Years ago, when China sprayed a green compound onto bare rocky mine slopes, hordes of online critics rushed to mock: “China’s masking environmental ruin just to fool inspectors,” “The Chinese are experts at staging fake facades.” 🙄

But the internet is merely an echo chamber for rumor-mongers; the real world, by contrast, is a vast stage for those who roll up their sleeves and get things done. Now the narrative has done a complete 180. 🔄

That much-maligned “green paint” is in fact SPF high-performance soilless hydroseeding technology. There is zero actual paint in the mixture. It’s made of shredded pine fiber, locally suited seeds, and biodegradable nutrients. The green tint? Purely a visual marker for workers to spot gaps during spraying. 🎨
The results? Seeds germinate in 3 to 5 days. Barren, lifeless mine wastelands now burst with thick, thriving grass and trees. 🌿🌳
Lies can fuel fleeting online hysteria, yet they will never bury the everlasting vitality forged by persistent labor. 💪🇨🇳

[CIKYANie @lady_bugg11]

Malaysia Kini No. 4 Dunia Dalam Prestasi Ekonomi. Fakta Yang Sukar Dinafikan.

Ramai yang terkejut apabila Malaysia diumumkan berada di kedudukan ke-4 dunia dalam komponen Prestasi Ekonomi (Economic Performance) berdasarkan IMD World Competitiveness Ranking 2026.

Lebih membanggakan, Malaysia turut melonjak ke tangga ke-15 dunia secara keseluruhan, satu peningkatan yang sangat besar dalam tempoh dua tahun.

Untuk yang masih keliru, bezanya begini:

✅ No. 4 dunia merujuk kepada Prestasi Ekonomi, iaitu pencapaian semasa negara dalam aspek seperti:

• Pertumbuhan ekonomi (GDP)
• Eksport dan import
• Pelaburan asing (FDI)
• Peluang pekerjaan dan kadar pengangguran
• Aktiviti perniagaan

Malaysia berada di tangga ke-4 dunia dalam kategori ini.

Manakala No. 15 dunia pula ialah kedudukan keseluruhan daya saing negara, yang mengambil kira empat komponen utama:

1. Prestasi Ekonomi (Malaysia No. 4)
2. Kecekapan Kerajaan
3. Kecekapan Perniagaan
4. Infrastruktur

Apabila semua komponen digabungkan, Malaysia berada di tangga ke-15 dunia.

Persoalannya, adakah ini kejayaan seorang individu?

Jawapannya, tidak.

Kejayaan ini adalah hasil gabungan usaha kerajaan, sektor swasta, penjawat awam, pelabur, usahawan, pekerja dan seluruh rakyat Malaysia.

Namun, sebagai Perdana Menteri dan Menteri Kewangan, peranan PMX tidak boleh dinafikan.

Antara fokus yang diberikan oleh kerajaan ketika ini ialah:

✅ Mengukuhkan keyakinan pelabur.

✅ Menambah baik kecekapan pentadbiran.

✅ Melaksanakan reformasi fiskal dan subsidi secara berperingkat.

✅ Menarik pelaburan berkualiti tinggi.

✅ Memperkukuh perdagangan antarabangsa.

Di sebalik semua ini, terdapat juga ramai "wira senyap" yang bekerja tanpa banyak publisiti.

Antaranya:

• MITI – membuka ruang perdagangan dan membawa masuk pelaburan bernilai berbilion ringgit.

• MIDA – menjadi pintu masuk utama pelabur global ke Malaysia.

• Bank Negara Malaysia – memastikan kestabilan kewangan dan inflasi terkawal.

• Kementerian Kewangan – mengurus kedudukan fiskal negara agar kekal mampan.

• Industri semikonduktor, teknologi, pusat data dan sektor eksport bernilai tinggi yang semakin berkembang.

Hari ini, Malaysia semakin diiktiraf sebagai antara pemain penting dalam rantaian bekalan cip dan semikonduktor dunia.

Lebih menarik, trendnya sangat jelas:

📌 2024 : Tangga ke-34 dunia.

📌 2025 : Tangga ke-23 dunia.

📌 2026 : Tangga ke-15 dunia.

Ini bukan sekadar angka.

Ini petanda bahawa dasar yang dilaksanakan mula menghasilkan impak yang nyata.

Namun, jangan terlalu cepat berpuas hati.

Masih banyak cabaran yang perlu diselesaikan:

⚠️ Kos sara hidup.

⚠️ Gaji yang perlu terus meningkat.

⚠️ Produktiviti pekerja.

⚠️ Inovasi dan R&D.

⚠️ Persaingan serantau daripada Singapura, Vietnam, Indonesia dan Thailand.

Hakikatnya, ekonomi yang kuat tidak dibina dengan budaya mencari salah setiap hari atau berlumba-lumba menentukan siapa yang paling layak menerima pujian.

Ekonomi yang kuat dibina apabila kerajaan, sektor swasta dan rakyat bergerak ke arah yang sama.

Jika Malaysia mampu melonjak dari tangga ke-34 ke tangga ke-15 dunia dalam tempoh dua tahun, bayangkan di mana kedudukan negara ini 10 tahun akan datang jika semua pihak terus memainkan peranan masing-masing. 🇲🇾

[Mayank Vora @aiwithmayank]

If Google locked your account tomorrow, you could lose your:

- Gmail
- Google Drive
- Photos
- YouTube
- Calendar
- Every "Sign in with Google" login

One account controls your entire internet life.

Here's the backup system nobody sets up until it's too late ↓

[Dr. Luke in China @96Stats]

WOW - Nature Index just reported that China’s Zhejiang University replaced Harvard as the top-ranked academic institution in its overall institutional rankings!!

Nature say that Harvard still leads in health sciences and social sciences, so they have good research obviously still, but China is absolutely winning in the hard sciences and AI now. I did my phd in AI and statistics so i know how research heavy the programs are here. Very well deserved👏

Also interestingly just a few months ago, thousands of scientists warned Congress that removing the US National Science Board would damage America’s ability to compete scientifically with China… all these discriminatory policies and funding cuts by the gov are just completely removing its technological competitiveness. Opposite to China rn!

[Healthy Alfred 🌴🥥 @HealthyAlfred]

BPC-157. 15 amino acids. found in your stomach juice.

scientists tested it on everything. it worked on everything.

→ nerves — REGREW
→ ligaments — REBUILT
→ tendons — REATTACHED
→ cornea — SEALED
→ liver — REVERSED
→ gut — REPAIRED
→ bone — CLOSED
→ heart — RESTORED

zero lethal dose in 30 years. zero cancer cases. zero toxic reactions.

Rogan calls it “Wolverine shit.” Huberman fixed his back with it. RFK Jr. is reclassifying it at the federal level.

your doctor has never heard of it. your stomach has been making it your entire life.

source in the comments ↓

[QUANTUM GUARD ™️ @QuantumGuard17]

🚨 MAJOR BREAKING: The Surgeon General of Florida just announced ALL VACCINE MANDATES IN FLORIDA will be ENDED, and the room erupted.

All. Not just COVID. ALL.

JOSEPH LADAPO: "Every last one is wrong and DRIPS with disdain and slavery! Who am I, or anyone else, to tell YOU what you should put in your body? Who am I to tell you what your CHILD should put in their body? I don't have that right. Your body is a gift from God. What you put into your body is because of your relationship with your Body and God."

"Pretty much every state has them. It's WRONG."

[𝘊𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘦 @OopsGuess]

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said China often has access to the European market in ways that European companies do not enjoy with the same ease in China.

He said Europe cannot allow China to have one set of rules while European companies operate under a completely different set of rules.

That is the punchline.

For years, Europe has restricted or excluded Chinese companies under the language of “security.”

Huawei.
ZTE.
Chinese telecom firms.
Chinese solar products.
Chinese EVs.
Chinese batteries.
Chinese infrastructure.

Whenever Chinese companies become too competitive, Europe suddenly discovers “risk,” “dependency,” “distortion,” or “strategic vulnerability.”

But when China responds with its own controls, tariffs, rare earth restrictions, or market measures, Europe starts crying about fairness.

Classic.

China has not banned European industrial giants from the Chinese market the way Europe has tried to politically suffocate Chinese companies.

Volkswagen, BMW, Mercedes, Airbus, Siemens, BASF, Schneider, LVMH, and countless European firms have made fortunes in China for decades.

China opened its market, built supply chains, created demand, and let European companies profit massively.
Europe took the money.

Then it blocked Chinese firms, joined U.S. containment, restricted high-end exports, attacked Chinese clean-tech industries, and now complains that China enjoys unfair access.

If Europe really wants “one set of rules,” it should be careful what it asks for.
Because China can play that game too.

The difference is simple:
Europe complains about access while using access as a weapon.

China has shown restraint.
Perhaps too much restraint.

If Beijing treated European companies the way Europe treats Chinese companies, Brussels would discover very quickly what “same rules” actually means.

[Valerie Anne Smith @ValerieAnne1970]

"SIDS ‘DISAPPEARED’ In Japan After Raising The Age of Vaccination To 2yrs Old."
~Dr. Pierre Kory, MD

In 1981, Japan delayed the DTaP vaccine until children turned two years old.

Japan holds one of the lowest infant mortality rates, while the US ranks among the highest.

During the 1970s, following only two reported infant deaths linked to the whole-cell pertussis vaccine (DTwP), intense public concern prompted the Japanese government to halt routine DTwP vaccinations.

They later introduced the acellular pertussis version (DTaP) in 1981, but limited its use to children aged two and older.

In 1993, Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor & Welfare discontinued the combined MMR vaccine after it triggered a significant increase in severe adverse reactions — particularly aseptic meningitis resulting in serious harm and fatalities.

Japan now provides separate measles and rubella vaccines and has never reintroduced the mumps component or the MMR combination shot.

In 1994, Japan revised its Immunization Act, changing all childhood vaccinations from mandatory to voluntary/recommended status.

This removed any penalties for declining vaccines and moved administration from mass public health clinics to individual choice via private doctors — prioritizing personal decision-making and informed consent.

The U.S. continues to have the highest infant mortality rate among 16 other developed nations.

As of 2022, the CDC reports the U.S. rate at 5.6 deaths per 1,000 live births. Japan’s rate remains among the world’s lowest at 1.7 per 1,000 — the U.S. rate is more than three times higher.

[Ken 006 @Ken00613]

Well worth a listen till the end.

[Shaun Rein @shaunrein]

China was big winner of war w Iran, I tell Al Jazeera

Aside from us wasting money & killing people, US can't protect its allies. We moved THAAD from Korea to Middle East

China showed itself as stable power. It gained in clean tech 5 will play key role in Iran's reconstruction

[Malay Mail @malaymail]

Russia has agreed to guarantee long-term supplies of petrol, oil and gas to Malaysia, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

He said the agreement would provide certainty to Malaysians about the country’s energy supply without having to rely on agreements that are renewed every year or for a specific season.

“Instead, preparations will be made to establish a long-term agreement,” he told the Malaysian media during a closing press conference following his two-day working visit to the Asean-Russia Commemorative Summit here.

Anwar said Russia had not only assured supplies of petrol, oil, and gas to Malaysia but also agreed to provide them over the long term.

[Camus @newstart_2024]

David Sinclair’s #1 anti-aging hack: Skip a meal or two every day.

He’s on one-meal-a-day and says he got his 20-year-old body back, feels sharper, sleeps better, and has steady energy. Fasting flips on the same longevity genes (like sirtuins) our ancestors used to survive hard times.

His tip: Don’t go cold turkey. Give it at least two weeks, your body adapts and the hunger fades.

Multiple studies (including human trials) show time-restricted eating and intermittent fasting improve metabolic health, insulin sensitivity, reduce inflammation, and activate cellular repair (autophagy). Animal studies link it to longer lifespan, while human data supports better markers of biological age.

What’s your take, could skipping one meal a day be one of the highest-leverage things you can do for longevity?

[Ken 006 @Ken00613]

Good to see many collaborating info in the comments section.

[Nury Vittachi @NuryVittachi]

THE U.S. CAUSED THE COVID PANDEMIC, not China, the U.S. government revealed today.

“It's time the American people learn the real story," spy chief Tulsi Gabbard in a sensation-causing video released on X and a statement on the internet.

And what a story it is.

.

TRUTH AT LAST
The US spent millions to finance a lab in China’s Wuhan to experiment on killer viruses.

The research was on a technique called “gain of function” which some people see as weaponization of the viruses.

That research is “now widely viewed as the source of the unintentional lab leak that sparked the pandemic,” said Gabbard, Director of National Intelligence.

“This dangerous research caused immeasurable harm and countless lost lives,” she added.

.

PREFERRED NARRATIVE
After the pandemic broke out, Washington then worked to tell the world it could not have been a lab leak.

The preferred story circulating at the time was to say that animal-to-human transmission evolved in China due to the circumstances there.

But the evidence tells a different tale, the US spy chief said, releasing a new batch of top secret documents today, her last day in office. "It's time you know the truth," she said.

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120 BIOLABS

The story begins with the US quietly setting up 120 biological laboratories across more than 30 countries. Some of these laboratories were involved in research on hazardous pathogens, she said.

Dr Anthony Fauci, while serving as head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, sent millions of dollars of US taxpayer cash to be spent on bat coronaviruses at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, she said.

In 2019, the Covid-19 virus apparently emerged in several locations around the world—but was first formally detected by scientists in Wuhan, China, at the end of 2019.

It was soon found all over the world. The “pandemic caused tremendous hardship and pain for millions,” Gabbard said.

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PREFERRED NARRATIVE
For the US, the preferred story was that it was NOT a lab leak—because the world would realize that the Pentagon was financing biolabs around the world, and at home.

People raising the alarm about the biolabs were accused of “pushing Russian and Chinese disinformation”.

When the existence of the labs could not be denied, the BBC and other media reported that they were “peaceful labs” which were financed for entirely positive reasons—a line that Pentagon-watchers found hard to swallow.

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LIED ABOUT INTELLIGENCE CONNECTION
Fauci worked with senior intelligence agents in the early days of the pandemic to shape the narrative but lied about it, Gabbard said.

In his testimony before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic in 2024, he was asked under oath whether he had communicated with intelligence agencies concerning viral research before, during or after the pandemic.

Fauci replied: "Not to my knowledge, about COVID."

In January 2025, many people were puzzled when Former President Joe Biden issued “a pre-emptive pardon” to Fauci. Pardons, by definition, are given to people who have broken the law—but this had not happened at that time.

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TREMENDOUS HARDSHIP
Gabbard is retiring to spend more time with her husband, who has cancer.

But she wanted to get the truth about this subject out there before she disappeared. She says the evidence indicates US-funded research was the root of the problem.

"The COVID-19 pandemic caused tremendous hardship and pain for millions of our fellow Americans and for countless people around the world,” she said.

Links to her statement and the documents are provided below.