Distinction Matter - Subscribed Feeds

By Irina Slav of OilPrice.com

Iraq’s government has signed a deal with Chinese Geo-Jade Petroleum to expand production at the Tuba oil field, build a refinery and two power plants.

Per an AFP report, the deal will also involve the construction of a petrochemicals facility and a fertilizer plant. The refinery that Geo-Jade Petroleum will build will have a capacity of 200,000 barrels daily. One of the power plants will have a capacity of 650 MW and the other, a solar power facility, will have a capacity of 400 MW.

“These projects with Geo-Jade represent a big leap in the development of Iraq’s oil wealth and supporting of the national economy,” Iraq’s oil minister, Hayan Abdel Ghani, said, adding that the deal would create thousands of jobs.

Geo-Jade Petroleum already operates in Iraq – it is in charge of the Khana field, which is slated to begin expanded production in 2026.

Chinese companies as a whole have built a solid presence in OPC’s number-two, driven by Beijing’s strategy to expand supply availability through both domestic and international investments. To date, more than a third of Iraq’s proven oil and gas reserves and as much as 66% of production are under the management of Chinese firms, Simon Watkins reported earlier this year.

The Iraqi government’s ambition to boost production significantly, to as much as 7 million bpd, Chinese companies are among the best placed to take advantage of the opportunity. Currently, Iraq produces around 4 million barrels daily—above its OPEC+ production quota, which has created tensions with OPEC’s number-one, Saudi Arabia.

Chinese companies’ entry into Iraq’s oil and gas sector is a result of an agreement inked back in 2019 and dubbed “Oil for Reconstruction and Investment”, under which Chinese companies are granted entry into Iraq’s energy infrastructure sector as investors in return for oil supplies.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is revisiting a strategy first proclaimed last year, but which appeared to be thwarted or put on hold by Ukraine's Kursk invasion. But now with Kursk liberated from the over six-month Ukrainian troop occupation, Putin is talking a 'buffer zone' along the southern border once again.

Russian troops are seeking to carve out a large security buffer zone along the Russia-Ukraine border, Putin announced Thursday during a meeting with ministers and Kremlin officials. "We have approved the creation of a necessary security buffer zone along our borders. Our armed forces are actively working to accomplish this task," the Russian leader stated.

Kremlin.ru

Putin is fresh off his in-person tour of Kursk region, which happened Tuesday, which was a first since the August cross-border invasion by Ukraine. 

Yet the southern oblasts are still threatened by near-daily artillery and drone fire. A big part of the rationale for a buffer zone is for full stability to return to Russian border towns and villages, for example especially in Belgorod:

He emphasized that, given the recent developments in the Kursk, Belgorod, and Bryansk regions, immediate efforts are required to restore and rebuild areas affected by recent events. This includes assisting local residents in returning to their native villages, provided security conditions allow. Furthermore, it is essential to rehabilitate transportation networks and other infrastructure, ensure the smooth operation of industrial and agricultural enterprises, and support entrepreneurs and their employees.

This month alone has seen hundreds of drones launched from Ukraine onto southern oblasts, with some drones targeting as far as Moscow, which has resulted in commercial flight stoppages this week (not for the first time).

The timing of Putin's buffer zone plan is very significant, as President Trump is currently being widely perceived as 'stepping back' from pursuit of a final peace settlement.

"The enemy chooses targets that have no military significance. It targets ambulances, farm machinery, women and children. We have taken a decision to create a buffer zone along the border of the Kursk, Bryansk and Belgorod regions."

You didn't expect anything else, did you now. pic.twitter.com/t4natuRrqH

The NY Times is currently reporting that Trump is ready to throw his hands up in the air and say 'not my problem' as neither side is ready to compromise:

For months, President Trump has been threatening to simply walk away from the frustrating negotiations for a cease-fire between Russia and Ukraine.

After a phone call on Monday between Mr. Trump and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, that appears to be exactly what the American president is doing. The deeper question now is whether he is also abandoning America’s three-year-long project to support Ukraine, a nascent democracy that he has frequently blamed for being illegally invaded.

The Times concluded, "In a reversal, President Trump appears to have backed off joining a European push for new sanctions on Russia, seemingly eager to move on to doing business deals with it."

And yet, on Thursday, the Western allies are speaking loudly:

G7 FINANCE LEADERS SAYS IF A RUSSIA/UKRAINE CEASEFIRE IS NOT AGREED, THEY WILL CONTINUE TO EXPLORE ALL POSSIBLE OPTIONS, INCLUDING FURTHER RAMPING UP SANCTIONS - COMMUNIQUE

As for Putin, is he readying to expand operations in Ukraine? This buffer zone could mean new efforts of the Russian military to control chunks of Kharkov, Sumy, and Chernigov. Sumy next?

NEW | Russian President Vladimir Putin likely orchestrated a meeting with Kursk Oblast officials on May 20 to set conditions to justify the renewal of Russian plans to seize Sumy City and illegally annex Sumy Oblast. (1/9) pic.twitter.com/482IyJc2b7

It was a mere day ago that Putin expressed the following in a joking fashion:

President Vladimir Putin appeared to make light of militarily seizing Ukraine’s Sumy region during a visit to Russia’s southwestern Kursk region, even as the Kremlin claims to be pursuing a negotiated end to the war.

The moment was captured on video published by the state-run news agency TASS, in which a local official from the Glushkovsky district near the border with Ukraine told Putin: “Sumy should be ours.”

“We cannot live like we’re on some kind of peninsula. There should be more of us [Russians]. At least in Sumy,” the official, Pavel Zolotarev, added. “With you as commander-in-chief, we’ll win.”

All of this makes Kiev and Europe extremely worried that Putin will have a freer hand, given Trump could be lowering the pressure on Moscow. The White House has thus far resisted ramping up sanctions, despite Europe's best lobbying efforts.

Via Open The Books,

Disassembling and “deleting” federal agencies is proving to be a difficult task for the Trump administration, which has been working to slash bureaucratic red tape and federal spending, especially for left-wing radicalism like Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI).

Unlike some of the intermediate steps President Trump has taken through Executive Order, truly closing an agency will require a 60-person majority in a Senate vote, a tall order with only 53 Republicans in the upper chamber.

But there are still some low-hanging fruits left for the administration to pick. Chiefly, it can end relationships with all professional societies promoting principles of DEI and radical gender ideology.

The federal government contracts with a myriad of these organizations across all the major agencies. Professional societies set the atmosphere and guidelines for practitioners in their fields, and they can have hundreds of thousands of members.

If those organizations become ideologically captured, the impact will be felt across society.

There is no reason for the federal government to fund such organizations. DOGE should identify these organizations and give Congress and taxpayers the information they need to make informed budget decisions.

Doing so will allow state and local governments to make better decisions as well.

As DOGE continues the work of identifying bloat, some of those activities and decisions will shift to state and local government where they rightly belong. But elected officials will still be presented with the same outside groups seeking their business. Officials at the state and local level, and taxpayers who fund those entities, have the right to know more about organizations seeking public funds.

The following are just a handful of examples of professional societies that have become ideologically captured:

SHAPE America

The Society of Health and Physical Educators (SHAPE) America is a professional organization representing over 200,000 physical education teachers.

Federal spending since 2020: Over $2.5 million
$2.52 million from CDC, $82,245 from the DoDEA

The Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA), which runs the Pentagon’s K-12 school system for the children of servicemembers worldwide, contracts with SHAPE to provide training to their teachers. SHAPE creates learning standards for instructors to teach to, such as the 2021 National Sex Education Standards, promoted on its website.

These standards are currently featured on the CDC website.

They include goals like:

• By 2nd grade, define gender identity

• By 5th grade children should be able to describe the role of puberty blockers on those who identify as transgender. Fifth graders should differentiate between sexual orientation and gender identity and explain that gender expression and gender identity exist along a spectrum

• By 8th grade define anal sex and describe “pregnancy options” including abortion.

Gender Spectrum, a nonprofit organization that promotes the concept of “neogenders,” whereby students can “identify” their “gender" as animals, objects, and mental health disorders, also consulted on these standards.

During a 2021 DoDEA presentation on implementing SHAPE standards, a DoDEA teacher articulated the extremist ideology inculcated by SHAPE, writing in presentation materials that talking about “heterosexuality as the ‘norm’” somehow “causes conflict.”

Before the Trump administration issued its executive order on gender ideology, SHAPE promoted the anti-science stance that women and men are biologically equal.

(READ THE EO: Defending women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government)

The SHAPE website included the claim that “even though young people who have gone through a male puberty are taller and stronger than most young people who have gone through a female puberty, it is important to acknowledge that not all boys are stronger, taller, faster or more athletically talented than all girls.” The website also included support for the use of harmful puberty blockers to “neutraliz[e]” that valid concern.

Science is clear: with extremely rare exceptions, males are categorically stronger and faster than females.

The neo-Marxist concept of “equity” is also a fundamental principle at SHAPE. Indeed, the Centers for Disease Control is currently contracting with SHAPE to “engage school administrators as champions to advance healthy schools through equitable and inclusive programs, policies, and practices” in support of the CDC’s “Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child” framework for addressing health in schools.

North American Association for Environmental Education

A professional organization representing about 20,000 members, typically in the education field.

Federal spending since 2020: $15.7 million
$8.8 million from EPA, $4.7 from Commerce, $1.7 from Department of Agriculture, and $505,500 from the Department of the Interior

President Trump’s Executive Order on Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity prohibited DEI practices for federal contractors. Before this order was given, the NAAEE website was replete with “Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion” (JEDI) content. Teachers were recommended resources like “Teaching About Race, Racism, and Police Violence” by the Southern Poverty Law Center, “Your Kids Aren’t Too Young to Talk About Race,” and “A Guide to Gender Identity Terms.”

While the website is seemingly getting scrubbed of DEI verbiage, some remnants remain. NAAEE announced the addition of five new board members in 2021, stating their credentials would help “push for social justice and center equity in all that we do.” Two are still on the board.

The organization houses a Coalition for Climate Education Policy’s steering committee, whose governance documents state that members agree to “always consider equity and justice in our collective work.”

The costliest NAAEE program funded by the federal government is the ee360+ initiative, which supports “a cadre of environmental education leaders to increase environmental literacy for everyone, everywhere.” These education leaders are assisted by federal and state institutions and nonprofits to disseminate NAAEE’s “Environmental Education Guidelines.”

"Decoding Whiteness” educator training provided by NAAEE

The NAAEE Guidelines push left-wing concepts of “environmental justice” and “equity,” and fuse environmental education with “civic engagement.” In other words, students are made to develop a “critical perspective” by fixating on their own and others’ race, “gender identity,” national origin, and socio-economic status. Then, they are asked to advocate for policies taking their new critical perspective into consideration.

While environmental education sounds nice, children are not learning about tadpoles and butterflies. Through NAAEE the federal government is funding left-wing advocacy and woke identity politics in classrooms nation-wide.

IMAGE: Highlights from the Environmental Education Programs Guidelines for Excellence Part 4

National Council for History Education

A 501c3 nonprofit professional society for history educators. The organization does not disclose the number of its members.

The federal checkbook USASpending indicates that federal spending since 2020 is $1.3 million, however these figures are undercounted.

NCHE’s tax documents show that from June 2023-June 2024 the organization received $2.4 million in federal tax dollars between the Department of Education, National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Library of Congress.

Between 2019 and 2021 NCHE received $1,474,657 in American History and Civics grants from the Department of Education. The grants were to develop a “Learning and Exploring American Democracy” (LEAD) project. NCHE was also awarded two other American History and Civics grants in 2023, worth over $2.5 million each, disbursed over five years. While these grants show up on the Department of Education website and on the NCHE tax documents, they are not represented on the federal checkbook, highlighting issues with reporting on USASpending.

By examining some of the NCHE activities funded by these grants, we can get an idea of how the organization is putting its taxpayer dollars to use.

LEAD is intended to provide history and civics-related resources for teachers to incorporate into their lessons. Part of this program includes at least one “Equity Summit,” which, along with select other webinars offered by the program, raise questions about the history and civics lessons the federal government is funding for American children.

The keynote speaker for the 2020 Equity Summit, Hasan Jeffries advocated for the removal of historical monuments, even of Christopher Columbus in his hometown of Columbus, Ohio:

“So here in Columbus, Ohio there have been moves and movements with some success to remove statues of Christopher Columbus for example, so we're not just talking about Confederate soldiers and monuments to them, we're talking about all of these figures, all of these memorials that commemorate—that celebrate rather—white supremacy. And so the Black Lives Matter protests are very much about the past as well.”

Jeffries goes on to say that racism is foundational to the American nation:

“In fact, racism is very much encoded in our DNA. Racism and capitalism together are really that double helix of our DNA; they are intertwined, they have been with us from the beginning. They are encoded in our society. They are encoded in our person.”

Other presentations include the radical left-wing Southern Poverty Law Center’s Teaching Hard History program, which provides materials and advice for teachers to engage in the topic of American slavery.

During the talk, speaker Kate Shuster suggested students are complicit in slavery unless they take steps to “redress inequalities:”

“We need to make it clear to students when we teach about slavery that the question is not ‘are they guilty of the crime of enslaving people?’ The question is ‘How are they going to move forward to redress the inequalities that are left over from the abolition of slavery?’ So, complicity can exist without the act of owning slaves, but people don't like to be told that they're complicit.”

Shuster was invited back for another presentation on the same topic for a LEAD program webinar in 2021. That video is not available.

Another Equity Summit was held in 2024, this one kicking off with a “land acknowledgment.” NCHE Executive Director Jessica Ellison displayed a “You are on Dakota/Ojibwe Land” poster behind her.

The irony of an organization -- primarily funded by the U.S. government-- denying the sovereignty of the United States is evidently lost on Ellison.

Jessica Ellison, who became NCHE Executive Director in 2023, recommended the controversial book White Fragility to teachers in June 2020.

Other recent activity includes telling teachers how to fight back against “book bans” of divisive, pornographic content in school libraries

Unfathomably, in the age of DOGE, NCHE received a new grant through the Library of Congress in April 2025. Through this grant, NCHE will direct the Library’s regional granting entity in the Great Plains region, deciding which other organizations in the area can access taxpayer funding.

CONCLUSION

As of May 2, DOGE has claimed an estimated $160 billion in savings for taxpayers. We’re working to verify this total, but more must be done to broaden the impact of their critically important work. All of the organizations profiled here have ongoing grants that have not been cut by DOGE. These organizations have proven to be incredibly effective at spreading their ideas throughout society.

As DOGE finds efficiencies and cuts waste agency by agency, auditors must identify grantees trafficking in radical politics and share their findings with the public and policymakers at all levels of government. Taxpayers have the right to know where their tax dollars are going so they can hold their elected officials accountable.

Authored by Chris Morrison via The Daily Sceptic,

A gleeful, self-satisfied Mr Punch was often heard to remark: “That’s the way to do it.” Today we examine how Mark Poynting, one of the BBC’s top doom-mongering Net Zero activists, uses the trusted ‘scientists say’ message to turn a centennial sea level rise of around 30 cm into prose stating: “The world could see hugely damaging sea-level rises of several metres or more over the coming centuries”. Added fear is inserted into the mix with the warning that the disappearing act will occur, “even if the ambitious target of limiting global warming to 1.5°C is met, scientists have warned”.

Poynting and the BBC are essentially telling a worldwide audience that coastal land and beyond across the world could be overwhelmed with several metres of sea rise if the global temperature is three-tenths of a degree centigrade higher. This message properly belongs on a doomsday sandwich board walker, not least because the rise in temperature is almost within the margin of error of constantly-adjusted and unnaturally-heated global temperature datasets.

Extrapolating computer modelled data rigged with improbable ‘pathways’ that even the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change more or less dismiss as ‘low confidence’ – that’s the way to do it.

The BBC story is based on the recent compilation and interpretation of material from a group led by Geography Professor Chris Stokes. This provides just the sort of findings that are catnip to the BBC. At one point the authors seem to think that humans can control the amount of ice on both Greenland and Antarctica, arguing that the global mean temperature should be reduced with further work “urgently required to more precisely determine a ‘safe limit’ for ice sheets“. Given the catastrophic consequences of a rapid collapse of one or more ice sheets, the authors state, “we conclude that adopting the precautionary principle is imperative and that a global mean temperature cooler than present is required to keep ice sheets broadly in equilibrium”.

That’s the way to do it. Poynting could have informed his gaslit readers that overall ice loss in Antarctica is minimal with suggestions of an annual 100 gigatonnes reduction equivalent to 0.00041% of the total mass – well within the margin of error. At current rates of melting on a continent that has seen no overall warming for at least 70 years, it would take around 300,000 years for all the ice to disappear. And this assumes no intervening glaciations, a new ice age, or just more accurate measurements. Instead he reports the comments of the Stokes crew that the “major concern is that melting could accelerate further beyond ‘tipping points’ due to warming caused by humans”. That’s the way to do it – talk about ‘tipping points’ that never occur and then cover yourself by adding “though it’s not clear exactly how these mechanisms work and where the thresholds sit”.

Instead of “not exactly clear”, try, “haven’t got a clue”. But it is “precautionary” to remove hydrocarbons from modern use and drive humanity back to the dark ages – just in case the model inventions do occur.

It is of course easy to see how the metres-high scare is concocted. Under a low emission ‘pathway’ used by computer models, the rise by 2100 in sea levels due to ice melting ranges from 4 cm to 37 cm. Such is the range, another imputation of cluelessness might be justified. But a mere 37 cm doesn’t look very enticing on the sandwich board even though it is higher than the current trajected growth, so the highest pathway was consulted to give 12-52 cm. Alas, this is still pretty dismal when mass climate psychosis is the order of the day, so the suggestion from the IPCC was noted that it could not rule out that the pathway with ‘low confidence’ could point to a total sea level rise  of over 15 metres by 2300. That’s the way to do it. Treble metres, and more, all round.

It might be noted at this point that the improbable pathway known as SSP5-8.5 is in common use in climate science circles and is behind most if not all the computer modelled alarms that gaslight the readers of almost all mainstream media. The science writer Roger Pielke Jr has long been a critic of the 8.5 pathway that provides the important propaganda messaging backing the collectivist Net Zero fantasy. He states that the continuing misuse of these scenarios has become pervasive and consequential, “so that we can view it as one of the most significant failures of scientific integrity in the 21st century so far”. His short explanation as to why it has been so popular for so long: “Groupthink fuelled by a misinformation campaign by activist scientists.”

Activist journalists as well. Poynting is rapidly emerging as the BBC climate activist to watch in a strong field including Justin Rowlatt and Matt McGrath. Who can forget his recent sterling ‘scientists say’ effort that the Gulf Stream “appears to be getting weaker” under the headline, ‘Could the UK actually get colder with global warming?’ This effort drew much critical appreciation, not least because it headed off the awkward findings published the month before in a Nature paper that observed the Gulf Stream had not declined in strength since the 1960s.

Chris Morrison is the Daily Sceptic’s Environment Editor.

In another clear indicator of just how drastically everything has changed in Syria in the wake of Bashar al-Assad's ouster in December last year, a militant group attempted to storm Russia's Hmeimim air base on Syria’s coast on Wednesday. Already the future of the base is uncertain, but Russia has still been maintaining it - given also Hmeimim is Moscow's only airbase on the Mediterranean.

"Militants attacked a Russian air base in Syria, killing two soldiers, a Syrian government official and a local activist said Wednesday," according to The Associated Press. Russian statements, which offered little detail, did not indicate if the slain were Russian soldiers or possibly foreign nationals who were contractors.

At least two militants were killed during their assault on the airbase. They are being widely reported as foreign Islamist fighters affiliated with the new Syrian government's military under President Sharaa (Jolani).

Russian Hmeimim Air Base in Jabla in Latakia, Syria. Anadolu Agency

The Jolani/HTS government has tried to distance itself from the attack, as it is still seeking diplomatic normalization with Russia and a reset in relations:

The government official said the two militants who were killed were foreign nationals who had worked as military trainers at a naval college that was training members of the new government’s military. He said they had acted on their own in attacking the base and were not officially affiliated with any faction.

Damascus has on Thursday deployed additional forces in an effort to stabilize the security situation in villages near the airbase.

"The city of Jableh and the villages surrounding the Russian Hmeimim air base in the Jableh countryside are witnessing a security alert. Heavy deployment of public security forces has been observed in the villages of Al-Sharashir and Al-Qubaisa, both close to the base," the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) says.

SOHR had further described "clashes in which medium and heavy machine guns were used, coinciding with the sounding of alarm sirens inside the base" - when the incident unfolded.

One regional outlet has said Russian soldiers were killed, and that it was Uzbek terrorists behind the assault:

According to a report by the Erem outlet, the 20 May attack resulted in the killing of three Russian soldiers and the injury of at least six others. The report says the attack was carried out by an Uzbek-led faction, which afterwards began to mobilize in the village of Al-Sharashir, just two kilometers from the base.

Erem also said the Uzbek armed group, responsible for past atrocities including the killing of children, have displaced and intimidated scores of residents and have seized homes in in the nearby town.

#BREAKING | Islamist militants reportedly affiliated with ruling HTS attacked Russia’s Khmeimim Air Base in Syria around 4–5 AM. Russian forces returned fire, reportedly killing four militants. https://t.co/UQGcfjWqt0 pic.twitter.com/JorasQW3My

This coastal area near Latakia has for months seen attacks and massacres conducted by Islamic militant factions against the minority Alawite community of Syria. Christians and Druze have also been targeted.

Thousands of Alawites have been reported killed, and while the Jolani government has formally condemned the killings, eyewitnesses have consistently said the attacks had the involvement of HTS (Hayat Tahrir al-Sham) fighters, which remains the ruling faction in Damascus.

During the height of the sectarian killings, Alawite families sought refuge at Hmeimim air base in large numbers. Many thousands have been camped out on the base tarmac, with at times Russian troops seen handing out food and water and necessities of survival.

Back in March, Alawites expressed their distrust of HTS provided "security"...

HTS AlQaeda reps try to convince Syrian Alawi refugees to leave the Russian Hmeimim air base and go home. "Trust us now, mistakes happen, things got out of control". pic.twitter.com/JIpzSHpAB0

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov earlier this week expressed particular concern about the chaotic situation in Syria, where he said extremist militant groups are carrying out "real ethnic cleansing and mass killings based on ethnic and sectarian identity". He blasted what he called the West’s "stunning" indifference to mass killings acts of terrorism.

The strong comments followed in the wake of President Trump meeting with Syria's Sharaa while in Saudi Arabia earlier this month. This stunned even some Washington officials, given that Sharaa/Jolani has long been a US-designated terrorist. Trump has said he wants to give Syria a fresh start, and also announced the US will drop sanctions.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio this week told a Senate hearing that Syria could collapse within just weeks; however, he didn't acknowledge in the testimony that it was the CIA's Operation Timber Sycamore which served to weaken and destabilize the country in the first place.

Authored by Brendon Fallon and Emily Allison via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

We all want to live as long and as healthily as possible. Many healthy living hacks, such as lounging in a hot sauna or taking a cold plunge, claim to increase lifespan, but how effective are they?

Growing research points to a different answer, suggesting that a few simple, consistent lifestyle habits can be far more effective at boosting longevity and well-being.

Avoid Smoking, Drugs, and Drinking Excessive Alcohol

Referring to a 2024 study examining nearly 720,000 U.S. veterans ages 40 to 99, Dr. Damon Noto, a rehabilitation medicine specialist, stated on the Epoch TV show Vital Signs that among eight lifestyle factors found to influence a person’s lifespan by more than 10 years, the most significant are whether a person has smoked, had an opioid use disorder, and their level of physical activity.

Eat Healthy and Stay Active

We know exercise is a healthy habit, but do we consider it life-saving? Noto said the veteran’s study shows exercise may add as much as a decade or more to our lives. He also examined the type of physical activity in the study. People in the study often stayed active by engaging in natural movement, such as gardening or participating in sports with their friends. He believes these lifestyle or social activities are especially beneficial because building physical activity into someone’s daily life can help a person stay consistent with moving the body. 

Diet can also impact a person’s lifespan. Those living in blue zones tend to eat homegrown and home-cooked foods and avoid overeating. Those who ate highly processed foods and sweets had shorter lifespans than those who followed a nutritious diet, according to the same study.

Live With Purpose and Be Part of a Community

Noto highlights a social component of longevity. Research suggests that individuals who have friends and a sense of community tend to live longer than those who are lonely or isolated.

“A lot of these studies have shown that people who have purpose, especially purpose greater than themselves, not only live longer, but they live happier lives and more successful lives,” said Noto. “So purpose is something we found to be extremely important.” 

Noto points out that those in blue zones tend to place family and faith as a high priority in their culture.

Manage Stress

Noto said that all those with longer lifespans had some way to deal with stress in their regular routines, whether it was socializing with friends, taking walks, praying, or working around the house. 

Be Conscientious 

 The Longevity Project, which began in the 1920s, followed 1,500 Americans with high IQs from childhood to death. Initially, it was thought that because these children were intelligent, they would succeed and do well in life, but that was not the case.

The study showed that the more conscientious a person was, the longer they lived. Character qualities such as discipline, hard work, organization, thoughtful decisions, and a sense of responsibility greatly influences success in life.

Get Quality Sleep

Sleep impacts the length of a person’s life. Getting enough REM sleep is crucial to adding years to your life.

Noto recommends getting a sleep-tracking device to ensure you get the proper sleep quality. Those who suffer from chronic anxiety or sleep apnea were shown to have shorter lifespans. However, he also emphasizes the body’s ability to do amazing things, even under stress. He believes that having a sense of purpose helps through times of stress or low sleep, and significantly impacts a person’s health and life. 

Watch “8 Habits of Long Life” on Vital Signs here. 

A recent study by Ladah Injury & Car Accident Lawyers, a Las Vegas-based personal injury firm, sheds light on which U.S. states have the highest rates of fatal crashes on interstates and freeways. Drawing on crash statistics from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s CDAN portal, the study reviewed data from 2019 to 2023 and ranked states based on the number of fatal freeway crashes per 100,000 residents.

Wyoming emerged as the state with the highest rate. With 5.4 fatal freeway crashes per 100,000 people, the state’s rate is nearly three times the national average of 1.9. Between 2019 and 2023, Wyoming averaged 31.6 fatal incidents annually. The worst year was 2023, which saw 42 fatalities, while the lowest number was 21 in 2021.

Coming in second was New Mexico, which recorded 4.3 fatal crashes per 100,000 residents—more than double the national average. The state averaged 91 fatal freeway crashes each year over the five-year period, peaking at 103 in 2023.

Missouri ranked third with a rate of 3.2 fatal crashes per 100,000 people. The state saw nearly 199 such incidents annually during the study period, with the highest number recorded in 2022 at 227 and the lowest in 2023 with 187.

Arkansas followed in fourth place, reporting 3.1 fatal freeway crashes per 100,000 people. It averaged just over 95 deadly incidents each year. The highest total came in 2023 with 107 crashes, and the lowest was in 2019 with 69.

Montana rounded out the top five. The state saw 2.92 fatal crashes per 100,000 residents, well above the national average. Over five years, Montana averaged 32 fatal incidents annually, with 2021 marking its highest year at 47 crashes.

Other states in the top ten included Mississippi, Alaska, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Texas—all with crash rates significantly above the national norm. Mississippi, for example, logged 2.89 fatal crashes per 100,000 people, while Texas, despite its much larger population, still had a high rate at 2.6.

A spokesperson for Ladah Law Firm pointed to several likely causes behind the high fatality rates: long stretches of rural highway, higher speed limits, and reduced visibility in remote areas.

“States like Wyoming, New Mexico, and Missouri consistently see alarmingly high rates of interstate freeway crashes,” the spokesperson said. “Factors such as long rural stretches, high-speed travel, and limited visibility often create dangerous driving conditions that put lives at risk every day.”

They also emphasized the human cost behind the numbers.

“Behind each of these incidents is a family changed forever — victims facing life-altering injuries or grieving unimaginable loss.”

The law firm called on policymakers to take concrete steps, recommending a stronger highway patrol presence, improved road lighting and signage, and the use of technology to monitor high-risk zones. Public education on speed control and defensive driving was also highlighted as a critical need.

“It’s time for decisive, proactive measures that prioritize lives over speed,” the spokesperson added.

Authored by Joseph C. Newtz via American Thinker,

America isn't a democracy but a constitutional republic designed to limit majority rule and protect individual rights. This distortion enables narratives that label dissent as dangerous, especially in portraying Trump as a "threat to democracy" -- a claim pushed by institutions caught spreading falsehoods about him. What appears as consensus is actually assigned opinion enforced by media and political power, as "conspiracy theories" used to silence dissent are proving to be true.

What follows is not just a list of lies -- it’s a pattern of systemic deception that reveals where the real threat lies.

The Concealment of President Biden’s Cognitive Decline: A Betrayal of Voters

For years, concerns about Joe Biden’s mental acuity were dismissed as partisan attacks or “conspiracy theories.” The White House physician declared him fit for office. Staffers claimed he “ran circles around them.” Meanwhile, public appearances were tightly controlled, questions were pre-approved, and scripted answers were passed off as spontaneous.

But in 2024, the dam broke. Biden’s debate performance made his decline undeniable. Millions had already cast primary ballots for a man clearly unfit to serve -- yet instead of outrage over the scale of the deception, voters watched passively as Kamala Harris stepped in as the de facto candidate.

It was an unconstitutional transfer of candidacy that the media refused to acknowledge. This wasn’t spin -- it was a deliberate, coordinated effort to deceive the American public about who was actually running the country.

All while, the same media complex screamed that Trump was the dictator.

If truth and transparency are foundational to democracy, then this widespread concealment -- and the resulting erosion of informed consent -- should outrage every American who values honest governance.

COVID-19: From "Conspiracy" to Consensus

When Trump suggested the virus originated in a lab, the idea was branded "xenophobic" and "debunked." Today, both the CIA and FBI assess a lab leak as probable. This pattern repeated across masks, school closures, natural immunity, and vaccine efficacy.

The CDC quietly redefined "vaccine" to accommodate products that didn't stop transmission, contradicting officials' earlier claims. Education leaders denied coordinating with teachers unions on prolonged school closures despite evidence proving otherwise, devastating children's mental health and education.

Throughout, Trump was vilified as "anti-science" for questioning narratives that later collapsed -- demonstrating how the "threat to democracy" label silences legitimate dissent.

Border Security: Denial Amid Crisis

While Trump was called xenophobic for demanding border security, his policies effectively curbed illegal crossings without new legislation. In contrast, Biden officials dismantled these effective policies while insisting only Congress could solve the problem.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told Congress the administration had "operational control" of the border -- while record-breaking illegal entries, overwhelmed facilities, and surging cartel activity told a very different story.

They claimed to be addressing the “root causes” of migration, yet crossings exploded to historic levels. They blamed Trump’s policies as inhumane while ignoring the actual consequences of their own: trafficking increased, fentanyl poured into American communities, and untold lives were lost in the chaos.

Common sense was discarded. Hatred for Trump outweighed concern for national security and human suffering. While illegal immigrants were given free housing, food, and healthcare, American veterans went neglected, seniors faced rising medical costs, and cities buckled under homelessness and resource strain.

These are not partisan talking points -- they are 90/10 issues that should unify Americans regardless of party. But the public was instead gaslit into believing that caring about your own country’s sovereignty is xenophobic or cruel.

The Russia Investigation and Intelligence Abuses

The Trump-Russia narrative -- foundation for claims that Trump threatened democracy -- collapsed when Mueller found no evidence of conspiracy. Later revelations proved more damning: FBI lawyer Clinesmith falsified evidence for a FISA warrant; the Steele dossier contained deliberately false information paid for by Trump's opponents; exculpatory evidence in the Michael Flynn case was concealed.

The great irony here is staggering: while Trump was accused of being a threat to democratic institutions, those very institutions were being weaponized against him in unprecedented ways. The real undermining of democratic norms came not from Trump, but from those who claimed to be defending democracy against him.

Media Collusion and Information Control

Today's media no longer informs -- it enforces. The New York Post was banned for reporting verified facts about Hunter Biden. Trump's "very fine people" comment was maliciously edited to hide his explicit condemnation of neo-Nazis. His reference to a new technique for sterilizing blood was twisted into a narrative that he told people to "inject bleach."

These aren't mistakes but engineered falsehoods meant to dehumanize political opponents. In a genuine democracy, media checks power; instead, American media has become a propaganda arm defending institutional power while demonizing challengers.

Government Institutions as Political Weapons

Government institutions have been weaponized for political ends while accusing Trump of authoritarianism. Under Obama, the IRS targeted conservative groups. The DoJ labeled concerned parents at school board meetings as potential terrorists. Security clearances and FISA warrants were politically manipulated.

Classified document cases reveal a two-tiered justice system: aggressive prosecution for Trump versus leniency for Biden and Clinton. January 6th defendants faced harsh treatment compared to 2020 rioters who caused far more destruction.

Federal agencies have colluded with social media to suppress dissent -- raising serious First Amendment concerns. The January 6th Committee's selective editing of evidence and exclusion of exculpatory information about Trump exemplifies how "defending democracy" shields undemocratic behavior.

The Inversion of Reality: Who Truly Threatens Democracy?

Logic dictates a simple conclusion: if nearly every major anti-Trump narrative -- from Russian collusion to COVID origins to Biden’s cognitive health -- has collapsed under scrutiny, what basis remains for believing Trump threatens democracy?

The aftermath is equally clear: if the institutions aligned against him -- intelligence agencies, media conglomerates, and political operatives -- have repeatedly misled the public, their credibility to define “danger” is null. The louder they sound the alarm, the more they reveal about themselves: suppressing information, weaponizing government agencies, manipulating elections, and discarding due process when politically convenient.

And yet, instead of acknowledging the obvious, many Americans now defend manufactured narratives that make intelligent people sound irrational. Reasonable citizens abandon common sense -- not because the facts changed, but because the media relentlessly promulgates assigned opinions that demand emotional loyalty over objective thought. Issues that should unite 90% of the public -- like stopping child trafficking, securing borders, or caring for veterans -- become polarizing, not on principle, but because they’re associated with the “wrong” political figure.

Restoring Sanity, Reclaiming Sovereignty

Democracy cannot function without informed citizens. And citizens cannot be informed when they are being systematically lied to -- by government agencies, media platforms, and political leaders who view the truth as a threat to power.

The real crisis in America isn’t Donald Trump. It’s the normalization of institutional lying, the abandonment of due process, and the transformation of journalism into narrative enforcement.

Until we reject assigned opinions and return to objective truth and transparency, we will remain ruled not by reason, but by illusion. Meanwhile, those who shout loudest about “threats to democracy” conceal their actions in shadows -- while figures like Trump operate in full view. If this inversion continues, “government by the people” will be reduced to a hollow phrase -- masking a system of manipulation, not representation.

The time has come for Americans across the political spectrum to acknowledge the pattern of deception and demand better. Our constitutional republic depends on it.