Health
A 2026 meta-analysis of 10 trials covering 85,829 people without prior heart, vascular, or cerebrovascular disease reported that cholesterol-lowering drugs did not reduce all-cause or cardiac death, with 3.9 percent dying in both groups. Independent reviews of published statin trials found about five years of daily use added three to four days of life, a benefit large trials found only in men. Use among Americans over 40 rose from 12 to 35 percent over a decade, with injury estimates of 5 to 30 percent and nearly half of patients stopping within a year, the reports stated.
Speaking of cardiac events, critics have warned that Moderna’s DAN-COMBO trial, seeking 410,000 healthy Danish adults 65 and older in Denmark and Spain to test its combination COVID-flu vaccine, could expose them to cardiac events, clots, and death. Every participant will receive either a combination mRNA COVID-19 and flu shot or separate Spikevax and high-dose flu shots, with no placebo and no blinding. Data on mRNA-1010 showed more serious adverse events and deaths than a conventional flu vaccine, according to reports cited by critics, and an earlier combination trial in people 65 and older found 38 percent higher odds of a serious adverse event.
Speaking of the COVID vaccine, an analysis of National Health Interview Survey data on 21,990 U.S. children from 2022 to 2024 found COVID-19 vaccination is associated with higher odds of autism, ADHD, anxiety, special-education use, and mental-health treatment. The analysis reported increases of 32 percent for autism, 33 percent for ADHD, and 23 percent for any neurodevelopmental disorder, with the autism association rising by dose and 154 percent higher adjusted odds among ages five to seven after three or more shots. The authors noted the cross-sectional design cannot sequence exposure and diagnosis.
British Politics
British universities have declared the phrase “ethnic minority” offensive and now mandate “racialised minority” or “global majority” as alternatives. The University of the West of England says “global majority” covers people who are black, Asian, brown, mixed heritage, indigenous to the Global South, or not racialised as white. A YouGov survey of ethnic minority Britons found 9 percent preferred “global majority” and 7 percent had used it, while 35 percent preferred “ethnic minorities” and 66 percent found that term acceptable.
At Cambridge, Gonville and Caius College has made 90-minute Stop Hate UK inclusivity sessions mandatory for undergraduates and demanded a collective and unified response. The charity tells students that free speech should be restricted by other duties and that facial expressions, tone of voice, and parking complaints can count as hate incidents. The Committee for Academic Freedom found the materials omit age as a protected characteristic and replace gender reassignment with gender identity. Office for Students rules bar a requirement to endorse a viewpoint.
North Yorkshire staff who handle anti-terror work were told in Project Unity training that Mother Mary wore a hijab and that Jesus grew a beard, offered as evidence that Islam aligns with Western values. Presenter Abbas Najib stood by the slide and defined hijab as a woman’s head covering. Other slides called Sharia a moral tradition like any other. A Roman Catholic councillor called the Mary claim inaccurate and unacceptable. North Yorkshire Council said the presenter was an unpaid guest invited to encourage questioning of evidence and reflection rather than to promote one view.
Meanwhile, Hampshire police put all of Gosport under a dispersal order while 149 migrants from a Normandy dinghy were landed by Royal National Lifeboat Institution boats and put on coaches to Kent. Protesters were confined to one car park, face coverings were banned, and Haslar Bridge was closed. About 350 people demonstrated, and 12 were arrested. Police and Crime Commissioner Donna Jones said each landing protest costs £150,000. The Conservative MP said Gosport is not a suitable place to disembark small boats.
Geopolitics
Houthi forces launched a missile and drone barrage at Saudi Arabia, targeting King Khalid Airport in Riyadh, an Aramco refinery in Rabigh, Abha Airport, Khamis Mushait Airbase, and sites in Najran and Jazan. Saudi-backed forces with 100 jets claimed 324 targets destroyed and the recapture of Mocha, which the Houthis denied. Houthis seized parliament speaker Sultan al-Barakani’s mansion south of Taiz, took al-Turbah on the Taiz-Aden roads, and were reported at the family home of leadership council chairman Rashad al-Alimi. Control of Bab el-Mandeb remains disputed.
Meanwhile, according to reports, Turkey and Pakistan were to send troops and equipment into Saudi Arabia after the Mecca defense alliance was activated. A nuclear-effects analyst, Professor Steven Starr, warned an Israel-Iran war could go nuclear. Pakistan is nuclear-armed, and Turkey hosts U.S. nuclear weapons as a NATO member. Starr said he was alarmed by a claim that President Trump had given Prime Minister Netanyahu permission to use nuclear weapons and put Israel’s arsenal in the hundreds. He said a U.S.-Russia exchange could loft 150 million tons of smoke, drop northern temperatures for years, cut rainfall 90 percent, and kill most people there. Pakistan’s Ministry of Information rejected a Reuters report of 30,000 to 40,000 Pakistani troops being deployed, stating the figures and details were invented and based on unnamed sources.
Energy
Saudi Aramco cut November Arab Light for Asia to $5 a barrel below the Dubai/Oman benchmark, a six-year low, while raising European prices $3 and leaving U.S. prices unchanged. Hormuz very large crude carrier freight hit $1.3 million a day, 43 times the January rate, adding about $33 a barrel. CEO Amin Nasser said stockpiles have become “scarily thin,” falling from about 10 billion barrels to less than 6 billion, with only 10 percent practically available, and that at least 2 million extra barrels a day may be needed for at least two years while inventories are rebuilt. Some traders and analysts described the Asian discount as more consistent with recovering Gulf supply, high freight costs, and softer demand than with an acute shortage.
US Politics
An OnMessage poll of 800 voters found 84 percent of Gen Z Democrats view socialism favorably, as do a majority of Democrats of all ages, and more than 30 percent of Americans overall. Thirty-five percent of respondents were Democrats, amid a rise in DSA-aligned candidates. However, Vox reported that young people often associate the term with policies such as affordable housing, healthcare and higher taxes on the wealthy rather than a full economic overhaul, and that many remain unclear on its precise meaning.
The Eighth Circuit blocked Minnesota’s nudification law as applied to xAI pending appeal. The statute imposes fines up to $500,000 per violation if an app lets a user generate a realistic intimate part not shown in the original image of an identifiable person. xAI says it already blocks non-consensual nudes of real people but argues the text also covers people in shorts, shirtless men, and swimmers, has no artistic or political exception, and applies even with consent, while a hand-painted image would be legal. A spokesperson for Attorney General Keith Ellison’s office said the office was disappointed, disagreed with the decision, and would continue to defend the law, and KSTP reported that at least four lawsuits have accused xAI of image-based sexual abuse.
Sources
The Great Cholesterol Lie: Statins Don’t Save Lives—They Just Enrich Pharma
Unfortunately, the benefits of these highly toxic drugs are minuscule (e.g., at best taking them for years extends your life by a few days) and the harms are vast (statins are one of the most common pharmaceuticals that severely injure patients).
Alliances Activate as Expert Warns Israel-Iran Clash Could Spark Nuclear Winter
I’m primarily worried about Israel using nuclear weapons against Iran.
Source | Submitted by Rodster
Universities Declare ‘Ethnic Minority’ Offensive, Mandate ‘Global Majority’
Yesterday’s respectful term is today’s banned one.
UK Council Training Tells Staff the Virgin Mary Wore a Hijab
Mother Mary wore a hijab.
Police Empty Gosport Under Town-Wide Dispersal Order for Migrant Landing
Residents of Gosport, the Royal Navy harbor town across the water from Portsmouth, spent Sunday under police orders that let officers direct people to leave town, as a migrant boat from France made its way toward their coastline.
Houthis Hit Riyadh Airport and Aramco as Yemen’s Red Sea War Explodes
The Houthis have announced in the late evening (local) their forces have launched a large missile and drone attack on Saudi Arabia’s territory.
Cambridge Mandates Training That Restricts Free Speech as Inclusivity
Cambridge University Declares Free Speech Should Be ‘Restricted’
Aramco Slashes Asia Oil Prices to Six-Year Low as Hormuz Freight Soars, Warns Stocks “Scarily Thin”
Until Hormuz fully re-opens and confidence returns, the crude reality is that pressure at both ends of the barrel will intensify
84% of Gen Z Democrats Back Socialism, Poll Finds
“Embracing socialism is no longer a fringe talking point for Democratic voters. Our data shows that a majority of Democrats of all ages hold favorable views of socialism, including 84% of Gen Z Democrats,”
Gov’t Data Links Kids’ COVID Shots to Autism, ADHD Surge
We analyzed official U.S. government data from 21,990 children and found a consistent association between childhood COVID-19 vaccination and higher odds of autism ADHD, anxiety, special-education use, and mental health treatment.
Moderna’s 410,000-Elderly mRNA Combo Trial a ‘Catastrophe in the Making,’ Critics Warn
“This is a catastrophe in the making,”
Eighth Circuit Blocks Minnesota’s Overbroad Nudify Law Against xAI
Minnesota wanted a bright line between consent and exploitation, but wrote one that reaches much farther.
In addition to sources submitted by community members, the following were also used in the creation of this report: New England Journal of Medicine, Al Jazeera English, Pakistan’s Ministry of Information, The Telegraph, The Spectator, North Yorkshire Council, GB News, Javier Blas of Bloomberg, Vox, and KSTP.
by rodster 
