db
newsfaker
dbd102bd244cfbcd23821a7215dc2bba7af5636ecfd710d074f55114cf47e656
Replying to Avatar Lyn Alden

What's going on in Sudan gets an order of magnitude less coverage than what's going on in other military hot spots of the world, despite being of similar magnitude.

Perhaps I tend to think of it a lot because Sudan borders Egypt to the south. So it's geographically in my mind more tangibly.

People can only get emotionally engaged about a handful of things. The world is too big and noisy for us to care about everything. That way lies madness. But it's still interesting which things do reach us, and rile us up.

When violence gets covered heavily in the media, it's often said that it's about the numbers, the humanity of it. But in reality, conflicts at the intersection between major religions, major military powers, or where there is a lot of oil, are what get most of the coverage. If violence happens to people outside of that scope, it's often drowned out and ignored.

Social media and algorithms are powerful. In a situation where it might be reasonable to care about something 2x or 3x as much as another thing due to geopolitical implications and such, social media can put it in front of you 200x or 300x as frequently, and thus make you care or think about it 200x or 300x more.

The issue is fractal, and so it happens the same at smaller scales. In any given industry or community, there are certain topics that get an order of magnitude more coverage and discussion than a dozen other things of similar scale or importance. And then people get sucked into an echo chamber where they think the 3-5x things that are frequently in front of them, and that their mind is mostly focused on, are indeed the 3-5x most important things when in reality it's mostly the algorithm reinforcing itself, and reinforcing that aspect of human nature that moves in groups.

Being able to sculpt your own algorithm is important, but equally it helps to be aware of the algorithm's influence in the first place. When you hear about something a ton, ask why. When you don't hear about something big very often, also ask why.

___

"Sudan plunged into a civil war in April 2023 after a vicious struggle for power broke out between its army and a powerful paramilitary group, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

It has led to a famine and claims of a genocide in the western Darfur region - with fears for the residents of city of el-Fasher after it was recently captured by the RSF.

More than 150,000 people have died in the conflict across the country, and about 12 million have fled their homes in what the United Nations has called the world's largest humanitarian crisis."

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjel2nn22z9o

true. thanks Lyn. there’s also water wars which we at the West seldom hear about.

### My Early Retirement Journey

I’ve been working now for 7 years. I’m a CPA working in the BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) Industry here in Philippines.

When I started working 7 years ago, I hated it. I always ask myself if this is what I’m going to do for the rest of my life?

Plus the normal path of get a good job, climb the corporate ladder, buy a car buy a house, and be successful in the eyes of the others didn’t appeal to me.

I wanted to the something that I’m passionate about. But the problem is I don’t know what I’m passionate about. Luckily I discovered FIRE.

### Stumbling with FIRE

FIRE stands for Financial Independence Retire Early movement.

What this means is that you can achieve early retirement by doing 2 things.

Save as much as you can

Invest to grow this savings

There were people who’ve done it. Some were able to retire in 10 years, some were able to retire before reaching 40 years old.

These early retirees documented their journey though their blogs. Some of the popular one is Mr. Money Mustache.

There’s a book also written about this FIRE movement. There’s a documentary about this also.

Dreaming of early retirement became my coping mechanism on work.

I invested as much as I can when I started working. I didn’t dream of buying a car, which what most of my peers do.

But it turns out, playing with FIRE(Financial Independence Retire Early) wasn’t as easy as advertised.

Is Early Retirement really possible?

Yes according to those who have done it. But in reality, those who have done it, has done it with the help of the rising US stock market over the last 20 years.

The way to early retirement according to this FIRE movement is to:

Cut down expenses and save as much as you can &

Invest this savings into a mix of passive index funds of stocks and bonds.

Then do this until your retirement savings reach 25 times of your annual expenses

The 25x target is based on the FIRE movement, where reaching this milestone allows you to withdraw 4% annually for expenses, and your passive index fund investments are expected to grow by 4% as well.

For example, if your annual expenses are $100,000, your retirement goal is 25 times that amount, totaling $2,500,000.

Once this goal is achieved, you can retire and withdraw 4% of $2,500,000, which is $100,000.

After the withdrawal, your retirement balance will be $2,490,000.

However, with a 4% growth in your passive index funds, your savings will rebound to $2,500,000 (initial balance of $2,490,000 plus $100,000 gain).

The theory of the FIRE movement is based on the 4% rule. I believe there was a paper written on this where it shows that you will not run out of money by withdrawing the 4%.

BUT , and a big but, but this is based on theory and past performance.

The reality is no one knows the future. So for FIRE to work, there are two things you need to do which are:

#1 Save a lot of money - something that is within your control.

#2 Grow your saving by investing - something that is not within your control.

Even though saving money is within your control, it is still hard to do because at the same time you want to enjoy life by travelling, or buying a house or car etc.

Meanwhile #2 is something that is not within our control.

The blinds spot that I see on FIRE believers is that they see the passive indexing investing as gospel.

Passive index investing is investing in a fund that tracks an index like S&P 500.

If you read this substack, you know that I hold most of my assets in bitcoin.

I think bitcoin can do in the future what the S&P500 has done in the past.

If your goal is FIRE, I suggest taking a look at bitcoin. You don’t have to sell all your index funds to buy bitcoin. You should only invest what you’re comfortable with. You invested in index funds because you’re comfortable with it. I suggest studying bitcoin so that you can add it to your portfolio. 1% may be enough, the percentage that you will put into bitcoin will depend on your understanding of the asset.

There were some study shows that adding minimal exposure of bitcoin can improve overall returns of your portfolio without the volatility, since the bitcoin exposure is only small.

### How Bitcoin Revived my FIRE dreams

When I started FIRE, there was no FIRE community in the Philippines. Now we have Facebook groups, subreddit etc.

Also at that time, 6 years ago, access to S&P500 index funds are not cheap as it is today.

The only way to access index funds at that time was through feeder funds offered by banks and their minimum are quite high for an average salary in the Philippines.

I was stuck with the PSEi , and the PSEi is not doing well since 2018.

PSEi perform poorly compared to S&P 500 and other foreign markets. That’s why I don’t recommend putting all your eggs here in the Philippines (the PSEi).

Right around 2020, I got demotivated in saving in PSEi index funds, I got an increase in salary and bought house instead.

This is also one of the most expensive tuition fees I learned in life:

“A house is not an investment”

Luckily, I found bitcoin on 2022.

I first started buying bitcoin because I wanted to make money. But I discovered more.

I believe bitcoin over a long-term period will be the best performing asset.

Because of this, my early retirement dreams were revived but there’s a difference.

In the past, early retirement was my coping mechanism.

Today, well it is still my coping mechanism, but I learn how to deal with reality. I learn just to be continue being patient and save money.

The motivating thing is saving in bitcoin really feels like saving money.

Because your money is growing over time.

Just a warning that bitcoin is very volatile.

Also, another thing that I discovered is that I’m passionate about bitcoin.

I think the quit your job and find your passion is very overrated.

I’m not saying that I now enjoy my work. There’s nothing enjoyable being an accountant looking at computer screen 8 hours a day. The good thing is that I now have something that I’m passionate about that I can do on my free time. Which is write and share about bitcoin.

So if you’re reading up to this point. I want to express my gratitude and hopefully you will also go down the rabbit hole of how bitcoin can really improve your life aside from pumping your bags.

Nice. 🤘🏽

Replying to Avatar M✨️

Because we’re too busy making ourselves miserable.

Immediate Call to Action: Support RFKjr!

Robert W Malone MD, MS

During a press conference, President Trump was just asked about Secretary Kennedy ending all HHS/BARDA funding of mRNA technology for respiratory viruses. Trump's response "We have meetings about it tomorrow, actually tomorrow at 12 o'clock."

Views expressed here are my own and do not represent the US Government, the CDC, or the ACIP.

I really need to you use your social media channels and accounts to contact the White House and President Trump to immediately voice your support for Secretary Kennedy’s decision to eliminate federal subsidies for the development of mRNA-based respiratory virus vaccines. This must be done now. A key meeting has been called on short notice, and will be held today in the White House at noon EST!

Specifically, please post your opinion about this on X and include @Whitehouse , @realdonaldtrump , @Potus , @DrMakaryFDA , @SecKennedy in your post.

Secretary Kennedy made a key announcement last Tuesday (two days ago), a decision that will cost the mRNA vaccines industry at least a half billion US dollars.

“We reviewed the science, listened to the experts, and acted. BARDA is terminating 22 mRNA vaccine development investments because the data show these vaccines fail to protect effectively against upper respiratory infections like COVID and flu. We’re shifting that funding toward safer, broader vaccine platforms that remain effective even as viruses mutate.”

Precisely what I predicted on Bannon’s War Room and in an op-ed with Peter Navarro many years ago. These products are not working, they never provided durable, long lasting adaptive immune responses, and their use probably prolonged the COVIDcrisis by driving the repeated development of SARS-CoV-2 viral escape mutants. There are other new technologies, such as the use of baculovirus manufacturing to produce protein-based vaccines using modern (non-aluminum based) vaccines.

Hi, it's Robert F. Kennedy Junior, here as your HHS Secretary.

At HHS, we have a division called the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, or barda. BARDA drives some of our most advanced scientific research. IT funds developments of vaccines, drugs, diagnostics, and other tools to fight emergent diseases and national health threats. Over the past few weeks, barta reviewed 22 mRNA vaccine development investments and began canceling them. Let me explain why most of these shots are for flu or COVID, but as the pandemic showed us mRNA, vaccines don't perform well against viruses that infect the upper respiratory tract. Here's the problem. mRNA only codes for a small part of the viral proteins, usually a single antigen, one mutation, and the vaccine becomes ineffective. This dynamic drives a phenomena called antigenic shift, meaning that the vaccine paradoxically encourages new mutations and can actually prolong pandemics as the virus constantly mutates to escape the protective effects of the vaccine.

Millions of people, maybe even you or someone, got the omicron variant despite being vaccinated. That's because a single mutation can make mRNA vaccines ineffective. The same risk applies to flu. After reviewing the science and consulting top experts at NIH and FDA, HHS has determined that mRNA technology poses more risk and benefits for these respiratory viruses. That's why after extensive review, BARDA has begun the process of terminating these 22 contracts totaling just under $500 million to replace the troubled mRNA programs. We're prioritizing the development of safer, broader vaccine strategies like a whole virus, vaccines, and novel platforms that don't collapse on viruses. Mutate, let me be absolutely clear. HHS supports safe effective vaccines for every American who wants them. That's why we're moving beyond the limitations of mRNA for respiratory viruses and investing in better solutions. Thank you.

And then this happened yesterday during a press conference-

“Operation warp speed was, whether you're Republican or Democrat, considered one of the most incredible things ever done in this country. The efficiency, the way it was done, the distribution, everything about it has been amazing. But that was now a long time ago and we're onto other things, but we are speaking about it. We have meetings about it in tomorrow, actually, tomorrow at 12 o'clock.”

On Tuesday, Secretary Kennedy made the courageous decision to end HHS's funding of the dangerous and unproven mRNA technology.

This is a massive MAHA win but only if the decision is preserved.

President Trump was just asked about Secretary Kennedy's decision and said, ""We have meetings about it tomorrow, actually tomorrow at 12 o'clock."

This is an inflection point. We know the mRNA lobby is busy pulling every lever in an attempt to get President Trump to reverse the decision. They succeeded in forcing CDER Director Vinay Prasad to resign. This cannot happen again.

We, the MAHA base, need to encourage President Trump - on all social channels - to stand up to the Big Pharma lobby. We know the mRNA vaccines don't work. We know they cause cancer. This is about doing the right thing. Choosing health over money.

The mRNA technology would not exist without the support of the U.S. government. By late 2020, BARDA had awarded close to $2 billion for COVID mRNA vaccine development, manufacturing scale-up, and for distribution. There is billions of dollars tied to this technology but what is more powerful than money? Voters.

We must hold the line. Please take a moment to share your opinion. Post your post your opinion about this on X and Truth Social, and include @Whitehouse , @realdonaldtrump , @Potus , @DrMakaryFDA , @SecKennedy in your messaging on X. Thank you for your prompt assistance.

If you want to know more about the Bio organization plans to get RFKjr and the mRNA industry lobby, please read these prior substack posts. The industry is organized and is pushing back with everything that they have. Secretary Kennedy and his team need your help now. It is time for the MAHA lions and lionesses to roar.

Thanks for reading Malone News! This post is public so feel free to share it

#rfk #mrna #vaccine #covid

https://www.malone.news/p/immediate-call-to-action-support

Mercury BANNED in US Vaccines

Posted Aug 5, 2025 By Martin Armstrong |

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s next step toward making America Healthy again is an outright ban on thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative, found in common vaccines. “I’m proud to finally deliver on a long-overdue promise: protecting our most vulnerable from unnecessary mercury exposure,” Kennedy stated on a video posted on X, noting that the chemical is a known neurotoxin that has been administered to millions of Americans.

The former director of the FDA, Willian Egan, admitted in 2001 that the safety of this preservative had never been studied. The government simply allowed the pharmaceutical agencies to incorporate it in vaccines to extend their shelf lives. PubMed and PubChem, as Kennedy stated, have published countless peer-reviewed studies citing thimerosal as a known carcinogen and neurotoxin. The FDA has a clear understanding that this chemical can cause reproductive issues. They are also aware that the chemical is linked to mild to severe retardation, autism, and/or motor skill impairment in children, but children are encouraged to take the vaccine to stop the spread. One study found that women had a 7.7x greater chance of miscarriage if they received the common flu vaccine while pregnant, but pregnant women are still encouraged to take the vaccination. “They had the science but chose to ignore it,” Kennedy announced. Every agency was aware that this was an ongoing danger to the public for decades. In fact, the current amount of mercury found in the common flu vaccination is 25,000 times over the EPA’s current safety level for drinking water.

These chemicals are so hazardous that they are required to be disposed of in special landfills for hazardous waste, and yet, we were permitting the pharmaceutical agencies to inject these toxins into our bodies and convincing the public that they must blindly take the vaccine for the greater good of society. No one has been allowed to comment on the dangers despite the various studies that warn against its use in humans.

VAXXED

Why is this controversial? As Kennedy stated, he has been attempting to ban mercury from fish, but no one has deemed him “anti-fish.” Anti-vax or any skepticism regarding vaccinations has been deemed a threat to the government, as the people should not question their guidance, or they will be labeled a crazed conspiracist.

This chemical was known to cause harm in humans, but it helped big pharma to increase its bottom line. It is simply a preservative with ZEO benefits. Kennedy’s declaration comes weeks after Bill Gates invested another $1.6 billion into the GAVI vaccine alliance program. The World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, the World Bank, vaccine manufacturers, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation are all responsible for the GAVI program and they have already vaccinated 760 million children worldwide. Bill Gates happens to be the foundation’s largest donor, already contributing $7.7 billion to the cause. The European Union recently partnered with Gates to contribute funding toward GAVI as well, since all the Build Back Better nations believe in the outdated science.

Now, the only reason thimerosal is controversial is that it puts government authority into question. “The science” is never wrong, allegedly. The people should not think independently or question their overlords when they deem health precautions necessary. It’s for the greater good of the public, so they say. Yet, the public already lost trust in the government long ago, and the fallout from COVID completely dismantled any remaining trust the people had in “the science.” Kennedy’s work could actually encourage vaccinations as the people now demand transparency from their government.

Yet, vaccinations are the least of our troubles now as the government is plotting a swifter demise for the masses through warfare.

https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/international-news/disease/mercury-banned-in-us-vaccines/

#rfk #vaccine