Off Topic: Pacific Palisades Reservoir Was Closed and Empty When Los Angeles Wildfires Erupted

 01/10/25

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2025/01/10/officials-pacific-palisades-reservoir-was-closed-empty-when-los-angeles-wildfires-erupted

The Santa Ynez Reservoir is connected to the Los Angeles water supply system, and authorities said it was shut down for repairs at the time the fires erupted, “leaving a 117 million gallon water storage complex empty in the heart of the Palisades,” the newspaper reported on Friday.

The news comes as people are questioning why firefighters ran out of water as they tried to save structures and communities from the blaze that has wreaked havoc across the Los Angeles area.

“Department of Water and Power [DWP] officials have said that demand for water during an unprecedented fire made it impossible to maintain any pressure to hydrants at high elevations,” the report noted.

Former DWP general manager Martin Adams said if the reservoir had been ready for operation, the water pressure would have reached the Palisades for a time but would not have fixed the issue entirely.

“It’s unclear when the reservoir first went offline. Adams said it had been out of service ‘for a while’ due to a tear in the cover and that DWP’s vast storage and supply infrastructure still provided water to residents without disruptions, until this week,” the Times report said.

Uruguay Debating Euthanasia

By Alex Schadenberg

The MercoPress reported on January 7, 2025 that Uruguay's future President Yamandú Orsi, the leader of the Broad Front party, who is taking office on March 1, 2025 supports the passing of a euthanasia bill.

Congressman-elect Federico Preve intends to introduce a bill that is similar to a previous euthanasia bill. The MercoPress reported:

According to Preve, the plan is to introduce a new bill that is as similar as possible to the previous one, in a move to speed up its approval. “I have great expectations that by the end of the year, or next year at the latest, Uruguay will have decriminalized euthanasia,” Preve stressed while recalling that Colorado Ope Pasquet's bill “did not even” get a “yes or no” after failing to make it through the Senate's Health Committee. In Preve's view, legal euthanasia is a much-needed alternative and “a right for many people who are in quite complicated situations.”

A bill to legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide was introduced in the Uruguayan Congress on March 11, 2020. My assessment of that Uruguay bill was that it lacked definition allowing it to be widely interpreted.

Hawaii Police Department Opens Murder Probe After Alleged Violation of Hawaii’s Assisted Death Law

https://www.staradvertiser.com/2025/01/04/breaking-news/hpd-opens-murder-probe-after-alleged-violation-of-hawaiis-assisted-death-law

By Star-Advertiser staff

Jan. 4, 2025

Honolulu police said they have opened a second-degree murder investigation after a doctor allegedly administer a lethal prescription dose to an 88-year-old woman in violation of Hawaii’s assisted death law.

Hawaii’s Our Care, Our Choice Act of 2018 allows for the prescription of a lethal medication under certain requirements, including to self-administer the lethal medication for the purpose of ending a person’s life, according to police. “Self-administer” means that a person ”must perform an affirmative, conscious, voluntary act to take into the individual’s body the prescription medication to end the individual’s life,” police said

Police alleged Friday that in October in the Punahou area, a 73-year-old male doctor assisted in administering the prescribed medication.

Delaware Talking Points (2025)

By Margaret K. Dore, Esq., MBA

“Aid in Dying” has been a euphemism for physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia since at least 1992.

Per the American Medical Association, "physician-assisted suicide" occurs when a doctor facilitates a patient’s death by providing the means or information to enable a patient to perform the life-ending act. "Euthanasia" is the administration of a lethal agent by another person. 

Persons assisting a suicide can have an agenda. Reported motives include: the “thrill” of getting other people to kill themselves; and wanting to see someone die.

This year's proposed Delaware Act, HB 140, has a formal application process to obtain a lethal dose to kill patients. Once a lethal dose is issued by a pharmacy, there is no required oversight. No medical person or even a witness is required to be present at the patient's death.

Current Delaware law prevents a person who kills another person, i.e., commits homicide, from inheriting from a person that he or she killed. The rationale is that a criminal should not be allowed to benefit from his or her crime.

Per the proposed Act, however, a person  who intentionally kills another person may be allowed to inherit. This is because deaths occurring pursuant to the Act will be treated as natural, as if the person who died, had died from natural causes as opposed to a lethal overdose." 

In the event of the proposed Act’s passage, Delaware residents with money, meaning the middle class and above, will be rendered sitting ducks to their heirs. Passage of the Act will create a perfect crime.

Once Euthanasia is Legal, Expansion Inevitable

By Alex Schadenberg, Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition 

The Politico published a pro-euthanasia article by Claudia Chiappa and Lucia Mackenzie on December 29, 2024. Chiappa and Mackenzie are suggesting that the legalization of euthanasia is inevitable but when they interview Theo Boer, [pictured right] a former member of a Netherlands euthanasia review committee he actually tells them that the expansion of euthanasia, once legal is inevitable. Boer states:

I have seen no jurisdiction in which the practice has not expanded, not one single jurisdiction,

By imposing really strict criteria we can slow down the expansion … but they will not prevent the expansion.

Chiappa and Mackenzie publish some of the Netherlands euthanasia statistics:

In several of the countries that have legalized assisted dying, the number of people using it to end their lives is increasing. In 2023, 9,068 people died from assisted dying in the Netherlands — 5.4 percent of deaths that year. This is up 4 percent compared with 2022 and up 87 percent from 2013.

Canadian Group That Led Campaign for Medical Aid in Dying (MAID) Calling for Safeguards

Miranda Schreiber, Special to National Post

The civil liberties group that led the push for the 2015 decriminalization of physician-assisted suicide in Canada is now warning it has become too easy to obtain MAID, and the government must enact safeguards.

The British Columbia Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) filed the case for Carter v. Canada, the constitutional challenge that led to the country’s current Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) regime. Statistics released last week reveal it was responsible for about one in 20 deaths in Canada in 2023, including 622 people who received MAID for a non-terminal illness.

Liz Hughes, [pictured above] who has served as BCCLA executive director since June 2023, said in a statement to the National Post the group is “aware of concerning reports of people being offered MAID in circumstances that may not legally qualify, as well as people accessing MAID as a result of intolerable social circumstances.”

Hughes called for government action: “Governments must put in place, actively review, and enforce appropriate safeguards to ensure that people are making this decision freely.”

Jimmy Carter Has Died

Jimmy Carter, the 39th president of the United States, died Sunday at the age of 100, the Carter Center confirmed. Though he served only one term in office, he went on to a distinguished second act of humanitarian work, and he lived long enough to become the oldest former president in U.S. history.

Carter "died peacefully Sunday, Dec. 29, at his home in Plains, Georgia, surrounded by his family," the Carter Center said in a statement.

"My father was a hero, not only to me but to everyone who believes in peace, human rights, and unselfish love," said Chip Carter, the former president's son, in a statement provided by the Carter Center. "My brothers, sister, and I shared him with the rest of the world through these common beliefs. The world is our family because of the way he brought people together, and we thank you for honoring his memory by continuing to live these shared beliefs."

I’m Dying of Brain Cancer. I Prepared to End my Life. Then I Kept Living.

Perspective by Jeffrey Davitz

To view the entire article, click here. 

In April 2015, at the age of 55, I was diagnosed with one of the most lethal and aggressive brain tumors, a brainstem glioblastoma multiforme in an advanced stage. The prognosis was both grim and precise: Without treatment, I might have a few months; with treatment, I could last six months. If I beat overwhelming odds, I’d toast the new year one last time.

During the time my doctors were converging on my cancer diagnosis, interest was building here in California for a law, called “aid in dying,” that would allow physicians to help patients end their lives....

Then, I learned that while the aid-in-dying law had been enacted, it contained a procedural delay: It would not be effective until the following June, in 2016, long past my predicted death. I decided I wasn’t going to move to Oregon or another state that permitted assisted suicide, since it would eventually be legal in my state. I would wait if I could, and I would use extralegal means if I began to slip beforehand.... I was ready....

Then a peculiar thing happened: I started to get better.

Former Chinese Official Sounds Alarm Over CCP’s Forced Organ Harvesting

 https://www.ntd.com/former-chinese-official-confirms-reality-of-forced-organ-harvesting_1036964.html

A  former Chinese official is sounding alarm over the communist regime’s forced organ harvesting based on his own experience in China.

Du Wen, a former executive director of the Legal Advisory Office of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Government, was wrongfully imprisoned by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for 12 years before going abroad and settling in Belgium in 2023.

“I used to say, ‘Where is the evidence?’ Those are evidence!” Du said of the organ transplant advertisements that were seen outside major hospitals in Beijing.

“Every single advertisement is evidence. Every phone call is evidence: organs are being openly bought and sold,” he told the Chinese edition of The Epoch Times on Dec. 16.

Senators Welch and Manchin Introduce Bill to Cap Supreme Court Terms, Senator Lindsey Graham Opposes Proposal

By Matthew Vadum 

The bill would begin the constitutional amendment process which requires supermajority support in Congress and three quarters of the states for ratification

Two senators have introduced a proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would impose term limits for members of the Supreme Court. 

The Supreme Court unanimously adopted a code of conduct in November 2023 governing the justices’ behavior.

The new resolution, introduced on Dec. 5 by Sens. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.) [pictured above], would limit newly appointed justices to 18 years on the bench, and lead to a new opening roughly every two years. To become effective, a constitutional amendment would have to be passed by a two-thirds majority of both houses of Congress and ratified by three-quarters of the states.

According to a summary provided by Welch, the amendment would not change the number of sitting justices, currently set at nine by law, and would establish a transition period to ensure vacancies occur at regular intervals.

The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill – Some Thoughts From an Ill Adult -

By Julia Englehardt 

On Friday 29th November 2024, MPs in the British Parliament voted (330 to 275, a majority of 55) for the reintroduction of state administered death. Britain used to have this in the form of capital punishment, suspended in 1964 and finally abolished in 1969. The state is not going to begin killing you for committing treason or heinous crimes such as the Southport murders – don’t be silly, that would be far too sensible and popular with the public. But should the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill clear the standard parliamentary hurdles over the next two years, the British public will have the option, if eligible, to have the government end their lives for them. This will be done with the assistance of the state religion, the NHS. In short, the state can now be a party to the premature death of a citizen....

Sometimes it’s hard not to feel the shadow of Dr Harold Shipman [pictured above] hanging over this legislation. Shipman, Britain’s most prolific serial killer, targeted vulnerable elderly people, who trusted him as their GP, killing them with either a lethal dose of drugs or prescribing extreme levels of drugs.

Bryan King Introducing Legislation to Prevent Vaccine Harms, Other Voices Raise Concerns

Arkansas lawmakers are weighing legislation that could pierce the pharmaceutical industry’s federal liability shield for vaccine injuries by holding corporate executives criminally liable for “vaccine harms” if they concealed evidence of risks associated with a vaccine that subsequently seriously injured or killed the recipient.

Under Senate Bill 6, introduced by Republican State Sen. Bryan King [pictured right], an executive officer of a pharmaceutical company that “knowingly hides, conceals, omits, or otherwise withholds evidence, documentation, or information that the vaccine has dangerous effects,” would be found guilty of a felony and face a prison sentence of one year to life.

The bill is pending before the Arkansas Senate. King also introduced Senate Bill 5, to hold Pharma executives criminally liable for “prescription drug harm.”

Previous versions of both bills unanimously passed last year in the Arkansas Senate but died in the Arkansas House.

Musk Mobilizes the Masses

Elon Musk isn’t messing around, and he just got a massive scalp to prove it.

The billionaire owner of X started his day by posting a photo of the 1,500-page spending bill in Congress with this question: “Ever seen a bigger piece of pork?”

Scores of Musk posts and reposts followed Wednesday, sending members of Congress scrambling to quickly declare their opposition as calls and emails began flooding the Capitol.

By the afternoon, President-elect Donald Trump declared his opposition. And within hours, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., pulled the bill he had unveiled just a day earlier.

US Senator Introduces Bill Banning Medical Mutilation for Kids

https://www.thegoldreport.com/news/senator-introduces-bill-against-medical-mutilation-for-kids

Senator Roger “Doc” Marshall (R-KS) [pictured left] last week introduced a bill aimed at stopping medical providers from subjecting children to medical mutilation procedures, or what gender activists refer to as “gender-affirming care.”

What the bill says

The Safeguarding The Overall Protection of Minors (STOP) Act would make it illegal for doctors or hospitals to administer puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones to children. These drugs cause irreversible harm like sterility, castration, loss of sexual satisfaction, suicidality, blood clots, heart damage, tumors, and bone density loss. The STOP Act also prohibits medical providers from performing genital surgeries and double mastectomies on kids for “gender identity” purposes.

The bill does not apply only to physicians. Any healthcare professional can be hit with a $100,000 civil penalty if they “knowingly perform, attempt to perform, conspire to perform, or provide a referral for any gender transition procedure on a minor.” That includes mental health workers who refer children for “gender-affirming care,” as well as any medical institution where medical mutilation procedures are performed. These medical providers are collectively referred to by many ethical doctors as “transpredators.”

In addition, the bill would fund programs to help gender medicine victims try to reverse some of the effects of such interventions, a process known as “de-transitioning.”

Australia: No More Lies. No More Experiments.

On Friday in Perth, Professor Ian Brighthope, a leading figure in Australian medicine, broke down in tears before a crowded room as he addressed the catastrophic consequences of the COVID-19 ‘vaccination’ scheme. “Sixty million doses,” he said, his voice heavy with emotion. “These vaccines have been injected into over 20 million unsuspecting Australians. The damage they’ve caused will haunt us for years to come.”

* * *

A Failure of Oversight

Brighthope accused Australia’s health authorities of abandoning their duty to monitor the effects of these vaccines. “The Department of Health has refused to release data on new or emerging cancer trends since the rollout of these vaccines,” he said. “This is a glaring failure of public health oversight, and Australians deserve answers.”

The professor explained that contaminated vaccine vials containing synthetic DNA fragments and toxic lipid nanoparticles are already wreaking havoc. “This contamination is a recipe for genomic instability, leading to cancers, autoimmune diseases, and other genetic disorders,” he said. He warned of a “long-term health crisis” if immediate action isn’t taken.

New Jersey Town Reverses Course after Residents Rage Against Ban on Constitution and US Flag at Hearings

Officials apologized for a 'misunderstanding,' but critics say their intent was clear.

Officials of a New Jersey town now say that a ban on "props" at public comments during hearings does not apply to the Constitution and U.S. flags after the issue led to nationwide outrage and controversy.

As Blaze Media previously reported, Edison Township made national headlines when a man was escorted by police out of a hearing for carrying a small American flag while arguing against the decorum ban. While the ban doesn't mention the Constitution or flags, township officials claimed that both fell under the designation of "props" banned during comments made at council hearings.

Real Not Rare

My name is Ernest Ramirez. I am a single parent to Ernesto Ramirez Jr. (both pictured right).

My son Ernesto Ramirez Jr. was born November 11, 2004. Ernesto was healthy, energetic and kind. He never gave me any problems growing up. He enjoyed playing video games, fishing, camping and loved playing baseball. My son aspired to follow in his brother’s footsteps and join the air force to serve his country.

In late March 2020, like the rest of the world, we were scared and worried. We isolated and stayed indoors to protect ourselves. When the vaccine became available, I decided to vaccinate myself to protect my son since my job required me to have contact with the public.

The Benign Term "Assisted Dying"

Original publication: Nov 15, 2024  

By Professor John Wyatt (pictured right).

The term 'euthanasia' - literally "good death" - was adopted in the 1870s to refer to the intentional medical homicide of suffering patients through chloroform or other anaesthetics.

Since then, a long list of misleading labels have been applied by campaigners, from 'Easeful Death' to 'Medical Aid in Dying', all of which serve to obfuscate the unsettling reality of the issue - that administrating a lethal cocktail of drugs is fraught with long-lasting implications and the potential of trauma for all involved.

Instead, reassuring words like 'safety', 'choice' and 'protection' abound in MP Kim Leadbetter’s Private Member’s Bill, published on 11th November 2024, which is entitled 'Choice at the End of Life’, undoubtedly picking up on the phraseology of Dignity in Dying, the leading campaign organisation, who use the innocuous description “dying people deserve the choice to control the timing and manner of their death”, airbrushing out the messiness and emotional complexity involved in actually carrying out such an act, let alone the real possibility of vulnerable people facing coercion to die, should the Bill became law in the UK.

Putin's Agenda Is to Support the Traditional Russian Family

By David Krayden   
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a bill Saturday banning the adoption of Russian babies by people in countries that have legalized sex changes and gender transitioning. The Russian leader also approved another law that stops the dissemination of material that tries to persuade couples to not procreate, the Associated Press reported.
The bills were passed by both houses of Russia’s Parliament and are part of Putin’s agenda to support the traditional Russian family and block the promotion of LGBTQ-friendly or gender ideology policies.
Russian lower house Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin, who co-authored the adoption ban legislation, has previously stated that “it is extremely important to eliminate possible dangers in the form of gender reassignment that adopted children may face in these countries.” The adoption ban would affect 15 countries in much of Western Europe, Australia and Canada. Russia had already banned adoptions by citizens of the United States in 2012.
With a declining Russian birth rate and smaller population, Putin has also encouraged couples to have more babies. The bill aimed at so-called “child-free propaganda" would punish violators with fines of up to $5 million rubles or $50,000 USD.

Florida’s Surgeon General Comes Out Against Fluoride in Water Supply

Ladapo admitted to previously being in favor of fluoridation .... 

Florida’s Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo issued a new guidance on Nov. 22, advising against the long-standing practice of adding fluoride to the public drinking water supply.

“Adding fluoride to water increases the risk of neuropsychiatric disease in children and reduces their IQ,” Ladapo said in a post on social media platform X. “We can strengthen teeth without consuming this neurotoxin.”

In his guidance, Ladapo states that fluoride, which is known to strengthen teeth and make them more resistant to decay, is “widely available from multiple sources,” such as toothpaste and mouthwashes, and cites several studies that found a connection between negative mental side effects and fluoride exposure during childhood and pregnancy.

Those side effects include an association with lowered IQ, attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder, as well as decreased child inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility.