Stuart Jeanne Bramhall's Blog: The Most Revolutionary Act , page 11
September 15, 2025
US experiencing ‘sex recession’
FILE PHOTO. © AJ_Watt
RT
The number of celibate young Americans has doubled in 15 years
Americans are in the midst of a “sex recession,” with fewer adults reporting regular intimacy than at any point in recent decades, a recent nationwide survey has revealed. The sharpest decline is among young people, where reports of celibacy have surged.
The number of 18-29-year-olds who went without sex for an entire year more than doubled between 2010 and 2024, going from 12% to 24%, the Institute for Family Studies (IFS) wrote, citing latest figures from the General Social Survey (GSS).
“Young adults are spending less time dating, mating, and getting married, with obvious implications for sex. Indeed, the lack of marriage is why young adults face the brunt of the sex recession,” reads the report. It notes, however, that while married adults tend to report more frequent sex than their single counterparts, they too have seen a steady decline.
Weekly sexual activity among adults aged 18–64 has dropped from 55% in 1990 to just 37% last year, the report adds.
The IFS report links the fall in marital intimacy to the spread of digital technology, arguing that smartphones, computers, and streaming platforms are cutting into time couples spend together.
A reported steep drop in social interaction, brought about by the rise of smartphones and social media, has also contributed to the trend. In 2024, young adults spent less than half as much time with friends as they did in 2010 – 5.1 hours a week as compared to 12.8, respectively.
The trends highlighted by the IFS have been recorded in other countries as well. Research published last November in France suggested that a quarter of all 18-29-year-olds in the country reported having no sexual relations at all over the past year.
[…]
Toxic fumes on planes serious threat to pilots
FILE PHOTO. © Getty Images / Natasha ChoiRT
Contamination can reportedly enter the cabin via a system used to heat up and pressurize outside air through the engines
Rising incidents of toxic fumes seeping into airplane cabins have caused sickness and long-term harm to pilots, flight attendants and passengers, according to a Wall Street Journal investigation of decades of industry data.
The probe drew on more than one million Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and NASA reports, thousands of documents, and over 100 interviews, the WSJ wrote on Saturday. The investigation found that airplane manufacturers and airlines had downplayed health hazards, lobbied against safety measures, and cut costs in ways that increased risks to passengers and crew.
Fume events occur when air entering the cabin via the ‘bleed air’ system – air pulled into the cabin through the engine – becomes contaminated. Leaks of engine oil, hydraulic fluids, or faulty seals can allow dangerous substances such as neurotoxins, volatile organic compounds, carbon monoxide, and others to enter the cabin.
Pilots have complained of having their vision affected and vomiting during flights, and in some cases the leaks have led to emergency landings, the WSJ wrote, citing official reports. It added that some of the worst incidents had led to long-term neurological damage and cancer, according to health professionals who had handled scores of the cases.
The newspaper’s analysis of FAA and NASA data showed that incidents have soared in recent years, rising from about 12 per million departures in 2014 to nearly 108 per million in 2024. The actual rate is likely far higher, as the problem is severely underreported, according to the WSJ.Aerospace firms, airlines and regulation authorities have argued that fume events are too few, the levels of contamination too low and research on its long-term health risks too inconclusive to justify an extensive fix, the outlet claimed.
Numerous attempts by Congress to pass tighter legislation on the issue have largely failed, or passed in watered-down form, it added.
While constituting only 20% of the US air fleet, the Airbus A320 family of planes made up 80% of fume events between 2018 and 2023, according to a paper from Switzerland’s Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute earlier this year.
[…]
Via https://www.rt.com/news/624688-toxic-fumes-airplanes-threat-pilots/
The Persistence of Water Apartheid in South Africa
Capturing Water
Al Jazeera (2025)
Film Review
https://www.aljazeera.com/video/featured-documentaries/2025/4/16/capturing-water
South Africa, a prime example of “racist capitalism,” is recognized as the most unequal country in the world, with Capetown the most unequal city. One of the water activists profiled here blames this on the decision not to return the land – nor the access to water – to the indigenous Africans it was stolen from.*
In 1994 when apartheid ended, 40 million South Africans had no reliable access to clean water. As of 2019, that number had dropped to to 21 million
In Capetown 600,000 homeless people of color are still waiting for social housing while private real estate development is booming. Thirteen percent of Capetown residents use 51% of the city’s water on their lush gardens and landscapes and face no restriction on its use nor pressure to conserve. Water intensive export industries (eg beer, wine, juice, bottled water) also have unlimited access to water. All the city’s water conservation efforts are directed at the poor.
South Africa’s grassroots PHA Food and Farming Campaign also focuses heavily on ending water wastage and updating the city’s failing water infrastructure. A prime example of water wastage is using pristine mountain streams (at a rate of 55 million liters daily) to flush sewage and other waste into the ocean.
Private companies routinely dump their waste in Capetown’s freshwater streams to avoid paying for processing. Meanwhile the condition of 67% of the city’s waste water works is rated a poor to critical. The city routinely warns residents to boil their water (impossible in many low income households who can’t afford the extra electricity/gas).
Activists blame Capetown’s failure to upgrade their waste water systems in part on low property taxes (a city with the most valuable properties in South Africa has the lowest tax revenues) and in part on outsourcing waste management and fresh water distribution to private companies.
The current Capetown mayor plans to reduce the city’s ownership of fresh and waste water management from 80% to 35% over the next 10 years. This trend has led many European companies to eye water management in the global South as the new gold.
*As the late John Pilger outlines in Freedom Next Time, Nelson Mandela was released from prison in December 1988 to live in the warden’s home until his official release in February 1990. During that period he met with numerous international officials and was pressured to to commit the first ANC government would 1) refrain from prosecuting Apartheid officials who had committed crimes against humanity 2) allow white South Africans to keep their land 3) repay South Africa’s IMF loan.
September 14, 2025
Covid mRNA Injections: Florida and Louisiana Leading the Way
By Nicolas HulscherSeptember 14, 2025Florida’s Dr. Joseph Ladapo is no longer alone — Louisiana’s Dr. Ralph Abraham has now joined him in warning against deadly COVID mRNA shots.
For years, Florida’s Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo stood as the only state Surgeon General warning about the dangers of the COVID mRNA injections. Now, Louisiana’s Surgeon General Dr. Ralph Abraham has joined him:
Their stance confirms what the majority of Americans already know — the shots are not safe for human use, and the catastrophic harms can no longer be hidden.
That leaves nearly all other state health leaders still silent. They have a choice: remain complicit, or step forward and stand on the right side of history.
And time is short. A landmark study is about to drop, revealing findings that will make silence indefensible.
Florida and Louisiana are leading the way. The question is: how many others will follow before history passes judgment?
[…]
Via https://www.globalresearch.ca/two-surgeon-generals-stand-right-side-history/5900321
Report: $900 million US funding in Nepal signals regime change plot
[image error]By Abhinandan Mishra
September 14, 2025
Nepal Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli’s resignation last week, forced by weeks of what have been termed and hailed as “Gen Z”-led protests that left at least 30 dead and government buildings and commercial establishments in flames, has cast that country into a moment of political uncertainty.
What looks like a sudden eruption of youth anger over corruption, unemployment, and social media ban sits against a longer story: a massive, documented American effort to reshape Nepal’s political space.
In March, The Sunday Guardian was shared with internal documents that proved how a plan was afoot to bring in a regime change in the Himalayan nation. The details shared by a top-ranking whistle blower with access to sensitive details, also revealed names of local politicians, who were allegedly financially compromised to become a part of this entire process.
Internal USAID communications accessed by The Sunday Guardian, alongside program outputs published by US democracy organisations, show that since 2020, more than $900 million in US assistance has been committed to Nepal, much of it channelled into governance, media, civic, and electoral activities run by the Washington-based consortium CEPPS—the National Democratic Institute (NDI), International Republican Institute (IRI), and International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES).
The scale of this investment is unusual for a country of Nepal’s size. In May 2022, USAID signed a $402.7 million Development Objective Agreement (DOAG) with Nepal’s Ministry of Finance. By February 2025, $158 million had already been disbursed, leaving $244.7 million still unspent.
In parallel, the $500 million Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Compact, signed in 2017 and ratified only in February 2022 after fierce protests and parliamentary battles, remains in play. As of early 2025, only $43.1 million (8.63%) of MCC funds had been disbursed, but the Compact’s implementation period was extended, keeping its infrastructure and governance projects alive.
Taken together, these two packages—USAID and MCC—bring total US commitments to over $900 million.
Within the USAID agreement, internal documents break down specific lines of spending. Project 4150: “Democratic Processes” carries a commitment of $8 million, of which $5,028,238 (62.85%) had been spent by February 2025. Its agreement date is March 2023, with a planned end in March 2028. Implementers: NDI and IFES.
Project 4177: “Democracy Resource Center Nepal (DRCN)” was allocated $500,000, fully disbursed by July 2023. DRCN describes itself as a research and monitoring organization; critics call it a propaganda organ.
Other allocations are still larger. The Civil Society and Media initiative is budgeted at $37 million, of which over $20 million (54%) has been disbursed. Officially aimed at strengthening civic and media organizations, it has been described by observers as a way to influence narratives around corruption, governance, and treaties like the MCC.
The Adolescent Reproductive Health (ARH) project is funded at $35 million, with over $18 million (52%) disbursed. While framed as health programming, critics allege it doubles as political outreach, targeting vulnerable populations whose support is critical in social mobilization.
Two letters from Karen Welch, Acting Mission Director of USAID/Nepal, underline the machinery of this funding. A letter dated 24 May 2023, addressed to Shreekrishna Nepal, a senior Finance Ministry official, listed 58 USAID-funded projects worth $134.5 million for fiscal year 2023/24, including Democratic Processes ($8m), Civil Society and Media ($37m), and ARH ($35m). It requested their inclusion in Nepal’s official Red Book of foreign aid.
A second letter, dated 16 April 2024, sent to Finance Secretary Dr Krishna Hari Pushkar, complained about NGO registration fees imposed by Nepal’s Social Welfare Council and attached a list of over 100 local sub-partners working under USAID grants. These letters reveal not just funding amounts but the extensive sub-grantee network—the local NGOs and civic groups through which influence is exercised.
The money is visible; so are the outputs. NDI’s Policy Review series, released between 2020 and 2022, analysed federalism, youth inclusion, Dalit rights, climate change, and LGBTQI+ issues. Its Internal Political Party Reform booklet (2021) urged Nepal’s established parties to democratize internally.
During the pandemic, NDI published guidance for municipalities on transparent Covid recovery. Its Civic Forum education model and the YALA Youth Facilitator Toolkit gave young activists structured training in leadership, advocacy, and civic engagement. These are the very cohorts that today fill the streets of Kathmandu.
IRI has played the role of researcher and communicator. Its June 2024 National Survey of Nepal, based on 2,400 telephone interviews, showed 59% of Nepalis still support democracy, 62% want new political parties, and 36% cite unemployment as the top issue. Among youth, over one-third said they intended to migrate abroad for work. These findings foreshadowed the grievances driving this year’s protests.
Beyond polling, IRI published a Decentralization Resource Guide (2022) based on fieldwork in Nepal and piloted fiscal transparency tools like digital budget boards in Nepalgunj. It also authored toolkits on counter-disinformation and foreign influence, referencing Nepal directly.
IFES, less prominent in public reports, concentrated on the mechanics of elections. Its work with the Election Commission of Nepal during the 2022 local elections included voter education campaigns, efforts to improve access for women and people with disabilities, and technical assistance to strengthen administrative credibility.
The stated objectives of these projects are explicit: “deepening party democracy,” “empowering youth as agents of change,” “building citizen trust through transparency,” and “credible, inclusive elections.” Critics, however, interpret them as tools of political engineering—embedding US-funded programs in exactly those spaces (parties, youth, civil society, media, and local governance) where Nepal’s politics is now breaking apart.
The parallels are regional. The Sunday Guardian has previously reported on NDI and IRI activities in Bangladesh and Cambodia, where US-funded programs targeted youth politicians, LGBTQI+ groups, and minority inclusion. In Dhaka, these were read as regime-change efforts against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina; in Phnom Penh, similar programs unsettled the ruling party.
Nepal now shows the same pattern: large allocations, the same implementing partners, emphasis on youth, civil society, and governance—followed by political upheaval.
With Oli gone, the question is unavoidable: how much of Nepal’s democratic turbulence is organic, and how much has been fostered by years of sustained, well-financed external intervention?
What is clear is that the numbers are not abstract. They sit in official agreements, letters, and project codes. $402.7 million from USAID, $500 million from MCC, $37 million for civil society and media, $35 million for adolescent health, $8 million for democratic processes, $500,000 for DRCN. Add them together, and the figure that emerges—over $900 million—represents one of the largest per-capita US democracy investments in the region.
[…]
US Bombs Somalia for 75th Time This Year
by Dave DeCamp | September 11, 2025 at 2:29 pm ET | Somalia
US Africa Command said in a press release that it launched airstrikes against al-Shabaab
US Africa Command said in a press release on Thursday that its forces launched airstrikes against al-Shabaab in the Shabelle Region of southern Somalia on September 9, marking at least the 75th time the US has bombed the country this year as the Trump administration has shattered the previous record for annual airstrikes in the country.
AFRICOM offered no details about the strikes other they saying they were launched in support of the US-backed Mogadishu-based Federal Government. “Specific details about units and assets will not be released to ensure continued operations security,” the command said.
AFRICOM stopped sharing details about casualties and assessments of civilian harm earlier this year, telling Antiwar.com at the time that it was withholding such information as the new Trump administration “settles in.”
AFRICOM told New America, an organization that tracks the US air war in Somalia, that although it stated it launched “airstrikes,” only one strike was actually launched during two engagements. AFRICOM told Antiwar.com on September 8 that it had launched 74 airstrikes in Somalia so far in 2025, and the September 9 strike brings the total to 75. The previous record for total US airstrikes in Somalia was 63, which President Trump set in 2019.
Garowe Online reported on Wednesday that Somali forces had killed a member of al-Shabaab who was allegedly behind an assassination attempt against President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. The report said the operation was conducted in the Lower Shabelle region and was supported by “international partners,” suggesting it could have been the strike announced by AFRICOM, though it remains unconfirmed.
US forces at a base in Kismayo, southern Somalia, recently came under an al-Shabaab attack. AFRICOM said US forces came under “indirect fire” and that there were no casualties, rejecting claims from al-Shabaab that it had killed Americans. While the US and al-Shabaab have been at war for nearly two decades, al-Shabaab cited US support for Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza.
Besides bombing al-Shabaab in southern Somalia, the US has also been backing local forces in Somalia’s northeast Puntland region against a small ISIS affiliate in battles in a remote mountainous region.
[…]
Via https://news.antiwar.com/2025/09/11/us-bombs-somalia-for-75th-time-this-year/
The “Overworked, Underpaid” Shadow Human Work Force Running AI
by Brian Shilhavy
Editor, Health Impact News
As the “AI Bubble” continues to grow, with almost nobody refuting that spending on AI in the U.S. is currently a huge bubble anymore, another problem was exposed this week as hundreds of human laborers who are used to train these AI models, have begun to be laid off.
They are most certainly not being laid off because the AI chat models they are working on now no longer need human intervention, because they ALL continue to “hallucinate” and provide false and dangerous information, over two and half years after the rollout of these AI chat bots.
The Guardian published on article on the current situation with Google this week:
How thousands of ‘overworked, underpaid’ humans train Google’s AI to seem smartSome excerpts:
Contracted AI raters describe grueling deadlines, poor pay and opacity around work to make chatbots intelligent
In the spring of 2024, when Rachael Sawyer, a technical writer from Texas, received a LinkedIn message from a recruiter hiring for a vague title of writing analyst, she assumed it would be similar to her previous gigs of content creation.
On her first day of work a week later, however, her expectations went bust. Instead of writing words herself, Sawyer’s job was to rate and moderate the content created by artificial intelligence.
The job initially involved a mix of parsing through meeting notes and chats summarized by Google’s Gemini, and, in some cases, reviewing short films made by the AI.
On occasion, she was asked to deal with extreme content, flagging violent and sexually explicit material generated by Gemini for removal, mostly text.
Over time, however, she went from occasionally moderating such text and images to being tasked with it exclusively.
“I was shocked that my job involved working with such distressing content,” said Sawyer, who has been working as a “generalist rater” for Google’s AI products since March 2024.
“Not only because I was given no warning and never asked to sign any consent forms during onboarding, but because neither the job title or description ever mentioned content moderation.”
The pressure to complete dozens of these tasks every day, each within 10 minutes of time, has led Sawyer into spirals of anxiety and panic attacks, she says – without mental health support from her employer.
Sawyer is one among the thousands of AI workers contracted for Google through Japanese conglomerate Hitachi’s GlobalLogic to rate and moderate the output of Google’s AI products, including its flagship chatbot Gemini, launched early last year, and its summaries of search results, AI Overviews.
The Guardian spoke to 10 current and former employees from the firm. Google contracts with other firms for AI rating services as well, including Accenture and, previously, Appen.
Thousands of humans lend their intelligence to teach chatbots the right responses across domains as varied as medicine, architecture and astrophysics, correcting mistakes and steering away from harmful outputs.
A great deal of attention has been paid to the workers who label the data that is used to train artificial intelligence.
There is, however, another corps of workers, including Sawyer, working day and night to moderate the output of AI, ensuring that chatbots’ billions of users see only safe and appropriate responses.
Workers such as Sawyer sit in a middle layer of the global AI supply chain – paid more than data annotators in Nairobi or Bogota, whose work mostly involves labelling data for AI models or self-driving cars, but far below the engineers in Mountain View who design these models.
Despite their significant contributions to these AI models, which would perhaps hallucinate if not for these quality control editors, these workers feel hidden.
“AI isn’t magic; it’s a pyramid scheme of human labor,” said Adio Dinika, a researcher at the Distributed AI Research Institute based in Bremen, Germany.
“These raters are the middle rung: invisible, essential and expendable.”
AI raters: the shadow workforceGoogle, like other tech companies, hires data workers through a web of contractors and subcontractors.
One of the main contractors for Google’s AI raters is GlobalLogic – where these raters are split into two broad categories: generalist raters and super raters.
Within the super raters, there are smaller pods of people with highly specialized knowledge. Most workers hired initially for the roles were teachers.
Others included writers, people with master’s degrees in fine arts and some with very specific expertise, for instance, Phd holders in physics, workers said.
Ten of Google’s AI trainers the Guardian spoke to said they have grown disillusioned with their jobs because they work in siloes, face tighter and tighter deadlines, and feel they are putting out a product that’s not safe for users.
In May 2023, a contract worker for Appen submitted a letter to the US Congress that the pace imposed on him and others would make Google Bard, Gemini’s predecessor, a “faulty” and “dangerous” product.
One worker said raters are typically given as little information as possible or that their guidelines changed too rapidly to enforce consistently.
“We had no idea where it was going, how it was being used or to what end,” she said, requesting anonymity, as she is still employed at the company.
One work day, her task was to enter details on chemotherapy options for bladder cancer, which haunted her because she wasn’t an expert on the subject.
“I pictured a person sitting in their car finding out that they have bladder cancer and googling what I’m editing,” she said.
Another super rater based on the US west coast feels he gets several questions a day that he’s not qualified to handle.
Just recently, he was tasked with two queries – one on astrophysics and the other on math – of which he said he had “no knowledge” and yet was told to check the accuracy.
Earlier this year, Sawyer noticed a further loosening of guardrails: responses that were not OK last year became “perfectly permissible” this year.
Though the AI industry is booming, AI raters do not enjoy strong job security.
Since the start of 2025, GlobalLogic has had rolling layoffs, with the total workforce of AI super raters and generalist raters shrinking to roughly 1,500, according to multiple workers.
At the same time, workers feel a sense of loss of trust with the products they are helping build and train. Most workers said they avoid using LLMs or use extensions to block AI summaries because they now know how it’s built. Many also discourage their family and friends from using it, for the same reason.
“I just want people to know that AI is being sold as this tech magic – that’s why there’s a little sparkle symbol next to an AI response,” said Sawyer.
“But it’s not. It’s built on the backs of overworked, underpaid human beings.”
Again, training these AI models to be more accurate has been going on for almost 3 years now, and they still are not reliable, as is evident from the testimony of the actual people who are paid to train them.
And now they are reducing the workforce for those who train these AI models, and opting instead to try and hire “top talent” on more profitable, “specialized data”, such as healthcare, since Trump and HHS Secretary Kennedy have not been shy of their desire to spend huge amounts of money to create “AI robots” that they want to replace nurses and doctors.
Elon Musk’s xAI is one that is leading the way in this direction, as they too now are laying off many of their “generalist AI tutors”, and promising (why would anyone continue to believe Musk’s “promises” about the future anymore??) to hire 10x more “specialist AI tutors” instead. See:
Elon Musk’s xAI lays off hundreds of workers tasked with training GrokIf this trend continues, the widely popular chat bots like ChatGPT that do data harvesting off of the Internet and then try to produce a response to inquiries that are accurate and not offensive, will probably cease to be popular anymore, as everyone will soon learn what these lower-paid AI data trainers have already learned: Don’t use these products – they’re almost worthless.
This will eventually, and maybe soon, collapse the entire AI bubble that began in the 4th quarter of 2022, when millions of users downloaded ChatGPT making it the most downloaded app in history.
It was the sheer number of users that started this feeding frenzy in AI investments, because that is how Big Tech has always worked. Get billions of people to use the product, for free, and then figure out a way later on how to monetize all that traffic.
This was the business model of Jeff Bezos and Amazon.com. He sold instantaneous delivery of books, and then eventually other products, and started the ecommerce age as we know it today.
But he did not earn a profit from Amazon.com for over a decade, but he had a $billion backers on Wall Street and Venture Capital firms continue to pump up his business, betting that Amazon would eventually figure it out and start turning a profit, which became a reality only when launching Amazon Web Services (AWS) to capitalize on Cloud Computing to handle all the data coming in from ecommerce companies.
The ride sharing company Uber is another similar story, as Silicon Valley investors started this company, and it took about 15 years before it became profitable. But so many people were using the ride sharing app because it was convenient and cheaper than taxis, so they kept pouring money into it, betting that they would turn a profit eventually.
But what is happening today with huge investments in AI technology that is not yet profitable, is unprecedented!
Sam Altman, the founder of OpenAI, the company that makes ChatGPT, just recently announced to his shareholders that his company does not plan to be profitable until 2029, and another $115 billion in spending before then!
From The Information:
OpenAI recently had both good news and bad news for shareholders. Revenue growth from ChatGPT is accelerating at a more rapid rate than the company projected half a year ago.
The bad news?
The computing costs to develop artificial intelligence that powers the chatbot, and other data center-related expenses, will rise even faster.
As a result, OpenAI projected its cash burn this year through 2029 will rise even higher than previously thought, to a total of $115 billion. That’s about $80 billion higher than the company previously expected.
The unprecedented projected cash burn, which would add to the roughly $2 billion it burned in the past two years, helps explain why the company is raising more capital than any private company in history.
CEO Sam Altman has previously told employees that their company might be the “most capital intensive” startup of all time.
The daunting cash burn projections increase OpenAI’s risks but haven’t deterred dozens of large investment firms from ploughing capital into the company or buying up shares from employees at ever higher prices.
Google’s Waymo “self-driving” taxi is considered the most valuable AI robo-taxi today in the market, but each car cost over $100k to produce, needs about 1.5 human laborers behind the scenes to control each car, and still cannot drive into busy sections of major cities, such as airports, and do not drive at all on freeways.
It stays in business because Google can afford to spend what some estimates say are over $1 billion in losses each quarter.
LLM AI will survive, I am sure, but not until the bubble bursts and the REAL market value for AI is corrected. AI will never replace humans, but they will become useful tools for many industries, including healthcare, but not through human-like robots which are a fantasy and exist NOWHERE in the market right now.
There will be AI search tools trained on very specific data related to the industry it is being trained for that will be very useful and increase productivity, but NOT general Internet scrapping of any and all data that needs thousands of human laborers to sift through and moderate for the Internet chat bots to work, and work very poorly at that.
THAT AI hype is going to end sooner, rather than later, and will probably wipe out a LOT of capital, and potentially bring the entire financial system in the U.S. crashing down.
[…]
Via https://healthimpactnews.com/2025/the-overworked-underpaid-shadow-human-work-force-running-ai/
Scientists Working on Animal Internet
FILE PHOTO: Chocolate Labrador (left) on a teleconference with a colleague. © Getty Images / Justin PagetRTA researcher at Glasgow University has already designed a phone for dogs and a play dating system for parrotsScientists are using interactive digital devices to transform animal communication, working towards an “animal internet” with video calls for parrots and dogs.
Ilyena Hirskyj-Douglas, a lecturer and researcher at Glasgow University, runs the Animal-Computer Interaction (ACI) group and has developed interfaces allowing long-distance calls for pets, as well as interactive enrichment systems for zoo animals like monkeys and giraffes.
Many animals we keep are often naturally highly social creatures, yet they are not kept in the kind of groups in captivity that they would naturally form in the wild or have the same level of social interaction, the scientist has said.
Hirskyj-Douglas started her research by building her dog Zach a phone to communicate with her while she was away. It allows the dog to shake a ball with an accelerometer, signaling for the system to video call her on a nearby screen. Either one of them can call the other and pick up or ignore the call.
Zach called her frequently, the video calls soon becoming routine, she said.
Since then, Hirskyj-Douglas and her team developed video calls for parrots to socialize. The birds were trained to use their tongues on tablet touchscreens, enabling them to connect with other parrots in a kind of play-dating system.
“We plan to move beyond simple video calling and really enable animals to do things interactively,” she said at the British Science Festival in Liverpool on Thursday, as cited by FT.
“To build a workable ‘animal internet’, we must develop species-specific technologies to meet their needs, giving them tools that match their abilities,” Hirskyj-Douglas said in a comment published by Glasgow University earlier this month.
Baidu, China’s leading search engine operator, filed a patent in May for AI technology that translates animal sounds into human language. The system could allow “deeper emotional communication and understanding between animals and humans,” Baidu said in the patent document.
[…]Via https://www.rt.com/news/624614-scientists-working-on-animal-internet/September 13, 2025
Military Issues New Restrictions for Recruits
Dr Mercola
Story at-a-glanceThe Department of Defense (DoD) has tightened military recruitment standards, restricting enlistment for applicants with serious conditions like congestive heart failure and active schizophrenia treatmentHeart failure hospitalizations among young adults (18 to 44 years old) increased 23% from 1999 to 2019, driven by rising obesity, metabolic syndrome, pollution exposure, and substance abuseMental health disorders are surging among youth aged 12 to 25 years old, with one-third experiencing anxiety or depression severe enough to interfere with daily functioningOnly 23% of military recruits in 2024 could enlist without medical waivers, indicating widespread health problems among potential soldiers affecting national security readinessImproving cellular health by eliminating processed foods, consuming healthy carbs, reducing EMF exposure, getting proper sunlight, and supporting gut microbiome can help reverse declining youth healthAccording to statistics, most of the soldiers recruited by the Department of Defense (DoD) tend to be between 17 and 21 years old.1 This age bracket has traditionally been considered the ideal due to assumptions about peak physical health — but this is no longer the case. The health of the youth nowadays is steadily declining, putting the combat readiness of the U.S. military in danger. This has led to the DoD tightening recruitment standards.
Military Updates Health Standards for New RecruitsIn a recent memo released last July 11, 2025, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced new recruitment standards designed to restrict enlistment among applicants with significant health problems.2,3
• An overview of restricted conditions — The policy specifically excludes applicants diagnosed with congestive heart failure, which is a severe condition wherein the heart struggles to pump blood effectively, causing fatigue, shortness of breath, and fluid accumulation. As for mental health restrictions, the announcement said that applicants who have ongoing treatment for schizophrenia and recent suicide attempts are “ineligible for medical accession waivers.”
The new guidelines are a response to the rising number of young adults who suffer from these debilitating conditions, which can affect the readiness and safety of soldiers in demanding situations.
• Healthy soldiers are a national security priority — According to Hegseth, the change is implemented to allow future soldiers to carry out orders at the harshest situations while being at the top of their physical and mental health. He says, “Severe underlying medical conditions introduce significant risks on the battlefield and threaten not only mission priorities, but also the health and safety of the affected individual and their fellow Service members.”4
• New recruits are not healthy anymore — According to The Epoch Times, around 13% to 16% of applicants were rejected for failing to meet the standards set by the DoD. Furthermore, only 23% of recruits in 2024 were able to enlist without a medical waiver. This means that the rest of the soldiers are diagnosed with a physical or mental condition.
• Current list of conditions ineligible for waivers — Aside from heart failure, applicants with these conditions will not be allowed to join the military:
◦Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
◦Current chronic supplemental oxygen use
◦Current congestive heart failure
◦Current epilepsy
◦Current treatment for schizophrenia
◦History of cystic fibrosis
◦History of receiving a solid organ transplant
◦History of paraphilic disorders, or disorders involving abnormal sexual interests or behaviors
◦Multiple sclerosis
◦Osteogenesis Imperfecta, or brittle bone disease
◦Suicidal attempt within the previous 12 months
◦Thoughts or plans of killing another person within the previous 12 months
◦Trisomy 21, or Down syndrome
• Conditions that can be waivered — In addition to the updated list of ineligible waivers, Hegseth also released the list of conditions that can be exempted:
◦Current central nervous system shunts
◦Current ostomy
◦Eye missing or lack of vision in at least one eye
◦Foot missing
◦Hand missing, or bony portion of hand missing, excepting digits
◦History of chronic hepatic failure
◦History of chronic kidney disease requiring dialysis
◦History of corneal transplant
◦History of disorders with psychotic features, including schizophrenic disorders
◦History of myocardial infarction, or heart attacks
◦History of neurodegenerative disorders, such as disorders affecting the spinal cord
◦History of scleroderma, a disease that features tight skin and tissue
◦Having an implanted pacemaker or defibrillator
Hegseth’s announcement reflects broader societal health trends among potential recruits who can impact military readiness should they be allowed to enlist. As more young people struggle with conditions traditionally affecting older generations, ensuring military personnel having robust health and mental resilience becomes a pressing priority. The takeaway here is clear — focusing on your health is essential if you’re considering enlisting in any branch of the military.
Heart Failure Is Surging Among Young Adults — Here’s WhyIn a study published in the World Journal of Cardiology, researchers investigated the alarming rise in heart failure cases among younger adults, specifically those between 18 and 44 years old. At first, they started with 632 studies, whittling it down to 89 that were able to meet their methodology criteria.5
• The findings reveal a clear and disturbing pattern — Hospitalizations for heart failure among adults aged 18 to 44 years old increased significantly — 23% of them were diagnosed between 1999 to 2019. This rise also corresponds with growing rates of obesity, diabetes, drug misuse, and environmental pollution exposure among younger populations.
• Obesity and metabolic syndrome are driving factors — Digging deeper into the findings, obesity-related metabolic syndrome (MetS) was the most powerful factor driving the increase in heart failure:6
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• Pollution emerged as another major risk factor — The study cited exposure to fine particulate matter, which are tiny particles found in polluted air that you inhale deep into your lungs. Over time, these pollutants irritate and damage the lining of your blood vessels and heart:7
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• Substance abuse causes cardiovascular damage among younger adults — Drugs such as cocaine and amphetamines cause dramatic surges in heart rate and blood pressure, forcing the heart to work much harder than normal. The repeated strain eventually leads to structural damage in the heart muscle — known medically as myocardial remodeling8 — which reduces the heart’s ability to function properly.
• There is a rise in autoimmune disorders — These include conditions like lupus or rheumatoid arthritis, characterized by the body’s immune system mistakenly attacking healthy tissue, including cardiac muscle9 itself.
• Heart failure is also inherited — Genetics also played a substantial role. Mutations in specific genes, such as titin and Lamin A/C (LMNA) naturally increase the risk of heart failure. Although these genetic mutations don’t guarantee heart failure on their own, their presence dramatically magnifies the damaging effects of lifestyle and environmental factors.
In other words, if you have these genetic predispositions, unhealthy lifestyle choices or environmental exposures significantly accelerate the onset of heart failure.
• Inflammation is at the center of heart failure — The mentioned factors primarily impact your heart by causing inflammation and oxidative stress. Chronic inflammation from obesity or pollution exposure directly injures the cells lining your heart and blood vessels, creating scar tissue and stiffness that hinder proper function. Similarly, oxidative stress further weakens and damages heart cells, reducing their ability to generate the energy required for strong contractions.
These findings highlight the importance of addressing heart health proactively, especially at a young age. By recognizing and reversing key factors like obesity, pollution exposure, substance abuse, and controlling underlying autoimmune conditions early, you significantly reduce your risk of developing heart failure in the prime of your life.
Mental Health Disorders Among the Youth Are RisingA study published in Frontiers in Psychiatry examined the current mental state of young people around the world. The researchers focused specifically on adolescents and young adults aged 12 to 25 years old who are increasingly reporting mental health problems at rates never before documented.10
According to the researchers, young people are now facing significantly higher levels of stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms compared to past generations, and these problems are not simply temporary issues but serious, lasting conditions. The authors reported that about one-third of the test population have experienced anxiety or depression symptoms significant enough to interfere severely with daily life, school performance, and social interactions.
• Marginalized groups experience mental hardships the most — The researchers highlighted that youth born into poverty have more mental health problems compared to those belonging in higher economic brackets:11
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• Schools need to step up mental health care — To widen the scope of mental health services, the researchers suggest using technology, especially in schools and universities:12
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• Integrate mental wellness into school lessons — The researchers also suggest that an open discussion of mental health in an academic setting can help foster a positive environment:13
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• Early intervention helps immensely — One of the most impactful findings from the study was how mental health dramatically improved when interventions were applied early and consistently. Young adults who received targeted mental health care are able to improve emotional stability:14
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• A call to action for governments around the world — One of the most important suggestions provided by the researchers is the importance of creating guidelines that improve the mental health of the youth:15
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Optimal Cellular Health Is Key to Optimal Physical and Mental HealthDespite the numerous factors contributing to the decline of physical and mental health in the youth today, there are still ways to turn things around, namely focusing on improving cellular health. If you know someone who is considering enlisting in the army, share the following tips with them to maximize their chances of being accepted:
1. Cut out vegetable oils and ultraprocessed foods — Avoid consuming vegetable oils, such as soybean, corn, and sunflower oils. These oils contain high amounts of linoleic acid (LA) that rapidly oxidize, creating toxins that harm your cell’s energy-producing mitochondria. By ditching these harmful oils, you’ll significantly reduce cellular stress and inflammation, allowing your mitochondria to function at their best.
I recommend limiting your intake to less than 5 grams per day, but if you can keep it below 2 grams per day, that’s even better. To help you monitor your intake, download the upcoming Mercola Health Coach app. It contains a feature called the Seed Oil Sleuth, which can track consumption to a tenth of a gram.
[image error]2. Tune out the marketing noise — Your family also needs to break free from the 24/7 barrage of advertisements from junk food companies. If you’re having difficulty breaking the habit of consuming ultraprocessed foods, read “Junk Food Ads Make Kids Eat More Even When No Food Is Shown.” There, I provide tips that can help protect your children from long-term damage brought on by unhealthy food choices.
3. Choose healthy fats to support your cellular health — Once you’ve thrown out all ultraprocessed food from your pantry, it’s time to switch to cook healthy, nutritious meals using grass fed butter, ghee, and beef tallow. These stable fats help protect your mitochondria without causing oxidative stress.
While healthy fats contribute to optimal health, there’s a caveat — limit your total fat intake to less than 30% of your daily calories. If you go beyond this range, your body will switch to burning fat as energy, which isn’t what you want. Remember that glucose is your body’s preferred fuel.
4. Eat the right amount of healthy carbohydrates — Carbohydrates are your main source of glucose, which helps fuel your mitochondria. Aim for 200 to 250 grams of carbs, starting with whole fruits and white rice. Once your gut health is back on track, gradually add in root vegetables and other vegetables, legumes, and well-tolerated whole grains.
5. Reduce your electromagnetic field (EMF) exposure — Decrease your body’s exposure to EMFs by limiting the time you spend using wireless devices, and by turning off your Wi-Fi when it’s not needed.
Consider doing a bit of remodeling around your house as well, such as creating low-EMF zones, particularly in the bedrooms. Doing this eases cellular stress and promotes stronger mitochondrial function. For additional tips on how to minimize EMF exposure, read “WiFried — Is Wireless Technology Dooming a Generation?”
6. Get appropriate sunlight exposure — Sunlight is one of the best ways to conveniently support your cellular health as it enhances your mitochondria’s energy production. However, it’s important that you limit your exposure, as the LA you’ve been eating has likely embedded into your skin. When sunlight hits these stored fats, it metabolizes, which leads to inflammation, DNA damage, and sunburn.
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7. Boost your gut health — Research has shown that your gut microbiome and mental health are inextricably linked. Thus, if you’ve been eating plenty of ultraprocessed foods, you’ve likely been feeling down more often.
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The Hidden Crisis in Organ Transplantation — Brain Death Diagnosis and Ethical Failures
When I first got my driver’s license years ago, they asked if I wanted to be an organ donor. Having learned to be skeptical of institutions and having heard some concerning stories, I said no. But I felt conflicted about it — I believe in treating others as you’d want to be treated, and if I needed a transplant someday, I’d desperately want someone willing to help save my life.
Since then, I’ve discovered much more disturbing information about organ transplantation that completely shifted my perspective. Recently, RFK Jr. did something I never expected — he formally announced that there were widespread failures in our organ donation system’s ethical safeguards.1 This opened the floodgates for others to start discussing the grim reality that organs were being taken from people who were still alive.2
Video LinkThe Value of OrgansOver time, medicine transformed our cultural relationship with death — from an accepted, intimate companion to a feared, medicalized enemy to be defeated (e.g., one author traces this shift through six historical stages, arguing that medicalization stripped individuals of autonomy and commodified death itself).3
Medicine fueled this transformation by performing modern “miracles,” such as reviving the dead through cardiac resuscitation and transplanting organs — crossing what was once an absolute boundary between life and death. In doing so, it gained immense public trust and the ability to justify exorbitant costs.
This cultivated the myth that medicine can conquer death. Over time, it became seen not just as a means of survival, but as something to be continuously consumed in the name of “health” — transforming it into a highly profitable industry that now accounts for over 17.6% of all U.S. spending.
Because viable donor organs (a central crux of medicine’s dominion over death) are so limited, transplants quickly became incredibly valuable — costs range from $446,800 to $1,918,700 depending on the organ.4 Given how desperate people are for organs and how much money is involved, it hence seemed reasonable to assume some illegal harvesting would occur.
Over the years, as demand for organs continues to increase, I’ve continually found disturbing evidence that this was happening.5 This includes:
• Individuals being tricked into selling a kidney (e.g., in 2011, a viral story discussed a Chinese teenager who did so for an iPhone 4 — approximately 0.0125% of the black market rate for a kidney, after which he became septic and his other kidney failed leaving him permanently bedridden,6 and in 2023, a wealthy Nigerian politician being convicted for trying to trick someone into donating a kidney for a transplant at an English hospital).7
• A 20098 and 20149 Newsweek investigation and a 2025 paper highlighted the extensive illegal organ trade,10 estimating that 5% of global organ transplants involve black market purchases (totaling $600 million to $1.7 billion annually), with kidneys comprising 75% of these due to high demand for kidney failure treatments and the possibility of surviving with one kidney (though this greatly reduces your vitality).
Approximately 10% to 20% of kidney transplants from living donors are illegal, with British buyers paying $50,000 to $60,000, while desperate impoverished donors (e.g., from refugee camps or countries like Pakistan, India, China, and Africa) receive minimal payment and are abandoned when medical complications arise, despite promises of care. To quote the 2009 article:11
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• A 2004 court case where a South African hospital pleaded guilty to illegally transplanting kidneys from poorer recipients (who received $6,000 to $20,000) to wealthy recipients (who paid up to $120,000).12,13
• Many reports of organ harvesting by the Chinese government against specific political prisoners.14,15,16,17,18 This evidence is quite compelling, particularly since until 2006,19 China admitted organs were sourced from death row prisoners (with data suggesting the practice has not stopped).20
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• I’ve read reports of organ harvesting occurring in Middle East conflict zones,21 by ISIS and in the Kosovo conflict,22 and with drug cartels.23
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When Consciousness Gets TrappedDifferent parts of the brain control various aspects of our being, so people who are still conscious can sometimes completely lose control of their bodies or their ability to communicate — known as Locked-in syndrome.24
The most famous case involves Martin, a 12-year-old who fell ill with meningitis and entered a vegetative state.25 He was sent home to die, but stayed alive. At 16, he began regaining consciousness, became fully aware by 19, and at 26, a caregiver finally realized he was conscious and got him a communication computer. He eventually married.
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When someone is dying, certain functions are lost before others. It’s frequently observed in palliative care that touch and hearing are the last senses to disappear27 (e.g., studies show hearing persists at the end of life).28 This is why I sometimes tell grieving families their “brain-dead” loved one might still hear their voice or feel their touch.
Note: Many people who’ve been resuscitated report “near-death experiences” where they were aware of their surroundings when their brain was supposedly “dead,” suggesting other senses may persist during brain death.29
The Problem with Brain DeathSince organs rapidly lose viability once someone dies, the only way to ethically obtain them is from someone who has “died” but whose body is still keeping organs alive — someone who is brain dead.
Brain death was defined by a 1968 Harvard Medical School Committee30 report called “A Definition of Irreversible Coma.”31 They stated their purpose was to “define irreversible coma as a new criterion for death” for two reasons: the burden of caring for brain-damaged patients and avoiding controversy in obtaining organs for transplantation.
However, the committee was confident about diagnosing “irreversible coma” but tentative about calling this “death.”32 A Harvard ethicist noted: “That link, between being irreversibly unconscious and being dead, has never really been made in a convincing way.”
The criteria included no response to stimuli, no breathing, no reflexes, no brainwaves, and replication after 24 hours. Though rapidly adopted, it was immediately contested by doctors who felt harvesting organs from someone with a heartbeat was unethical, worried about diagnostic errors, and suspected the primary motivation was avoiding long-term care costs and obtaining organs.33
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When ‘Brain Dead’ Patients Are Actually ConsciousCompelling cases demonstrate these concerns are valid. Zack Dunlap, a 21-year-old pronounced brain dead after an ATV accident, was about to have his organs harvested when a nurse relative tested his reflexes and got responses.37 The transplant was cancelled, and Zack fully recovered. Crucially, Zack was fully conscious throughout:
“The next thing I remember was laying in the hospital bed, not being able to move, breathe, couldn’t do anything, on a ventilator, and I heard someone say, I’m sorry he’s brain-dead … I tried to scream, tried to move, just got extremely angry.”
Jahi McMath, a thirteen-year-old declared brain dead after tonsillectomy complications, was kept on life support by her family despite court orders.38 Nine months later, she had regained brainwaves and blood flow to the brain, and moved in response to verbal commands.
More cases include Lewis Roberts (began breathing hours before organ harvesting),39 Ryan Marlow (diagnosis reversed after wife’s insistence),40 Colleen Burns (awoke on the operating table and was later found by HHS to have been repeatedly misdiagnosed),41 and Trenton McKinley (13-year-old who recovered before scheduled donation).42
There were also cases like Steven Thorpe (declared brain dead by four doctors, parents refused organ donation, and he awoke two weeks later),43 and Gloria Cruz (husband refused to allow withdrawal of care, and she recovered).44
Note: A recent study found that over 30% of brain-injured patients deemed unrecoverable would have partially or fully recovered had life support not been withdrawn.45
Harvesting from Conscious PatientsMost alarming are cases where harvesting was attempted on conscious patients. Anthony Thomas “TJ” Hoover II, who’d repeatedly shown signs of life but was sedated, was brought to the operating room with eyes open.46 Tears streamed down his face as he mouthed “help me” and thrashed to avoid surgery. The surgeon refused to proceed, but the coordinator attempted to find an alternative surgeon.
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There have also been cases like James Howard-Jones, who woke up just before life support was to be withdrawn for organ harvesting.48 Additionally, several patients including a three-month-old boy,49 a ten-month-old boy, a 15-year-old girl,50 and a 65-year-old woman,51 who were all declared “brain dead” had their life support turned off to facilitate peaceful transitions, but instead unexpectedly survived and recovered.
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Federal Investigations Expose Systematic FailuresRegional organ procurement organizations facilitate transplants under the Organ Procurement and Transplant Network (OPTN). Due to chronic organ shortages (roughly 5,600 die yearly awaiting organs),52 OPTN faced scathing Congressional hearings53 and DOJ investigation.54 They found OPTN had become corrupt and dysfunctional:
• 20% to 25% of kidneys lost during transport
• Never collecting 80% of eligible organs
• Poor training leaving staff unable to determine brain death
• Retaliating against whistleblowers
• Misinforming families and seeking consent from impaired relatives
• Medicare fraud and altering causes of death
As such, Congress passed a 2023 law breaking up OPTN’s monopoly.55
The HRSA Investigation BombshellThe Health Resources and Services Administration conducted an extensive investigation after OPTN refused to release critical records. While OPTN’s review found “no major concerns,” HRSA’s investigation revealed disturbing patterns.
RFK Jr. made the unprecedented decision to publicly release these horrifying findings56,57 despite knowing it would undermine trust in organ donations. The partially redacted report found:58
“HRSA found a concerning pattern of risk to neurologically injured patients … Multiple patients were documented as evincing pain or discomfort during peri-procurement events after OPO staff had either failed to adequately assess neurologic function or had documented findings inconsistent with successful organ recovery without change to the plan.”
The scale was shocking: Of the authorized but not recovered cases (meaning something went awry at the last minute), HRSA found 103 (29.3%) had concerning features, including 73 patients (20.8%) showing neurologic status incompatible with organ procurement. At least 28 (8.0%) patients had no cardiac time of death noted, suggesting potential survival.
Note: ANR stands for “authorized but not recovered” — something went wrong at the last minute (like the donor reviving) that stopped the harvesting.
The report revealed systematic misreporting of drug intoxication cases, where depressed mental status from drugs was being mistaken for permanent brain injury.
Mainstream Media Confirms the HorrorA July 2025 New York Times investigation corroborated these findings:59
“Fifty-five medical workers in 19 states told The Times they had witnessed at least one disturbing case … coordinators persuading hospital clinicians to administer morphine, propofol and other drugs to hasten the death of potential donors.”
One surgical technician described a crying, alert woman being sedated anyway: “I felt like if she had been given more time on the ventilator, she could have pulled through … I felt like I was part of killing someone.” Dr. Wade Smith, a UCSF neurologist, concluded: “I think these types of problems are happening much more than we know.”
Living with TransplantsTransplants aren’t the miracle they’re portrayed as. Failure rates are significant:
• Lung — 10.4% (within a year),60 72% (within 10 years)61
• Heart — 7.8% (within a year),62 46% (within 10 years)63
• Kidney — 5% (within a year),64 46.4% (within 10 years)65
• Liver — 7.6% (within a year),66 32.5% (within 10 years)67
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The Most Revolutionary Act
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