Stuart Jeanne Bramhall's Blog: The Most Revolutionary Act , page 83

The First Colony Part II – The Move Toward Irish Reunification

The First Colony Part II

Directed by Hassan Tavakoli (2025)

Film Review

The 2014 Scottish independence referendum was the first big wake-up call for Irish reunification. The second was the UK’s decision to leave the EU in 2016 (Ireland still belongs to the EU) and the decision by Boris Johnson to create a “hard” EU border between Northern Ireland the the UK. The third was Queen’s death in September 2022.  The unpopularity of her son Charles III led to new calls for Australia* to become a republic and dozens of books on Irish reunification.

Last year the power sharing government in Northern Ireland collapsed twice. The pro-unification party Sinn Fein has held a majority in the Northern Ireland assembly since 2022. However the until last year the protetant Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) refused to participate in a Sinn Fein government (with Michelle O’Neill as first minster) until last year.**

There has been a call (by both Sinn Fein and DUP supporters) for the Republic of Ireland to create an Ireland-wide citizens assembly to discuss reunification. In the past Ireland successfully used the citizens assembly model to resolve conflict over policies involving abortion and and same sex marriage.

The contentious Brexit vote (for the UK to eave the EU) in 2016 has influenced many former DUP supporters to favor reunification, especially with Northern Ireland’s deteriorating economic conditions resulting from declining inter-European trade.

*See Australia Abandons Plans to Have a Referendum on Replacing King Charles and Becoming Republic

**According to 2024 census data Catholics outnumber Protestants in Northern Ireland by 42.3% to 30.5%

 

https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2025/03/01/743698/The-First-Colony-British-Colonialism-Ireland-Documentary-PressTV

UCSF study reveals vaccinated 6x more likely to be hospitalized than unvaccinated

Dr Eddy Betterman

A UCSF study found vaccinated, COVID-naïve individuals were 5.8 to 7.2 times more likely to be hospitalized than unvaccinated people with prior infection. The data challenges previous claims that vaccines reduce severe outcomes, suggesting instead a higher risk for the vaccinated group.The findings are highly statistically significant (p-value 4e-15), making chance an unlikely explanation. Critics question why such risks weren’t detected in clinical trials, calling the oversight a “broken” system.Though indirect, modeled estimates suggest vaccinated individuals may be 3 to 6 times more likely to die than their unvaccinated peers. Concerns about cardiovascular and neurological complications linked to vaccines add weight to the findings.Public health messaging previously framed vaccines as low-risk and essential, while the study suggests the opposite for certain groups. Delayed publication (two years post-rollout) has fueled accusations of data suppression and eroded institutional trust.Critics demand reexamination of vaccine policies, citing ethics, informed consent and natural immunity. The study underscores the need for independent research, transparency and candid dialogue to rebuild public trust in health institutions.

A groundbreaking study from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), published April 18, 2025, has upended conventional wisdom about the risks associated with the COVID-19 vaccine versus the risks of the virus itself. The preprint research, led by Dr. Bhargava, found that vaccinated individuals who were previously uninfected (COVID-naïve) faced a 6-fold higher risk of hospitalization compared to unvaccinated people who recovered from the virus. The study’s startling findings — validated by highly statistically significant data — challenge longstanding recommendations for vaccines and raise urgent questions about public health messaging, transparency and vaccine safety.

“The cure is worse than the disease”: Study details and implications

The study’s authors analyzed data from nearly 30,000 participants, comparing hospitalization rates among two groups: vaccinated individuals with no prior infection and unvaccinated individuals who had recovered from COVID-19. The results were stark: Vaccinated people had a 5.89 risk ratio (RR) for hospitalization, with a 95% confidence interval of 4.80 to 7.22, meaning those in the vaccinated group were 5.8 to 7.2 times more likely to be hospitalized than the unvaccinated group.

“This didn’t happen by chance,” emphasized Steve Kirsch, an early pandemic advocate and critic of vaccine policies, who reviewed the study. “The odds [p-value of 4e-15] are astronomical, and the effect size is monstrous. The medical community needs to explain why a signal this huge didn’t surface in clinical trials.”

The findings also suggest potential mortality consequences. Although the study’s mortality data is imputed through modeled estimates, the report cites an analysis by ChatGPT, a language model, which inferred vaccinated individuals may have been 3 to 6 times more likely to die than unvaccinated peers with similar exposures. This conclusion, while indirect, underscores concerns about adverse events linked to the vaccine, such as cardiovascular and neurological complications, which have raised alarms in prior research.

A turn in the tide: Shifting risk perceptions

The paradigm shift revealed by the UCSF study contradicts earlier messaging that emphasized vaccines as the primary defense against severe outcomes. Public health authorities and media outlets repeatedly promoted vaccines as reducing hospitalization and mortality risks. However, the new data suggests precisely the opposite for a significant segment of the population:

Vaccinated individuals (naïve to infection): 6.24% hospitalization rate.Unvaccinated individuals (post infection): 1.06% hospitalization rate.

“This is a train wreck,” Kirsch added, noting that the “cure” (vaccination) has now proven far more dangerous than the disease. The analysis further highlights that while uninfected people might avoid infection altogether, vaccinated individuals “locked in” a guaranteed risk of 6.24%.

Historically, vaccine policies in 2020–2022 framed the shot as virtually risk-free and vital to ending the pandemic. By contrast, studies like this — one of the first large-scale efforts to compare vaccinated vs. unvaccinated post-infection outcomes — suggest a severe blind spot in risk assessment.

Criticism loosens: Calls for accountability and transparency

The UCSF study’s revelations have already drawn scrutiny from medical professionals and health advocates. Dr. Jane Orient, executive director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, questioned the ethics of current vaccination campaigns in a statement to The Epoch Times:

“I do not understand how a physician dedicated to patient care would interpret this data as grounds for endorsing additional shots.”

Critics argue the findings are particularly damning because the initial clinical trials, which guided early vaccine rollouts, failed to detect the now-evident risks. “How could a trial estimate this?” asked Kirsch. “The signal is too loud to ignore. The system is broken.”

Public trust in institutions has further eroded as details of the study’s publication date — a full two years after mass vaccination began — surface. The CDC and major media outlets, Kirsch noted, “were silent on this data despite its implications.” The delay has sparked accusations of suppression, particularly as similar UK studies begin to corroborate increased post-vaccine hospitalizations.

A call for reassessment: Can trust be restored?

The study’s release coincides with a growing global debate about vaccine mandates, long-term side effects and informed consent. For health experts advocating for natural immunity or alternative safeguards, it serves as validation against years of stigmatization. Meanwhile, the medical establishment has largely remained silent, with some sources dismissing the paper’s preprint status without offering alternative explanations.

As researchers like Dr. Bhargava continue to test the data’s validity, the implications for public health are profound. The report’s authors emphasize the need for rigorous follow-up studies and an immediate reevaluation of vaccination strategies.

“This isn’t just about the past,” Kirsch concluded. “It’s about the future. If we can’t trust the frameworks that prioritize health decisions, then the [Hippocratic Oath] is a joke, and the public deserves better.”

Final word: A crossroads in health policy

The UCSF study forces policymakers, doctors and the public to confront uncomfortable truths about risk, transparency and the limits of clinical certainty. As debates over vaccine efficacy and trust intensify, its findings underscore the urgent need for candid dialogue—one that prioritizes independent research, patient autonomy and the profound complexities of post-pandemic healing.

Willow Tohi

[…]

Via https://dreddymd.com/2025/04/22/study-vaccinated-6x-more-likely-hospitalized-than-unvaccinated/

Senator Ron Johnson Demands 9/11 Investigation Into ‘Controlled Demolition’ of Building 7

AP Photo/Yuki IwamuraBenjamin Bartee   

One would have been hard-pressed to imagine, just a few years ago, a sitting United States senator suggesting that the Building 7 collapse may have been a “controlled demolition.”

“What would you like to know about September 11, the official story there, Senator?” podcaster Benny Johnson prompted.

Sen. Ron Johnson’s (R-Wisc.) answer:

Well, start with Building 7. Again, I don’t know if you can find structural engineers other than the ones that have the corrupt investigations inside NIST that would say that that thing didn’t come down in any other way than a controlled demolition… You just look at that… 

There’s an awful lot of questions. Who ordered the removal and the destruction of all that evidence? Totally contrary to any other firefighting investigation procedures. I mean, who ordered that? Who is in charge? I think there’s some basic information. Where’s all the documentation from the NIST investigation.

Now, there are a host of questions that I want and I will be asking, quite honestly, now that my eyes have been opened up.

Indeed, the 9/11 investigation was a sham from start to finish, in the same vein as the JFK assassination investigation.

As the senator noted, you don’t have to be a structural engineer to look at this building — which was not hit by a plane and definitely not anywhere near its foundation — collapse at near-freefall speed and doubt the official story that the event was triggered by jet fuel melting the steel columns.

To be clear, I don’t claim to know for sure what happened that day. If, after a legitimate and transparent inquiry — which has never happened — the results show that the collapse was triggered by debris or whatever the case may be, then so be it.

Why would anyone oppose investigating the deadliest attack on American civilians in history?

If the evidence debunks all of the conspiracy theories, then all the better for building a real consensus based on fact.

For years and years and years, anyone who even broached the topic of 9/11, suggesting the government may have lied about what actually transpired that day — which was later used as a pretext for unprecedented civil liberties crackdowns and at least two foreign wars costing trillions of dollars — was immediately maligned as some kind of traitor or terrorist apologist.

That dog ísn’t going to hunt anymore.

We know that they are lying, they know that they are lying, they even know that we know they are lying, we also know that they know we know they are lying too, they of course know that we certainly know they know we know they are lying too as well, but they are still lying. In our country, the lie has become not just moral category, but the pillar industry of this country.
—Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

[…]

Via https://pjmedia.com/benbartee/2025/04/22/watch-senator-demands-911-investigation-into-controlled-demolition-of-building-7-n4939105

Iowa House Passes Bill To Legalize Medical Use Of Psilocybin

Dried magic mushrooms with spore prints on tin foil. (Photo by Akchamczuk/Getty Images)By Robin Opsahl

The Iowa House passed legislation Monday to legalize the use of psilocybin, the psychoactive compound found in “magic mushrooms,” for psychiatric treatment through a state program.

House File 978, passed 84-6, would establish a Psilocybin Production Establishment Licensing Board within the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, operating in a similar fashion to the existing Medical Cannabidiol Advisory Board that oversees Iowa’s medical cannabis program. The board would grant licenses for the production and administration of products with psilocybin to people with certain mental health needs in the state.

The bill also sets new requirements for who can access the substance, including an age 21 restriction and limit of 5,000 patients who can be recommended psilocybin treatment.

Rep. John Wills, R-Spirit Lake, the floor manager for the bill, said he would not have guessed that he would be involved in a bill on psilocybin before this year because “it’s just not something that I’m into.” But he said after learning more about the effectiveness of psilocybin treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, he believed the program will help people suffering in Iowa, like military veterans, law enforcement officers and other groups that face high rates of PTSD.

He said the bill requires people to receive psilocybin in a clinical environment with psychiatric support. In this environment, he said, the drug has been shown to allow people to “relive” their trauma in a controlled, safe space, and be able to resolve or lessen the impacts of PTSD. Wills said he believes this method could help address the high suicide rates of veterans and others suffering from the disorder, and offers a better alternative to other forms of PTSD treatment currently available.

“I will tell you, right now the only option these veterans have, the only option these people with PTSD have, is to be on mind-altering, life-altering drugs for the rest of their life,” Wills said.

While several states have decriminalized the use of psilocybin, Oregon and Colorado are currently the only states with medical psilocybin programs.

Rep. Larry McBurney, D-Urbandale, said he supported the bill as a way to help veterans access needed mental health support after returning from their service. McBurney said he was diagnosed with PTSD after serving as an Iowa Air National Guard veteran, having been deployed three times.

“Like many other veterans across the state and across the nation, I didn’t know where to turn,” McBurney said. “I didn’t know what options were available to me, and it took me long enough to find what those options were for myself and what worked for me. I want to ensure that other veterans across the state have this option available to them.”

The original bill specifically called for psilocybin to be used to treat PTSD, but an amendment approved by the House Monday expands the ability of the board to approve other illnesses that could be treated with psilocybin, and would allow for more psilocybin compounds to be added as legally available.

Wills said the amendment was added as a way to ensure the board can make this psychiatric treatment available for other mental illnesses or disorders when research can prove if it is effective. Wills said there have been “promising” early studies showing psilocybin may be an effective treatment for people recovering from substance use disorders related to alcohol and opiates.

“By taking PTSD out of the equation, what we’re doing is we’re allowing that board, that medical board, to be able to make decisions,” Wills said. “So initially, of course, PTSD is the treatment that we know works, because there’s peer-reviewed studies or peer-reviewed data. But as these other ailments, these other things (are studied) and have proof, then the board can add them.”

Rep. Jeff Shipley, R-Birmingham, has advocated for similar measures related to the legal use of psilocybin in previous sessions.

“(It) looks like mushroom season has officially arrived in Iowa,” he joked as the bill passed the House. “Our love and prayers are with everyone pursuing the elusive morel mushrooms, but perhaps more urgently, our love and prayers are with those suffering from intractable psychiatric conditions.”

He praised the measure as opening up a new method for mental health care in Iowa that has shown “tremendous promise” in the management of psychiatric conditions like PTSD.

“The state of Iowa has a lot of responsibility in ensuring Iowans not only have access to mental health treatments, but they have access to treatments that are actually effective — treatments that will actually alleviate the symptoms that patients are suffering from,” Shipley said. “And so again, House File 978, will go a long way in ensuring that the state of Iowa is fully fulfilling their obligation.”

The measure moves to the Iowa Senate for further consideration.

[…]

Via https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2025/04/21/iowa-house-passes-bill-to-establish-state-psilocybin-program/

Shocking Reason Why German Teens Were Jailed, Strip Searched and Deported from Hawaii

Charlotte Pohl, 19, and Maria Lepere, 18, were detained and deported after arriving in Honolulu with no booked accommodation.

Sarah Tan

Two young German women say their dream holiday turned into a nightmare after they were detained, interrogated, and deported by US authorities shortly after landing in Hawaii.

Charlotte Pohl, 19, and Maria Lepere, 18, flew into Honolulu with plans to explore the island before continuing on to California and Costa Rica. However, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers flagged the pair when they revealed they had no hotel bookings or fixed itinerary for their five-week stay.

According to reports, the two women were accused of intending to work illegally and were held in custody overnight. They were allegedly strip searched, subjected to full-body scans, dressed in green prison uniforms, and forced to sleep on mouldy mattresses in a deportation holding centre. The pair later requested to be deported to Japan rather than return immediately to Germany.

Germany’s Foreign Office later issued a reminder to citizens that even with an ESTA travel authorisation, entry into the United States is not guaranteed. Immigration officers retain full discretion at the border.

String Of Foreign Nationals Deported From The US

Their ordeal is not isolated. Canadian actress Jasmine Mooney, 35, was detained for nearly two weeks by US immigration officials in March after attempting to enter the US from Mexico. She claimed the experience was akin to being ‘kidnapped’ and held in ‘cold and crowded’ cells, describing the conditions as ‘unjust’ in an interview with ABC10.

Similarly, Lucas Sielaff, 25, a German national travelling with his American fiancée, was detained for 16 days after allegedly violating terms of his tourist permit. Despite holding a valid visa, he was shackled and locked up in an overcrowded detention centre before being allowed to return to Germany.

Another German traveller, tattoo artist Jessica Brösche, 26, was arrested in San Diego while attempting to cross the border on foot under the ESTA waiver programme. Officials suspected her of previously working illegally in the country due to her tattooing equipment. She spent over a week in solitary confinement, she told media, before being deported.

British backpacker Becky Burke, 28, was also held for 19 days at a Washington State facility in February. Her father claimed on Facebook that she was detained over visa issues and transported to the airport in ‘leg chains, waist chains and handcuffs’.

Travel Warnings Pile Up As US Entry Rules Tighten

The incidents have prompted several nations to update travel advisories for citizens heading to the United States. Germany warned that even with approved documentation, final entry is always at the discretion of US border officers. The advisory also addressed challenges faced by non-binary and transgender travellers, as the US now requires applicants to list their ‘biological sex at birth’.

Canada added a new registration requirement for citizens staying in the US for over 30 days, while France advised travellers to consult consulates before travelling and flagged executive orders targeting transgender individuals.

Finland, Denmark, Portugal, and Ireland have echoed similar warnings, especially for LGBTQ+ travellers and those with non-traditional passport gender markers.

The United Kingdom also revised its US travel advisory, stating that entry rules are now being ‘strictly enforced’ and encouraged travellers to check requirements thoroughly before departure.

Tourism To The US Declines Amid Controversy

The surge in travel warnings appears to be impacting US tourism. According to the International Trade Administration, overseas travel to the United States dropped by 12 per cent last month compared to March 2024.

Australia-based Intrepid Travel reported a softening in demand, particularly from Europe and the Middle East. CEO James Thornton attributed the decline in part to the polarising policies of the current US administration, stating that many travellers are ‘thinking twice’ before booking holidays to America.

Meanwhile, Statistics Canada noted that Canadian visits to the US decreased in February, with arrivals by air down by 2.4 per cent and by car down 23 per cent. Former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has since encouraged citizens to explore domestic destinations instead, citing economic benefits and safety.

Despite the controversy, some travel firms insist that the US remains a ‘highly desirable destination’. Yet for many international visitors, the risk of detention and deportation is becoming too high a price to pay for a holiday.

[…]

Via https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/shocking-reason-why-german-teens-were-jailed-strip-searched-deported-hawaii-1732899

Musk Ignored Advice from Tesla Executives to Not Pursue AI Robots and Just Concentrate on EV Sales – Tesla Now on Brink of Collapse

Original left image source. Top right image source. Bottom right image source.

by Brian Shilhavy
Editor, Health Impact News

I have been a minority voice since the end of 2022 stating that investment in AI was a huge financial bubble for the Tech sector, and specifically that Elon Musk was a huckster trying to sell science fiction for the future which was never going to come true.

Today, I would guess that at least 50% of the investors in “Big” Tech and Tesla in specific now agree with me, if not the majority. It is truly hard to comprehend why anyone would continue to invest in the hype of Elon Musk’s AI promises, which continue to fail. It reveals a cult-like faith in Musk among investors that defies the evidence that can be so clearly seen by many others.

Earlier this month The Information technology publication published an explosive article revealing that Tesla’s own executives, referred to as “lieutenants”, had warned Musk that his ideas for a Robotaxi would lose money and not be profitable. Instead, they urged him to pursue the goal of making Tesla cars more affordable for the masses.

But Musk ignored them, and invested more in AI against their advice.

How Elon Musk Stopped Loving Cars and Left Tesla in the Lurch

Inside Tesla, Musk’s lieutenants told him the Robotaxi he championed stood to lose money. He ignored them.

Excerpts:

Early last year, Elon Musk decided that Tesla wouldn’t be an electric vehicle company anymore. It would keep making cars, but not the new, mass-market model that investors, many Tesla fans and his senior advisers were asking for.

Instead, he would bet the company on artificial intelligence products like the Robotaxi and humanoid robots. He rejected internal studies produced by his lieutenants who questioned the prospects for the Robotaxi and pushed for the new vehicle—a $25,000 crossover SUV for families.

The internal analysis, which hasn’t been previously reported, painted a potentially grim picture for the Robotaxi, a driverless EV without a steering wheel, pedals or rear-view mirrors.

Musk believed Tesla could sell millions of Robotaxis and earn massive profits.

Instead, the analysis showed Robotaxi sales to individuals and for ride sharing could be only in the hundreds of thousands and that the vehicle might never be profitable.

The Model 2, as the affordable EV was known outside the company, could sell millions of vehicles for years to come, his lieutenants told him, according to people familiar with the discussions. It would be a hedge against potential big losses on the Robotaxi and would help bankroll Musk’s AI ambitions, they said. The two vehicles would even be built on the same platform.

Musk said no.

People who know and have worked with Musk say they understand why he has lost interest in EVs. In Musk’s eyes, they say, his primary goal of jump-starting the EV industry is done. What’s left are mostly more mundane matters, such as pumping out new models and massaging the sensibilities of Wall Street analysts.

“His algorithm is, ‘What’s the next big thing I can do?’” said Gene Berdichevsky, the seventh employee Tesla hired in the 2000s, and now CEO of silicon anode developer Sila Nanotechnologies. “I think he’s motivated by doing big, impactful things.”

Tesla sales, which grew an average of 50% a year from 2019 to 2023, fell 1% last year. The decline accelerated to 13% in the first quarter, and several analysts have forecast that Tesla deliveries will shrink again this year.

The company’s stock is down almost 50% since its recent peak in December and, given Tesla’s high valuation, could fall further if sales don’t rebound. (Full article – subscription needed.)

A report just published today showed that of the top 10 cars sold in the U.S. with the fastest rising insurance costs, the top 3 are all Teslas. See: 3 Tesla models top the list of cars with the fastest-rising insurance costs

So while the MAGA crowd who adores Musk claims that Tesla sales are falling because of Musk’s newfound “conservative values” that he is being punished for, the fact is that Tesla cars have been rapidly declining in both technology and affordability for a couple of years now, as the Chinese now take the lead in EV car production.

If you have not yet viewed this video that I published a few weeks ago showing how Tesla compares with a different EV car when it comes to its “AI Intelligence”, this is a great demonstration in the REAL world, not the Elon Musk FAKE world of the future that he hypes up so much.

 

Tesla is not the only American technology company that is facing economic disaster. All of the “Magnificent 7” technology companies are now in real danger of crashing, especially the computer chip company Nvidia.

NVIDIA’S ARTIFICIAL EMPIRE IS NOW CRUMBLING

The dominoes are now falling with brutal efficiency. In one devastating week, the U.S. government severed Nvidia’s China revenue artery while TSMC plunged a 30% cost dagger into its margins.

This isn’t coincidence – it’s causation.

I have warned since 2024 that Nvidia’s “AI supremacy” was a carefully crafted mirage. The H20 ban with only a ~$5bn write-off loss announced by the company as a consequence proves what I exposed for years, the last time in “THE NVIDIA FAKE AI NARRATIVE IS OFFICIALLY OVER” – their China strategy was always a shell game.

TSMC’s price hike confirms what I address in “THE REAL ERA OF AI BEGINS, THE ONE OF THE AI CHARLATANS ENDS” about shifting power dynamics.

Together, they expose the ugly truth: Nvidia’s record margins weren’t won through innovation but through supply manipulation and geopolitical gambling. (Full article.)

It has now been about two and half years since the first LLM (Large Language Model) AI was introduced with OpenAI’s ChatGPT through Microsoft in November of 2022.

$Trillions have been invested into LLM AI models since then, and as of today, they STILL hallucinate and give wrong information, causing havoc on those who have incorporated it into the REAL world.

Here are some examples.

LLMs can’t stop making up software dependencies and sabotaging everything

The rise of LLM-powered code generation tools is reshaping how developers write software – and introducing new risks to the software supply chain in the process.

These AI coding assistants, like large language models in general, have a habit of hallucinating. They suggest code that incorporates software packages that don’t exist.

As we noted in March and September last year, security and academic researchers have found that AI code assistants invent package names. In a recent study, researchers found that about 5.2 percent of package suggestions from commercial models didn’t exist, compared to 21.7 percent from open source or openly available models.

Running that code should result in an error when importing a non-existent package. But miscreants have realized that they can hijack the hallucination for their own benefit.

All that’s required is to create a malicious software package under a hallucinated package name and then upload the bad package to a package registry or index like PyPI or npm for distribution.

Thereafter, when an AI code assistant re-hallucinates the co-opted name, the process of installing dependencies and executing the code will run the malware. (Full article.)

AI models still struggle to debug software, Microsoft study shows

AI models from OpenAI, Anthropic, and other top AI labs are increasingly being used to assist with programming tasks. Google CEO Sundar Pichai said in October that 25% of new code at the company is generated by AI, and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has expressed ambitions to widely deploy AI coding models within the social media giant.

Yet even some of the best models today struggle to resolve software bugs that wouldn’t trip up experienced devs.

A new study from Microsoft Research, Microsoft’s R&D division, reveals that models, including Anthropic’s Claude 3.7 Sonnet and OpenAI’s o3-mini, fail to debug many issues in a software development benchmark called SWE-bench Lite. The results are a sobering reminder that, despite bold pronouncements from companies like OpenAI, AI is still no match for human experts in domains such as coding. (Source.)

An AI Customer Service Chatbot Made Up a Company Policy—and Created a Mess

On Monday, a developer using the popular AI-powered code editor Cursor noticed something strange: Switching between machines instantly logged them out, breaking a common workflow for programmers who use multiple devices.

When the user contacted Cursor support, an agent named “Sam” told them it was expected behavior under a new policy.

But no such policy existed, and Sam was a bot.

The AI model made the policy up, sparking a wave of complaints and cancellation threats documented on Hacker News and Reddit.

This marks the latest instance of AI confabulations (also called “hallucinations”) causing potential business damage.

Confabulations are a type of “creative gap-filling” response where AI models invent plausible-sounding but false information. Instead of admitting uncertainty, AI models often prioritize creating plausible, confident responses, even when that means manufacturing information from scratch. (Full article.)

Others are now just beginning to wake up and realize that when they use an AI program like ChatGPT, they are handing over almost ALL of their personal data, including where they go, who they meet, everything they do, etc., to these AI companies.

ChatGPT is referring to users by their names unprompted, and some find it ‘creepy’

Some ChatGPT users have noticed a strange phenomenon recently: Occasionally, the chatbot refers to them by name as it reasons through problems. That wasn’t the default behavior previously, and several users claim ChatGPT is mentioning their names despite never having been told what to call them.

One user, software developer and AI enthusiast Simon Willison, called the feature “creepy and unnecessary.” Another developer, Nick Dobos, said he “hated it.” A cursory search of X turns up scores of users confused by — and wary of — ChatGPT’s first-name basis behavior.

“It’s like a teacher keeps calling my name, LOL,” wrote one user. “Yeah, I don’t like it.”

Some users on X say ChatGPT began calling them by their names even though they’d disabled memory and related personalization settings.

In any event, the blowback illustrates the uncanny valley OpenAI might struggle to overcome in its efforts to make ChatGPT more “personal” for the people who use it.

Last week, the company’s CEO, Sam Altman, hinted at AI systems that “get to know you over your life” to become “extremely useful and personalized.”

But judging by this latest wave of reactions, not everyone’s sold on the idea. (.)

As I reported at the beginning of this year (2025), China now leads the U.S. in 57 of 64 critical technologies. See: China Now Dominates the U.S. in 57 of 64 Critical Technologies as U.S. Stands on the Brink of Economic Collapse with the AI Bubble

[…]

Via https://vaccineimpact.com/2025/musk-ignored-advice-from-tesla-executives-to-not-pursue-ai-robots-and-just-concentrate-on-ev-sales-tesla-now-on-brink-of-collapse/

How Your Family Doc Became a Drug Enforcement Agent

By Roger McFillin

Remember when your family doctor was actually your doctor? That quaint historical period when physicians made independent medical judgments instead of reading from pharmaceutical scripts? When they looked at you as a unique human being rather than a collection of compliance metrics needing correction?

Those days are fucking gone.

Today’s primary care physician is something entirely different—a pharmaceutical compliance officer with a prescription pad, a corporate protocol to follow, and overlords tracking their every move. They’ve transitioned from healers to hustlers, from medical professionals to medication pushers, from trusted advisors to glorified drug dealers with better parking.

I recently had a conversation with a pediatrician that exposed the naked truth of modern medicine. He confessed to me—with a mixture of resignation and discomfort—that he was “mandated” to administer the PHQ-9A (depression screening) to every adolescent, and if they scored above a certain threshold, he MUST offer an SSRI antidepressant.

“What if the teen is just going through a breakup or having normal adolescent mood swings?” I asked.

He shrugged helplessly. “Doesn’t matter. If they hit the number on the screening, protocol says I have to offer medication.”

“But you know these drugs more than double the risk of suicidal events in teenagers,” I pressed. “The black box warning exists for a reason.”

His response chilled me: “If something happened to the teen and I didn’t follow protocol—if I didn’t offer the medication—I could be held liable. My hands are tied.”

And there it was—the perfect analogy hiding in plain sight. This highly educated physician with years of training wasn’t making independent medical decisions. He was a street-level drug dealer who feared what would happen if he didn’t move enough product for his overlords. The corner pusher fears his supplier’s enforcers; the modern physician fears “liability” and “protocol violations.” Different vocabulary, identical dynamic.

Primary care has been transformed from a healing profession into a pharmaceutical distribution network with doctors serving as glorified vending machines in white coats. They’re the street-level dealers in the medical-industrial complex, pushing products with the ruthless efficiency of a cartel but with better branding and tax benefits.

The parallels between how primary care physicians push psychiatric drugs and vaccines are so perfect they deserve admiration from a purely marketing perspective. It’s the same hustle with different packaging—one comes in pill form, the other in a needle, but the script is identical.

The SSRI Hustle

God forbid you or a family member is unfortunate enough to schedule a routine checkup during a particularly bad week. Walk into that sterile exam room while grieving a loss, stressing about work, or just experiencing one of life’s inevitable rough patches, and you’ll walk out with a ‘mild to moderate depression’ diagnosis faster than you can say ‘pharmaceutical kickback.

Within minutes, you’re handed a questionnaire with loaded questions like: “Feeling bad about yourself or that you have let yourself or your family down or that you are a failure?” (You just watched your ex’s vacation photos on Instagram while eating ice cream for dinner in your unwashed sweatpants, so… is this a trick question?)

Answer honestly, and congratulations! You’ve just self-diagnosed with “mild to moderate depression.”

You mean what we used to call sad?

Your doctor spends approximately 90 seconds validating this with probing questions like “And how long have you felt this way?” before reaching for the prescription pad.

“I think Lexapro would really help take the edge off,” they say with practiced compassion, already halfway through writing the prescription. “It will balance your brain chemicals.”

But it’s when you express hesitation that the real sales pitch begins—fear. This is where doctors transform into pharmaceutical fear merchants:

“You know, untreated depression can be very serious,” they warn ominously. “It can worsen over time. It can affect your relationships, your work, your entire life. Depression is a serious medical condition—in fact, it’s the leading cause of disability worldwide.”

The implication hangs in the air like a guillotine blade: refuse this medication, and you’re gambling with your life. They may even pull out the suicide card: “Depression can lead to suicidal thoughts if left untreated.” The cosmic irony of using suicide as a scare tactic to prescribe drugs with black box warnings about increasing suicidal ideation seems lost on them.

For teenagers, the fear tactics are directed at parents. “You don’t want to take chances with your child’s mental health, do you?” they ask, making parents feel like monsters for questioning whether their teen’s temporary sadness requires a medication that doubles their risk of suicidal events.

This isn’t medical counseling. It’s emotional manipulation through fear—the same tactic used by predatory salespeople in every industry. “Better safe than sorry” becomes the catch-all dismissal of legitimate concerns about medications with profound risks and modest benefits.

What they don’t mention:

The “chemical imbalance” theory of depression was thoroughly debunked years ago, joining phrenology and bloodletting in medicine’s hall of shame. SSRIs have never proven to be clinically meaningful beyond placebo.

Complying with their prescription pad evangelism could result in permanent sexual dysfunction—as in forever, as in the rest of your life.

Withdrawal can be so brutal and protracted that patients often mistake it for “proof they need the medication” rather than recognizing it as drug dependence.

And here’s the cosmic punchline: in the 4-6 weeks it takes for these medications to supposedly “work,” most situational “depression” would have naturally improved anyway.

When that happens?

The doctor smugly nods and thinks, “See, the drugs I prescribed fixed them!” Never mind that time, human resilience, and your own natural healing did all the heavy lifting while the medication was just along for the expensive, side-effect-laden ride.

The Vaccine Hustle

Now let’s watch the vaccine version of the same performance:

You visit for a completely unrelated issue—perhaps a sprained ankle or a skin rash. Before addressing your actual concern, your doctor casually mentions, “I see you haven’t had your Covid or flu shot this year.”

The framing is already perfect—you’re “behind” on something, implying non-compliance with an expected standard. Your medical record has been flagged for a deficiency that needs correcting, like a car overdue for an oil change.

Express hesitation, and witness the same script unfold: “These vaccines are very safe and effective. Side effects are usually just a sore arm or mild fatigue for a day.” (Myocarditis? Menstrual disruptions? Neurological issues, complete hijacking of my immune system? Those are so rare they’re not worth mentioning, apparently.)

Ask about actual risk reduction—like how the flu vaccine isn’t efficacious and doesn’t prevent you from contracting the flu—and watch them shift uncomfortably.

Why would I even risk Guillain–Barré syndrome for this Doc? I am healthy and not that scared of the flu? Regardless of the low risk of complications… why even take that risk?

Dare to question whether a perfectly healthy 17-year-old who already recovered from Covid needs an experimental mRNA intervention that doesn’t prevent transmission—and has now been shown to actually INCREASE susceptibility to infection over time, not to mention the myocarditis risks, menstrual disruptions, and other “rare” side effects conveniently minimized in the sales pitch—and watch their face transform before your eyes.

First comes the reflexive smile-cramp, that frozen rictus of medical authority being questioned. Then the slightly widened eyes as they process your heretical departure from the script. Finally, that subtle hardening around the jaw as they shift from healthcare provider to pharmaceutical enforcement officer.

It’s like watching someone toggle between “friendly neighborhood doctor” and “Covid compliance commissar” in real-time, all because you had the audacity to weigh risks against benefits for your own child.

But regardless of whether they’re pushing pills or jabs, we see the identical sales pitch every time—a masterclass in pharmaceutical propaganda. They dramatically exaggerate even the most microscopic potential benefits while feverishly minimizing, dismissing, or flat-out denying any risks with the practiced ease of a seasoned con artist. Watch them transform a 1% absolute risk reduction into ‘90% effective!’ while simultaneously downgrading ‘known serious adverse events’ to ‘extremely rare side effects that aren’t worth discussing.’ It’s as if they’ve never read a single page of the actual scientific literature on the subject.

Spoiler alert: they haven’t.

Most haven’t ventured beyond industry-funded continuing education modules and pharmaceutical company press releases since medical school. The journal articles gathering dust in their mental libraries are pharmaceutical marketing materials disguised as science, cherry-picked data points that support the sales pitch while burying inconvenient truths beneath statistical sleight-of-hand. Their ‘expertise’ is just regurgitated talking points from the last drug rep who bought them lunch.

Your Doctor Now Reports to Corporate Masters

The corporate takeover of medicine didn’t happen overnight—it was systematically engineered, with the Affordable Care Act delivering the knockout blow to independent practice. While marketed as expanding “healthcare access,” Obamacare buried small practices under an avalanche of regulatory requirements, EHR mandates, and compliance costs that made independence financially impossible.

Before the ACA, over half of physicians owned their practices; today, that number has plummeted below 30%. The rest were forced to sell out to corporate healthcare systems where their compensation and job security now depend on following protocols—including pharmaceutical prescribing patterns and vaccination targets—established by administrators who’ve never touched a stethoscope.

Your family doctor didn’t willingly transform into a pharmaceutical enforcement agent; they were legislated into compliance, their medical autonomy sacrificed on the altar of corporatized healthcare while maintaining the illusion of independent judgment.

Primary care healthcare professionals are now following protocol with the unquestioning obedience of a first-grader desperate for a gold star sticker. It makes you wonder how many who flock to primary care medicine were those perfect little rule-followers their entire lives—the ones who color-coded their highlighters in medical school, memorized every algorithm without asking why, and spent their formative years as professional hoop-jumpers. The straight-A students who never risked a teacher’s disapproval, never colored outside the lines, never questioned authority figures even when those figures were demonstrably wrong. The ones whose entire identity became wrapped up in following instructions perfectly to achieve the next credential, the next white coat, the next professional validation.

Is it any surprise that these same personalities now cling to protocols like religious scripture, unable to exercise independent clinical judgment when a human being’s complex situation doesn’t fit neatly into their laminated flowchart? Critical thinking requires the courage to ask uncomfortable questions—a skill that was systematically extinguished in these pristine academic specimens long before they wrote their first prescription

Next time your primary care physician tries to prescribe you an SSRI for being human or jab you with the latest pharmaceutical subscription service, remember: you’re not a patient—you’re a customer they’re trying to upsell.

Their script may be polished, but your bullshit detector doesn’t need a medical degree to function properly. Ask the uncomfortable questions they’re afraid to answer. Demand actual data, not rehearsed talking points. Walk out if necessary.

Find the rare physicians who still practice medicine instead of pharmaceutical compliance. And if your doctor looks horrified when you decline their latest pill or shot, smile sweetly and say, “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure my chart notes that YOU failed to convince ME—not the other way around.”

After all, the most rebellious act in modern healthcare isn’t refusing treatment—it’s insisting on informed consent in a system designed to eliminate it.

Your body, your mind, your choice. No prescription required.

RESIST

[…]

Via https://brownstone.org/articles/how-your-family-doc-became-a-drug-enforcement-agent/

Tulsi Gabbard Releases 10,000 Pages of RFK Assassination Documents — 50,000 More Pages Incoming

By Jordan Conradson

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has announced that she has released 10,000 pages of files “directly related to the assassination” of former US Senator and US Attorney General, Robert F. Kennedy (RFK), who was assassinated in a hotel kitchen in Los Angeles in 1968. 

“In the course of searching FBI and CIA warehouses for records not previously turned over to The National Archives, an additional 50,000 pages of RFK assassination files were discovered,” her office announced in a press release. “The agencies are working to make these records available and will continue to search government facilities for additional files.”

Health and Human Services Director Robert F. Kennedy Jr. commended President Trump in a statement “for his courage and his commitment to transparency” in paving the way to release the long-hidden files on his father’s assassination.

As The Gateway Pundit reported, President Trump signed an executive order, almost immediately after taking office on January 20, ordering the declassification of the assassination files for President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

[…]

Via https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/04/just-tulsi-gabbard-releases-10000-pages-rfk-assassination/

25 Facts About Kilmar Abrego Garcia

By Gabe Fletcher

I wasn’t planning to write again (yet) about Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the migrant deported by the Trump administration to El Salvador despite an order protecting him from being sent there, but I continue to be frustrated by politicians from both parties (and their associated media outlets) telling only half the story and skewing the facts in one direction or the other.

[…]

Many liberals would have you believe that Abrego Garcia was a “Maryland man” who was living in the U.S. legally. Many conservatives would have you believe that he was a convicted member of MS-13. And both sides would tell you that the Supreme Court sided unanimously with them. All of those statements are exaggerations: they stem from some true fact, but don’t tell you the full story.

[…]

It seems to me that many people are opining on this case without reading the relevant court documents and filings. But I have. So here follows 25 facts about Kilmar Abrego Garcia:

Kilmar Abrego Garcia entered the United States illegally in around 2011 (according to his lawyers) or 2012 (according to a police report). He would have been around 16 years old. He has previously acknowledged crossing the border illegally, and his lawyers do not dispute it now.In March 2019, Abrego Garcia was arrested in a Home Depot parking lot along with three other men, one of whom police officers said they recognized as an active MS-13 gang member with an “extensive criminal history.” Abrego Garcia’s lawyers say he was at the Home Depot to “solicit employment” and that he recognized two of the other men “from prior occasions at the Home Depot” but had “never interacted with them in any other context.” The lawyers say he was chatting with the other men “to pass the time.”According to the police report, when an officer approached the four men, “two of the individuals reached into their waistbands and discarded several unknown items under a parked vehicle.” The report says that “two small plastic bottles containing marijuana was [sic] located on scene.”The police officers observed that Abrego Garcia was wearing a Chicago Bulls hat, which has long been described as the “hat of choice” for MS-13 members. (The logo resembles the “devil horns” hand sign often used by the gang.) He was also wearing a “hoodie with rolls of money covering the eyes, ears and mouth of the presidents on the separate denominations,” which the officers believed to be associated with the MS-13 motto “ver, oir y callar,” or “see no evil, hear no evil and say no evil.”1A confidential informant told the police officers that Abrego Garcia was an active member of MS-13 in the “Western” clique. (Abrego Garcia’s lawyers note that that clique is based in New York, where he has never lived.) The informant, a “past proven and reliable source of information,” said that Abrego Garcia held the rank of “Chequeo” in MS-13 and the moniker “Chele.” An informant also said that another of the four men was an MS-13 member (in addition to the one that officers already knew to be a gang member). No gang affiliation was determined for the fourth man, although the officers noted that “MS-13 gang members are only allowed to hang around other members or prospects for the gang.” The fourth man was released.Abrego Garcia and the two other men believed by police to be MS-13 members were kept overnight in a local jail and then transported to an ICE field office the next day. There, Abrego Garcia denied being an MS-13 member but “freely admitted” to being an El Salvador citizen “present in the United States illegally,” without documents that would allow him to remain here, according to an official form. A deportation officer administratively charged him as an “alien present without admission or parole” under the Immigration and Nationality Act, a deportable offense. The form describes Abrego Garcia as having a “gang affiliation” but “no criminal history.”The police report contained some internal inconsistencies, and his lawyers later sought to speak to the detective who wrote it, but were told he had been suspended. According to the New Republic, the detective had been suspended for giving confidential information about a case to a sex worker. The detective was indicted for the offense and pleaded guilty.Abrego Garcia was kept in custody by ICE. He requested bond, but an immigration judge declined to release him, reasoning in April 2019 that he failed to prove that he “would not pose a danger to others, as the evidence shows that he is a verified member of MS-13.”2 The judge was “reluctant to give evidentiary weight” to his clothing, but appeared swayed by the confidential informant. The judge also noted that Abrego Garcia had failed to appear at hearings for traffic violations in the past (he said he was unaware of the hearings, but acknowledged failing to follow up on the citations). His “lack of diligence in following up on his traffic court cases indicates that he cannot be trusted to appear in immigration court” if released, the judge said.Abrego Garcia appealed the denial of his bond request, but the Board of Immigration Appeals upheld the immigration judge’s ruling in December 2019, saying that the judge “appropriately considered allegations of gang affiliation.”Abrego Garcia married Jennifer Vasquez Sura, a U.S. citizen who was then pregnant with his child, while in custody. (In deeming him a potential flight risk, the immigration judge had noted the fact that he was only engaged to Vasquez Sura, and that “any immigration relief that he can be expected to gain from a marital relationship with her in the future is speculative.”)About seven months before Abrego Garcia’s arrest, in August 2018, the father of two of Vasquez Sura’s children had filed a court document (obtained by ABC News) that said he feared for their children’s lives, in part, because Vasquez Sura was “dating a gang member.” The man did not identify who he was referring to. According to Abrego Garcia’s lawyers, Abrego Garcia met Vasquez Sura around 2016 and they “eventually became romantically involved” thereafter. They moved in together around December 2018, at which point she was already pregnant with their child.After his June 2019 marriage, Abrego Garcia filed for relief from deportation under three authorities: asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). Abrego Garcia explained that he had reason to fear being deported back to El Salvador because the Barrio 18 gang had threatened to kill him and his family because of their pupusa business.At subsequent hearings in August and September 2019, an immigration judge agreed that he was deportable as charged (which Abrego Garcia also acknowledged) but then considered his three requests for relief. The judge denied the asylum request, because it could only be filed within a year after arriving in the U.S., a deadline which had long passed. He also denied the CAT request as lacking evidence.But the judge granted Abrego Garcia’s request for withholding of removal, finding a “clear probability” that he would be persecuted in El Salvador. Withholding of removal is a sort of limbo status. It guarantees that the recipient cannot be deported to a specific country (in this case, El Salvador). But there is “no legal impediment” to the government deporting the recipient anywhere else at any time, as Abrego Garcia’s lawyers have acknowledged.3But, to do so, the U.S. would have to find a third country willing to take the deportee. So, most recipients remain in the U.S. (According to the American Immigration Council, in 2017, just 1.6% of people granted withholding of removal were deported to a third country.) Therefore, Abrego Garcia continued to live in the U.S. He checked in with ICE every year as required. At any time in this period, ICE could have deported him to a third country (provided that they find one that would take him), but they did not.It was during this period, in 2021, that Vasquez Sura (Abrego Garcia’s wife) requested a protective order against him, according to documents obtained by ABC News. She alleged that he had “punched and scratched her eye,” causing her to bleed; “ripped [her] shorts and shirt off”; and grabbed her by the arm when she tried to run away, leaving a bruise. She also alleged that he had previously hit her with a boot and in the eye. “At this point I am afraid to be close to him,” she wrote. The protective order was dismissed because Vasquez Sura failed to appear in court. She now says that “we were able to work through this situation privately as a family, including by going to counseling.”In 2022, according to NewsNation, Abrego Garcia was stopped by the Tennessee Highway Patrol for “illegally transporting eight immigrants from Houston to Maryland.” He was not arrested or charged.Abrego Garcia was driving in March 2025 when he was pulled over by ICE officers who told him, according to his lawyers, that his “status has changed.” (It is unknown exactly why, although President Trump had recently deemed MS-13 a “foreign terrorist organization” and expressed interest in deporting MS-13 members. Abrego Garcia would presumably have shown up in the ICE database as a deportable immigrant with alleged MS-13 ties.) He was then detained.His lawyers say that he was moved several times but told he would go before an immigration judge. He didn’t, and was instead deported to El Salvador to be detained at the notorious CECOT prison along with other alleged gang members. Abrego Garcia was deported under Title 8 of the U.S. Code (not the Alien Enemies Act, which was used only for alleged members of a different gang).Abrego Garcia’s attorneys filed a lawsuit seeking his return. An ICE official acknowledged that his deportation to El Salvador was an “administrative error,” but said it was “carried out in good faith based on the existence of a final order of removal and Abrego Garcia’s purported membership in MS-13.”4 The government argued that the error could not be reversed since Abrego Garcia was no longer in U.S. custody and was now in the custody of his home country.U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis sided with Abrego Garcia, ordering the government on April 4 to “facilitate and effectuate” his return by the end of the day on April 7. An appeals court upheld her order, which Chief Justice John Roberts then paused before the deadline.On April 10, the full Supreme Court vacated the deadline in Xinis’ order — since it had already passed — and said the rest of the order “remains in effect but requires clarification.” The justices said that Xinis was correct to order the government to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return and to “ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador.” The unsigned order also told Xinis to clarify what she meant by “effectuate,” and to do so in a manner that gives “due regard for the deference owed to the Executive Branch in the conduct of foreign affairs.”5Hours later, Xinis issued an amended order directing the government to “take all available steps” to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return “as soon as possible.” (She did not list any specific steps, set a new deadline, or mention the word “effectuate.”) The Supreme Court had also instructed the Trump administration to “be prepared to share what it can concerning the steps it has taken and the prospect of further steps.” To that end, Xinis directed the government to answer three questions — where Abrego Garcia is, what steps they had taken to facilitate his return, and what steps they planned to take next — by the next morning.The administration responded that they were “unable to provide the information requested by the Court” in such a short timeframe.

[…]

Via https://www.wakeuptopolitics.com/p/25-facts-about-kilmar-abrego-garcia

Egypt Hosts Chinese J-10C Fighters, ‘Flying Radars’ and Tankers For Major Joint Exercises

Military Watch

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force was on April 20 confirmed to have deployed J-10C fighter aircraft supporting by KJ-500 airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) systems to Egypt to participate in the ‘Eagles of Civilisation 2025’ joint air exercises with the Egyptian Air Force. The exercises are taking place at a time of growing tensions between Egypt and Western Bloc states, primarily due to the sustained pressure that has been placed on Cairo to accept much of the Palestinian population of the Gaza Strip as part of plans to place the territory under the control of neighbouring Israel.

Egypt’s current fighter inventory is compromised overwhelmingly of Western aircraft, with over 180 F-16s in service and 54 Rafale fighters on order. The extensive downgrading of Western fighters sold to Egypt is reported to have strengthened Cairo’s interest in procuring Chinese fighter aircraft, namely the J-10C and J-35, with a number of sources having claimed that the first orders for J-10Cs were placed in 2024. As China itself faces growing military pressure from Western Bloc states in the Pacific, the strengthening of defence ties with Egypt and bolstering of the African state’s defences has the potential to yield major strategic dividends.  

The Egyptian Air Force is the only service in Africa to deploy airborne early warning and control systems, namely American E-2 Hawkeye aircraft procured during the Cold War. With the E-2 today considered increasingly obsolete, and lacking compatibility with Chinese fighter aircraft, the possibility remains significant that deployment of the KJ-500 to Egypt may be intended to allow the Egyptian Air Force to evaluate its capabilities and consider procuring it for their own fleet.

Participation in Eagles of Civilisation 2025 represents the first overseas deployment of the KJ-500, which highlights China’s growing readiness to extend the operational reach of its high value support aircraft, at a time when its fleet of AEW&Cs is growing at a far greater rate than that of any other air force in the world. The PLA Air Force also deployed YY-20 tanker aircraft to refuel its fighters and AEW&Cs in the air, allowing them to make the 6000 kilometre journey to Egypt and subsequently conduct longer range operations.

Procurement of the YY-20 by Egypt has also been raised as a possibility, as the country currently lacks any classes of long range fighter aircraft which makes the ability to refuel in the air highly prized. China’s position as the only country other than the United States to have developed a substantial fifth generation fighter program, and its apparent lead in developing sixth generation fighters, has significantly bolstered the prestige of its combat aviation sector and increased foreign interest in making procurements. 

Operating alongside Chinese J-10s, the Egyptian Air Force deployed its only non-Western class of modern fighter aircraft the MiG-29M, 46 of which were ordered from Russia in 2015 which made the country the largest operator of the class. The aircraft were purchased under a new administration at a time of worsening relations with the Western world, and are the country’s only modern fighters which have not seen their air-to-air capabilities downgraded.

The J-10C has a significantly superior air-to-air combat capability than any fighter in the Egyptian Air Force, while also benefitting from lower maintenance needs and operational costs than its F-16, Rafale or MiG-29M. The Chinese fighter combines fifth generation level avionics including an AESA radar and cutting edge electronic warfare systems, with access to two of the world’s most capable air-to-air missile classes the PL-10 and PL-15.

To place these capabilities in perspective, Rafales in Egyptian service lack access to the class’ primary air-to-air missile the Meteor, due to European objections to straightening Egypt’s aerial warfare capabilities, while the country’s F-16s continue to rely on wholly obsolete Cold War era variants of the AIM-7 and AIM-9 missiles. Exercises with the PLA Air Force are expected to highlight the major discrepancies between the capabilities of the equipment which China and the Western world can offer Egypt, and the major transformation to capabilities which greater investment in procurements from China could allow the country to realise. 

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Via https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/egypt-hosts-chinese-j10c-flying-radar-joint-exercises