Link Between Plastic Chemical Exposure and Autism in Boys
Prenatal exposure to the plastic chemical bisphenol A (BPA) is associated with increased risk of autism in boys, according to a new study.
Researchers at an Australian university looked at two large birth cohorts in Australia and the US, and found that higher levels of exposure to BPA in utero, as indicated by BPA levels in maternal urine samples, were associated with significantly increased risks of autism diagnoses during childhood.
Boys exposed to higher BPA levels in late pregnancy were 3.5 times more likely to have autism symptoms by the age of 2 that boys whose mothers had lower levels of BPA in their urine, and six times more like to have a verified autism diagnosis by the age of 11.
The researchers were able to show, through rodent experiments, that BPA appears to have these effects, at least in part, by deactivating the important enzyme aromatase, which is responsible for converting the hormone testosterone into estrogen.
“Exposure to plastic chemicals during pregnancy has already been shown in some studies to be associated with subsequent autism in offspring,” Professor Anne-Louise Ponsonby, one of the lead authors, said in a press release.
“Our work is important because it demonstrates one of the biological mechanisms potentially involved. BPA can disrupt hormone controlled male fetal brain development in several ways, including silencing a key enzyme, aromatase, that controls neurohormones and is especially important in fetal male brain development. This appears to be part of the autism puzzle.”
BPA is one of many chemicals that have become ubiquitous in the modern world thanks to our dependency on plastics. In recent years, awareness of the negative effects of exposure to BPA has grown, especially with regard to products like sippy cups aimed at children. Replacement chemicals have been introduced and many products now proudly claim to be “BPA-free,” but many of these replacement chemicals, such as bisphenol S, have similar or even worse effects.
“We all ingest plastic chemicals in many ways—through ingesting plastic food and drink packaging, inhaling home renovation fumes, and through the skin from sources such as cosmetics. There are so many ways these chemicals enter our bodies, so, it’s not surprising that BPA was present in a large proportion of the women’s urine samples we studied. It’s important for us to understand how these plastics affect our health,” Professor Ponsonby added.
IS GLYPHOSATE CAUSING THE MASSIVE RISE OF AUTISM?
— RAW EGG NATIONALIST (@Babygravy9) June 17, 2024
On @infowars last week with @HarrisonHSmith, I talked about possible links between glyphosate exposure and autism. In the US, over 80% of people over the age of 6 have detectable levels of the chemical in their urine. pic.twitter.com/vl2mzZrpAS
Back in June, INFOWARS looked at whether exposure to the herbicide glyphosate could also be behind the stunning rise in autism cases in the US. Glyphosate has already been linked to cancer, endocrine disruption and obesity.
Autism rates have skyrocketed in the US in recent decades. Currently, 1 in 36 children in the US is diagnosed with autism, up from 1 in 150 children just 20 years ago.
Some possible factors to explain the rise that have been proposed include better awareness and screening for the condition, changes in diagnostic criteria and environmental or genetic factors.
Walz Under Fire for Ties to Radical Muslim Cleric
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz is under fire for his links to a radical Muslim cleric who has praised Hitler and celebrated the 7 October attacks on Israel.
State records reviewed by the Washington Examiner show that Walz’s administration has donated over $100,000 to Imam Asad Zaman’s group Muslim American Society of Minnesota, which has been described by federal prosecutors as being “founded as the overt arm of the Muslim Brotherhood in the US.”
The Muslim American Society of Minnesota has even been designated a terrorist organization by the United Arab Emirates.
Imam Asad Zaman, originally from Bangladesh, has used his Facebook page to share Hamas press releases and even promote videos praising Adolf Hitler.
He has also reaffirmed his support for Hamas against Israel in the wake of the 7 October attacks.
Zaman has attended multiple events in person with Governor Walz dating back to at least the beginning of 2019, when the two men participated in a Ramadan event and when Zaman delivered an invocation at Walz’s state address. The imam was also reportedly present at a May 2020 event with Walz to call for peaceful protests in Minnesota following George Floyd’s death.
The Harris-Walz campaign did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital on the governor’s relationship with Mr Zaman.
Since being chosen as the Vice President’s presumptive running mate for the presidency, Governor Walz has come under intense scrutiny for his radical policies as governor and also for misleading comments about his military record, made over many years.
Newly resurfaced video from a hearing in 2008 shows Minnesota Governor Tim Walz implying heavily that he suffered PTSD from deployment to Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.
Walz was speaking to the family of a Gold Star veteran at the House Veterans Affairs Committee on Veterans and Mental Health when he made remarks that suggested he had personal experience of PTSD after serving in Operation Enduring Freedom in 2004 with the National Guard.
“I can tell you this, having been one of those that came back. We were in support of OEF [Operation Enduring Freedom]… when we came back, they showed us the horse whisperer and told us to be nice when we went home. And that was the extent of it. That was in 2004.”
Walz has been accused of “stolen valor” for inflating his rank and the importance of his operational deployments. Walz never took part in Operation Enduring Freedom, the name for US operations directly in and above Afghan territory, but was posted to Italy with the National Guard in a support role.
He has also been criticized for retiring from the National Guard in order to avoid a deployment to an actual warzone, Iraq.
Grassley Demands Answers about Police Snipers in Butler
Sen. Charles Grassley has sent a letter to the acting Secret Service director demanding answers about whether local Butler snipers had a direct line of sight on the man who tried to assassinate Donald Trump, after the director blamed law enforcement for allowing the would-be assassin to gain access to the roof and shoot at the former president.
In a letter sent to Ronald Rowe Jr. on Friday, Grassley asked the Secret Service director to explain why he presented photographs to Congress that showed law enforcement snipers had a full view of the rooftop used by Thomas Matthew Crooks, but local officers who were present on the day say that the snipers were in a different position.
“Local law enforcement dispute the angle of the picture that you provided during your testimony,” wrote the senator.
In testimony before Congress, Rowe used a photograph taken from within an adjoining building to suggest that local law enforcement was to blame for Crooks being able to access and use the rooftop to shoot at the former president.
“This point of view, is the point of view where the counter sniper team, locally, was posted, the gold arrow indicates where the shooter fired from,” Rowe told Congress.
“Why was the assailant not seen? We were told that building was going to be covered. That there had been a face-to-face that afternoon. Our team leads met.”
In his letter, Grassley claims to have received new testimony and photos from law enforcement that contradict Rowe’s claims.
According to Grassley, this testimony states that the picture Rowe used at the hearing “neither accurately depicts their line of sight and coverage area from their position in the building nor their physical placement within the building.”
Grassley has demanded that Rowe provide further information to help reconcile the contradictory evidence. In particular, he asked for all records about the positioning of local law-enforcement snipers and about how the building used by Crooks was intended to be covered, including a clear diagram showing “where all local and federal law enforcement counter snipers were positioned and their assigned coverage areas, along with the shooter’s positions throughout the day.”
The Senator has also asked for further details about communications between Secret Service and law enforcement during the lead-up to the failed assassination.
Family of Slain SF Cop Speak Out Over Kamala’s Role in Sparing Killer Death Penalty
The family of a San Francisco policeman who was shot dead in 2004 have spoken out about Kamala Harris’s role in sparing the killer the death penalty.
Isaac Espinoza, a 29-year old husband and father, was shot and killed during a traffic stop by a 22-year-old gang member, David Hill, in 2004.
Kamala Harris, who had just taken up her role as San Francisco District Attorney, was widely criticized for announcing live on television that she would not seek the death penalty for Hill, having had no prior contact with Mr Espinoza’s grieving family.
“She just went ahead and announced it,” Edgar Mendez, the brother of Espinoza’s widow, Renata, told The Daily Mail.
Kamala Harris announcing that she would not seek the death penalty for David Hill, 2004San Francisco Chronicle/Hearst Newspapers via Getty Images / Contributor
“She seemed more focused on fulfilling a campaign promise as opposed to showing compassion, reaching out to family, and really being on the side of justice.”
Mendez told The Daily Mail that his family would “certainly not” be voting for Harris.
“We are proudly supporting President Trump,” he said.
“We believe he’s the better option for us and for police departments locally and throughout the country as well.”
In 2004, San Francisco DA Kamala Harris refused to seek capital punishment on gangster David Hill, who k*lled 29-year-old police officer Isaac Espinoza
— johnny maga (@_johnnymaga) July 29, 2024
She announced her decision before Espinoza was even buried. His widow said Kamala never called
This is the real Kamala Harris pic.twitter.com/5JbBtaTRSC
Harris made opposition to the death penalty central to her campaign for the District Attorney position, but she shocked her powerful supporters and also police unions when she refused to make an allowance in the Espinoza case. Senator Dianna Feinstein, who had supported Harris’s campaign to become DA, said she regretted endorsing Harris.
During Kamala Harris’s failed presidential bid in 2019, Renata Espinoza spoke to CNN and said, “I felt like she had just taken something from us.”
“She had just taken justice from us. From Isaac. She was only thinking of herself… I was in disbelief that she had gone on and already made her decision to not seek the death penalty for my husband.”
Pennsylvania Election Results Won’t Be Fully Available on Election Night
This year’s presidential election results won’t be available on election night, at least not in Pennsylvania.
In a post on Twitter, the Pennsylvania Department of State sought to reassure voters that this is, in fact, perfectly normal and not a sign of irregularities in the voting process. In 2020, mail-in ballots, counted over a period of days following the election, won the state for Joe Biden. Efforts to reform the electoral process in the state, including measures to allow pre-canvassing of ballots, have failed.
“Pennsylvanians won’t always know the final results of all races on election night,” the post reads.
“Any changes in results that occur as countries continue to count ballots are not evidence that an election is ‘rigged.’”
Pennsylvanians won’t always know the final results of all races on election night. Any changes in results that occur as counties continue to count ballots are not evidence that an election is “rigged.” See the full explanation at https://t.co/viVtWSw4HL. pic.twitter.com/gbaDh8lJpX
— PA Department of State (@PAStateDept) August 8, 2024
Response to the post was furious.
The Hodge Twins tweeted: “Other states count all their ballots in 1 day, even 3rd world countries can count all their ballots in 1 day But y’all say Pennsylvania can’t? You’re lying, and people are watching you this time. Watch out for the whistleblowers.”
“The timing of this post, so close to the upcoming Presidential election, raises serious concerns about whether the PA State Department is laying the groundwork for potential complicity or facilitation in election fraud. The FEC should consider opening an investigation,” Tweeted one user.
“Third world nations can count in one day This makes PA a fourth world state,” posted another.
Other users took the opportunity to ask why Pennsylvania’s State Department still hasn’t provided answers about whether illegal aliens are registered to vote in the state.
Pennsylvania is a key battleground state in the election. Although Trump has maintained a commanding lead over Biden in the state, his lead has been slashed by Kamala Harris since her selection as the Democrat presidential candidate.
Harris Steals “No Taxes on Tips” Policy from Trump
Kamala Harris announced a new policy of “no taxes on tips” for workers in the service industry, a policy Donald Trump has been promoting for months.
Harris made the announcement at a rally in Las Vegas on Saturday night.
Although the crowd cheered in response to the announcement, commentators on social media were quick to point out that the new policy was a brazen steal from Donald Trump, and that it would do nothing to improve public perception of the Vice President.
lol…Kamala Harris just stole Trump’s “no tax on tips” position.
— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) August 11, 2024
The press will now proclaim it an excellent idea. pic.twitter.com/b9pTejZazr
“Kamala is now stealing Trump’s policies in an attempt to get votes,” Tweeted Robby Starbuck
“No tax on tips was his proposal that he’s been talking about all year. No intelligent person will trust a word she says since she flip flops more than a fish out of water.”
“Kamala Harris’ first announced policy position after stealing the nomination is that she’s stealing Trump’s idea to not tax tips,” posted another Twitter user.
Trump himself responded on Truth Social, blasting Harris for her inability to create original policies of her own.
“Kamala Harris, whose ‘Honeymoon’ period is ENDING, and is starting to get hammered in the Polls, just copied my NO TAXES ON TIPS Policy. The difference is, she won’t do it, she just wants it for Political Purposes! This was a TRUMP idea—She has no ideas, she can only steal from me. Remember, Kamala has proposed the LARGEST TAX INCREASE IN HISTORY—It won’t happen. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!”
He followed up with another post, asking which Trump policy Harris would steal next.
“How long will it be before Kamala Harris comes out with another ‘TRUMP’ policy like, ‘No Taxes will be paid by our Senior Citizens on Social Security?’ She’s looking really bad now! Everyone is waiting to see what idea, or policy of mine, she will copy next.”
Don Jr coined a new slogan for the Harris campaign: “Harris-Walz 2024: Stolen proposals and stolen valor!”
Harris’s presumptive running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, has been accused of “stolen valor” for making misleading statements about his rank and operational deployments. Walz claimed to have taken part in Operation Enduring Freedom, the name for US operations directly in and above Afghan territory, but he was actually posted to Italy with the National Guard in a support role. He has also been criticized for retiring from the National Guard in order to avoid a deployment to an actual warzone, Iraq.
Video resurfaced yesterday of Walz appearing to mislead the family of a Gold Star veteran during a sitting of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee on Veterans and Mental Health. He made remarks that suggested he had personal experience of PTSD after serving in Operation Enduring Freedom in 2004 with the National Guard.
“I can tell you this, having been one of those that came back. We were in support of OEF [Operation Enduring Freedom]… when we came back, they showed us the horse whisperer and told us to be nice when we went home. And that was the extent of it. That was in 2004.”