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NASA Just Flew a Human Kidney, and Transplant Medicine May Never Look the Same

A human kidney flew across NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., on June 5, and the real story begins with what didn’t happen. The organ wasn’t rushed into an operating room, as no surgeon scrubbed in while a family waited outside. From Space.com:

NASA is hoping to use drones to speed up organ delivery for transplant patients.

A flight test earlier this month at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Virginia saw a drone pick up a kidney and fly it for the first time beyond “line of sight”, or the distance from which a drone is visible by an operator. Keeping a line of sight on a drone is a typical requirement for flight safety, but NASA is developing tools that may allow these machines to fly further away from operators in populated environments more regularly.

The kidney on the June 5 flight test was not viable for organ transplantation, which is why the agency and partner United Network for Organ Sharing were able to use it, according to WTKR. If all goes to plan with future tests conducted with NASA Langley, however, UNOS aims to fly organ-bearing drones as far as 15 miles (24 km), in between hospitals for example, to allow for swift and safe delivery to waiting patients. The drone collaboration was created to “explore faster, more reliable ways to transport donor organs using advanced aviation technologies”, according to space agency materials published in April.

Drones may have a better ability than larger aircraft to navigate ground logistics or maneuver in dense or hard-to-reach delivery areas. What’s more, drones might be able to do so faster than aircraft, which is crucial: organs can only last so long during transportation.

The test used additional radios on the drones intended to allow pilots to keep an eye on the drones even while out of sight. “What that means, more or less, is we’re going to have the pilot in command be about a mile away inside of a control room,” Kyle Smalling, an aerospace engineer at NASA Langley, told WAVY.com.

The kidneys used in the test had been donated for research after they were ruled out for transplant. Researchers still treated them like precious cargo because someday a flight like this may carry an organ that can save a life.

NASA Langley Research Center, the United Network for Organ Sharing, and LifeNet Health used a drone to transport human kidneys beyond visual line of sight. The flights lasted about 15 minutes, and researchers biopsied the kidneys and placed them on preservation pumps before and after the flights while tracking temperature, pressure, and altitude. Early results showed no evidence that the flights damaged the organs.

Mark Johnson, interim CEO of UNOS, called innovation in organ transportation essential because more than 100,000 people are waiting for lifesaving transplants. HRSA’s public organ donation data puts the national waiting list at 103,223 men, women, and children. Seventeen people die each day waiting, and another name is added every eight minutes.

Those numbers don’t leave much room for slow systems, missed handoffs, or traffic jams.

Transportation is one of the quiet pressures inside transplant medicine. A donor organ has a limited window of usefulness once recovered. Delays hurt organ function, affect outcomes, or stop a transplant from happening at all.

A kidney can travel by plane, ambulance, courier car, or handoff chain, but the weakest link often sits close to the ground, where congestion, routing, weather, and scheduling cost valuable time.

John Koelling, director of the Aeronautics Research Directorate at NASA Langley Research Center, said the project gives NASA a chance to apply Langley technology to a real-world problem that saves people waiting for transplants. The work uses NASA tools in flight planning, sensing, safety systems, and beyond-visual-line-of-sight drone operations.

Space-age language sounds distant, but the goal here is deeply human: get the organ where it needs to go with less delay and less risk.

The study also shows why serious medical progress frequently arrives in careful steps. Nobody should pretend drones will replace the transplant logistics network next week.

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Hollywood Libs Pour Love on Beijing, Tout China as ‘First Petro-Zero Economy,’ But Facts Show Different Story

It’s hardly a new phenomenon, sadly, when Hollywood stars kiss up to China. Usually, they don’t even try to bother letting facts get in the way.

Ah, but that’s where Edward Norton and Ted Danson went wrong. The “Fight Club” and “Cheers” star decided to simp for Beijing’s energy policy on the latter’s podcast this week, with the two libs declaring that China was on its way to being the “first petro-zero economy.”

The problem there: Not only is China not there yet, it’s the world’s biggest carbon-emitter and its largest user of coal, and it’s only getting worse.

But, you know, other than that…

Norton, apparently not terribly bright without imaginary friend Brad Pitt along with him, was the one who made the “first petro-zero economy” quote in a condemnation of “American exceptionalism,” because apparently exceptionalism equals renewables, or something.

“They are going to be the first electro-superpower,” he said of China.

“Which we could have been,” Danson interjected. “And now we’re going to have to buy it from them when this [Donald Trump] goes away and we come to our senses. We won’t have that industry like China does.”

Norton agreed.

“And by the way, it’s both sides of the aisle,” Norton said. “In the state of California, we have now the most regressive policy toward residential solar, distributed solar collection, and storage… but even under Gavin Newsom.”

Of course, this is because you can’t build a millimeter of air in California without 62 different permits, and you basically can’t change a lightbulb without changing a law, but one digresses. When the People’s Republic of Sacramento is being brought forth as an argument as to why centrally planned Chinese energy policy is kicking our butts, it’s hard to take you seriously.

As Norton went on to point out, “This is a state that should be energy independent… This is a state that should have gigawatts of residential distributed solar.”

To be fair, he gives both Florida and Texas — under Republican governors — credit for getting stuff done. But then he says that “if you get to travel” to other places — assumedly like China — you get to see that stuff can get done on green energy.

“We have this enduring narrative of American exceptionalism, like of, America’s ‘alpha,’ of America’s cultural superiority,” a rambling Norton said.

“And the question is, and I don’t think people fully grasp the degree to which we’re going to ghettoize ourselves as an energy state, in terms of education, in terms of health. We’re not anywhere near the top of what other people are experiencing. And if we embrace this idea of pride in regression, where is that going to take us? It’s not going to take us into a place that we’re happy about for our kids.”

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A Million Obamacare Users Enrolled Without a Social Security Number

Obamacare is expensive, unconstitutional, socialist, and bloated. It is also — surprise, surprise — riddled with fraud.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Mehmet Oz revealed the stunning number of Obamacare users who never provided a Social Security number, raising serious questions about the scope of fraud in the government healthcare insurance program.

In a Saturday video, Kennedy and Oz updated the American people on efforts to uncover and root out fraud. The HHS secretary began, “The Obamacare marketplace is plagued by fraud, in large part because the Biden administration dismantled basic program integrity guardrails. [And] partisan lawfare blocked common sense efforts to protect taxpayers. Today, Dr. Oz and I are exposing one of the latest examples of fraud that we’ve uncovered — more than a million people enrolled in Obamacare without Social Security numbers on file. That is a glaring warning side of fraud. If even a single person was on Obamacare with no Social Security number, we should have found out. Why are we paying people we don’t know if they actually exist?” Why indeed. Probably because Democrats love to redistribute money no matter how many criminals benefit.

Oz picked up the thread of the explanation. “Shady insurance agents and other bad actors have been getting paid to enroll unsuspecting Americans in health plans they never signed up for,” he exclaimed. “These rogue agents have been flooding into healthcare.gov. That’s the Obamacare marketplace. They submit applications for fake people, enroll stolen identities, all to collect millions of dollars, improper fees, from insurance companies for selling plans they never legitimately sold. Some of these agents refuse to follow basic rules like providing their clients’ Social Security number. That, my friends, is a huge red flag.”

Under the current administration, HHS and CMS are actually paying attention to red flags. As Kennedy said, “These fraudsters deliberately pick plans with no premiums. No premiums means no bill. No bill means most people never know that they’ve been enrolled in a plan that you and I are paying for with our taxpayer dollars. The only people who benefit are the fraudsters.”

But the current administration has a zero tolerance attitude toward fraud, Oz emphasized. “So here’s what we’re doing about it,” he said. “In May, we took swift action to block this fraudulent behavior directly on healthcare.gov and to our marketplace Call Center. If an agent wants to be paid, [he] must follow the rules. No ifs, ands or buts. They are gonna have to provide government-verified information for their clients to be enrolled.”

This effort is bearing fruit, Kennedy stated. “Thanks to this aggressive enforcement strategy, we’ve already eliminated thousands of fraudulent policies, and we’re just getting started. We’re also working with insurers to cancel every policy that should never have been issued and recover every taxpayer dollar that was fraudulently paid out,” he assured Americans.

Oz agreed, “We’re also scaling up our enforcement efforts to prevent these bad actors from finding new ways to manipulate the system ahead of the open enrollment system this fall, because we know that bad actors don’t simply stop when you cut off one vulnerable area. The Biden administration let healthcare fraudsters run wild. Thanks to President Trump, those days are over.” The battle is ongoing, but there have already been victories.

Kennedy warned, “To every unscrupulous insurance agent and fraudster exploiting the American people, here is our message. If you steal from the American taxpayer, or if you defraud American families, HHS will find you, and we will hold you accountable.” Oz chimed in, “If you’re a fraudster, here’s our advice to you. Do not walk away from us, run, because we are gonna find you.”

Secretary Kennedy stated that his priority is protecting Americans’ health and Americans’ money, now and always.

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Texas Supreme Court Blocks Harris County from Spending Taxpayer Dollars on Illegal Immigrants’ Deportation Defense

The Texas Supreme Court has temporarily blocked Harris County from spending taxpayer dollars on legal services for individuals facing federal deportation proceedings, marking a significant victory for state officials seeking to curb what they view as the misuse of public funds.

The order, issued Friday, halts further spending from Harris County’s Immigrant Legal Services Fund while litigation continues over whether the program violates the Texas Constitution. Although the court has not issued a final ruling on the merits, it concluded there is “serious doubt” about the program’s constitutionality and ordered the county to suspend additional disbursements until further notice.

The decision sends a clear message that local governments cannot use taxpayer money to advance politically driven immigration policies without constitutional scrutiny.

Harris County’s Deportation Defense Fund

Harris County established the Immigrant Legal Services Fund in 2020 with an initial $2 million appropriation to provide free legal representation for individuals in federal immigration proceedings. Since then, county leaders have continued funding the program, including a recent $1.34 million allocation to nonprofit organizations representing individuals facing deportation.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton challenged the latest expenditure, arguing that using public funds for this purpose violates the Texas Constitution’s prohibition against granting public money for private purposes. The Texas Supreme Court agreed that the constitutional questions raised are substantial enough to justify immediately halting the spending while the lawsuit proceeds.

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Gay Pride Parade in Providence, RI Features Float With RAINBOW GUILLOTINE and Other Violent Imagery Aimed at City’s Gay Mayor

A float in the Providence, Rhode Island gay pride parade featured a rainbow-colored guillotine, as well as a steamroller covered with blood, chasing an effigy of the city’s gay Mayor Brett Smiley.

The makers of the float are going after Smiley for not being far left enough for their liking.

This is not unlike what happened to gay state senator Scott Weiner in California this week. The left has begun going after their own as traitors to the revolution.

This is the same city where leftists claimed that a mural of murdered legal immigrant Iryna Zarutska was too divisive for the community. Smiley sided with the left.

From WPRI News in Providence:

RI Pride to ‘strengthen’ parade rules after float depicts violence against Providence mayor

Rhode Island Pride says it will be “strengthening” its parade entry requirements after a float in last weekend’s Illuminated Night Parade depicted violence against Mayor Brett Smiley.

The organization’s president, Rodney Davis, told 12 News that the nonprofit was conducting its own review of the matter to determine what was presented, what details were provided during registration, and “whether any material information was omitted that would have affected the approval process.”

Photos of the float posted on social media showed what appeared to be a representation of Smiley hanging in front of a bloody steamroller, while the back of the float featured what looked to be a rainbow-colored guillotine. The float had a logo for the Providence Worker’s Defense.

“Rhode Island Pride has always recognized that Pride is rooted in protest, advocacy, visibility, and the right of community members to raise concerns about public issues,” Davis said. “At the same time, we want to be clear that any entry or display that depicts or suggests violence is not consistent with the standards of our event and will not be permitted.”

Here’s an image of the bloody steamroller with the effigy of Smiley.

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Zelensky Telegraphs 40-Day Pressure Offensive On Russia, Fueling Fears Of Slide Toward WW3

The Ukraine war is quite obviously escalating, especially regarding Ukrainian leaders seeking to “bring the war” to Russian soil, amid nightly drone attacks which have come in the hundreds and even thousands of late.

President Volodymyr Zelensky is seeking to seize on the momentum of repeat drone hits on Russian refinery and energy infrastructure – a reality Russia has suffered over many months, leading to a current fuel crisis spanning dozens of cities and regions, and especially Crimea, which has temporarily halted fuel sales to common citizens altogether this week.

Ukrainian media is touting a new Zelensky plan to ramp up the pressure on Russia over the next 40 days, aimed at “pressuring Russia to end its war”.

He has ordered Ukraine’s State Security Service (SBU) to launch a new 40-day operation, which also includes “plan for long-range sanctions, medium-range sanctions, and the results achieved by the SBU,” Zelensky said on X. He’s further calling it an “influence operation.”

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BLM Activist Targets White Christians with a Disgusting Suggestion After Minneapolis Officials Move to Close Popular Dog Park

A Minnesota Black Lives Matter Activist declared war on whites earlier this week in a social media post while whining about the upcoming closure of a dog park.

As Fox News reported, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board recently voted 8-1 to close the Minnehaha Off-Leash Dog Park by the end of the year due to concern that it is part of the Mni Owe Sni (Coldwater Spring) Traditional Cultural Place.

The Minnehaha Dog Park is a 6.6-acre riverfront area that features hiking trails. Dogs with required permits can roam freely.

Alpha News notes that the land is sacred to Dakota tribes and officials believe there are unmarked graves from the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862.

“There was a concentration camp there at Fort Snelling, at the Bdóte area, and due to that, history there, there were a lot of relatives, ancestors who died over that winter,” Maggie Lorenz, executive director of Wakan Tipi Awanyankapi, told CBS Minnesota.

“Because of that, there were a lot of unmarked graves and burials around that area,” she added.

Chauntyll Allen, a St. Paul school board member and co-founder of Black Lives Matter (BLM) Twin Cities, was unhappy with the move to close the park and had a vile suggestion for the board.

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California’s Voting System is Designed to Prevent Detection and Prosecution of Election Fraud

The recent Los Angeles mayoral primary placed California’s election mechanics under an unforgiving light. On election night Spencer Pratt held a clear path to the runoff against Karen Bass. Late mail ballots then arrived in batches that favored Nithya Raman so heavily that she overtook Pratt and finished with a 3,113-vote lead. NBC Los Angeles recorded one Friday update in which Raman received twice as many votes as Pratt, followed by continued narrowing on Saturday and the final overtaking on Sunday. Bass’s share stayed roughly stable at 34.68 percent while Raman climbed to 27.12 percent and Pratt fell to 26.69 percent. Observers noted that the arithmetic required for Raman to erase Pratt’s lead demanded an unusually large share of the remaining ballots, a distribution bordering on a mathematical impossibility under normal variation. The early leader’s margin collapsed only after the delayed counting of mail ballots from skidrow voters that California law permits counties to process for up to thirty days after election day.

This sequence did not occur in a vacuum. It unfolded inside a system built since 2020 on a series of deliberate policy choices. Assembly Bill 37 made permanent the practice of mailing a live ballot and return envelope to every registered voter before every election. In the 2024 general election California reported 22,595,659 registered voters and 13,034,378 mail ballots that were ultimately counted. That left roughly 9.56 million ballot packets that were printed, mailed, and never returned as counted votes. Those packets move through ordinary mail, apartment mailrooms, and forwarding addresses that may be years out of date. California law allows any person to return a completed ballot so long as the person is not paid on a per-ballot basis. The sole front-end control is a signature comparison performed on the identification envelope.

That comparison rests on standards that deliberately favor acceptance. Senate Bill 503 instructs officials to begin with the presumption that the signature is the voter’s own, to accept similar characteristics rather than an exact match, and to reject only when two officials determine beyond a reasonable doubt that the signature differs in multiple, significant, and obvious respects. No witness attestation is required. No photograph or other documentary identification is demanded at the point of return. If a question arises, the cure process allows the voter or a third party to submit a replacement signature by mail, email, fax, or other remote means, and some cure signatures may update the voter’s record for future elections. Once the envelope is accepted, the ballot is separated from it to protect secrecy. From that moment forward, any error or impropriety in the acceptance decision cannot be corrected without destroying the secret-ballot guarantee.

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Despicable: Kathy Hochul Urges New Yorkers to Report ICE Agents Who Wear Masks to Prevent Being Doxed and Targeted by Violent Leftists

New York Governor Kathy Hochul took to X on Friday to encourage people in the state to report Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents who wear masks while carrying out their duties.

Masks help to protect agents from doxxing and violence by leftist activists who have been compiling databases of their identities, family homes, license plates, and more.

In her posts, Hochul promoted a reporting form run by New York State Attorney General Letitia James, directing people to submit information on agents allegedly violating the state’s new law against masked law enforcement.

The first post read in full:

NEW YORKERS:

As of 12:00 AM, New York’s law prohibiting most law enforcement officials from wearing masks while carrying out their duties is now in effect.

New Yorkers have a right to know who is exercising law enforcement authority in their communities.

The second post linked to the reporting form.

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The Empathy Weapon

This morning the New York Times published an essay by an immunologist who wasn’t vaccinated as a child, found science, got her shots, and now wants to help other parents see the light. It’s got that signature NYT sheen, is well written and emotionally compelling. And yet, if you’ve been paying attention to the media machine you can see that this piece is merely emotional blackmail. It’s sophisticated and speaks in the language of maternal love. The fact that it’s dressed in a lab coat is the tell.

The essay’s argument is simple: the author’s mother didn’t vaccinate her out of love. The author now vaccinates her own children out of love. The only difference is information and emotional support. The moral of the story? Parents who don’t vaccinate aren’t bad people – they just haven’t been guided to the correct conclusion yet.

Anyone not asleep through the last few years may recognize the game.

In 2021, New York’s Governor Kathy Hochul stood before a congregation and told them the vaccinated were “the smart ones,” that those who refused were “not listening to God,” and that the faithful needed to go out as “apostles” and convert the unbelievers. It was cheap, crude, and disgraceful on so many layers.

And then there was Bill de Blasio. In the middle of the city’s vaccine push, the mayor of New York went on camera dangling a plate of burger and fries, moaning “Mmm, vaccination” like he was filming a McDonalds commercial.

I’ve never been more ashamed to be a New Yorker than watching those two represent my hometown during that period.

The Times essay is precisely the same sermon for a different congregation. Three pitches for the exact same product. De Blasio dangled fries at people who couldn’t afford to say no. Hochul played to the soul. The Times aims square at the laptop class. The approach may look different but the reveal is obvious: there is only one correct answer and the institutions hold it. These are all merely tactics to get the holdouts to convert.

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