Authored by Gary Anderson via RealClearPolitics,

Say what one wants about the Israeli incursion into Gaza, but not a single rocket or missile has been fired from what is left of it since the start of fighting. Compare this with the relative ineffectiveness of American efforts stop Yemen’s Houthis from slinging missiles at shipping in the Red Sea. The difference is simply geography. The Israelis simply have to cross fencing and concrete barriers to directly confront their attackers, the Palestinians of Hamas.

If U.S. wanted to launch such a large scale punitive operation against the Houthis, it would have to be done from the sea with a large scale amphibious assault. An amphibious assault of this scale, requiring sea borne tanks, assault engineers and bridging capabilities that have been divested by the U.S. Marine Corps. Instead, the Marine Corps is building a defensive force built around anti-ship missiles designed primarily to contain the Chinese Navy.

This defensive force is a stark departure from former Marine Corps Commandant Al Gray’s vision to modernize the Marine Corps for future wars.

Back in the 1980s, General Gray had a vision for what he called Over the Horizon (OTH) operations using tilt rotor aircraft, long range helicopters, more capable long-range amphibious vehicles, and air cushioned landing craft. Gray realized that advanced defensive weapons would make traditional linear amphibious operations launched just offshore problematical, but OTH would enable landing in column in places that the enemy did not expect. Gray had the Marine Corps experiment with these capabilities. Throughout the nineties, numerous war games and field experiments took place to explore the physical and intellectual challenges. OTH gradually evolved into Operational Maneuver from the Sea (OMFTS) and a whole new philosophy of littoral campaigning.

In traditional amphibious operations a relatively small portion of potential landing sites in the world’s littorals were open to the kind of linear landings done at Normandy and Iwo Jima. It was relatively easy for a defender to determine which beaches were vulnerable to amphibious landings. OMFTS were designed to open over seventy percent of littorals by landing in column across remote locations such as boat ramps and small coves with access to paths inland. This made the defense against OMTFS far more difficult.

To achieve OMFTS, we planned to use a grid of small micro-robotic ground scouts located at key road intersections, choke points, and bridges. The robotic sensors would give the landing force a map to exploit the gaps in enemy defenses as well as be able to designate targets at enemy strong points and call-in accurate fire on them. We called this advanced reconnaissance and scouting system the Reconnaissance-Surveillance-Target Acquisition (RSTA) Grid. Platforms such as the V-22 Osprey and heavy lift helicopters such as the CH-53E could give a vertical over-the-horizon dimension to this “expanding torrent” of operational capability with the RSTA Grid identifying safe landing zones.

OMFTS and RSTA would only require small assault force initially that would not need an “iron mountain” of logistical supplies on the beach before moving inland. Just-in-time logistics would keep the initial landing force moving until more traditional beaches and ports could be opened by attacking them from the rear. During the initial operation, fire support would come from precision strike until more conventional artillery could come ashore.

One key element that made OMFTS different from traditional amphibious operations and more compatible with the existing Marine Corps’ maneuver warfare approaches, was flexibility. Once the line of departure was crossed in traditional operations, the force was committed; it was “do or die for old Semper Fi.” We saw OMFTS as giving us the ability to launch several probes. The most promising would become the main effort. The rest could be withdrawn or remain for a while as deception to confuse opposing forces. Worst case, the operation could be scrapped enabling us to choose a more promising set of operational targets without causing a Gallipoli-like debacle. 

This amphibious blitzkrieg would be led by relatively small, fast moving task-organizations comprised of elements from infantry and armored battalions. However, more traditional infantry, armored, and artillery units would be needed to defend the eventual force beachhead, assist army follow-on forces in sustained operations ashore, and potential counterinsurgency operations.

All these years of planning never led to the radically reduced Marine Corps that we have today. By 2020, there should have been newer and better tanks, artillery, and amphibious vehicles as part of ongoing Marine Corps modernization, but I came to believe that OMFTS could initially be accomplished with existing Navy LCACs, Ospreys, and CH-53Es. The Advanced Armored Amphibious Vehicle (AAAV) was a failure, but I think most of us came to believe that its absence would not be an operational “showstopper”.

The real technological challenges were in the robotic sensors needed for the RSTA grid, sufficient over-the-horizon communications, some advanced naval mine clearing capabilities (with unmanned underwater systems), and some enhanced just-in-time logistics assets. None of these things were science fiction, and the technologists assured us were doable by 2020 and have been used during the current Russo-Ukrainian war.

We needed to use surrogates for war games and field experiments to simulate OMFTS.

In 1998, a small Special Purpose Marine Corps Marine Air Ground Task Force (SPMAGTF) conducted an over-the-horizon landing in column from the USS Germantown across a boat ramp in Okinawa using Landing Craft Air Cushioned (LCACs) and long range CH 53 helicopters. Later that year, a MAGTF staff from III MEF used LAVs in a force-on-force operation against a Red Team led by students from the Expeditionary Warfare School -also employing LAVs- on the peninsulas of the Virginia Capes. The surrogate RSTA Grid allowed the Blue force to land in an unexpected location and maneuver quickly to defeat the Red Force. Other war games conducted during the period caused us to believe that OMFTS would provide wicked problems to future opponents. By the turn of the century, many of us in the developmental and experimental community believed that OMFTS could be fully implemented within two decades. Indeed, the technologies needed all exist today. What we did not envision was 9/11 and General Berger.

The root of the problem really goes back to 2001 and the 9/11 attacks. At that point, the George W. Bush administration undertook the war in Afghanistan and in 2003 invaded Iraq. The Marine Corps was forced put aside its work on the next Marine Corps to support the war effort, which lasted until 2019 when virtually all conventional units had left Afghanistan. Many serving and former marines hoped to finally get back to work on OMFTS, but the new commandant at the time, General David Berger, had another vision that the dubbed Force Design 2030. OMFTS might have evolved differently if General Berger had chosen that path; the name might even have changed, but OMFTS remains the Marine Corps that could have been, particularly for operations other than island hoping in China’s first island chain.

If it had been allowed to evolve, OMFTs would have been the perfect tool to suppress threats such as the Houthis at the source. A group of retired general officers calling themselves Chowder II have put together an alternate approach to Force Design for the Corps that they call Vision 2035; much of it is based on work done before 2001. Commandants come and go, but the Marine Corps continues to look forward. Under new leadership, Vision 2035 may again include OMFTS or something like it.

Gary Anderson was heavily involved in OMFTS design and experimentation as the Chief of Staff of the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab.

What’s not widely known is that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ grandfather, Lawrence Preston Gise, helped form the Pentagon’s supersecret Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA—renamed DARPA) in 1958. Years later, DARPA developed the internet and spurred breakthroughs in high-speed networking, voice recognition, and internet search. 

One year before Gise died in 1995, Bezos founded Amazon in the garage of his Bellevue, Washington home.

Or so we’re told… 

John Greenewald Jr., who operates The Black Vault, a website dedicated to revealing declassified government documents through obtaining Freedom of Information Act requests, posted on X that he went after Gise’s “FBI file, but found out if there was one, it has been destroyed.” 

🚨L.P. Gise was Jeff Bezos’ grandfather. In the late ’50s, he helped found what would become DARPA. In the early-mid ’60s, he headed the AEC’s 7 state, 26,000 employee operation.

I went after his FBI file, but found out if there was one, it has been destroyed.#FOIA pic.twitter.com/RdIlpsx3XB

— John Greenewald, Jr. (@blackvaultcom) May 6, 2024

News website Leading Report’s Patrick Webb commented on Greenewald’s findings, saying, “There has long been speculation that DARPA has been involved in the creation of many popular big tech companies, using “frontmen” for the allusion of a startup led by outsiders.” 

There has long been speculation that DARPA has been involved in the creation of many popular big tech companies, using “frontmen” for the allusion of a startup led by outsiders.

— Patrick Webb (@RealPatrickWebb) May 6, 2024

With the contents of Gise’s FBI file unlikely to ever be unearthed and likely never destroyed, just inaccessible to FOIA requests or the public, other X users commented on Webb’s and Greenewald’s posts, pointing out how DARPA possibly created other big tech firms: 

DARPA created FB too.

— Jessica Rojas 🇺🇸💪 (@catsscareme2021) May 7, 2024

We know Facebook is a “cancelled program” out of the DOD… if you look at bill gates family you find similar stuff.

This “theory” is more confirmed every day

— Scott (@Scott89947486) May 7, 2024

LifeLog——>Facebook

— Human Clay (@prayerw62758802) May 7, 2024

Questions swirl about DARPA’s involvement in creating Amazon, given Bezos’ grandfather’s connection to the secret agency. 

Authored by Matt McGregor via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

A group of residents in western North Carolina are protesting their county board’s lack of transparency over furtive moves to welcome an electric vehicle (EV) battery manufacturing the residents believe would pollute their waters and ruin their scenic countryside.

A view of the southeast shore of Lake James in Morganton, NC, from the Fonta Flora Trail approximately three miles from the megasite where an EV battery plant could be constructed (Courtesy of Bill Connell).

In October 2023, the North Carolina state legislature allocated $35.8 million to Burke Development Inc. for the purchase of a 1,400-acre property on which to build an industrial megasite in Burke and McDowell counties.

Though the all-Republican board of Burke County Commissioners has made no official decision on approving an EV battery plant to be built within the megasite, Alan Wood, the CEO of Burke Development, alluded to the site’s potential for such a project, according to a local media report.

Mr. Wood listed several EV manufacturing plants sprouting up in the Southeast because of their proximity to a lithium mine in Kings Mountain, North Carolina, which a Charlotte-based chemical manufacturing Albemarle Corporation is set to reopen by 2026 with the help of a $90 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defence.

Since reports surfaced of the development, an organization called the Stop Burke-Lake James Megasite (Stop BLJM) was formed.

A petition with 2,859 signatures is circulating while Stop BLJM members speak out in county commissioner meetings.

In February, Burke County Manager Brian Epley held a Fireside Chat in response to the criticism in which he argued that there’s misinformation surrounding the project and that it’s a more minimal design than what’s been broadcast by those in opposition.

He pointed to country trends that highlight a need for economic development while addressing the dimensions of the project itself.

Economic development within the megasite will create jobs and increase the tax base in a county that will see challenges in the future with maintaining its workforce and population while facing current issues with “pockets of poverty,” he said.

Great Meadows, LLC., owns 1,400 acres of land comprising 14 parcels zoned for industrial, residential, and commercial use.

He said the largest parcel of land is 550 acres, 440 of which is zoned industrial, and the remaining 110 general business.

Out of the 550 acres, the commissioners decided that 165 acres could be developed for manufacturing, he said.

“From an economic development lens, that provides more than enough area to put the needed square footage there to make this a transformational economic development project to create the jobs that would be meaningful to Burke County and to create the tax base that would be meaningful to Burke County,” he said.

This future development would comprise 30 percent of the property, while 70 percent would remain undeveloped.

This undeveloped land would be used for the buffering of noise and light pollution, with room for setbacks for stream remediation and “innovative stormwater retention” that would keep the water source clean while maintaining a natural environment and wildlife habitat, he said.

‘Nature’s Playground’

However, Stop BLJM members aren’t convinced.

Lake James is where tourists come to recreate and residents live for a reason: its quiet rolling hills, panoramic clear skies, clean water, fresh mountain air, and rural community—unlike the more populated cities of Asheville and Charlotte. 

An EV battery plant would “devastate the area,” according to Stop BLJM members who spoke with The Epoch Times.

And the commissioners are making their decisions without any input from the residents, they said.

“It’s clear to me that it’s a boondoggle for personal gain of all of these local politicians, not for the benefit of those in the county or living nearby,” said Daniel Oberer, who owns a home in the area.

According to a report from the Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina, the Lake James Environmental Association, and the Catawba Riverkeepers, Lake James is already “a major economic driver” for the region and home to Lake James State Park in the city of Morganton, which takes in “over half a million visitors annually.”

Lake James is a 10.2 square mile reservoir with over 150 miles of shoreline that makes contact with the Pisgah National Forest.

It was engineered by Duke Power in the early 20th century to serve as a hydroelectric project and named for Duke University benefactor James Duke.

“The lake is also fed by and drains into the Catawba River, classified by the State as ‘trout waters,’ and is a popular paddling and fishing destination,” the report stated. “The Catawba River and surrounding subwatershed areas are classified as a ‘water supply watershed for the City of Morganton.”

A tributary of the Catawba River near Lake James called the Muddy Creek borders some of the parcels of the Great Meadows property, the report said.

Having an EV battery plant on the watershed that could drain chemicals into a water supply for 26 counties downstream is just too risky, Stop BLJM members said.

“We’re doing everything we can to stop it because once it goes in, the area will never be the same,” said Mr. Oberer.

From Lake James tourists can see the tallest peak of the Appalachian Mountains called Mount Mitchell, which reaches 6,684 feet above sea level and is ranked as the highest mountain east of the Mississippi River.

The area has come to be known as “Nature’s Playground” to locals and tourists alike.

The people fighting the development range from locals who fear their way of life will be irreparably destroyed to those who aren’t from the area but own properties there, Mr. Oberer said.

“We all have this common love for the area and common desire to protect God’s natural beauty, and to keep it for future generations to enjoy,” he said.

‘It’s Just a Bad Idea’

Bill Connell, who started the Stop BLJM petition on Change.org, said the commissioners have been “extremely covert.”

“They started this process well over two years ago and we knew nothing about it until last October, so we’re just defending ourselves at this point,” Mr. Connell said. “Now we’re looking into legal counsel and trying to get the public educated.”

Burke County residents have been kept in the dark, Roxanne Reep Fleetwood said.

“We go to meetings, we speak, and then the meetings are dismissed,” Ms. Fleetwood said, adding that the only ones who will benefit from the project are a few people in government and the landowner.

“The glaring problem with this is its location in the Catawba River basin for the Catawba River,” she said. “It’s what feeds our wells. It’s water that everyone drinks from. It goes 26 counties downstream. They can have every intention of keeping people safe but there’s no guarantee.”

In April, the U.S. Department of Labor issued a report finding the South Korean SK Battery Commerce plant in Commerce, Georgia—initially celebrated for its advancement in the Biden administration’s green energy initiative—had exposed employees to toxic chemical fumes even after they had suffered “potentially permanent respiratory damage” in an October 2023 fire.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited SK Battery for five violations.

Those violations included exposing workers to hydrofluoric acid, failing to train them on hazardous chemicals with respiratory hazards, and failing to train them on extinguishing lithium battery fires.

Ignited by the Biden administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal, a battery belt is beginning to loop itself throughout the Southeast despite a lack of enthusiasm for EV cars.

According to the Pew Research Center, about half of consumers report they are unlikely to buy an EV vehicle, citing little confidence in the country’s infrastructure to support them.

Reports of charging issues in extreme weather, long waits at charging stations, and car malfunctions have slowed the EV industry’s progress since the Biden administration’s war on carbon emissions that scholars who question the narrative argue is erroneously blamed for what others believe to be climate change.

In addition to an EV battery plant, a Norfolk Southern rail line would need to be constructed to the plant that would pass near residents’ homes and wetlands, presumably carrying lithium and other chemical elements, Ms. Fleetwood said.

The railroad company has a poor safety record, which includes its 2022 derailment leading to a chemical spill in East Palestine, Ohio, Ms. Fleetwood said.

According to a 2023 report, Norfolk Southern has seen an average of 163.6 derailments and 2.9 hazardous material releases annually.

“You can’t keep your water clean with a rail line that has a poor safety record that may be transporting lithium,” Ms. Fleetwood said. “And you can’t have tourism if the factory is at your gateway to this massive amount of unspoiled beautiful land which acts as a filter cleaning the water running into the Catawba River. It’s just a bad idea.”

Then there are the chemical elements—cadmium, lithium, magnesium, and cobalt—that must be expelled through the vent systems into the air and back into the ground, she said, which will ultimately find itself in the groundwater.

There are better ways for the commissioners to invest the taxpayers’ money, she said, such as spreading it throughout the county to facilitate the tourism industry that rivals what the EV plant would make without harming the environment or changing the character of the region.

“We are known for tourism and if this site is developed, all of that will go away,” Ms. Fleetwood said. 

‘Why All of This Deception?’

Joanna Kentch, another Stop BLJM member, has several questions related to the ethics of how the project has been handled, like who approved the funding for the megasite, where the money came from, why Commissioner Chairman Jeff Brittain and County Manager Brian Epley are on the Burke Development board that took the $35.6 million from the state, and why it seems the commissioners aren’t listening to the residents.

“Why all of this deception, not telling us exactly what they plan to build on that site?” she asked. “They are using public funds and the taxpayers have every right to know what their money is being used for.”

Ms. Kentch said that since the October 2023 article alluding to the county’s ambitions for EV battery plant, the commissioners have been back-peddling and that the $35.6 million is just the beginning of what will cost taxpayers millions more to make the site “shovel-ready.”

“They’ve been trying to take back these damning statements which was the primary reason the residents of Burke County got so upset,” Ms. Kentch said.

Ms. Kentch said the Fireside Chat was a mere “dog and pony show” in an attempt to frame the narrative around economic development.

“There are a lot of other ways to create jobs, and not at the expense of environmental disaster,” Ms. Kentch said.

In April, the commissioners rezoned the county to “conditional,” a proposal not recommended by the county planning board because “the language was too subjective,” according to Ms. Kentch.

The document states that a conditional zoning district “may be more or less restrictive” than general zoning.

“This means they can approve whatever they want, from residential to industrial, as with the case of the megasite,” Ms. Kentch said. “Now they can turn the remaining parcels to industrial without going through the steps of getting public comment before approving a rezoning application.”

According to Mr. Epley in his Fireside Chat, conditional rezoning means that the commissioners can regulate development standards such as uses, buffers, setbacks, and road access.

“However, Epley doesn’t mention that they can also approve dangerous access options such as railroad spurs, heavy industrial manufacturing uses, and other developments which would be considered hazardous and subject to public scrutiny under general zoning guidelines,” Ms. Kentch said.

For Ms. Kentch and other members of Stop BLJM, the rezoning was just another move by the county to pave the way for an EV battery factory while ignoring the opposition of Burke County residents.

Ms. Kentch said the issue over the megasite has led to two longtime commissioners getting voted out of office.

Stop BLJM-backed Republican candidates Brian Barrier and Mike Stroud won the primary election in March and now await the general election in November when the state will also choose between Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson and Democrat state Attorney General Josh Stein for governor, bringing Democrat Gov. Roy Cooper’s two terms to a close.

‘They Think They Just Know Better’

Mr. Barrier was born and raised in Burke County. He served in the U.S. Army before later becoming the owner and publisher of Blue Ridge Christian News.

He told The Epoch Times that, as a conservative, he was fed up with big spending in government.

He ran a survey on social media to gauge residents’ view of the megasite project and found that out of 300 to 400 responses, “an overwhelming majority” were against it, he said.

He said a government board’s function is to provide essential services, adding that beyond that, government officials risk transgressing their roles as employees who work for the citizens who hired them.

“The commissioners have continued to build buildings, buy property, and overspend,” Mr. Barrier said. “I’m not saying everything they’ve done is terrible, but it’s not been fiscally conservative in providing essential services to the county.”

And like many local government projects, it’s done with “little transparency,” Mr. Barrier said.

He referenced South Carolina state Rep. Adam Morgan’s speech in the legislature highlighting what’s become a great divide between politicians and their constituents, who “want their tax money spent on core government functions” such as roads and schools instead of billion-dollar big corporation projects.

“They don’t want us in here trying to play this government planning thing where we in our bureaus can figure out where the jobs should be, who should be employed, how much money should be allocated where in the private sector,” he said. “It never works. It’s socialism. It’s never worked anywhere before, so what are we doing trying to do it here?”

Mr. Barrier said he couldn’t have said it better himself.

“These people get elected and then they think they just know better what’s best for the citizens regardless of what the citizens want,” Mr. Barrier said.  

If he had found that a majority of residents wanted an EV battery plant, he would have—despite his personal opinions—campaigned in favor of the development, he said.

But this isn’t the case, he added, and Stop BLJM may be putting the commissioners in a position where they will “be forced to listen.”

“I think they’ve brought up enough awareness and they may keep enough pressure on them that things will have to change,” Mr. Barrier said.

The Epoch Times contacted Burke County Manager Epley for comment.

Billionaire investor and Duquesne Family Office Chairman & CEO Stan Druckenmiller slammed Bidenomics and warned the Federal Reserve and federal government “misdiagnosed Covid and thought it was — we were going into a depression.”

Druckenmiller has been irritated by the massive fiscal spending by the federal government, which we outlined last year as a “stealth stimulus” propelling Bidenomics. Meanwhile, Fed chair Jerome Powell has enabled the Bidenomics disaster as the government spends $1 trillion every 100 days. Now, with stagflationary threats emerging, the US economic situation is quickly deteriorating. 

CNBC Joe Kernen asked Druckenmiller: 

Let me ask you how this plays into to — it’s another I think issue of being, you know, things are going, well, and then we totally overspent in terms of fiscally as well in Bidenomics.

Druckenmiller responded:

If I was a professor, I’d give them an F. Basically, they misdiagnosed COVID and thought it was — we were going into a depression. The Fed did, too. I worried about it, too, in early days. The Fed eventually pivoted, better late than never. Treasury — Treasury is still acting like we’re in a depression. It’s interesting because I’ve studied the Great Depression and you had a private sector crippled with debt, with basically no new ideas. So interventionist policies were called for and were effective.

The private sector could not be more different today than it was in the Great Depression. Their balance sheets are fine. They’re healthy. And have you ever seen more innovative ideas that the private sector could take advantage of? Now, you got Blockchain, you got AI, you’ve got the whole thing.

All government needed to do was get out of their way and let them innovate. Instead, they’ve spent and spent and spent, and my new fear now is that spending and the — and the resulting interest rates on the — on the debt that’s been created are going to crowd out some of the innovation that otherwise would have — would have taken place. 

We’ve got a 7 percent budget deficit at full employment. It’s just — it’s unheard of…

Here’s the clip of Druckenmiller speaking with Kernen about Bidenomics failures:

Investor Stanley Druckenmiller on Bidenomics: “If I were a professor, I’d give them an ‘F’.” pic.twitter.com/WfsU4ecO6y

— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) May 7, 2024

In macro, the consumer data just continues to worsen.

The latest consumer credit data published by the Federal Reserve shows credit growth just imploded as credit card APRs hit an all-time high. 

Meanwhile, total credit card debt jumped to a record high while the personal savings rate slid to a record low. 

Last week, one of the loudest stagflationary warnings printed when US GDP unexpectedly collapsed to just 1.6% in 1Q, down more than 50% from the Q4 print of 3.4%, the lowest print since Q2 2022. However, all-important core PCE for Q1 soared from 2.0% to 3.7%, suggesting the US was nearing a stagflationary recession.

The Biden team has understood this failure and dialed back “Bidenomics” propaganda in corporate media headlines. 

We suspect the Gen-Zers who voted for Biden in the first go around won’t make that mistake again: “Bidenomics Failure Shows Up At Polls As Gen-Z Revolts Against Democrats.” 

Authored by Sina McCullough via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

As spring gardening approaches, a new contender has entered the fray—the genetically modified (GM) Purple Tomato. Unlike its GM predecessors, the GM Purple Tomato is not destined solely for the fields of commercial agriculture—it has made its debut in the backyards of home gardeners across the United States.

With claims of heightened antioxidant levels and potential health benefits, this novel creation has stirred both excitement and controversy among consumers and scientists alike. Biotech investors hope it can usher in a new era of public trust in genetically engineered foods while skeptics worry the tomatoes’ near-total lack of regulation or review may hide dangers to human health and/or the environment.

Development 

The GM Purple Tomato was engineered by scientists at Norfolk Plant Sciences in the UK. Led by biochemist Cathie Martin and her team, the project aimed to harness the natural properties of anthocyanins, compounds found in blueberries and blackberries, to enhance the nutritional profile of tomatoes.

In this 2008 handout photo illustration, genetically modified Purple Tomatoes are seen beside red tomatoes. (John Innes Centre UK via Getty Images)

Using genetic engineering techniques, Martin and her colleagues inserted two genes responsible for purple coloration in edible snapdragon flowers into tomato plants. This process enabled the tomatoes to express the genes from the snapdragon and, subsequently, produce high levels of anthocyanins, thereby imbuing the tomatoes with a distinct purple hue and potentially enhanced health benefits.

According to Norfolk Healthy Produce, the U.S. subsidiary of Norfolk Plant Sciences, the Purple Tomatoes are a “rich source of antioxidants” due to the increased content of anthocyanins. Unlike domesticated tomatoes which contain anthocyanins in the skin, the Purple Tomato contains anthocyanins throughout the whole tomato.

The genesis of the GM Purple Tomato marks a significant milestone in agricultural biotechnology. Unlike previous GM crops primarily targeted at commercial producers, this tomato is the first GM food crop directly marketed to home gardeners in the United States, offering an opportunity for individuals to engage with biotechnology in their own backyard.

According to Norfolk Healthy Produce, more than 13,000 Purple Tomato seed orders have already shipped.

Regulatory Approval 

The GM Purple Tomato was deregulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in 2022. According to a statement from the USDA, the GM Purple Tomato is not subject to regulation by the USDA because it does not pose a plant pest risk:

“With respect to Norfolk Plant Sciences’ purple tomato, we did not identify any plausible pathways to increased plant pest risk compared to other cultivated tomatoes and issued a response letter indicating the plant is not subject to regulation.”

In 2023, the Purple Tomato received a “no questions” letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which means the Purple Tomato is considered “generally recognized as safe” (GRAS) and, therefore, does not require premarket review or approval by the FDA.

To qualify for GRAS status, Norfolk Plant Sciences submitted data from tests conducted internally.

Norfolk Plant Sciences created the Purple Tomato by splicing genes from a purple snapdragon into a tomato. (Illustration by The Epoch Times, Shutterstock, Getty Images)

The lack of safety testing by the USDA and FDA, as well as reliance on data generated by the company that will profit from approval of its own product, has led to some experts calling for a more comprehensive safety assessment.

Safety Concerns and Health Claims 

Data provided to the FDA by Norfolk Plant Sciences demonstrates the company conducted various safety tests. However, critics argue the tests are insufficient to guarantee the safety of the Purple Tomato for human consumption.

According to an FDA memo dated June 13, 2023, tests conducted by Norfolk Plant Sciences mainly focused on six areas.  Of those, four were relatively straightforward while two have raised safety concerns among experts, according to GM Watch.

1. PCR and Southern blot analysis were conducted by Norfolk Plant Sciences to determine if the snapdragon foreign DNA was inserted into the tomato DNA.

The company (Norfolk Plant Sciences) stated that insertion of the foreign DNA was confirmed.

2. PCR and sequence comparison of DNA samples were conducted to confirm the stability of the inheritability of the insertion across generations. Plants were bred to determine if the purple phenotype was inherited in a Mendelian segregation fashion.

The company stated the purple phenotype was inheritable.

3. Compositional analysis was conducted to determine if the Purple Tomato contained similar nutrients at similar levels compared with non-GMO tomatoes, including protein, fat, carbohydrate, fiber, minerals, carotenoids, vitamins, and alpha-tomatine.

The company determined the levels of most of the nutritional components to be similar or with “minor differences.”
(The Epoch Times)

4. Norfolk Plant Sciences assessed dietary exposure levels assuming the complete replacement of red tomatoes in the human diet with the Purple Tomato for two days.

The company concluded the level of dietary exposure to anthocyanins is the same as consuming high-anthocyanin foods.  For example, 8 ounces of Purple Tomato juice is equivalent to consuming 1 cup of blueberries.

The Controversial Tests

1. Bioinformatic analyses were utilized to determine if any open reading frames were generated or disrupted by inserting the foreign DNA. Norfolk Plant Sciences searched the DNA sequences flanking the insertion sequence in the tomatoes.

The company reported no open reading frames flanking the insertion location.

Since Norfolk Plant Sciences did not assess possible damage to the entire genome using advanced laboratory techniques, geneticist Michael Antoniou expressed concern in a statement published by GM Watch.

“There’s no evidence that the developers of the GM purple tomato have carried out the kind of molecular analyses (proteomics and metabolomics) that could help establish whether they only got the change they want, with no unintended changes. As a result, we don’t know if these tomatoes are safe to eat,” said Mr. Antoniou.

“We must also bear in mind that the GM transformation process (plant tissue culture and plant cells transformation) will inevitably give rise to hundreds if not thousands of sites of unintended DNA damage (mutations). These wide scale mutations can change patterns of gene function and alter biochemistry and composition, with unknown downstream health consequences,” he said.

2. Assessment of new peptides of equal or greater than 30 amino acids at the insertion site of the foreign DNA was conducted to rule out toxicity or allergenicity concerns.

The company identified one “putative” peptide, however, they stated, “this peptide has no homology to any known allergen or protein and there was no evidence this sequence is transcribed in tomato.” They concluded the results “do not raise food safety concerns.”

Allergenicity is an ongoing concern regarding the genetic modification of food. For example, a study published in Nature in 1999 reported that bean plants were genetically modified to produce higher levels of methionine and cysteine but were discarded because the expressed protein of the transgene was highly allergenic.

While Norfolk Plant Sciences did not identify a match with any known allergens, that does not guarantee the peptide formed through the process of gene modification is not an allergen. Given that nearly 11 percent of adults and 5.6 million children in the United States have food allergies, it may be prudent to apply the precautionary principle when modifying our food’s genetic makeup.

The Test That Everyone Talked About

Although not included in the 2023 FDA memo, Norfolk Plant Sciences, in conjunction with Cathie Martin, published a pilot feeding study in 2008 in Nature Biotechnology that examined the effects of Purple Tomato supplementation on the life span of cancer-susceptible mice.

According to the study, mice fed the GM tomato lived longer—by an average of 40 days than those fed non-GM red tomatoes.

Publication of the pilot study prompted the John Innes Centre to publish a press release titled, “Purple tomatoes may keep cancer at bay.” (Norfolk Plant Sciences is a spinoff company from the John Innes Centre.)

Read more here…

Isn’t it remarkable that while the military-industrial complex, neoconservative warmongers, and radical leftists in the White House seem to push for further conflict in Eastern Europe without even a hint of suggesting peace negotiations with Russia, some of America’s most advanced military jets are unfit for combat?

The latest example comes from Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport on Monday morning when a Lockheed Martin F-22 stealth fighter jet assigned to the 71st Fighter Squadron, 1st Fighter Wing at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, suffered what the US military is calling a “mishap.” 

It was not immediately clear what happened, as the military would not elaborate on the “mishap” involving an in-flight emergency. However, one X user posted audio, allegedly from air traffic controllers at Savannah, that reveals the stealth fighter had a “brake failure.” 

“BURNER34 (F-22) advising SAVANAH TOWER that they have a brake failure and requests another aircraft for a visual inspection which DEMON73 (F-16) performed. BURNER34 came in and successfully hooked the runways arresting gear wire,” X user Thenewarea51 wrote in a post. 

BURNER34 (F-22) advising SAVANAH TOWER that they have a brake failure and requests another aircraft for a visual inspection which DEMON73 (F-16) performed. BURNER34 came in and successfully hooked the runways arresting gear wire.

Audio via @liveatc and thanks to Bill B. for… https://t.co/6Fu2Eo556a pic.twitter.com/ZkozSN8Pl0

— Thenewarea51 (@thenewarea51) May 7, 2024

The F-22 was conducting training exercises at Sentry Savannah, the Air National Guard’s largest fourth and fifth-generation counter-air, large-force exercise, held annually at the Air Dominance Center, Savannah Air National Guard Base, Georgia. 

Don’t even get us started with the latest figures from the Government Accountability Office, which show that only 15% to 30% of Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II stealth fighters are ‘capable of combat.’ 

Authored by Frank Miele via RealClearPolitics,

It is no secret that Donald Trump is a hot wire that either fires up the imagination of voters or fries the brain.

For those of us who experience Trump as a Promethean bringer of enlightening fire to the dark barren fields of modern politics, it is hard to fathom the reaction of those who are terrified of him. We just say they have Trump Derangement Syndrome.

But for those Trump haters, of course, it is the rest of us who are deranged. We are cult members or Christian nationalists or foot soldiers of the new Hitler.

You cannot imagine more diametrically opposed views of one man. On one hand, he is the embodiment of hope for those who want to restore America to the pinnacle of greatness. On the other, he is the manifestation of the worst fears of those who believe the country’s ascendant leftist ideology could still be thwarted at the ballot box.

Call Trump the random ink blot of a national Rorschach test that forces each of us to identify with the better angels or the worst devils of our nature. Or think of him as the equivalent of the optical illusion that forces the mind to choose whether it sees an old hag or a beautiful young woman. You can’t see both at once. Although both exist simultaneously in a drawing, you can only focus on one at a time.

As regards Trump, the media – serving as the surrogate eye of the public – can only see the equivalent of the old hag, and reports truthfully to the audience that it envisions Trump as a dark and dangerous presence who is a threat to democracy. But when the rest of us look at the same picture – or the same interview or speech – we can see Trump as the shining spirit of American greatness.

Case in point: The now infamous interview of Trump by Eric Cortellessa that recently appeared in Time magazine. The corporate media and Trump’s political opponents have seized on this interview to declare conclusively that Trump is a clear and present danger to the nation if he were elected to a second term. The headlines are downright hysterical:

“Trump doesn’t rule out political violence if he loses, and other takeaways from his Time interview” (CNN)
“Trump threatens to prosecute Bidens if he’s re-elected unless he gets immunity” (The Guardian)
“Trump reveals terrifying plan for potential second term in Time magazine interview” (MSNBC)
“Trump Hints Another January 6 Could Happen If He Loses the Election” (The New Republic)
“Trump says it’s up to states whether to punish, monitor women for abortions” (Washington Post)

If those headlines were accurate, you could certainly make the case that all Americans should vote against Donald Trump, no matter how much they despise Joe Biden. And, truth be told, if you were to read just the interpretation of Trump’s words by Cortellessa in his Time magazine news story, you would be inclined to agree with that assessment. But what if Cortellessa is looking at Trump through a prism that automatically distorts his words to fit a confirmation bias that anything Trump says must be dangerous?

Fortunately, we don’t have to guess whether that happened. Time magazine very generously provided the evidence of the distortion by publishing not just Cortellessa’s very damaging news story, but also the raw transcript of his two interviews with Trump where we can see what the former president actually said.

Side by side, the story and the transcripts are raw material for a master class on media manipulation and how a reporter with a point of view can manufacture damaging fake news out of even the most benign responses of an overly trusting interviewee.

What is clear from the transcripts is that Cortellessa is an expert interviewer, someone who can make his subject comfortable and who stubbornly pursues answers to his questions until he gets the response he wants. But when you read the story he created out of the interview responses, you realize that Cortellessa’s real talent is magic: He can pull a dangerous autocrat out of Trump’s benign responses that show he intends to apply the power of the presidency in a thoughtful and well-reasoned manner to achieve the policy objectives he has outlined in his campaign.

A few examples will have to suffice in this format, but surely a conscientious journalism student could form an entire thesis around such a comparison. Early in his story, Cortellessa goes through a long laundry list of offenses that he categorizes as “the outlines of an imperial presidency.” The first thing you notice when reading the list is that it is in large measure the exact same list of policy goals that Trump recites proudly at every rally. It is therefore not only “the terrifying plan” that has MSNBC worried about a second term; it is also the platform that has convinced voters to favor Trump over Biden by 1.5 points in the RealClearPolitics Average of polls. In fact, despite Trump’s legal woes, as of last week he was ahead of or tied with Biden in nine of the last 10 polls.

The second and more important thing you notice about Cortellessa’s laundry list of Trump’s offending statements is that they are the least sympathetic interpretation by the author of well-reasoned positions taken by the former president in lengthy responses.

Consider Cortellessa’s dismissal of Trump’s rejection of FBI crime statistics:

“On the campaign trail, Trump uses crime as a cudgel, painting urban America as a savage hell-scape even though violent crime has declined in recent years, with homicides sinking 6% in 2022 and 13% in 2023, according to the FBI. When I point this out, Trump tells me he thinks the data, which is collected by state and local police departments, is rigged. ‘It’s a lie,’ he says.”

Well, Trump is right and Cortellessa is wrong. In an Oct. 27, 2023, report at Stateline.org, Amanda Hernández reported that “Across the country, law enforcement agencies’ inability — or refusal — to send their annual crime data to the FBI has resulted in a distorted picture of the United States’ crime trends, according to a new Stateline analysis of the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting program participation data. … Prior to 2021, 23% of U.S. law enforcement agencies on average did not report any crime data to the FBI. In 2020, 24% of agencies did not report, and in 2021, it surged to 40%.”

Call it a lie, or call it a damned statistic, but Trump is closer to the truth than the author.

On another topic – abortion – Cortellessa tells his readers that Trump is contemplating invasive monitoring of pregnancies.

“More than 20 states now have full or partial abortion bans,” Cortellessa declares, “and Trump says those policies should be left to the states to do what they want, including monitoring women’s pregnancies.”

Not quite. When you read the transcript, you discover that it was the reporter who brought up the concept of states “monitoring women’s pregnancies so they can know if they’ve gotten an abortion after the ban.” It is a nonsensical concept because there is nothing preventing a woman from traveling to a state where abortion is legal and receiving the procedure there.

But Trump never took the bait. When asked if he thought states should do it, he answered that they might do it, but he made it very clear that those decisions would be made at the state level and he would have no input on them. This is consistent with his policy on post-Roe legislation.

Cortellessa does give credit to Trump for saying that he would not consider challenging the 22nd Amendment’s limitation of two terms for each president. But he did everything he could in the interview to twist Trump into saying he would like to serve a third term. Although Trump said repeatedly that he would abide by the amendment’s restrictions, the reporter asked him three times if he would consider challenging the amendment.

“I don’t know anything about it,” an exasperated Trump says. “I mean, you’re telling me now that somebody’s looking to terminate. I wouldn’t be in favor of it. I wouldn’t be in favor of a challenge. Not for me. I wouldn’t be in favor of it at all. I intend to serve four years and do a great job.”

As for the threat of violence if Trump should lose the 2024 election, it is a gossamer-thin threat that exists mostly in the author’s subconscious.

“Trump does not dismiss  the possibility of political violence around the election,” says Cortellessa. ‘If we don’t win, you know, it depends,’ he tells TIME. ‘It always depends on the fairness of the election.’”

But Cortellessa once again had to stretch Trump’s words to make it seem like he was contemplating violence if he lost the election. Here is the relevant passage from the first transcript.

Are you worried about political violence in connection with this November’s election?

Trump: No. I don’t think you’ll have political violence.

You don’t expect anything?

Trump: I think we’re gonna have a big victory. And I think there will be no violence.

That is as clear as you can get, but it didn’t fit the narrative that Cortellessa was intent on providing to his readers, so he returned to the topic in a follow-up interview:

[I]n our last conversation you said you weren’t worried about political violence in connection with the November election. You said, “I think we’re going to win and there won’t be violence.” What if you don’t win, sir?

Trump once again insisted that he would win, and suggested that because of heightened scrutiny he didn’t think the Democrats would be able to get away with any illegitimate schemes to steal the election in 2024. He then gave the quote that Cortellessa seized upon: “I think we’re going to win. And if we don’t win, you know, it depends. It always depends on the fairness of an election.”

Absolutely no reference to political violence, or any other kind of violence. Rather, Trump seems to be distinguishing between the possibility of a legitimate loss and being the victim of cheating. His reaction to losing would depend on whether the election was fair or not, but there is no evidence he is promoting violence. That is just a Democratic fantasy.

Ultimately, I recommend that everyone read the transcript of the interview and avoid Cortellessa’s interpretive fantasy. What you will discover is a former president who is fully in charge of his faculties, capable of arguing with nuance and gusto, and who has a vision for making America great again – the absolute opposite of the incumbent.

Indeed, if every voter were to read the transcript prior to voting, I have no doubt that Trump would win in a landslide. And there is evidence that Trump knew he had delivered a knockout with his wide-ranging responses. Toward the end of his first interview with Cortellessa, he tells the reporter, “I thought it was a good interview, actually,” and then he qualifies it based on his years of experience of having his words twisted by unscrupulous reporters:

“I mean, if it’s written fairly, it’s a good interview.”

More evidence that Trump is at the top of his game.

One day after postponing a filing deadline in Donald Trump’s classified documents case, Judge Aileen M. Cannon has postponed the whole thing indefinitely.

In a Tuesday decision, Cannon vacated (canceled) Trump’s May 20 trial date, and wrote that setting a new date given the enormous stack of pre-trial matters would be “imprudent.”

NEW: Judge Cannon officially vacates May 20 trial date, says setting a new date with so many outstanding matters would be “imprudent.” pic.twitter.com/A8QwNmuQ6o

— Julie Kelly 🇺🇸 (@julie_kelly2) May 7, 2024

On Monday, Cannon postponed a filing deadline for Trump’s team to provide a list of classified documents they want to present at trial – which was supposed to be filed by this Thursday. Cannon did not announce a new deadline, perhaps the first clue into today’s decision.

The move also comes after special counsel Jack Smith’s team admitted that the classified files at the heart of the case had been tampered with, and they needed more time to assess that revelation.

Smith also misled the court, after originally telling U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon that the boxes remained “in their original, intact form as seized,” when in a footnote they conceded that they removed classified documents and left placeholder sheets, which prosecutors acknowledged has created an “inconsistent” record – in which some of the documents are no longer in the same order as they appear in digital scans made in the fall of 2022.

“The Government acknowledges that this is inconsistent with what Government counsel previously understood and represented to the Court,” the footnote reads, according to Just the News.

The finding comes after Cannon ordered a review into whether the FBI may have seized legally privileged records in response to a request from Trump co-defendant Walt Nauta.

Authored by Michael Snyder via TheMostImportantNews.com,

Over the past several decades, America’s culture has been transformed at a pace that is absolutely breathtaking.  When I was growing up, I was convinced that I believed in a shared set of national values that most other Americans also embraced.  But in our day and age those values have been discarded and now people that see the world the way that I do are clearly not in the majority any longer.  I know that a lot of people out there may not want to hear that our national values have been turned upside down, but it is the truth.  Those that sought to “fundamentally transform” this country have succeeded, and at this point “American values” are vastly different from the “American values” that I cherished as a young boy. 

The following are 7 numbers that clearly reveal the direction that America has chosen…

#1 There is more political chaos in our nation than there has ever been in my entire lifetime, and more than 40 percent of U.S. voters actually believe that a “second civil war” is likely within the next five years…

More than four-in-ten US voters say the country is likely to get ripped apart in a second civil war within five years, a shocking new survey reveals.

The Rasmussen Reports poll shows that 41 percent eye a civil conflict, compared to 49 percent who say it’s not likely. Another 10 percent said they were not sure.

That amounts to 106 million US adults saying civil war is on the horizon.

The survey comes against a backdrop of mounting violence on US college campuses, where pro-Palestine protestors clash with law enforcers, conservatives, some Jewish students and others.

#2 According to a recent Gallup survey, only 36 percent of Americans approve of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza…

After narrowly backing Israel’s military action in Gaza in November, Americans now oppose the campaign by a solid margin. Fifty-five percent currently disapprove of Israel’s actions, while 36% approve.

The latest results are from a March 1-20 survey. The Israel-Hamas war has continued for five months and has resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinians and over 1,000 Israelis. Major parts of Gaza have been destroyed, complicating efforts to deliver humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians still living there. The United Nations and international community, including the Biden administration, have called for a cease-fire, but the two warring sides have been unable to agree.

#3 65 percent of Americans do not approve of the Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade…

About two-thirds (65%) oppose the 2022 Supreme Court decision, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, and 34% approve, numbers that have remained effectively unchanged in CNN’s polling across the nearly two years since the ruling. Those who strongly disapprove of the decision continue to outnumber those who strongly approve by a more than 2-to-1 margin.

A 69% majority who disapprove of overturning Roe, including 82% of those who strongly disapprove, say that federal politicians should work to pass laws ensuring national abortion access. Those who support the ruling largely say federal politicians shouldn’t take action on the issue: 59% say laws on abortion should be left up to the states, with 29% in favor of further restrictions to abortion access nationwide. New national restrictions are supported by just about one-quarter of Republicans, White Evangelical Christians and those who describe themselves as conservative.

#4 More than 20 percent of Generation Z adults (22.3 percent to be specific) now identify as LGBTQ+…

Overall, each younger generation is about twice as likely as the generation that preceded it to identify as LGBTQ+. More than one in five Gen Z adults, ranging in age from 18 to 26 in 2023, identify as LGBTQ+, as do nearly one in 10 millennials (aged 27 to 42). The percentage drops to less than 5% of Generation X, 2% of baby boomers and 1% of the Silent Generation.

Bisexuality is the most common LGBTQ+ status among Generation Z, millennials and Generation X. Fifteen percent of all Generation Z adults — representing more than two-thirds of those with an LGBTQ+ identification — are bisexual.

#5 According to the Daily Mail, the number of transgender troops in the U.S. Army has doubled since 2020…

The Pentagon has spent more than $26million treating transgender troops since 2020, official records show.

The number of US army staff with gender dysphoria has doubled in that time — from around 1,800 to 3,700, according to DoD data seen by DailyMail.com.

In the past three years, $17.5m in taxpayer money was spent on psychotherapy for trans service people and $1.5m went towards hormone drugs.

A further $7.6m funded gender-affirming surgeries, including facial tweaks to make a recruit more masculine or feminine, and the removal or creation of breasts and genitals.

#6 By a vote of 692 to 51, the United Methodist Church has voted to approve LGBTQ clergy and same sex weddings in their churches…

The United Methodist Church, one of the largest Protestant denominations in the U.S., has voted to repeal its ban on LGBTQ clergy as well as prohibitions on its ministers from officiating at same-sex weddings.

Delegates overwhelmingly approved the changes, 692 to 51, during the United Methodist Church’s General Conference.

The meeting is taking place this week in Charlotte, N.C. after the pandemic delayed the 2020 General Conference where these decisions had been slated to take place.

#7 Only 3.6 million babies were born in the U.S. last year, and the birth rate is now at the lowest level ever recorded…

The birth rate in the US has declined to a new low, according to data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The figures show that fewer than 3.6 million babies were born in the US last year, the lowest amount since 1979 and equating to the lowest fertility rate EVER recorded.

The CDC analysed the 2023 data and found that the birth rate is down 2 percent on the previous year.

If you go back to 1960, the average U.S. woman gave birth to 3.65 children during her lifetime.

Today, that number has fallen all the way down to 1.6.

But we need a birth rate of at least 2.1 just to keep replacing ourselves.

If we didn’t have so much immigration going on, our population would be steadily falling.

In my latest book entitled “Chaos”, I have an entire chapter about the population collapse that is happening in wealthy nations all over the industrialized world.

It is often said that children are the future of our society, but we have greatly devalued marriage and parenthood.

Meanwhile, birth rates are still very high in many nations in the Middle East and elsewhere.

Given enough time, those that are willing to multiply would become increasingly powerful and those that are not willing to multiply would become less powerful.

But the fact that we aren’t reproducing ourselves is just one of the existential problems that we are facing.

At this point we live in an upside down society that has rejected the values that this nation was founded upon.

If we stay on this path, there isn’t going to be a future for America, and that is the truth.

*  *  *

Michael’s new book entitled “Chaos” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can check out his new Substack newsletter right here.

Oil prices ended the day flat today (after touching the lowest level in almost two months on news reports said Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak indicated OPEC+ could move to raise crude production).

Novak told Russia’s Interfax news agency that the possibility of increasing oil production within the OPEC+ framework was still being analyzed.

“It always depends on the current situation; the balance of supply and demand. Everything is analyzed. Now there is no need to forecast anything. We need to look at how the market is feeling,” he said, according to Interfax.

OPEC+ has largely been expected to roll over existing voluntary cuts of 2.2 million barrels a day beyond the second quarter.

But crude recovered, finding technical support ahead of tonight’s API inventory data.

API

Crude +509k (-1.40mm exp)

Cushing +1.339mm

Gasoline +1.46mm

Distillates +1.713mm

Inventories rose across the whole complex according to API…

Source: Bloomberg

WTI tested its 100DMA for the third day in a row, and rejected it (for the third day in a row)…

And dipped after the inventory builds…

Overall, “oil is lower because a renewed battle between Israel and Hamas, in isolation, does not really affect oil-producing nations,” Stewart Glickman, energy equity analyst at CFRA Research, told MarketWatch.

If Iran is “subsequently encouraged to do more direct attacks on Israel, it may be different,” he said, but the market is “discounting this possibility.”

Finally, President Biden will use crude oil from the strategic petroleum reserve should the need arise, energy adviser Amos Hochstein has said, noting there was enough oil in the reserve.

“We have been replenishing into the SPR for the last several months. I think we have sufficient supply in the SPR to address any kind of concern in the economy if we need it,” Hochstein said, speaking at the Milken Institute Global Conference, as quoted by Reuters.