Riding The Blockchain Train: These Companies Changed Their Name, And Their Stock Price Soared

Many others had done it, but nobody quite as blatantly as beverage maker Long Island Iced Tea Corp, which on Thursday became the latest to jump on the cryptocurrency bandwagon, bizarrely but profitably changing its name to Long Blockchain Corp, which sent its shares soaring by 500%.

In an ironic twist, we previewed LTEA"s hilarious "pivot" just one day earlier when - discussing a similar surge in microcap stock Net Element - we said:

Now that it is abundantly clear that for a stock to explode higher, all that is necessary - and sufficient - is a press release mentioning the company"s name and throwing in the word "blockchain" in the same sentence (see Riot Blockchain and LongFin Corp), other public microcaps have decided that if that"s all it takes, then by all means they will gladly take investors" money.

Indeed, as the value of Bitcoin has skyrocketed in recent months, companies previously focused on making fitness apparel, bras, cigars and beverages (and many other unrelated things) have rebranded themselves as virtual currency or blockchain companies of one sort or another. In this light, what Long Island Ice Tea Blockchain did was the culmination of what to many is clear mania beahvior, as many obscure companies have pivoted operations or simply changed their names to cash-in on the cryptocurrency wave, a trend reminiscent of the dotcom boom. As profiled previously, a barrage of companies have seen their shares sky-rocket, largely on words such as “crypto” or “blockchain” in their names.

And investors have cheered them on, pushing their stock prices up, forcing countless microcaps to ride the "Blockchain train"

Artist"s impression of The blockchain train

Courtesy of the NYT, below is a list of companies that have moved into crypto or blockchain businesses, or changed their names. The list also captures the surge in market value since the close on Oct. 11, a day before bitcoin crossed the $5,000 mark.

* * *

BEFORE: Long Island Iced Tea Corp.
AFTER: Long Blockchain Corp.

Long Island Iced Tea made iced teas in flavors including peach and lemon, as well as lemonades. On Thursday, the company, based in Farmingdale, N.Y., said it was shifting its corporate focus to the blockchain.

In the company"s own words:“We view advances in blockchain technology as a once-in-a-generation opportunity, and have made the decision to pivot our business strategy in order to pursue opportunities in this evolving industry.” (December 21)   

* * *

BEFORE: Vapetek Inc.
AFTER: Nodechain Inc.

Vapetek made batteries and liquid for electronic cigarettes. In September, it rolled out a candy flavored e-liquid called Rock Kandi. This month, the Nevada-based company renamed itself and said it would shift to mining virtual currencies.

In the company’s words: “We are confident that cryptocurrency mining and blockchain technology has a large market opportunity in the coming years and we look forward to growing the company and creating shareholder value, while helping to innovate the future of global currency.”  (December 20)       

* * *

BEFORE: Bioptix Inc.
AFTER: Riot Blockchain Inc. 

Bioptix was a pharmaceutical company until this year. In October, the Colorado company said it was changing its name, making an investment in a Canadian virtual currency exchange and creating operations to mine Bitcoin and other virtual currencies. 

The company said that alongside its virtual currency business, it will continue to pursue “products for cattle, equine and swine for the assistance and facilitation of reproduction.” (October 4)   

* * *

BEFORE: On-line PLC
AFTER: On-line Blockchain PLC

On-Line was a small British company that previously incubated internet businesses. This fall, the company said it was renaming itself and shifting to focus on virtual currency technology.

The company said: “Blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies are a new and exciting area we have been working on for some time to provide systems to support the roll out of these technologies across a range of applications.” (October 26)

* * *

BEFORE: Croe Inc.
AFTER: The Crypto Company

To become a public company, The Crypto Company acquired a small existing public company, Croe, which previously developed women’s fitness clothing.

The company said this summer that its “core services include consulting and advising companies regarding investment and trading in the digital asset market and investing in a manner that diversifies exposure to the growing class of digital assets.” (June 9)

After the change, the Securities and Exchange Commission, concerned by the company’s actions, suspended trading of its stock. More such companies are sure to follow.

* * *

BEFORE: Rich Cigars Inc.
AFTER: Intercontinental Technology Inc. 

Rich Cigars previously produced cigars. But the Florida company said this month that it was changing its name, getting out of the cigar business, moving to Colorado and creating  subsidiaries to mine for virtual currencies.

The company said it will be pursuing “the development of a unique cryptocurrency mining business for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies which will operate on a 24/7 basis.” (December 14)

* * *

BEFORE: SkyPeople Fruit Juice Inc
AFTER: Future FinTech Group Inc

Formerly SkyPeople Fruit Juice was "engaged in developing agricultural plantations and produces and markets fruit juice concentrates, fruit beverages, and other fruit related products in China and overseas markets.

The company changed its name “to reflect commitment to e-commerce and agricultural commodities trading”.

* * *

BEFORE: 360 Capital Financial
AFTER: 360 Blockchain Inc.

360 Capital Financial provided financial services to companies. In October, the Canadian company announced it would change its name and ticker symbol and begin investing exclusively in blockchain-based companies.

The company said: “We are taking an all-round view to the 360 Blockchain Inc. business plan; with a mission to empower blockchain technologies with capital and experience to create exponential value.” (October 4)

* * *

BEFORE: Leeta Gold Corp.
AFTER: Hive Blockchain Technologies

Leeta Gold was focused on mineral exploration in Canada, though with little apparent success. This summer, the company said it was acquiring a Bitcoin mining company, Genesis, with facilities in Iceland and renaming itself.

According to the company: “This transaction positions HIVE as a leading cryptocurrency miner in an attractive jurisdiction, Iceland, with low energy costs.” (June 14)

* * *

Other companies have been less blatant about their "pivot", and instead changing their name, they acquired or announced expansion plans involving various "blockchain"-linked buzz words.

Digital Power Corp

The power system solutions provider has launched cryptocurrency mining operation.

• Market cap as of Oct. 11: $10.98 mln


• Market cap as of Dec. 21: $97.2 mln

* * *

Marathon Patent Group

Shares in the intellectual property licensing and management company have zoomed after announcing a deal to buy cryptocurrencies miner Global Bit Ventures Inc.

• Market cap as of Oct. 11: $17.8 mln


• Market cap as of Dec. 21: $54.5 mln

* * *

Social Reality

The internet advertising firm in October said it planned an Initial Coin Offering of Blockchain Identification Graph tokens (BIGtokens). Most recently, the firm said it would offer a cryptocurrency dividend.

• Market cap as of Oct. 11: $28.4 mln


• Market cap as of Dec. 21: $52.2 mln

* * *

Nova LifeStyle Inc

The furniture maker launched a blockchain-enabled unit, called “I Design Blockchain Technology Inc” on Wednesday and said it planned to accept bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies on the platform.

• Market cap as of Dec. 19: $60.8 mln


• Market cap as of Dec. 21: $78.6 mln

Source: Reuters, NYT

Antarctic Volcano Warning: Ash Could ‘Encircle The Globe’ Causing Worldwide Health Problems

Scientists are sounding the alarm about a volcano eruption in Antartica that could cause global health problems. The ash from this eruption could encircle the globe, affecting millions of people.

Deception Island, off the coast of the Antarctic Peninsula, is a hotbed of volcanic activity with at least 50 craters spread across the region. A recent study done in the area by scientists has found evidence that an eruption on the island could disrupt air traffic on continents in the Southern Hemisphere, including South America and Africa. It could also cause some major health concerns for the whole globe.

The findings of the research show that Antarctica’s volcanoes can have an effect across the world, says Charles Connor, a geoscientist at the University of South Florida in Tampa not involved in the research. “We have to reassess the potential hazards for global transportation networks posed by even these remote volcanoes.”

“Ash emitted during explosive volcanic eruptions may disperse over vast areas of the globe posing a threat to human health and infrastructures and causing significant disruption to air traffic,” scientists warned in their report.  “Volcanic ash emitted from Antarctic volcanoes could potentially encircle the globe, leading to significant consequences for global aviation safety.”

The study revealed the “significant consequences to global aviation” after reviewing computer models of ash flows from different types of eruption during different seasons. The research is the first of its kind investigating the horrifying impact of ash from an Antarctic volcano on the rest of the word. “No attention has been paid to the potential socio-economic and environmental consequences of an ash-forming eruption occurring at high southern latitudes,” the study declared.

Adelina Geyer, a geologist at the Institute of Earth Sciences Jaume Almera in Barcelona, Spain, and colleagues focused on Deception Island because of its history of eruptions—30 or so in the past 10,000 years, and one as recently as 1970. It is also a popular destination: Both Argentina and Spain manage scientific research bases on the island, and tourists come to admire the world’s largest colony of chinstrap penguins and the rusted boilers and tanks that are relics of the early 20th century whaling industry there.

Geyer’s team modeled an eruption on Deception Island by simulating different column heights for volcanic ash: 5, 10, and 15 kilometers. (Indonesia’s Mount Agung, when it erupted last month, sent ash billowing up 9 kilometers.) The height of the plume determines which wind patterns it encounters, which, in turn, affects its dispersal. The researchers used an atmospheric transport model to track the way ash would disperse on regional and global scales and assess its possible effect on air travel. –Science Mag

The impact on the global economy could be immense. The eruption of Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajokull in 2010 cost the global economy £3.49billion ($4.7billion) by grounding flights across Europe.

Planes are under threat because the ash can clog engines and fuel lines causing them to stall and potentially fall out of the sky. “We demonstrate here that ash from high southern latitude volcanoes may pose a threat higher than previously believed,” the study concluded.

But the health effects of an eruption on Deception Island could be even more horrific than the economic impact. Volcanic ash distributed globally could cause health issue worldwide.

Iceland"s New Government Has Cunning Plan Of Tapping Banks To Boost Growth, Improve Infrastructure

We like Iceland, we’ve never been there, but that doesn’t matter. Besides the outstanding natural beauty, Iceland, unlike the US, UK and practically everywhere else, holds bankers accountable. Last time we checked, 29 had been jailed. As we discussed, it also holds its leaders accountable (partially – see below) when they are complicit in exonerating convicted child rapists. Such an event brought down Iceland’s government in September.

Last week, it emerged that Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson knew of attempts by his father, Benedikt Sveinsson, to have the Ministry of Justice grant “restored honor” to a convicted child rapist. Benediktsson kept this secret as the rapist, a friend of his father’s was essentially exonerated.

Restored honor is the controversial process by which convicted criminals can have their crimes expunged and return to society with all rights and privileges restored. It requires that the convicted person serve between two to five years of their sentence on their best behavior and that they have multiple letters of recommendation. Sveinsson provided one such letter.

Iceland held new elections on 28 October 2017 and a new coalition government came in to power this week. Iceland’s economy has been booming, in part due to the influx of tourists visiting its thriving capital city, Reykjavik, along with the Geysir geyser and the Gullfoss waterfalls. On any given day, tourists are likely to account for about 10% of the island’s population. However, as the FT explains, Iceland is paying a price for its success.

These challenges include everything from the poor quality roads and overburdened infrastructure to a lack of accommodation and simmering popular discontent over how tourism is being handled. At Geysir and Gullfoss in central Iceland, dozens of buses and cars park at both attractions for free before disgorging tourists who pay no entrance fee. The roads across Iceland are under intense strain from hire cars and a tourist died just after Christmas in a head-on collision on a single-track bridge.

“What are we sacrificing when we don’t put a levy on tourists? The roads here are dangerous,” says Asta Helgadottir, an MP for the anti-establishment Pirate party…Accommodation is also a problem. Cranes everywhere in Reykjavik attest to the surge in hotel construction but the increase in rooms still lags behind the growth in tourism.

However, all is not lost. The new government has a plan…which involves Iceland’s banks and tapping their excess capital. According to Bloomberg.

Iceland’s new left-right coalition government is gearing up for a spending drive to fix the nation’s dilapidated infrastructure after years of austerity and it could tap its banks for the some of needed cash.

Iceland got a new government on Thursday, in a coalition between the Left Greens, the Progressive Party and the conservative Independence Party. The parties have pledged to spend more on roads and other infrastructure to catch up on an estimated 400 billion kronur ($3.9 billion) in missing investments.

Even in Iceland, it seems, discredited politicians can bounce back into public life almost immediately, which is precisely what’s happened in the case of Bjarni Benediktsson, usually known as “Bjarni Ben”.

Bloomberg spoke to the man himself, “According to Finance Minister Bjarni Benediktsson the government has an ace in the hole that can help finance the spending: the excess equity in its three largest banks, Arion Bank hf, Landsbankinn hf and Islandsbanki hf. The banks have leverage ratios in the 16 percent to 18 percent range at the end of June, far above the 3 percent minimum, according to Iceland’s central bank.

“We have hundreds of billions of kronur, way more than any other European nation, tied up in financial institutions,” said Benediktsson, a former prime minister who will now take over at the Finance Ministry, in an interview on Thursday “And we in the three parties are ready to shake loose this capital to use it toward an infrastructure build up.”

With a plan like that, the government must have considerable leverage over Iceland’s major banks...and it does.

The government owns most of Landsbankinn and all of Islandsbanki and has a stake in Arion. The banking assets were acquired after the 2008 collapse when the government stepped in to save the financial industry. The crisis is now largely in the rear-view mirror and the new government is being handed a booming economy.

The government will now put together a white paper on the financial system and have a broad discussion in parliament.

We hadn’t fully appreciated how rapidly Iceland’s economy has been growing - last year it grew faster than China (6.7%) and even faster than India (7.1%). However, the growth rate is declining rapidly, so the coalition government’s plan might be timely, if it can be executed.

There are signs that the economy may be cooling after growing at a whopping 7.4 percent last year. Economist surveyed by Bloomberg are forecasting gross domestic product growth at 4.2 percent this year, while the central bank recently lowered its forecast for 2018 to 3.4 percent from 5.5 percent.

Despite the differing left-right ideologies in the new coalition government, Bjarni Ben and the new prime minister are cautiously confident, especially the former.

Internally, the government may find it hard to reconcile the policies of its two biggest party’s, the Left Greens and the Independence Party. But both party leaders on Thursday insisted they would make it work.

“The outer circumstances are working in our favor in forming this government,” Benediktsson. “We are the European nation that is growing at one of the fastest rates — we have no unemployment in Iceland to speak of, we have a budget surplus since 2014 and forecasts predict continuing growth, a great increase in tourism next year.”

Taking over as prime minister will be Left Green leader Katrin Jakobsdottir, the first time the party holds the top spot after emerging as the second biggest group in October’s election. While she faced some internal party turmoil for joining with the Conservatives, she is now “optimistic but realistic” that she can make it work.

Having cratered the economy during the crisis, it would be poetic justice if the major Icelandic banks were its saviour as we head towards the next one.

Meanwhile In Sweden, Crime Hits All Time Highs

It appears President Trump, having warned that Sweden"s huge intake of refugees would lead to "problems like they never thought possible," has been vindicated.

Following media mockery and Sweden"s official Twitter account responding:

“Hey Don, this is @Sweden speaking! It’s nice of you to care, really, but don’t fall for the hype. Facts: We’re OK!”

Trump reacted by tweeting...

Give the public a break - The FAKE NEWS media is trying to say that large scale immigration in Sweden is working out just beautifully. NOT!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 20, 2017

And now nine months later, Trump"s worst fears - and the lies of Swedish authorities - have been confirmed.

Bloomberg reports that the number of Swedes who were victims of crimes such as fraud and sexual offenses jumped to the highest level on record last year.

A survey by the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention showed that 15.6 percent of people suffered one or more offences against the person (defined in the survey as assault, threats, sexual offences, robbery, fraud or harassment) last year. That’s up from 13.3 percent in 2015 and the highest number recorded since the annual Swedish Crime Survey started in 2006.

The number of offences against individuals “was at a relatively stable level 2005 to 2014, at 11.3 percent to 13.1 percent, but the last two years show an increase,” the council said in the report published this week.

Now... what changed in the last two years in Europe? ...

The crimes “that have had the clearest development in the past few years are harassment, fraud and sexual offences,” the agency said.

Of the six types of offences against the person, five of six rose to their highest level on record last year. The number of assault cases reached its second-highest level.

“Young women aged between 16 and 24 is the group that’s most subject to sexual offences, with 14 percent of young women stating that they were victims of at least one such crime during 2016,” the council said.

 

“Among men in the same age group, 1.2 percent said they had been victims.”

And on the heels of that; buoyed by the stunning success of the It’s Ok To Be White campaign, Squawker reports that 4chan"s infamous politically incorrect board has now seemingly moved on to their next example of expert level political trolling... taking aim at modern Sweden.

Operation Swedistan as users have taken to calling it, follows the usual 4chan strategy of attempting to trick extremist liberals into siding with a progressive cause that would seem ridiculous or even outright appalling to the average person.

 

In this case the goal is simple, convince Sweden to change its flag design. More specifically, to remove the Christian cross and install an Islamic crescent in its place.

 

 

To be clear, no one involved expects or or wants this to actually happen obviously. But if even one actual Swedish official is perceived to, for even for a moment actually consider implementing such a change. The hope is that will be enough to upset what the operations organizers refer to as the “left-leaning normie” masses.

 

A full rundown of the basic strategy can be seen here below.

 

A formal mass petition to the Swedish Prime Minister has also been launched sitting at over 2,300 signatures in less than 24 hours time already. Among other things it states the following.

“The Swedish flag is a constant reminder of our dark and oppressive past. Refugees and migrants are forced to live under its Christian Cross; a symbol of the Crusades and the slaughter of millions of innocent Islamic lives in Sweden’s past that makes them feel unwelcome and unsafe.

 

Sweden should be a safe space for everyone. As our outdated national symbol gradually becomes the banner of Xenophobic and racist extremist groups, we must think into the future. A future of peace, understanding and tolerance.”

We leave you with Sweden"s new ambassador to Iceland"s recent comments that sparked a major controversy after he warned that Sweden is "in the process of dismantling democracy" and could be on a slippery slope towards technocracy or a dictatorship.

Håkan Juholt, a former leader of the centre-left Social Democrat party and ambassador to Iceland since September, made the comments in an interview with the Svenska Dagbladet newspaper.

"How old is your son? Four?" he asks the reporter.

 

"When he is old he won"t be living in a democracy but in a technocracy, or a dictatorship. It"s sad as hell. I am sorry to say it, but I am 100 percent sure. We are in the process of dismantling democracy."

Later in the interview, he says:

"I don"t think the threat is a dictatorship with tanks rolling on Sergel"s Square (a well-known square in central Stockholm), but an expert rule where we do not let the citizens" values govern the country. Democracy is slipping through our fingers. Fewer people want to be elected, the parties are toning down their ideology.

 

Sure, I see a risk that it may become a dictatorship in the long run."

His brutal honesty in a diplomatic role appears to have ruffled more than a few feathers... much like President Trump"s.

America Is The 22nd "Best" Country In The World For Women

To the surprise of many, Saudi Arabia recently announced it would end its longstanding ban on women driving with the change set to come into effect from June 2018. That ban has served as a major symbol of female oppression throughout the world and it has also done huge damage to the kingdom"s reputation for years. The situation could improve even further in the years ahead with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman pushing to implement more reforms in order to return the country to moderate Islam.

However, as Statista"s Niall McCarthy points out, Saudi Arabia isn"t alone in how it treats women and a new index has gauged the status of women in different countries.

You will find more statistics at Statista

The global Women, Peace and Security Index was launched by The Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security and the Peace Research Institute of Oslo.

It measures women"s well-being by assessing various factors such as inclusion, justice and security in 153 countries.

Iceland comes first, followed by Norway and Switzerland.

The U.S. is in 22nd position and its lack of paid-maternity leave is one possible reason it trails other developed countries. Along with Papua New Guinea, the U.S. is the only country worldwide that doesn"t offer new mothers paid maternity leave.

Countries that are less peaceful and unstable tended to score poorly in the index with Afghanistan and Syria both rock bottom.

Yemen is also embroiled in conflict and it comes third-last. Pakistan is amongst the worst countries in the index and various studies have shown that domestic violence and "honor killings" are widespread there. Nobel Prize Laureate Malala Yousafzai is a key example of just how dangerous Pakistan can get for women. She was shot and nearly killed in 2012 for publicly speaking about women"s right to an education.

US, Sweden, Finland Launch New Format Talks: Dancing To Washington"s Tune

Authored by Peter Korzun via The Stratgeic Culture Foundation,

US Defense Secretary James Mattis visited Helsinki on Nov. 6-7 to attend a meeting of the Northern Group, a multilateral forum of 12 countries: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

Before the event, the secretary was received by Finnish President Sauli Niinistö and then met his counterparts from Sweden and Finland. This is the first time a US Defense Secretary held talks in this format. Looks like the tripartite format talks are going to become a regular event as a similar meeting was announced to be planned for 2018.

Finnish Defense Minister Jussi Niinistö explained that the goal of this format was meant to supplement, rather than replace, Finnish and Swedish bilateral relations with Washington. According to him, no new alliance is being built despite the expanded military cooperation with the United States. The minister also invited the US military to participate in large-scale military drills in 2020 or 2021. According to him, Finland started preparations for a major military exercise of a scale it had not arranged since the end of the Cold War. “If there’s a crisis, it will be good for us to practice receiving help,” Jussi Niinistö said. Formally a neutral country, Finland is offering a scenario which envisages receiving US-led NATO reinforcements, like if it were a full-fledged member of the North Atlantic Alliance to be defended in accordance with Article 5 of the Washington Treaty!

Erkki Tuomioja, a former foreign minister and member of the Social Democrat Party, said he believes the defense minister is skirting parliamentary procedures in pushing to host such a large exercise and that he intends to oppose the drills.

A poll published on Nov.5 suggested 59 percent of Finns are opposed to NATO membership. Only 22 percent support the idea. Finland is to hold presidential election on January 28, 2018. None of the current presidential candidates support NATO membership except for Nils Torvalds of the Swedish People"s Party, who is polling a meager 1 percent. Sauli Niinistö, the incumbent who enjoys 76 percent support ahead of the election, has pushed to keep the prospect of NATO membership open to be backed by a majority of Finns, possibly via a referendum. But Finnish Defense Minister Jussi Niinistö keeps on stubbornly pushing his country into NATO’s arms without taking political reality into consideration.

He also said that cooperation to combat hybrid warfare was a priority item on the agenda. The term hybrid warfare is used in the West to label Russia. The Helsinki-based hybrid threat center - the European Center of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats - commenced its operation on Oct.4. 11 European governments plus the United States have joined forces to build it. Similar centers exist in other countries but this one is the first to link NATO with the auspices of the EU. Federica Mogherini, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, said the center is a sign that the two organizations are cooperating at “an unprecedented level,” as evidenced by Finland, an EU country that is not a NATO member, being the host.

Swedish Defence Minister Peter Hultqvist, a tripartite talks participant, sent a very important security policy message. Following the meeting with Mattis, the Swedish defense chief informed the parliamentary defense committee that the government had chosen the US missile system Patriot as a replacement for the current outdated defense Robot System 97. The idea is to equip Sweden"s two air defense battalions with Patriot missiles until 2025. Sweden — Finland’s closest military ally and another non-NATO member — remilitarized the island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea for the first time since the end of the Cold War and reintroduced conscription, among other things, to gradually move the country to war footing.

Some US-NATO deployments take place in the region for the first time ever. For instance, Baltops-2016 was the first NATO exercise to be held on Finnish territory. In September, US military made their first appearance on Swedish soil during the Aurora 17 military drills, the country"s largest training event in decades. Norway, a NATO member, welcomed an extended deployment of US Marines in June. It"s the first time a foreign force had been posted on Norwegian soil since World War II. Thus, Norway has actually shifted from the “no foreign forces on national soil” true-and-tried policy with political implications to follow. The Marines also have large stockpiles of tanks, artillery and other weaponry, which fill a network of caves. The equipment can accommodate roughly 14,000 troops, or a full Marine Expeditionary Brigade.

In June, Sweden and Finland joined the United Kingdom-led Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) - a rapidly deployable unit capable of conducting the full spectrum of NATO operations.

The countries of Northern Europe, including non-NATO Sweden and Finland, support the Permanent Structured Cooperation, or PESCO, to pull together at least 20 EU countries in jointly planning, developing and coordinating weapons and equipment for military. The initiative is complementary to the operations of NATO. According to the Financial Times, more than half the EU’s member states are expected to sign up within days to a landmark joint defence effort at a meeting of European foreign and defence ministers on November 13 and launch the project in December.

The militarization of Northern Europe rarely hits headlines, but a look at the facts shows the trend is gaining momentum. It does not go unnoticed in Russia, prompting it to take appropriate measures. The recent Zapad exercise is an example. There is little wonder that Russia is concerned about the growing US influence in Northern Europe. After all, Russia belongs to the region, while the United States has no territorial or any other justification for its military presence there.

There will be a reaction if Sweden or Finland joins the North Atlantic Alliance. Even without formal membership, there is very little space between "being in NATO" and "being outside the alliance.” Evidently, no such thing as military neutrality on the Scandinavian Peninsula exists anymore to make the abovementioned countries priority targets for Russian response in case a military conflict sparks. Russia did not start it but it has to react as the countries of the region appear to abandon traditional good neighbor policies in favor of dancing to US tune.

Iceland"s Biggest Volcano Is "Ready To Erupt" As Europe Faces A Disaster

Authored by Mac Slavo via SHTFplan.com,

Iceland’s biggest volcano has been rocked by the strongest earthquake since it last erupted in 2014.

With swarms of earthquakes occurring in the French Alps too, Europe is facing what could be one of the largest natural disasters in history.

Last week, the 6,591-foot tall Bardarbunga, a “powerful and versatile” volcano, was rattled by the four largest earthquakes since it last erupted in 2014.  The earthquakes, measuring in magnitudes of 3.9, 3.2, 4.7, and 4.7 on the Richter scale, struck the caldera region over several days last weekend. Another magnitude 4.1 earthquake hit the 200km long and 25km wide volcanic system earlier last week and several tremors struck in September.

Páll Einarsson, a volcanology expert at the University of Iceland, said the latest quakes are part of a series that have been “in progress for two years”. Speaking exclusively to Daily Star Online, he said the volcano is “clearly preparing for its next eruption” within the next few years.

Fears are spiking even higher when considering the earthquake swarm that has been rocking the French Alps recently.

The 10,000-year-old volcano spewed out large volumes of sulfur dioxide during its last seven-month eruption which took place between August of 2014 and February of 2015. Although the eruption did not disrupt any flights, the emissions harshly impacted the air quality in Iceland, leading to health consequences across the country.

In spite of describing the volcanoes activity as “high”, the Icelandic Met Office has yet to issue any warnings about the possibility of Bardarbunga’s eruption. In fact, the warning code remains green; meaning the volcano is in a normal, non-eruptive state, according to the volcano monitor.

Seven years ago Iceland’s massive Eyjafjallajökull volcano erupted, spewing a choking veil of ash across Europe. Residents worry as memories of the 2014 eruption and the flight chaos caused by the 2010 eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano resurface. 

The deadly volcanic dust wiped out skies and grounded 100,000 flights, resulting in the economy losing £4 billion.

Should an eruption of Bardarbunga take place, it’s highly possible that there would be another even more drastic air travel restriction and poorer air quality.

Iceland’s Biggest Volcano Is ‘Ready To Erupt’ As Europe Faces A Disaster

Iceland’s biggest volcano has been rocked by the strongest earthquake since it last erupted in 2014.   With swarms of earthquakes occurring in the French Alps too, Europe is facing what could be one of the largest natural disasters in history.

Last week, the 6,591-foot tall Bardarbunga, a “powerful and versatile” volcano, was rattled by the four largest earthquakes since it last erupted in 2014.  The earthquakes, measuring in magnitudes of 3.9, 3.2, 4.7, and 4.7 on the Richter scale, struck the caldera region over several days last weekend. Another magnitude 4.1 earthquake hit the 200km long and 25km wide volcanic system earlier last week and several tremors struck in September.

Páll Einarsson, a volcanology expert at the University of Iceland, said the latest quakes are part of a series that have been “in progress for two years”. Speaking exclusively to Daily Star Online, he said the volcano is “clearly preparing for its next eruption” within the next few years.

Fears are spiking even higher when considering the earthquake swarm that has been rocking the French Alps recently.

The 10,000-year-old volcano spewed out large volumes of sulfur dioxide during its last seven-month eruption which took place between August of 2014 and February of 2015. Although the eruption did not disrupt any flights, the emissions harshly impacted the air quality in Iceland, leading to health consequences across the country.

In spite of describing the volcanoes activity as “high”, the Icelandic Met Office has yet to issue any warnings about the possibility of Bardarbunga’s eruption. In fact, the warning code remains green; meaning the volcano is in a normal, non-eruptive state, according to the volcano monitor.

Seven years ago Iceland’s massive Eyjafjallajökull volcano erupted, spewing a choking veil of ash across Europe. Residents worry as memories of the 2014 eruption and the flight chaos caused by the 2010 eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano resurface.  The deadly volcanic dust wiped out skies and grounded 100,000 flights, resulting in the economy losing £4 billion.

Should an eruption of Bardarbunga take place, it’s highly possible that there would be another even more drastic air travel restriction and poorer air quality.

"It's Sad As Hell" - Swedish Ambassador Admits, We're "In The Process Of Dismantling Democracy"

Sweden"s new ambassador to Iceland has sparked a major controversy after warning that Sweden is "in the process of dismantling democracy" and could be on a slippery slope towards technocracy or a dictatorship.

Håkan Juholt, a former leader of the centre-left Social Democrat party and ambassador to Iceland since September, made the comments in an interview with the Svenska Dagbladet newspaper.

"How old is your son? Four?" he asks the reporter.

"When he is old he won"t be living in a democracy but in a technocracy, or a dictatorship. It"s sad as hell. I am sorry to say it, but I am 100 percent sure. We are in the process of dismantling democracy."

Later in the interview, he says:

"I don"t think the threat is a dictatorship with tanks rolling on Sergel"s Square (a well-known square in central Stockholm), but an expert rule where we do not let the citizens" values govern the country. Democracy is slipping through our fingers. Fewer people want to be elected, the parties are toning down their ideology.

Sure, I see a risk that it may become a dictatorship in the long run."

His brutal honesty in a diplomatic role appears to have ruffled more than a few feathers...

As The Local reports, Juholt did not elaborate on the comments, which have sparked criticism in Sweden.

"It"s remarkable. It is the role of ambassadors, and the role of the government, to deliver an accurate image of our country and promote our country in the world," Culture and Democracy Minister Alice Bah Kuhnke told the TT newswire, but said it was up to the Foreign Minister to comment further.

Margot Wallström responded she would not "argue with one of my ambassadors" in public.

"He will probably have to explain his thoughts himself," she said, speaking to TT at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg.

"He will probably also soon learn, I would think, what it means to be an ambassador."

All of which is very odd because the establishment told then-candidate-Trump how utopian Sweden was when he criticized it?

Icelandic Government Collapses After Plot To Pardon Pedophile Rapist Exposed

Authored by Carey Wedler via TheAntiMedia.org,

Iceland’s justice system has received praise in recent years for its successful prosecution of multiple bankers who helped bring on the 2008 financial crisis. Though some of those bankers have been released early from prison, the latest controversy in the country stems from an entirely different miscarriage of justice.

Last week, it emerged that Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson knew of attempts by his father, Benedikt Sveinsson, to have the Ministry of Justice grant “restored honor” to a convicted child rapist.

Benediktsson kept this secret as the rapist, a friend of his father’s was essentially exonerated.

Restored honor is the controversial process by which convicted criminals can have their crimes expunged and return to society with all rights and privileges restored. It requires that the convicted person serve between two to five years of their sentence on their best behavior and that they have multiple letters of recommendation. Sveinsson provided one such letter.

The Reykjavik Grapevine, an English-language Icelandic outlet, reported on the recent case of “restored honor” on Thursday:

“This information was kept hidden from the general public, despite repeated requests from the media, until a parliamentary committee ruled that the Ministry of Justice was legally obliged to disclose this information. The Prime Minister was aware of his father’s actions since at least last July, but said nothing.”

In 2004, Hjalti Sigurjón Hauksson was convicted of raping his step-daughter almost daily for twelve years from the time she was five years old. Citing Stundin, another Icelandic outlet, the Grapevine summarized that Hauksson was granted restored honor last August.

The Ministry of Justice initially refused to disclose who had provided the letter of recommendation for the convicted rapist, but after a parliamentary committee pushed for full disclosure, the ministry revealed Sveinsson was responsible. However, after news of the secretive arrangement emerged last week, the prime minister’s father claimed Hauksson had penned the letter and asked him to sign it, also asserting he believes Hauksson is sorry for his crimes.

Hauksson’s victim called the decision to restore his honor “surreal.”

Exacerbating the controversy is the fact that Prime Minister Benediktsson reportedly knew about the letter to restore the rapist’s honor as far back as July of last year and said nothing. Further, the prime minister and the minister of justice, Sigríður Andersen, are members of the same political party — the Independence Party.

This scandal has reportedly brought down the government.

The Guardian noted that

“The Bright Future party said on its Facebook page that it had ‘decided to terminate cooperation with the government,’ effectively bringing down Bjarni Benediktsson’s administration barely nine months after it was formed.”

The Bright Future Party is one of three main parties, and their decision to break with the government will usher in the second “snap election” in a year. The Reform Party, the third major party, has also withdrawn support for the government, advocating a new vote.

According to the Grapevine, the incident has outraged not just the major political parties, but smaller ones, as well as the Icelandic public:

“The Icelandic public has been in an uproar over the matter, and the opposition parties are gearing up to push back. Pirate Party MP Gunnar Hrafn Jónsson spoke with Grapevine on the matter, saying, ‘The opposition, and certainly the Pirate Party, will take this matter forward with great urgency. The nation is outraged and demands it.’”

This is not the first time a rapist has been granted restored honor in Iceland, and it aligns with similar instances in other countries where pedophiles have evaded accountability for their abuses with the help of people in power.

One-Tenth Of Global GDP Is Now Held In Offshore Tax Havens

Accurately measuring the scope of global wealth inequality is a notoriously difficult undertaking – a fact that was brought to light last year when the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists published the Panama Papers, exposing clients of Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca. As the papers revealed, Mossack Fonseca, which is only the world’s fourth-largest provider of offshore financial services, boasted a client roster stacked with some of the world’s wealthiest and most politically connected individuals. The former prime minister of Iceland (who was forced from office because of the revelations), associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and the father of former UK Prime Minister David Cameron.

In a first-of-its kind study from the National Bureau of Economic Research, a team of economists has broken down rates of offshore wealth holdings as a percentage of GDP to identify countries with the largest, and smallest, percentages of wealth held offshore. The study’s conclusion suggests a reality that many readers probably suspected: the true scope of wealth inequality is far larger than the official statistics would suggest.

The study found that as much as one-tenth of the world’s GDP is held in tax havens, though that percentage can vary widely from country to country.

Here"s Bloomberg:

“One-tenth of the world’s GDP is held in offshore tax havens, but that share jumps to as much of 15 percent for Europe and as much as 60 percent for Gulf and some Latin American countries, new research shows.

When it comes to total offshore wealth as a share of GDP, the United Arab Emirates, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Argentina lead the pack, while Germany, the U.K. and France all have above-average holdings. The U.S. is slightly below average.”

Unsurprisingly, the countries with the largest offshore wealth holdings as a percentage of GDP are oil rich, with much of that wealth flowing through state-run companies. But some G-10 economies – notably in Europe – also have a larger than average percentage of wealth tied up offshore.

“When it comes to total offshore wealth as a share of GDP, the United Arab Emirates, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Argentina lead the pack, while Germany, the U.K. and France all have above-average holdings. The U.S. is slightly below average.”

According to the study, the US has a below-average percentage of wealth offshore. There are a handful of reasons for this. First, the study’s authors have found that countries where the rich hold a large chunk of their wealth offshore share three common characteristics: Proximity to Switzerland, the presence of national resources,  and political and economic instability. That could be why the U.S. is slightly below the average, according to economist Gabriel Zucman, one of the study"s authors.

Because of the widespread tax avoidance associated with the practice, the sheer volume of wealth stashed away in offshore tax havens distorts social scientists efforts to measure the breadth of economic inequality in modern society. So much of that research, as it turns out, is based on tax data. Given that the distortion would be to obscure the true value of wealth in the hands of the 0.01% wealthiest, one can assume that wealth inequality has, in reality, returned to levels last seen during the gilded age.

“Offshore wealth boosts inequality when it’s factored into tax data, because it belongs mostly to the richest households.  In the U.K., Spain, and France, about 30 percent to 40 percent of the wealth of the richest 0.01 percent of households is held abroad. Russia’s richest hold as much as 60 percent of their wealth overseas. “The way that we measure inequality in economics, and the social sciences, is that we rely a lot on tax data,” Zucman said. “There’s the obvious problem that there is tax avoidance: if you only look at tax data there is risk that you’re going to underestimate the true concentration of wealth.”

As pressure on Switzerland, long the world’s most recognized tax haven, has intensified in recent years, Hong Kong has risen in popularity as a destination for overseas wealth, propelled in part by the super-rich in China.

The Panama Papers leaks prompted international outcry and lead to a flurry of tax-evasion investigations in the UK and elsewhere. Earlier this year, the firm’s founders were arrested in Panama City for alleged connections with Brazil’s sprawling Lava Jato corruption scandal.

But aside from a handful of prosecutions, little has been done to change the system. Even as Mossack Fonseca falters, other members of the offshore magic circle operate in relative anonymity.

Though, in an age where the theft of sensitive information is increasingly common, their clients are at least being forced to confront the question of whether the monetary benefits would outweigh any public-relations repercussions should their offshore holdings be exposed.

A CRISPR Future New Form of Eugenics?

By Dr. Mercola

Gene editing was once a very imprecise and expensive process, but today, thanks to the development of CRISPR, or Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeat, scientists can go into your DNA and essentially cut and paste it at specified places. Progress is being made in tackling genetic diseases such as sickle-cell anemia and certain forms of blindness and muscular dystrophy.

A CRISPR clinical trial in people with cancer is already underway in China, and the technology has been used to edit human embryos made from sperm from men carrying inherited disease mutations. The researchers successfully altered the DNA in a way that would eliminate or correct the genes causing the inherited disease.¹

If the embryos were implanted into a womb and allowed to grow, the process, which is known as germline engineering, would result in the first genetically modified children — and any engineered changes would be passed on to their own children. The technology is moving so fast that innovations like this are occurring before their full implications are known or fully understood.

“Some critics say germline experiments could open the floodgates to a brave new world of ‘designer babies’ engineered with genetic enhancements,” Technology Review reported, bringing up questions of ethics and eugenics.²

Does the Elimination of Down Syndrome in Iceland Point to a Dark Future for CRISPR?

It’s recently been reported that, in Iceland, Down syndrome births are becoming increasingly rare, with just one or two children born with the condition each year. In essence, Down syndrome is disappearing, but not by nature or happenstance. In Iceland, up to 85 percent of pregnant women receive prenatal screening tests to detect chromosome abnormalities, including Down syndrome. Close to 100 percent of women who receive a positive result end up terminating their pregnancy, CBS News reported.³

Other countries also have high termination rates for fetuses with Down syndrome: 67 percent in the U.S.; 77 percent in France; and 98 percent in Denmark, for instance. As for why so many women terminate their Down syndrome pregnancies in Iceland, geneticist Kari Stefansson told CBS News, “It reflects a relatively heavy-handed genetic counseling. And I don’t think that heavy-handed genetic counseling is desirable … You’re having impact on decisions that are not medical, in a way.”⁴

Writing in The Nation, journalist and historian — and father to a young son with Down syndrome — David Perry noted that “we’re failing our test run for the age of CRISPR.”⁵ He points out that today children with Down syndrome can lead long, happy and productive lives, but many expectant parents aren’t informed of this reality.

Prenatal testing companies market heavily to physicians but provide little information on the conditions being tested for. As a result, some parents are receiving wrong information about their would-be child’s prognosis. Perry writes:⁶

“What does all this have to do with CRISPR? Right now, we’re still in a liminal state when it comes to predicting genetic outcomes for fetuses. Our tools, from amniocentesis (developed in the 1950s and ’60s) to contemporary screenings that locate fetal blood cells in the mother’s bloodstream, are reactive and postconception.

Soon, they’ll shift to preconception and proactive. What will the tens of thousands of clinicians tell would-be parents as they get flooded with messaging from companies eager to sell their high-tech CRISPR product lines?”

As it stands, access to information, or lack thereof, may result in physicians providing outdated or biased genetic counseling to patients. As CRISPR moves ahead, access to accurate and neutral data will be essential. Difficult questions — such as, “When does abortion become eugenics?” as posed by The Atlantic⁷ — must be asked, and answered. The time has come when parents can choose to abort a fetus based on a disability, but soon this may extend into sex, race or even, one day, sexual orientation.

Even now, Miami-based radiologist Dr. Grazie Pozo Christie pointed out that “eugenics and equality can’t mix,” explaining in U.S. News & World Report, “When we do everything in our power to detect the existence of a baby with a special need with the sole purpose of terminating him or her, we create a discriminatory culture, where only perfect humans may apply for entrance.

This is a powerful obstacle against equality and acceptance of the disabled, which a just society must set as its first goal.”⁸ Perry also notes that access to unbiased, up-to-date information is crucial in an age of genetic testing and CRISPR:⁹

“Preventing this potentially dystopian future where altered genes separate the haves from the have-nots starts by shifting discourse. A pro-information approach demands that everyone involved in genetic counseling have access to the best data and presents it in a value-neutral way. We must build systems now that grow as our tools evolve. If we do not, genetic diversity will gradually become code for poverty, and new stigmas will run all the way to the DNA.”

Many Countries Have Already Banned Genetic Engineering of Human Embryos, Germ-Line Modification

Whether or not the creation of “designer babies” with a certain eye color or increased intelligence is inevitable remains to be seen, but some regions are not willing to take a wait-and-see approach. About 40 countries have already banned the genetic engineering of human embryos and 15 of 22 European countries prohibit germ line modification.¹⁰ Time reported:¹¹

“Using CRISPR on humans is still hugely controversial, in part because it’s so easy. The fact that it allows scientists to efficiently edit any gene — for some cancers, but also potentially for a predisposition for red hair, for being overweight, for being good at math — worries ethicists because of what could happen if it gets into the wrong hands.

… As CRISPR goes mainstream in medicine and agriculture, profound moral and ethical questions will arise. Few would argue against using CRISPR to treat terminal cancer patients, but what about treating chronic diseases? Or disabilities? If sickle-cell anemia can be corrected with CRISPR, should obesity, which drives so many life-threatening illnesses? Who decides where that line ought to be drawn?”

Correcting embryonic DNA to eliminate genetic defects associated with inheritable diseases currently has the greatest support, but some scientists argue that using germ-line gene editing to eliminate genetic disease is unnecessary, since the technology to test and choose embryos free of genetic disease already exists and is regularly used in IVF clinics.

The alteration of genes to protect a person against future disease or diseases is another area of ongoing research, while genetic enhancement, in which genes are installed or modified to change a person’s appearance, or physical or mental potential is most controversial. A top U.S. intelligence official even added gene-editing to a list of potential weapons of mass destruction that pose a threat to national safety.¹²

As complex and futuristic as it seems, gene editing is inexpensive and easy to do. Killer mosquitoes, agricultural plagues and DNA-targeting viruses have all been suggested as potential bioweapons should CRISPR or other gene-editing tools fall into the wrong hands.¹³

Gene editing has become so mainstream there are classes on the topic available at community colleges and DIY kits you can order online. Even middle school students may learn the basics of gene editing in science class, with some comparing the new technology to computer coding a few decades ago.

CRISPR May Cause Unexpected Mutations

Gene-editing technology has gotten much more precise over the years, particularly with the invention of CRISPR-Cas9.¹⁴ By modifying an enzyme called Cas9, the gene-editing capabilities are significantly improved, in some cases reducing the error rate to “undetectable levels.” It’s not perfect, however, and may accidently hit other parts of the genome.

A recent study searched for unintended mutations, based on a separate study that used CRISPR-Cas9 to restore sight in blind mice by correcting a genetic mutation. The researchers sequenced the entire genome of the CRISPR-edited mice to search for mutations. In addition to the intended genetic edit, they found more than 100 additional deletions and insertions along with more than 1,500 single-nucleotide mutations. Study co-author Dr. Stephen Tsang, of Columbia University Medical Center, told Scienmag:¹⁵

“We feel it’s critical that the scientific community consider the potential hazards of all off-target mutations caused by CRISPR, including single nucleotide mutations and mutations in non-coding regions of the genome … Researchers who aren’t using whole genome sequencing to find off-target effects may be missing potentially important mutations. Even a single nucleotide change can have a huge impact.”

It’s too soon to say whether the mutations are a cause for alarm. However, in the recent study in which researchers used CRISPR to edit human embryos, altering the DNA to prevent inherited disease, they claim to have developed a better technique that avoids off-target effects, as well as mosaicism, in which the DNA changes are taken up by some of the embryo’s cells instead of all of them.¹⁶

Meanwhile, a February 2017 report issued by the U.S. National Academies of Sciences (NAS) basically set the stage for allowing research on germline modification and CRISPR, but only for the purpose of eliminating serious diseases — not for “enhancing traits or abilities beyond ordinary health.” The latter would raise concerns “about whether the benefits can outweigh the risks, and about fairness if available only to some people,” NAS noted.¹⁷

According to Technology Review, however, “Despite such barriers, the creation of a gene-edited person could be attempted at any moment, including by IVF clinics operating facilities in countries where there are no such legal restrictions.”¹⁸

With the technology becoming increasingly accessible to anyone with an interest, it’s probably going to be a matter of when, not if, this boundary is crossed, with unknown consequences. While gene-editing technology has the potential to be great, it could also be easily, and seriously, misused and abused.

– Sources and References

A CRISPR Future New Form of Eugenics?

By Dr. Mercola

Gene editing was once a very imprecise and expensive process, but today, thanks to the development of CRISPR, or Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeat, scientists can go into your DNA and essentially cut and paste it at specified places. Progress is being made in tackling genetic diseases such as sickle-cell anemia and certain forms of blindness and muscular dystrophy.

A CRISPR clinical trial in people with cancer is already underway in China, and the technology has been used to edit human embryos made from sperm from men carrying inherited disease mutations. The researchers successfully altered the DNA in a way that would eliminate or correct the genes causing the inherited disease.¹

If the embryos were implanted into a womb and allowed to grow, the process, which is known as germline engineering, would result in the first genetically modified children — and any engineered changes would be passed on to their own children. The technology is moving so fast that innovations like this are occurring before their full implications are known or fully understood.

“Some critics say germline experiments could open the floodgates to a brave new world of ‘designer babies’ engineered with genetic enhancements,” Technology Review reported, bringing up questions of ethics and eugenics.²

Does the Elimination of Down Syndrome in Iceland Point to a Dark Future for CRISPR?

It’s recently been reported that, in Iceland, Down syndrome births are becoming increasingly rare, with just one or two children born with the condition each year. In essence, Down syndrome is disappearing, but not by nature or happenstance. In Iceland, up to 85 percent of pregnant women receive prenatal screening tests to detect chromosome abnormalities, including Down syndrome. Close to 100 percent of women who receive a positive result end up terminating their pregnancy, CBS News reported.³

Other countries also have high termination rates for fetuses with Down syndrome: 67 percent in the U.S.; 77 percent in France; and 98 percent in Denmark, for instance. As for why so many women terminate their Down syndrome pregnancies in Iceland, geneticist Kari Stefansson told CBS News, “It reflects a relatively heavy-handed genetic counseling. And I don’t think that heavy-handed genetic counseling is desirable … You’re having impact on decisions that are not medical, in a way.”⁴

Writing in The Nation, journalist and historian — and father to a young son with Down syndrome — David Perry noted that “we’re failing our test run for the age of CRISPR.”⁵ He points out that today children with Down syndrome can lead long, happy and productive lives, but many expectant parents aren’t informed of this reality.

Prenatal testing companies market heavily to physicians but provide little information on the conditions being tested for. As a result, some parents are receiving wrong information about their would-be child’s prognosis. Perry writes:⁶

“What does all this have to do with CRISPR? Right now, we’re still in a liminal state when it comes to predicting genetic outcomes for fetuses. Our tools, from amniocentesis (developed in the 1950s and ’60s) to contemporary screenings that locate fetal blood cells in the mother’s bloodstream, are reactive and postconception.

Soon, they’ll shift to preconception and proactive. What will the tens of thousands of clinicians tell would-be parents as they get flooded with messaging from companies eager to sell their high-tech CRISPR product lines?”

As it stands, access to information, or lack thereof, may result in physicians providing outdated or biased genetic counseling to patients. As CRISPR moves ahead, access to accurate and neutral data will be essential. Difficult questions — such as, “When does abortion become eugenics?” as posed by The Atlantic⁷ — must be asked, and answered. The time has come when parents can choose to abort a fetus based on a disability, but soon this may extend into sex, race or even, one day, sexual orientation.

Even now, Miami-based radiologist Dr. Grazie Pozo Christie pointed out that “eugenics and equality can’t mix,” explaining in U.S. News & World Report, “When we do everything in our power to detect the existence of a baby with a special need with the sole purpose of terminating him or her, we create a discriminatory culture, where only perfect humans may apply for entrance.

This is a powerful obstacle against equality and acceptance of the disabled, which a just society must set as its first goal.”⁸ Perry also notes that access to unbiased, up-to-date information is crucial in an age of genetic testing and CRISPR:⁹

“Preventing this potentially dystopian future where altered genes separate the haves from the have-nots starts by shifting discourse. A pro-information approach demands that everyone involved in genetic counseling have access to the best data and presents it in a value-neutral way. We must build systems now that grow as our tools evolve. If we do not, genetic diversity will gradually become code for poverty, and new stigmas will run all the way to the DNA.”

Many Countries Have Already Banned Genetic Engineering of Human Embryos, Germ-Line Modification

Whether or not the creation of “designer babies” with a certain eye color or increased intelligence is inevitable remains to be seen, but some regions are not willing to take a wait-and-see approach. About 40 countries have already banned the genetic engineering of human embryos and 15 of 22 European countries prohibit germ line modification.¹⁰ Time reported:¹¹

“Using CRISPR on humans is still hugely controversial, in part because it’s so easy. The fact that it allows scientists to efficiently edit any gene — for some cancers, but also potentially for a predisposition for red hair, for being overweight, for being good at math — worries ethicists because of what could happen if it gets into the wrong hands.

… As CRISPR goes mainstream in medicine and agriculture, profound moral and ethical questions will arise. Few would argue against using CRISPR to treat terminal cancer patients, but what about treating chronic diseases? Or disabilities? If sickle-cell anemia can be corrected with CRISPR, should obesity, which drives so many life-threatening illnesses? Who decides where that line ought to be drawn?”

Correcting embryonic DNA to eliminate genetic defects associated with inheritable diseases currently has the greatest support, but some scientists argue that using germ-line gene editing to eliminate genetic disease is unnecessary, since the technology to test and choose embryos free of genetic disease already exists and is regularly used in IVF clinics.

The alteration of genes to protect a person against future disease or diseases is another area of ongoing research, while genetic enhancement, in which genes are installed or modified to change a person’s appearance, or physical or mental potential is most controversial. A top U.S. intelligence official even added gene-editing to a list of potential weapons of mass destruction that pose a threat to national safety.¹²

As complex and futuristic as it seems, gene editing is inexpensive and easy to do. Killer mosquitoes, agricultural plagues and DNA-targeting viruses have all been suggested as potential bioweapons should CRISPR or other gene-editing tools fall into the wrong hands.¹³

Gene editing has become so mainstream there are classes on the topic available at community colleges and DIY kits you can order online. Even middle school students may learn the basics of gene editing in science class, with some comparing the new technology to computer coding a few decades ago.

CRISPR May Cause Unexpected Mutations

Gene-editing technology has gotten much more precise over the years, particularly with the invention of CRISPR-Cas9.¹⁴ By modifying an enzyme called Cas9, the gene-editing capabilities are significantly improved, in some cases reducing the error rate to “undetectable levels.” It’s not perfect, however, and may accidently hit other parts of the genome.

A recent study searched for unintended mutations, based on a separate study that used CRISPR-Cas9 to restore sight in blind mice by correcting a genetic mutation. The researchers sequenced the entire genome of the CRISPR-edited mice to search for mutations. In addition to the intended genetic edit, they found more than 100 additional deletions and insertions along with more than 1,500 single-nucleotide mutations. Study co-author Dr. Stephen Tsang, of Columbia University Medical Center, told Scienmag:¹⁵

“We feel it’s critical that the scientific community consider the potential hazards of all off-target mutations caused by CRISPR, including single nucleotide mutations and mutations in non-coding regions of the genome … Researchers who aren’t using whole genome sequencing to find off-target effects may be missing potentially important mutations. Even a single nucleotide change can have a huge impact.”

It’s too soon to say whether the mutations are a cause for alarm. However, in the recent study in which researchers used CRISPR to edit human embryos, altering the DNA to prevent inherited disease, they claim to have developed a better technique that avoids off-target effects, as well as mosaicism, in which the DNA changes are taken up by some of the embryo’s cells instead of all of them.¹⁶

Meanwhile, a February 2017 report issued by the U.S. National Academies of Sciences (NAS) basically set the stage for allowing research on germline modification and CRISPR, but only for the purpose of eliminating serious diseases — not for “enhancing traits or abilities beyond ordinary health.” The latter would raise concerns “about whether the benefits can outweigh the risks, and about fairness if available only to some people,” NAS noted.¹⁷

According to Technology Review, however, “Despite such barriers, the creation of a gene-edited person could be attempted at any moment, including by IVF clinics operating facilities in countries where there are no such legal restrictions.”¹⁸

With the technology becoming increasingly accessible to anyone with an interest, it’s probably going to be a matter of when, not if, this boundary is crossed, with unknown consequences. While gene-editing technology has the potential to be great, it could also be easily, and seriously, misused and abused.

– Sources and References