Society's ChildS


Biohazard

'Undeniable': Japan begins compensation payout for deaths from Covid vaccination, 1 death confirmed, 11 more & 3,600 injured pending

coronavirus isolated
© National Institute of Infectious DiseasesThis electron microscope photo provided by the National Institute of Infectious Diseases shows the coronavirus isolated at the facility.
TOKYO -- The Japanese government is set to offer a lump-sum payment under the country's vaccine redress system following the death of an elderly woman after she received a coronavirus vaccination.

A subcommittee of Japan's health ministry decided on July 25 to provide a lump-sum death benefit under the Immunization Act to the family of a woman in her 90s who died after getting vaccinated against COVID-19, because a causal relationship between the vaccination and her death cannot be denied. This is Japan's first relief payment decision for an individual who died after receiving the coronavirus vaccine. The Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare is expected to make the final approval of the offer of 44.2 million yen (about $324,000) to the woman's family.

Comment: Japan's course throughout the contrived and coordinated coronavirus crisis has been a notable outlier; it was one of the few countries to not officially lockdown; it warned against mandating Covid jabs, and against vaccine apartheid; and its health ministry issued a serious warning about the risks of the experimental jabs. In addition, it is known for its more conservative child vaccine schedule, and, coincidentally, or not, for having one of the lowest child death rates on the planet:


Attention

Horror at Hong Kong boyband concert as huge video screen falls on to performers

boy band concert hong kong screen falls
© UGC/APA suspended video screen falls on to the stage with more than a dozen performers at a concert of Cantopop boy band Mirror in Hong Kong, in an image from video posted to social media.
Two dancers injured as suspended LED screen crashes down on to stage during show by Cantopop band Mirror.

Two dancers have been injured at a Cantopop concert in Hong Kong after a massive video screen suspended above the stage fell on to performers below.

The concert on Thursday, by Cantopop boyband Mirror, was the fourth of a series of 12 scheduled concerts by the band held at the Hong Kong Coliseum.

Microscope 2

Has the lab leak been proven false?

wuhan market warehouse
Has the lab leak been proven false? That's the impression you'd get reading yesterday's BBC article, which deals with two new studies on Covid origins.

The article quotes one scientist as saying, "We're now as sure as we can be, based on the fragmentary evidence we do have, that this was a spillover event that happened in the market." And it quotes another as saying the new studies would "correct the false record that the virus came from a lab".

On Twitter, a third scientist claimed the studies provide "conclusive evidence that SARS-CoV-2 emerged via at least 2 zoonotic spillovers". She went on to say that it's now "100% clear the pandemic originated at Huanan market", dismissing what she called "speculative bullshit about a lab leak".

Comment: They're still trying their darnedest to get rid of that pesky lab leak evidence. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!

See also:


Handcuffs

Police struggle to crack homicides with liberal prosecutors draining 'snitch pool'

las vegas police crime scene
© Ellen Schmidt/Las Vegas Review-JournalLas Vegas police investigate a homicide in the 5000 block of Sagelyn Street, near Tropicana Avenue and Boulder Highway, on Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2021, in Las Vegas. A year-end tally found that police in and around Las Vegas investigated at least 245 homicides in 2021, up from a previous high of 264 killings in 2017 that included 58 in an Oct. 1 mass shooting at a concert on the Las Vegas Strip.
People are increasingly getting away with murder in America's big cities, with police saying they are no longer able to roll low-level offenders to get them to snitch on big targets.

Law enforcement sources say the criminal justice reform movement sweeping states, combined with policies of liberal prosecutors, leave them with fewer cooperating witnesses whom they need to crack homicide and other serious criminal cases.

"Criminal justice reform is crushing investigations. I apprehended individuals on something minor, and they wanted to make a deal because they didn't want to go to jail. Now we don't have the snitch pool of low-level offenders willing to talk about bigger fish. It's huge and it's such a simple concept," said Paul Beakman, a former police officer and former president of the Fraternal Order of Police Western New York Lodge 103.

Comment: See also:


Putin

Cod help us! Half of Britain's fish and chip shops could close due to soaring prices

fish and chips
Half of Britain's 10,500 fish and chip shops could close due to rocketing costs.

As many as 5,000 face being battered by crippling tariffs and the soaring prices of ingredients, government figures reveal.

The combination means the price of a fish and chip supper could rise from an average £8.50 to £11.50.

Comment: See also: Sign of the times: McDonald's raises price of a cheeseburger in the UK for the first time in 14 years


Cheeseburger

Sign of the times: McDonald's raises price of a cheeseburger in the UK for the first time in 14 years

mcdonalds
© Justin Sullivan | Getty Images News | Getty ImagesMcDonald’s has raised the price of its cheeseburgers in the U.K. for the first time in 14 years.
McDonald's hiked the price of its cheeseburger in the U.K. for the first time in 14 years as cost pressures bite.

The fast-food chain confirmed Wednesday that the iconic burger was one among a number of items facing price increases across its U.K. restaurant network.

The cost of a cheeseburger has risen 20% from 99 pence ($1.19) to £1.19.

Comment: Everybody's feeling the pinch. And cheeseburgers are just the beginning.

See also:


Attention

FDA officials warn of brain swelling, vision loss in minors using puberty blockers

injection
© IMAGINESTOCK/Getty Images
Puberty blockers, known as gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) substances, received a warning from U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials earlier this month, saying the drug could cause brain swelling, loss of vision, and serious risks for children injecting the hormone.

Officials said a plausible association between using puberty blockers and pseudotumor cerebri, which displays symptoms similar to a brain tumor, was identified in six young girls between the ages of 5 and 12.

"Five were undergoing treatment for central precocious puberty and one for transgender care," FDA officials report. "The onset of pseudotumor cerebri symptoms ranged from three to 240 days after GnRH agonist initiation."

Comment: Fox News reported that Dr. Morissa Ladinsky, a UAB doctor who works with transgender youth said of the FDA warning:
"It doesn't even approach any semblance of what we call in medicine, statistical significance," she said.

She calls the findings a simple notification for medical professionals from just one of the many organizations that monitor medications used for medical gender-affirming care.

"We all work together, to continually learn, refine and roll out the safest and best health care for all patients," said Ladinsky.

"It says what we've been saying for three years and we just want these kids and these children to be protected," said Allen.
See also:


Dominoes

Say it ain't Joe: 75% of Democrats want someone other than Biden in 2024, poll shows

Biden, Joe Biden, sad, tired
© REUTERSAbout a quarter of Democrats don’t think Biden can win a second term, and three-quarters of party voters would prefer another candidate in 2024, according to a new poll.
Three-quarters of self-described Democrats or Democratic-leaning voters want the party to pick someone other than President Biden as their standard-bearer in 2024 — and nearly a quarter of them say they don't believe Biden can win a second term, according to a new poll.

The CNN survey released Tuesday found that 32% of Dems say they don't want Biden to be re-elected president. Another 24% said they didn't believe he could defeat a Republican candidate in 2024, while 19% gave unspecified other reasons for their opposition to the current commander-in-chief.

Antipathy toward Biden is particularly strong among Democrats under age 45, 82% of whom say they don't want him to try for a second term.

The president's numbers aren't much better among older Democrats either, with just 31% of those age 45 and up saying they want another Biden campaign.

At the beginning of this year, the same poll showed Democrats were basically divided on the prospect of the president seeking reelection, with 45% saying they wanted Biden to run again and 51% saying they did not.

Eye 1

British vlogger added to UK's anti-Russia sanctions list in governments latest move to silence dissent

Graham Phillips
© Reuters/AlamyGraham Phillips faces a freeze of his assets.
A British citizen who video blogs pro-Kremlin material from Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine has been added to a UK government sanctions list.


Comment: The blatant propaganda spin on this report should be clear from the first line, because we never read of a 'pro-Westminster' reporter.


Graham Phillips, who has been accused of being a conduit for pro-Russian propaganda, is one of 42 new designations added to the UK's Russia sanctions list. Other additions include Russia's minister and deputy minister of justice and two nephews of the Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov, who was himself placed under sanctions by Britain in March.

Phillips - the first UK citizen to be added to the growing sanctions list - has long been a controversial figure, receiving medals from the Russian state for his reporting. He has consistently toed the Russian line on the war, suggesting in recent weeks that Ukraine is run by Nazis and that the massacre of Ukrainians in Bucha was staged.

Comment: Meanwhile over in Germany: German journalist in Donbass could face prison at home for 'endorsement' of Russia's military response in Ukraine


Broom

Ukrainian energy giant Naftogaz defaults on debt, fails to make payments on Eurobonds

Naftogaz
Ukraine's state-run energy company Naftogaz has defaulted on its foreign debt, the firm announced on Tuesday.

Naftogaz was unable to make payments on Eurobonds before a grace period expired, the company said a statement on Telegram, adding that it "has not received consent from the cabinet of ministers of Ukraine to make the necessary payments".

The Ukrainian government earlier prohibited payments, due on July 19, on its Eurobonds maturing in 2022 and 2024, citing the country's need to accumulate natural gas in sufficient quantities before the upcoming heating season.