Society's ChildS


Red Flag

'I'm only human': Top German politician in hot water over hug during Covid-19 lockdown


RT
Mon, 18 May 2020 00:11 UTC
Christian Lindner
© Twitter / @Second_Best_yet
The head of the German Free Democrats, Christian Lindner, has found himself in a tight spot after hugging a friend in brazen violation of Covid-19 social distancing rules that Germans are still obliged to follow.

The misdeed by the business-friendly Free Democratic Party (FDP) leader has been made public by the BZ Berlin daily, which published a photo of him hugging businessman Steffen Goepel in front of one of the city's most-popular restaurants on Friday evening. To make matters worse, the politician was also seen with his facemask hanging under his chin.

The photo, which in a different time would be considered quite innocent, has since been deleted by the newspaper. But it has sparked a wave of criticism in Germany, where many are tired and angry over protracted coronavirus quarantine measures.

The politician faced a flurry of angry comments on social media as people argued that he apparently considers himself above the rules ordinary Germans have to follow.
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Bullseye

'Swedish model' of no-lockdown response to Covid-19 worked, its architect says


RT
Mon, 18 May 2020 22:06 UTC
stockholm
© TT News Agency via Reuters / Henrik Montgomery
Sweden, which chose a famously hands-off opt-in way to fight the coronavirus epidemic, may have over four times the deaths per capita compared to its Nordic neighbors, but the approach ultimately worked, the man behind it insists.

While most nations in the world relied on strict lockdown procedures to slow the spread of Covid-19, Sweden put only a few obligatory restrictions in place. That won high approval ratings for the government, but also resulted in a significantly higher death toll than in other Nordic countries, with elder-care homes affected particularly badly.


Comment: Take a look at the numbers from this article by Rob Slane on the comparison between deaths in the UK and Sweden. It makes the above statement about "significantly higher death tolls in Sweden" very dubious:
The chart below compares the daily death rate for the UK and Sweden, per million population, with the date of the UK lockdown clearly marked. Can Mr Johnson show from this chart any correlation between the lockdown that was imposed on Britain and the lockdown that wasn't imposed on Sweden, and death rates (more on Sweden below)?

slane stats covid

Anders Tegnell, Sweden's chief epidemiologist, whose role in creating the 'Swedish model' elevated him to a celebrity in the country and spiked interest internationally, insists his approach was right.

Comment: Of course it worked... BECAUSE THERE IS NO 'KILLER VIRUS' OUT THERE!!!

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Burka

Swedish girl, 17, was decapitated by her Iraqi migrant boyfriend last November

Tim Stickings
Daily Mail
Mon, 18 May 2020 15:10 UTC

Comment: Once again, the authorities are only releasing information about migrant crimes many months AFTER the fact, during a time when it's hoped fewer people will notice...


Andersson
Wilma Andersson, pictured, disappeared in November last year. Police found her severed head two weeks later and her ex-boyfriend has now been charged with her murder
A 17-year-old girl was beheaded by her ex-boyfriend after breaking up with him in Sweden, it is alleged.

Wilma Andersson vanished on November 14 last year and police found a 'body part' two weeks later - which was later revealed to be her head.

Her ex-boyfriend Tishko Ahmed Shabaz was arrested at the time and has now been charged with her murder, which he denies.

Shabaz is accused of decapitating Wilma when she went to collect her belongings before wrapping her head in foil and hiding it at his home.

Charges against the 23-year-old suspect were announced last week in a case that has shocked Sweden, which has long held a reputation as one of the world's safest countries.


Comment: That reputation is fading pretty fast: Volvo CEO laments Sweden's high crime rate, says company might move its HQ abroad


According to human rights monitor HRS, the suspect was born in Iraq and took up Swedish citizenship in 2014.

Comment: See also: French activist murdered by Afghan migrant he housed

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Pirates

UK government now threatening schools with fines if they don't reopen June 1st

Alan McGuinness
Sky News
Mon, 18 May 2020 13:54 UTC
UK schools
The government wants there to be a staged reopening of primary schools from 1 June
A government minister has not ruled out penalising regions in England if they refuse to reopen schools as the coronavirus lockdown is eased.

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden told Sky News ministers wanted to work in a "constructive way" with teachers and unions to address their "legitimate concerns" about pupils returning to the classroom.

Under plans to ease the COVID-19 lockdown outlined by Prime Minister Boris Johnson earlier this month, there will be a staged reopening of primary schools from 1 June.

Children 'less likely to have serious symptoms'

But opposition has been expressed to the plans, particularly from unions and some councils, amid a continuing row over whether or not it is safe for pupils to return.


Comment: The government is itself to blame for knowingly stoking the hysteria even when it had sufficient data proving the virus was less deadly than the flu and that the measures were not only destroying the economy but were actually causing unnecessary deaths.


Comment: Is the government expecting schools to reopen and function like this?



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Yellow Vest

70 percent of Spain emerges from lockdown amid large protests calling for govt to resign


RT
Mon, 18 May 2020 12:05 UTC
protest lockdown spain
© Ruptly
As the majority of Spain cautiously re-emerges from lockdown, disgruntled sections of the citizenry have taken to the streets to protest the government's perceived bid to leverage the coronavirus crisis to stay in power.

On Sunday the country's daily death toll dropped below 100 for the first time since it imposed lockdown restrictions on March 15. Adopting a staggered approach since last week, Spain then began its four-phase system for reopening its economy.

As of Monday, some 70 percent of the country is now in phase one, which allows for gatherings of up to 10 people with adequate social distancing, bars and restaurants reopening their outdoor sections at half capacity, and cinemas, museums and other cultural businesses also reopened, though at reduced capacity.

Comment: France's Yellow Vests are also getting back to business:



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Light Saber

Best of the Web: Debunking the Covid-19 Narrative: Interview with molecular biologist Prof. Dolores Cahill

Dave Cullen
ComputingForever.com
Mon, 11 May 2020 19:26 UTC
dolores cahill
Prof. Dolores Cahill is a world-wide renowned immunologist, molecular biologist, and expert in high-throughput proteomics technology development and automation, and high-content protein arrays and their biomedical applications, including in biomarker discovery and diagnostics.

Prof. Cahill is speaking out against the Covid-19 lockdown by challenging the core claims made by govts and media about the SARS-CoV-2 virus. In the following interview she explains why lockdowns are the worst possible 'treatment' for dealing with this virus, why masks and social distancing will only sicken healthy people, and presents evidence that the virus was in fact tweaked in a laboratory setting...

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Pills

All mixed up: It's more than just an opioid crisis, polydrug use is poisoning Americans

Frank Owen
RT
Mon, 18 May 2020 18:53 UTC
pills
© Getty Images / Frank Bienewald
Now that deaths because of opioids are plateauing in America, another reborn epidemic is poisoning the country's drug users. It's polydrug use - the mixing of substances that catalyze each other in a spectrum of deadly cocktails.

According to USA Today, a new super-potent form of methamphetamine, dubbed Meth 2.0, is sweeping across America. The newspaper claims Meth 2.0 is behind a steep rise in methamphetamine use that has led to a sharp increase in fatalities. The Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that overdose deaths involving methamphetamine have recently spiked by twenty-two percent.

Yet, the latest National Survey on Drug Use and Health, the gold standard of American drug surveys, reveals that the total number of people using methamphetamine is almost exactly the same as 2015 and 2017, and only slightly higher than 2016. The latest Monitoring the Future survey, which surveys only adolescents, records a small drop in methamphetamine use among young people, part of a continual decline since its peak in 2000.
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Chess

Huawei calls U.S. move to curb chips supply 'arbitrary', expects business impact

David Kirton
Reuters
Mon, 18 May 2020 18:42 UTC
Huawei chariman Guo Ping
© Reuters/David KirtonHuawei chariman Guo Ping
"We expect that our business will inevitably be affected. We will try all we can to seek a solution," Chairman Guo Ping said in his keynote speech at Huawei's annual global analyst summit on Monday.

"Survival is the key word for us at present," Guo said in a Q&A.

Guo said Huawei was committed to complying with U.S. rules and it had significantly increased R&D and inventory to meet U.S. pressures.

Friday's move by the U.S. Commerce Department expands U.S. authority to require licences for sales to Huawei of semiconductors made abroad with U.S. technology, vastly extending its reach to halt sales to the world's No. 2 smartphone maker.
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Target

Normal life in Moscow to resume only after 60% of population has Covid-19 immunity, says medical official

Jonny Tickle
RT
Mon, 18 May 2020 11:15 UTC
2 women
© Sputnik/Vladimir Pesnya
With infection numbers starting to decrease and citizens getting itchy feet, Muscovites are wondering when life will get back to normal. According to one official, it'll be after 60 percent of the city has gained immunity.

Speaking to government newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Alexey Mazus, chief freelance specialist for HIV diagnosis and treatment at Moscow's Health Department, explained how the city's coronavirus strategy was being dictated solely by science:
"We are dealing with an infection, which, according to various estimates, is three or more times more infectious than the flu. Therefore, it is important to know how many people have already been ill and have got immunity."
According to Mazus, to get out of the epidemic, around 60 percent of the population must be immune to Covid-19. He believes that once this mark has been met, those who have immunity can start working again. "This is the only way the city can return to a more-or-less normal rhythm," he concluded.
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V

'Propaganda machine says it's OK for there to be Bezos & Zuckerberg': Roger Waters tells RT how media shields Covid-19 villains


RT
Sat, 16 May 2020 18:10 UTC
roger waters
© RT America
Mankind is headed for annihilation unless societies reject unjust economic systems and media war propaganda, Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters told RT, noting that the Covid-19 crisis could serve as a much-needed wake-up call.

"Clearly what Covid-19 has told us all is that in order to face a common enemy, like a virulent virus, we're going to need to cooperate, to act together... as a global community," Waters told RT's Rick Sanchez on Friday.
If we don't cooperate, we're all dead. The planet's over. We're heading for the cliff of omnicidal destruction of everything. So will this be a wake-up call? I hope so.
Calling "neoliberal economics" the "elephant in the room," Waters said such cooperation is made near-impossible when public policy is driven by a "motive to maximize the bottom line of profit for the corporations that run our countries." As many struggle to afford rent or put food on the table, some nations have responded to the pandemic by printing "billions, trillions of dollars" to dole out to the politically well-connected.
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