Society's ChildS


Bizarro Earth

13 dead after police raid disco during lockdown in Peru

Peru lockdown
© AP Photo/Diego VertizPolice officers stand guard near two bodies outside of a disco in Lima, Peru, Sunday, Aug. 23, 2020. Officials said over a dozen people died in a stampede at a disco in Peru after a police raid to enforce the country's lockdown during the coronavirus pandemic.
Thirteen people died in a stampede at a disco in Peru after a police raid to enforce the country's lockdown during the coronavirus pandemic, officials said Sunday.

The stampede happened at the Thomas disco in Lima, where about 120 people had gathered for a party on Saturday night, the Interior Ministry said.

People tried to escape through the only door of the second-floor disco, trampling one another and becoming trapped in the confined space, according to authorities.

Comment: The lockdown is killing more than the virus ever could, and its fast turning our planet in to a dystopia: Video shows police officer choke Melbourne woman for not wearing a mask amidst tyrannical lockdown


Red Flag

Huge crowds gather on streets of Minsk as Belarus opposition keeps up pressure on Lukashenko to leave office

Minsk
© Sputnik / Eugene OdinokovThe participants of the protest action in Minsk.
A huge demonstration is underway in Minsk, marking the third week of anti-government rallies. Protestors are demanding the resignation of Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko, saying his re-election was rigged.

Sources on the ground say the crowd numbers in the tens of thousands, with the opposition estimating there are over 100,000 participants. Protesters gathered earlier in the city's Independence Square for a minutes silence in memory of those killed during clashes with law enforcement agencies during earlier rallies.

The demonstrators then marched north toward the Planeta hotel, which is located not far from the site of last week's rally, which was unprecedented in its size. The protest has remained peaceful, with police monitoring the situation. Ahead of the march, authorities, said they feared 'provocations' during the event.

Comment: At the height of the Yellow Vest protests in France there were hundreds of thousands of people at the protests and they enjoyed the support of more than half of the country, and yet there were no Western leaders supporting any idea of 'regime change': Lukashenko asks public to forgive heavy-handed Belarusian cops, opposition plans to meet with US officials in Lithuania


USA

Facts don't matter - The power of the asserted unknown

Thinking is Forbidden
© Eric Peters Auto
There's an old joke that used to be funny about the shyster lawyer who asks the defendant, "And when did you stop beating your wife"? It was funny because everyone understood (because people could think, once) that the lawyer was a shyster . . . because the poor man hadn't ever beaten his wife.

It's not funny anymore because millions of people can't think anymore; do not see that they are being shystered by the Gesundheitsfuhrers and the Hyena Media when it comes to assertions about the WuFlu.

The latest such follow on the heels of the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota, where hundreds of thousands of Americans didn't imitate Michael Jackson. Didn't wear gloves or Face Diapers; didn't leap back in fear of proximity; they slapped backs and had fun - face to face.

In your face to the Gesundheitsfuhrers who have been turning America into a depressing and tyrannical sickness gulag by spreading fear about a sickness that presents no more threat to 99.5-plus percent of the public than the ordinary flu and less of a threat to 100 percent of the population than medical malpractice (which is credited with about 250,000 needless deaths each year) or obesity (millions) .

A fact - not an assertion.

But the Gesundheitsfuhrers cannot abide the facts because they are a threat - to the power of the Gesundheitsfuhrers, which has become practically limitless. The facts must be shouted down by . . . assertions, which have emotional power over the fearful and unreasoning.

Who feel rather than think - and seem to like feeling afraid (a subject for another column).

Smiley

The joy of an illegal rave!

crowd waving
© iStock
Every time I read that Britain's anti-coronavirus measures are being jeopardised by a 'small minority of senseless individuals' holding illegal raves, my heart soars. Maybe there's hope for the youth after all!

I'd been beginning to wonder. In my experience, kids of about university age have been priggish and obedient about the government's rules during lockdown. 'Why can't they just get off their faces on drink, drugs and repetitive beats, like my generation did at that age?' I've often mused.

Well, thank goodness that's exactly what some of them are doing. Last month alone, the Metropolitan Police claim there were as many as 500 illegal raves across London. According to the government this represents a threat that deserves £10,000 fines for the organisers. But if you ask me, it's about time we had a backlash to the grim authoritarianism of the past six months — especially a backlash motivated by pure hedonism rather than politics.

Dominoes

Half of Russians don't want to take world's first Covid-19 vaccine, only 42% willing to try 'Sputnik V'

Lab tech
© Sputnik/Vladimir PesnyaTesting the vaccine
A majority of Russians don't want to be vaccinated against coronavirus, according to a brand-new survey, which showed only 42 percent of the country wants to be immunized with the homegrown 'Sputnik V' formula, unveiled last week.

On August 11, Russia's president Vladimir Putin announced that the country had registered the world's first Covid-19 vaccine. Developed by Moscow's Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, the vaccine will be available to the general public from January 2021, but is to be offered to teachers and medical workers first. The process of creating the vaccine has been criticized by some Western countries, who claim that the speed of the development means it hasn't yet been proven safe.

When asked whether they are ready to take Sputnik V, 42 percent of respondents said yes, with 52 percent saying no. The survey was conducted by WCIOM, a Russian state-owned pollster.

Comment: See also:


Ambulance

Nursing homes were bullied into accepting Covid-19 patients

UK nursing home folks
© ebabms.cloudfront.netUK nursing home
Nursing homes were pressured into accepting patients with coronavirus while simultaneously being refused treatment for residents by hospitals and GPs, according to research.

A report by the Queen's Nursing Institute (QNI) found homes were told hospitals had a blanket "no admissions" policy at the height of the pandemic.

The QNI, a charity which focuses on the improvement of nursing care of people in their own home, found care home residents were regularly refused treatment in April and May. Published by the Independent, the research found GPs and local managers in some homes had placed unlawful do not resuscitate orders on residents.

The survey of nurses and managers in 163 care homes across England, Wales and Northern Ireland found 56% said their physical and mental health had suffered due to the stress of the pandemic.

Seventy homes, 43% of those surveyed, said they had received a patient discharged from hospital during March or April that had not been tested for the virus. A fifth said they had received a patient discharged from hospital who was Covid-19 positive.

Star of David

Palestinian village Farasin defiant despite threats of being wiped off the map

Amarneh family
© MEE/Akram al-WaaraWajdi Amarneh and his five children stand in front of their single-room home in Farasin. Israeli authorities gave Wajdi 96 hours to demolish the home.
Sitting on the porch of his neighbour's home, Mahmoud Amarneh, 56, shuffles through his briefcase, filled to the brim with papers and red-tabbed folders. As the summer breeze passes through the tiny village of Farasin, the papers, printed in Hebrew and stamped with the insignia of the Israeli Civil Administration, go flying across the outdoor seating area.

Amarneh is the head of the village council in Farasin, a tiny hamlet in the northern occupied West Bank district of Jenin, just a few kilometres east of the Green Line.

Up until last week, Amarneh's job was mostly symbolic, keeping the peace between the 200 residents of Farasin, who are mostly descendants of the same two families, settling any land disputes, and welcoming any visitors that may come to the village. Now, he's in charge of fighting what he says is a concentrated effort on the part of Israeli authorities to expel the people of Farasin from their land.
Farasin documents
© MEE Akram al-WaaraMahmoud Amarneh examines orders from Israeli authorities to the village of Farasin.

Yoda

New Jersey gym owner says 'now we made it political': Becomes campaign rally location to keep doors open

Atilis Gym co-owners Ian Smith and Frank Trumbetti and U.S. Senate candidate Dr. Rik Mehta
© Fox NewsAtilis Gym co-owners Ian Smith and Frank Trumbetti have rebranded their gym as the campaign site for U.S. Senate candidate Dr. Rik Mehta.
New Jersey's Atilis Gym co-owners Frank Trumbetti and Ian Smith have fought to keep their doors open during the coronavirus pandemic and now, partnering with Republican U.S. Senate candidate Rick Mehta, the gym has become an official campaign rally location.

"We took a stand for our constitutional rights and for the rights of all small business owners throughout the country," Smith told Fox & Friends Weekend Sunday.
"And it wasn't intended to become political. We were trying to offer a solution to a problem where the government was failing, and it turned political. And that was because of Gov. Murphy's actions. So now we made it political just as much as he has."

Comment: Brilliant aikido move, gentlemen!


Black Cat

Not just Portland: Protesters smash windows & set fires across Denver, try to breach Colorado State Capitol fence

blm violence denver anti police
© TwitterVarious scenes of confrontation and violence in Denver, CO in late August, 2020
Dozens of anti-police protesters have been swarming around downtown Denver, Colorado, setting fires and smashing windows, with authorities seemingly struggling to contain the hit-and-run violence.

Police officers in riot gear were seen guarding the Denver Police Department on Saturday night, but elsewhere across downtown Denver, local reporters described "ugly scenes" of arson and vandalism.

Comment: Trump repeated his veiled threat to sort out Democrat-run cities if they can't quell the violence on their own:
President Donald Trump has offered federal assistance to the mayors of cities dealing with violent "antigovernment" protests, saying he can "solve [the] problem fast" if they can't properly police their own communities.


The tweet comes as multiple cities saw Black Lives Matter-related protests again devolve into violence over the weekend, including Portland, Oregon, and Denver, Colorado.

Trump previously deployed federal agents to Portland after protesters targeted a federal courthouse by attempting to start a fire on the property. Though the tactics of the officers in dealing with protesters were controversial, and the president agreed to allow the city's mayor to take control in dealing with the ongoing demonstrations, violence in the city has prompted him to threaten a more federal response several times.

On Saturday, he offered the services of the National Guard to help control the "rioting" in the city, promising this would "end the problem immediately."
Unfortunately, the president is in a bind. Though his base (and all normal people) would be glad to the violence ended and the perpetrators punished, it would hand his opponents the opportunity to portray him as the fascist they've always claimed he is. And the citizenry suffer.


Cult

Life imitates art: 'Footloose' comes to New York as Governor Cuomo bans dancing

Footloose john lithgow
© YouTube screenshotFootloose"
Governor Cuomo has become Reverend Shaw Moore from the movie Footloose after issuing a new set of commands for New Yorkers that includes a ban on dancing. This is not a joke. Syracuse.com reported the story.
There is no dancing allowed in New York's bars and restaurants, even at a wedding reception, according to the New York State Liquor Authority.

To control the spread of the coronavirus, Gov. Andrew Cuomo's liquor authority has also specifically banned darts, pool, cornhole, karaoke and exotic dancing. Bar owners are already struggling to stay open after being shut down for months. The new rules are causing a lot of anxiety as business owners are being threatened with their licensing if they don't comply.