Society's ChildS


Heart - Black

Lockdown 'has left pupils withdrawn and disturbed', says top London head

Battersea school UK
© REUTERSChildren arrive for school with social distancing in Battersea
Children have been returning to school withdrawn, disturbed and traumatized, the head of London's biggest academy chain warned today.

Sir Daniel Moynihan, CEO of the Harris Federation, said some children have been severely damaged by the lockdown and have gone backwards in their emotional development.

The Harris Federation runs 48 schools, meaning it educates one in every 41 pupils in London.

Sir Daniel told BBC Radio 4's Today program: "It's fair to say many children have been severely damaged educationally by this necessary shutdown.

"We have had a number of traumatized youngsters. Our schools are in very disadvantaged areas of the capital city and many of them have very difficult lives already, and this has worsened the situation."

Comment: What we're seeing now in terms of regression is likely to continue getting worse as the number of social and physical interactions kids have - interactions that children need to fully develop emotionally and mentally - are cut back to near zero. Governments are destroying the mental and emotional well being of children, and they're doing it all for nothing.


Light Sabers

'They hate America': BLM protesters earn scorn for tearing down President Grant & national anthem lyricist statues

Statue of Francis Scott Key defaced
© Joe Rivano Barros Twitter (@jrivanob)Statue of Francis Scott Key in San Francisco after being defaced by protesters
The latest statues to be toppled by BLM protesters are that of Ulysses S. Grant, who led Northern Union soldiers in the Civil War, and Francis Scott Key, the lyricist behind 'The Star Spangled Banner,' puzzling and outraging many.

Hundreds showed up to tear down the statues in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park on Juneteenth, a celebration of the end of slavery in the US.


Comment: See also:

Protesters topple, burn Confederate Albert Pike statue in DC
In the wake of Juneteenth rallies, protesters pulled down and burned a statue of Albert Pike in D.C. late Friday night.

Between 80 and 100 people were gathered around the statue around 11 p.m.

Hours after throwing ropes around the statue - it came down around 11:15 p.m.






Document

Empty punctuation: AP to now capitalize 'black' and 'indigenous' - still deliberating whether to do same thing with 'white'

BLM USA
© Olivier Douliery - AFP
The Associated Press has tweaked its popular style guide to suggest that 'black' and several other ethnic terms be capitalized. 'White', however, did not make the cut, at least immediately, prompting cries of hypocrisy.

The AP's vice president of standards, John Daniszewski, announced the style change in a blog post on Friday, arguing it was in line with "long-standing capitalization of other racial and ethnic identifiers such as Latino, Asian American and Native American."

"AP's style is now to capitalize Black in a racial, ethnic or cultural sense, conveying an essential and shared sense of history, identity and community among people who identify as Black, including those in the African diaspora and within Africa," Daniszewski wrote, adding "The lowercase black is a color, not a person."

The updated style guide will also recommend that 'indigenous' be capitalized when referring to the "original inhabitants of a place."


Comment: There's nothing wrong with this in theory. It's the timing that's all wrong. Virtue signalling at its most obvious. The fact that they're (allegedly) still deliberating on what to do about white is just the icing on the cake of cringe.


Health

Ex-head of Chuvashia who sued Putin for 'unlawful dismissal' dies after being hospitalized with Covid-19

Mikhail Ignatiev
© Sputnik / Vladimir SergeevMikhail Ignatiev, ex-head of Chuvashia
One of Russia's more colorful regional heads, Mikhail Ignatyev, has died after being diagnosed with Covid-19. The former top official in Chuvashia was fired from his job earlier this year following a host of embarrassing scandals.

In January, Ignatyev was heavily criticized after calling for critical journalists to be "wiped out." His next gaffe came later that month, when he was filmed humiliating a local firefighter. During a presentation ceremony for new fire trucks, Ignatyev held a set of keys over the head of a fireman, making the emergency services worker jump in the air to collect them. He was removed from his post just days later.

Last month, he started proceedings to sue President Vladimir Putin for alleged unlawful dismissal. Ignatyev, who passed away aged 58 on Thursday, had been in a St. Petersburg hospital suffering from coronavirus. He died of heart failure following a "massive heart attack," complicated by bilateral pneumonia.

Take 2

Football and politics never mix well. Shirts emblazoned with 'Black Lives Matter' legitimise the movement's extreme aims

footballer
© Getty Images / Marc Atkins
English football is right to tackle racism. But by endorsing the controversial manifesto of BLM, it's upset some fans and breached FIFA's own guidelines on politicizing the sport.

English football resumed hostilities this week and, as usual, matches were mired in controversy, not over the failing goal-line technology that denied Sheffield United against Aston Villa in the Premier League, but because all players wore shirts with Black Lives Matter emblazoned across the back, rather than their names.

No one, except the most pig-headed of racists, argues with the sentiment. But it's such a politically loaded and controversial issue in the UK and elsewhere, of course, that football's ruling authority's decision to act in what appears to be such haste, and without any discussion with fans, could well backfire.

The fury among some, outraged at being corralled into a movement in which they'd prefer not to be involved, is palpable. Some have pledged never to buy season tickets again.

That's because the UK arm of Black Lives Matter is not just about achieving racial equality. If it were, then that would be the end of the discussion.

Red Pill

Thought control: Study finds Facebook, YouTube usage linked to belief in coronavirus 'conspiracy theories'

covid
© Hakan Nural | Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
People using social media platforms like Facebook and YouTube to find information about the coronavirus are more likely to believe in conspiracy theories about the disease, according to new research out of the U.K.

The study, carried out by Ipsos Mori for King's College London and published Thursday, provides an insight into how some of the misconceptions around Covid-19 have gained traction as well as where they are sourced.

For example, 30% of Britons surveyed in late May thought that the coronavirus was likely created in a lab, up from 25% at the start of April, while 8% believed the symptoms most people blame on Covid-19 appear to be connected with 5G radiation. A smaller minority (7%) believe there is no hard evidence that the coronavirus exists. Each of these claims have been dismissed by scientists.

The study said 60% of those who believe the virus is linked to 5G radiation get their information from YouTube, compared with 14% of those who think this belief is false. Meanwhile, 56% of people who believe there's no hard evidence Covid-19 exists use Facebook to source their information, nearly three times higher than the 20% who believe otherwise.

Comment: The article talks about "conspiracy theories," such as the coronavirus being created in a lab, but there has been no definite proof or agreement among experts that it WASN'T created in a lab. Basically this whole study is about thought control and labeling anyone who doesn't believe in the official story given by authorities surrounding the coronavirus as a "conspiracy theorist."


Attention

Seattle police investigating shooting in activist-run CHAZ 'autonomous zone', one dead

CHAZ CHOP border entrance
© Lindsey Wasson / ReutersThe so-called ‘Capitol Hill Occupied Protest’ zone in Seattle, Washington. June 14, 2020
US police are investigating a shooting in the so-called Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ) run by activists in downtown Seattle. According to unconfirmed social media reports, at least one person was killed in the incident.

Shots were fired at the main entrance to the enclave, local journalist Andy Ngo wrote on Twitter.

Comment: More footage from the incident:


Jurisdictional issues are being raised



Some have wondered why an 'autonomous zone' would be getting police from the oppressor country involved.





People

Coronavirus vaccine guinea pigs will be military, vulnerable and essential workers - US officials

Corps
© (U.S. Marine Corps/Sgt. Stormy Mendez)Marines with Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2d Marine Division, receive Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals for their role in Operation Gotham, on Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, June 16, 2020.
U.S. service members would be among the first Americans to receive the vaccine against COVID-19 if one is proven to be safe and effective, senior administration officials told reporters Tuesday.

Speaking about the Trump administration's effort to develop, make and distribute a working vaccine against the deadly coronavirus by early next year, officials said those likely to receive it first include the most vulnerable, such as the elderly, those with underlying health conditions, workers in essential businesses and the U.S. military.

"Our role, as the federal government, is to ensure anyone who is vulnerable, cannot afford it and desire it can get it, those critical to infrastructure get it, essential workers get it, and those associated with national defense get it. That's our obligation," the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak in an official capacity.

Comment: And the story comes full circle: CDC suddenly shuts down US Army's Fort Detrick bioweapons lab due to 'lapses in safety'

Although it's nothing new because the military often uses its soldiers as guinea pigs:


Sherlock

Another K-pop singer dies young: Yohan aged 28

Yohan
© InstagramK-pop star Yohan, who has died aged 28.
Kim Jeong-hwan, known as Yohan in the Korean pop group TST, has died aged 28.

TST's record label, KJ Entertainment confirmed the news, saying: "We are sad to relay the most unfortunate, sorrowful news. On June 16, TST member Yohan left this world. The late Yohan's family is currently in deep mourning." The cause of death has not been announced.

Yohan entered the K-pop scene in 2013 with the group NOM (No Other Man),and in 2017 joined the six-piece group TST, who reached the South Korean Top 30 with their EPs Time's Up and Wake Up.

Comment: See also: Disturbing list of K-Pop star deaths leaves many wondering what's behind them


X

'Defund the UN'? World body blasted after tweeting defense of Antifa

Antifa activists
© Reuters / Stephanie KeithAntifa activists fly flags during a protest in Warren, Michigan.
A tweet from Geneva objecting to US authorities describing Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization has provoked calls to defund the United Nations and accusations that the UN is covering for the group.

"UN Human Rights experts express profound concern over a recent statement by the US Attorney-General describing [Antifa] and other anti-fascist activists as domestic terrorists, saying it undermines the rights to freedom of expression and of peaceful assembly in the country," the UN Geneva office, home to the Human Rights Council, tweeted on Friday, accompanied by a photo of the Antifa banner.
No further information was given about who these experts might be, or whether this was the official position of the Human Rights Council, a body the US demonstratively left in June 2018, citing its criticism of Israel.

Comment: See also: Project Veritas releases 'Expose Antifa Part 3': Left-wing militia group Redneck Revolt aims to 'abolish the system, including police'