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China bans exams for six-year-olds stating pressure 'harms health', limits gaming time for under-18s


Hong Kong Free Press
Mon, 30 Aug 2021 07:53 UTC
china school mask
© Noel Celus/AFP.
Students leave school after finishing the first day of the National College Entrance Examination (NCEE), known as “Gaokao”, in Beijing on July 7, 2021.
Beijing on Monday banned written exams for six- and seven-year-olds, as part of sweeping education reforms aimed at relieving pressure on pupils and parents in China's hyper-competitive school system.

China's exam-oriented system previously required students to take exams from first grade onwards, culminating in the feared university entrance exam at age 18 known as the gaokao, where a single score can determine a child's life trajectory.

"Too frequent exams... which cause students to be overburdened and under huge exam pressure," have been axed by the Ministry of Education, according to new guidelines released Monday.

Comment: South China Morning Post reports that the under-18s will be restricted to gaming for one hour a day on weekends and public holidays:
Beijing has issued a new rule limiting the gaming time for players aged under 18 to between 8pm and 9pm only on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and statutory holidays, marking the country's most stringent measure yet to tackle gaming addiction among young people.

The National Press and Publication Administration (NAAP), China's top watchdog for gaming and other forms of online media, formally issued the rules to combat gaming addiction among teenagers, according to a report by state media outlet Xinhua.

The previous rules, introduced in 2019, limited the play time for minors to no more than 90 minutes each day and 3 hours on statutory holidays.
China gaming
© AFP
China’s top watchdog for gaming and other forms of online media, formally issued the rules to combat gaming addiction among teenagers.
While the direct impact on Chinese gaming companies such as Tencent Holdings and NetEase may be limited as players under 18 currently account for only a small part of revenues, over the longer term the new rule could gradually erode the country's player base.


That's not necessarily a bad thing.


The notice also states that companies must strictly implement the real-name registration and login system in their games and not provide access to video games for those who are unregistered.

The gaming unit of Tencent said in a statement on Monday that it supports the new regulation and will implement the new requirements as soon as possible.

"Many parents have said that the gaming addiction problem among teens and children has gravely affected their ability to learn and study as well as their physical and mental health, even causing a series of societal problems," a spokesperson for NAAP told Xinhua.


Parents and experts in the West report similar issues, and, notably, the recommendations are that children's gaming time needs to be restricted.


NAAP said that gaming companies are the main entities responsible for stopping children from becoming addicted to games. Beijing's heightened scrutiny of the industry in recent months has already hit the stock prices of Chinese gaming giants such as Tencent, NetEase and Bilibili.

After a state media article described video games as "spiritual opium" earlier in August, Tencent, the world's largest gaming company by revenue, lost US$43 billion from its market valuation in a matter of hours. Tencent has lost more than US$400 billion in value since a high in February.

In their recent quarterly reports this month, Tencent and Bilibili both emphasised that they have faithfully implemented the anti-addiction measures required by state authorities and that minors have become a small portion of their overall user base.

Tencent said that players under 16 accounted for just 2.6 per cent of its gross gaming receipts in China, with those under 12 accounting for just 0.3 per cent. Bilibili said that minors contributed only 1 per cent of the company's gaming revenue.
Whilst these various bans can and will be circumvented for those who are sufficiently determined, it seems that China's government is attempting to foster a society that it considers will be the most beneficial for its people:

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No Entry

Rand Paul: 'Hatred for Trump' blocking research into ivermectin as COVID-19 treatment

Dominick Mastrangelo
The Hill
Mon, 30 Aug 2021 10:31 UTC
Rand Paul/FDA
© FDA/GOPUSA/KJN
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) suggested researchers are not pursuing ivermectin as a possible COVID-19 treatment because of their disdain for former President Trump. Paul told dozens of constituents at a meeting in a suburb just south of Cincinnati on Friday, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported:
"The hatred for Trump deranged these people so much, that they're unwilling to objectively study it. So someone like me that's in the middle on it, I can't tell you because they will not study ivermectin. They will not study hydroxychloroquine without the taint of their hatred for Donald Trump."
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned Americans last week not to take ivermectin, a drug sometimes used to treat parasitic worm infections in humans and livestock. "You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, y'all. Stop it," the FDA said in a widely shared tweet.

In April, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) concluded after a series of trials that hydroxychloroquine, a drug touted by Trump during his presidency, "had little or no effect on preventing illness, hospitalization or death from COVID-19."

A reporter at the event in Ohio pressed Paul about those warnings from the CDC and FDA.

"I don't know if it works, but I keep an open mind," Paul responded.

Comment: Those who want to skew information will slander the messenger and disavow the proof.

See also:

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Arrow Up

Report: New South African COVID-19 strain is the most mutated one yet

Yaron Steinbuch
New York Post
Mon, 30 Aug 2021 10:50 UTC
two women walk
© Shutterstock/Mukurukuru Media
Rise in covid variant South Africa
A COVID-19 variant first detected in South Africa could be more infectious than other mutations — and may have the potential of being resistant to vaccines, according to a report.

The C.1.2 strain has been linked to "increased transmissibility" and is said to have mutated the most from the original virus, which first emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the Mirror reported.

The strain has a mutation rate of about 41.8 mutations per year, almost double the global mutation rate seen in any other existing variant of concern, according to experts at South Africa's National Institute for Communicable Diseases and the KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform.

The number of C.1.2 genomes in South Africa has risen from 0.2 percent in May to 1.6 percent in June and 2 percent in July, according to scientists, who also have found 14 mutations in nearly 50 percent of the variants that had a C.1.2 sequence.


Comment: Here again is the misconception that the COVID vaccines offer protection. They don't. It is an unverified experiment.

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Pistol

Armed robbers take hostages in deadly bank raids in Brazil city


The Guardian
Mon, 30 Aug 2021 10:23 UTC
woman bank
© Amanda Perobelli/Reuters
Bank in Sao Paulo, Brazil
Bank robbers armed with explosives and high-powered rifles have plunged a Brazilian city into terror early Monday, taking civilians hostage and even putting some on their cars while making their escape.

Video shared on social media showed a booming shootout and men dressed in black marching hostages down a street in Araçatuba, 320 miles from São Paulo and home to almost 200,000 people.

After ransacking at least two bank branches, the criminals drove away with hostages on their cars' roofs, clinging on to keep from sliding off. At least three people were killed in the clash, including two civilians.

The brazen attack is the latest in a series of increasingly violent bank heists in Brazil. Experts believe a pandemic welfare programme for poorer Brazilians has encouraged robbers to plan bold raids in sleepy regional cities where bank branches are storing more cash.

More than 20 heavily armed men carried out the robberies in Araçatuba, using 10 cars, said Álvaro Camilo, the executive secretary of Sao Paulo's military police. As the gang made their getaway, they also left a trail of explosive booby traps across the city. Camilo urged people not to leave their houses until the explosives have been found and deactivated.
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Fire

US drone strike in Kabul reportedly killed 10 civilians

Sophie Mann
Just the News
Mon, 30 Aug 2021 19:05 UTC
afghan children drone
© WION
After a long and hard day at work, Zemari Ahmadi drove to his home in Khwaja Burgha, a working-class neighbourhood just a few miles west of Kabul airport, when the ill-fated US drone attacked a vehicle, initially claimed by the US military that it was laden with bombs and driven a member of the Islamic State group.

As he pulled into the driveway about 4:30 pm (Kabul time), children — his own as well as those of his brothers and other relatives — swarmed around Zemari's Toyota Corolla car.

His 12-year-old son, Farzad, asked if he could park the car, to which Zemari obliged. He put Farzad in the driver's seat and then he switched over to the passenger side.

That's when, the family says, an "American missile", which was fired from a drone, drilled through the car, slammed into the ground and detonated, killing 10 people instantly.

Among the deceased include 40-year-old Zemari, an engineer and employed with a Japanese firm in Kabul, four kids — aged between 2 and 5 — and his 25-year-old nephew who was about to get married, Zemari's brother Emal said on Monday.

Comment: Just the News writes:
The Washington Post reported early Monday morning that a single extended family was the victims of a nearby strike that occurred as the family was returning to their home Sunday afternoon.

"Bodies were covered in blood and shrapnel, and some of the dead children were still inside the car," a neighbor told the outlet.

U.S. Central Command says the strike targeted an Islamic State vehicle bomb that posed an "imminent" threat to the Kabul airport. "We are aware of reports of civilian casualties following our strike on a vehicle in Kabul. It is unclear what may have happened, and we are investigating further. We would be deeply saddened by any potential loss of innocent life," said Central Command in a statement.



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Rocket

Kabul airport comes under rocket fire as US Afghanistan evacuation enters final 48 hours

Hannah Ellis-Petersen
The Guardian
Mon, 30 Aug 2021 18:55 UTC
kabul rockets
Several rockets were fired at Kabul airport on Monday, less than 48 hours before the United States is due to complete its troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Eyewitnesses said the rockets were launched from a car and were aimed towards the airport on Monday morning. It appears Salim Karwan, a neighbourhood adjacent to the airport, was hit in one of the blasts. No one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.

Smoke could be seen rising above buildings in the north of the city, where the Hamid Karzai international airport is located, and gunfire could be heard after the explosions.

Locals reported hearing the activation of airport's missile defence system, and pictures on social media showed shrapnel falling on to rooftops and the street, suggesting that at least one rocket had been intercepted.

Social media posts, which could not immediately be verified, also showed a vehicle in flames after being apparently struck by retaliatory fire.

In Washington, the White House issued a statement saying President Joe Biden was being briefed on "the rocket attack at Hamid Karzai international airport" in Kabul.

Comment: RT reports that IS-K claimed responsibility, claiming to have launched six unguided rockets (at least five of which were reported to have been intercepted by the airport's air defense systems).

Meanwhile on the border with Pakistan, two Pakistani soldiers were killed by militant fire from Afghan militants. The Pakistanis responded, allegedly killing 2-3 and wounding 3 or 4 others (according to their report). TTP (Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan) claimed responsibility but denied suffering any casualties.

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Sheriff

'Peak End of Empire': Met Police SKEWERED for reportedly considering new 'woke gender-neutral uniform' for officers


RT
Mon, 30 Aug 2021 11:54 UTC
London police stadium
© Reuters / Ian Walton
London, Britain.
Scotland Yard has drawn ridicule for indulging in "woke political nonsense" after it emerged that the UK's largest police force is apparently set to conduct a review into whether to issue gender-neutral uniforms to its officers.

The Metropolitan Police is reportedly consulting its 30,000 officers on the current uniform. With the contract with its current uniform supplier set to expire in 2023, the force is said to be reviewing what changes need to be made when a new contract is signed.

According to The Sun, the Met might be violating the Equality Act (2010) by not providing separate uniforms for non-binary and gender-fluid officers. An officer, identified as 'Alex Blue', is quoted by the paper as stating that the lack of an alternative uniform would amount to "indirect discrimination."

Comment: UK police are becoming a parody of themselves. Are they trying to not be taken seriously? Because if so, it's working.

See also:

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Brick Wall

Chase closes Gen. Mike Flynn's bank accounts, cancels credit cards; claims association "creates reputational risk"

Julian Conradson
The Gateway Pundit
Mon, 30 Aug 2021 14:17 UTC
michael flynn

Retired General Michael Flynn
Once again, JP Morgan Chase has used their massive institutional influence to carry out the radical left's bidding against conservatives and dissenters. By the middle of next month, Chase Bank will be closing the personal accounts and credit cards of Retired US General Michael Flynn.

The well respected and highly decorated combat veteran has been a target of the deep state and big tech from the beginning of Trump's presidency. He was dragged through the swamp in the Russian collusion delusion and had already been purged off of mainstream social media sites like Twitter, but that wasn't enough to silence him.

Comment: While Flynn may be a high-profile victim of a political purge, Chase Bank has been clearing its files of "undesirables" of all stripes for a while now.

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NPC

Hipster climate change protesters dumped 120 TONS of garbage in London

Steve Watson
Summit News
Thu, 26 Aug 2021 00:00 UTC
Climate Change Protesters
© Wiktor Szymanowicz/Barcroft Media via Getty Images
Lecturing everyone else on 'saving the planet' while they can't even clean up their own mess

As police stand by and allow hipster 'protesters' under the 'Extinction Rebellion' banner to bring London to a standstill again, it has been revealed that during protests two years ago, the climate change obsessed extremists dumped 120 TONS of garbage on to the streets.

The London Telegraph notes that Nickie Aiken, Conservative MP for Cities of London and Westminster, cited a report pointing to the cleanup costing £50,000 in 2019.

The report notes:
The former leader of City of Westminster Council said: "The disruption to local people and businesses is immeasurable. I was told by the council that last time Extinction Rebellion were here for two weeks, they cleared 120 tons of rubbish left behind. That added £50,000 to their costs. This is local people's council tax."
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Stock Down

An economic catastrophe is looming

Damien Grant
Stuff.co.nz
Sun, 29 Aug 2021 05:00 UTC
emergency sign
© Jason Leung/Unsplash
The Government has pulled many economic levers to keep the nation going through Covid-19, but how will it all end?
While we are focused on one crisis, another looms off-stage, waiting patiently for her opportunity to shine.

How long we will need to wait for the final aria I can't and won't predict, but to place our current peril into perspective, I'd like to take you for a trip down a memory-holed lane. Back to December 5, 1996. For reference, the Nasdaq on that day was 1287.

Alan Greenspan, then chairman of the US Federal Reserve, gave his now-famous speech, posing the question: "How do we know when irrational exuberance has unduly escalated asset values?"

Comment: As we've seen with the globally coordinated coronavirus hysteria, it's probable that the next crash will be contrived or hijacked by these same nefarious forces with the intent to further their enforcement of the dystopian agenda:

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