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US ranked second-worst place to raise a family among wealthy countries, study says


Sputnik
Tue, 28 Jul 2020 09:10 UTC
lonely girl
© Pixabay
New research by travel website Asher & Lyric has found that the US is the second-worst wealthy nation in the world in which to raise a family in 2020.

The travel site ranked 35 countries that are members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), an intergovernmental economic organisation which includes most of the world's developed nations.

"We only used OECD countries because they have reliable data in a wide range of key topics useful for this study. Our definitive 'Raising a Family Index' is comprised of 30 critical statistics from trusted international sources broken down into six categories identifying favourable conditions for raising a family," Asher & Lyric wrote on its website.

Comment: It's likely the only people surprised by the outcome of this study are Americans.

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Arrow Down

Vegan terrorism: Ukraine's President wins freedom for 13 hijacked bus hostages by urging people to watch 2005 vegan documentary Earthlings

Ross Ibbetson
Daily Mail
Wed, 22 Jul 2020 11:49 UTC
ukraine bus hostage vegan

In the last few hours Krovishey had released an elderly woman, a teenager and a young pregnant woman.
Ukraine's president won freedom for 13 hijacked bus hostages last night by posting a video on Facebook urging people to watch a vegan documentary after a ten minute chat with the maniac holding them.

'A 2005 film, Earthlings, everybody should watch it,' President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in the six-second clip which was later deleted.

Maxim Krovishey, 44, lobbed a grenade out of the vehicle and fired twice at officers during a terrifying 12-hour standoff with police after he stormed the bus at around 9.25am in Lutsk, a city in the northwest of the country.

Comment: We've said it many times before: Vegans are crazy.

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Propaganda

Barbara Kay: Why I'm leaving the National Post

Barbara Kay
The Post Millennial
Fri, 24 Jul 2020 22:18 UTC
barbara kay national post

In a Canadian media industry that regularly lauds itself for courageous truth-telling, the goal is now to hide one’s true opinion rather than declare it.
It's been two decades since my first byline appeared in the National Post. For a woman who already was well into middle age when her career began, the experience has been a thrill and a privilege. Perhaps more importantly, it's been lively, energizing and fun. The National Post was conceived in 1998 as a safe haven from the stale pieties that dominated (and still dominate) the legacy Canadian media. Unfortunately, the spirit now has gone out of the place. And I've decided to step away from my regular column, at least for now. I've been noticing for a while that much of the best writing about Canada is increasingly taking place on platforms that didn't exist until recently (and in some cases aren't even Canadian). Numerous international writers whom I admire have decided to find new ways to reach their audience. I will now join their ranks.

There's nothing the Canadian media loves more than stories about bitter infighting within its own ranks. And I wish I had a shocking tale of censorship or workplace bullying to supply to those media critics who trade on schadenfreude. Alas, I don't. In fact, I continue to respect and appreciate the Post editors who've worked with me over the years. But the severe pressures they now experience no longer can be compartmentalized within their managerial sphere. They have spilled out into their relationship with their columnists, spoiling the weekly rites of editorial collaboration that once were one of the great joys of this job.

Comment: More from Barbara Kay:

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Clipboard

600,000 mistakenly told they've had covid: 'I have not been tested'


Conservative Fighters
Mon, 27 Jul 2020 06:35 UTC
Lab test
Tricare, a health care program of the United States Department of Defense Military Health System, mistakenly told more than 600,000 people they have had the China-originated novel coronavirus, asking the "COVID-19 survivors" to consider donating blood for research.

In a mass email sent on July 17, more than 600,000 Tricare users in the military health system's East Region were asked to consider donating blood for research based on their supposed status as COVID-19 "survivors," Military.com reported last week. As noted in the report, "31,000 persons affiliated with the U.S. military have been diagnosed with the coronavirus," showing a clear error in the mass email.

"As a survivor of COVID-19, it's safe to donate whole blood or blood plasma, and your donation could help other COVID-19 patients," the email stated. "Your plasma likely has antibodies (or proteins) present that might help fight the coronavirus infection. Currently, there is no cure for COVID-19. However, there is information that suggests plasma from COVID-19 survivors, like you, might help some patients recover more quickly from COVID-19."

One beneficiary posted to Facebook about the email, highlighting that he was never tested for COVID despite being told he has had the virus by Tricare. "Just wondering [if] anybody [got] an email from Tricare saying since you are a COVID survivor, please donate your plasma.?? I have NOT been tested," the user posted to social media, according to the report. "Just remember all those people inputting data are human and make mistakes."

Comment: This is what makes 'contact tracing' all the more nefarious. If they are (as often is the case) using databases of people that are 'registered' as having covid, and you come into contact with them (despite the fact that they were never tested or it was in error), you will be flagged and subject to whatever other measures they come up with, for no reason at all.

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Bullseye

A classic fallacious argument: "If masks don't work, then why do surgeons wear them?"

Jim Meehan MD
meehanmd.com
Wed, 22 Jul 2020 05:49 UTC
face mask
A response to people who use the classic fallacious argument, "Well, if masks don't work, then why do surgeons wear them?"

I'm a surgeon that has performed over 10,000 surgical procedures wearing a surgical mask. However, that fact alone doesn't really qualify me as an expert on the matter. More importantly, I am a former editor of a medical journal. I know how to read the medical literature, distinguish good science from bad, and fact from fiction. Believe me, the medical literature is filled with bad fiction masquerading as medical science. It is very easy to be deceived by bad science.

Since the beginning of the pandemic I've read hundreds of studies on the science of medical masks. Based on extensive review and analysis, there is no question in my mind that healthy people should not be wearing surgical or cloth masks. Nor should we be recommending universal masking of all members of the population. That recommendation is not supported by the highest level of scientific evidence.

First, let's be clear. The premise that surgeons wearing masks serves as evidence that "masks must work to prevent viral transmission" is a logical fallacy that I would classify as an argument of false equivalence, or comparing "apples to oranges."
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Shopping Bag

When it comes to economic suffering, some parts of the US are feeling it far more than others

Michael Snyder
The Most Important News
Sun, 26 Jul 2020 00:00 UTC
New York City
2020 has been a very tough year for the U.S. as a whole, but some portions of the country have been hit much harder than others. For example, if you live in a rural area that hasn't seen any civil unrest and that hasn't been hit very hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, the way that you are living your life now may seem nearly unchanged from the way you were living your life in 2019. But if you live in an urban area that has experienced endless protests and rioting and that has seen COVID-19 sweep through local neighborhoods like wildfire, your life in 2020 may look radically different from the way it looked in 2019. Unfortunately, conditions in our largest cities are not likely to improve dramatically any time soon.

But many people that live in rural communities are feeling pretty good about things right now. Even though more than 52 million Americans have filed new claims for unemployment benefits over the last 18 weeks, the official unemployment rate in many rural counties is still in the single digits.

I know that may be difficult to believe, but that is what the numbers tell us.

Comment: And the sad fact of the matter is that we ain't seen nothing yet:

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Stop

D.C. exempts lawmakers, government employees from new mask order

Josh Christenson
The Washington Free
Thu, 23 Jul 2020 11:45 UTC
Mayor Muriel Bowser of Washington, D.C.
© Getty Images
Mayor Muriel Bowser of Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., mayor Muriel Bowser (D.) issued a universal masking order for her city Wednesday but exempted lawmakers, judges, and federal employees.

The order mandates the wearing of masks in all indoor and outdoor settings where social distancing cannot be observed. No other designated profession is exempt from wearing a mask, except when a piece of work equipment would preclude mask use. Consequences for ignoring the order include fines of up to $1,000.

The mayor's office did not respond to a request for comment.

Comment: While the mandating of wearing of masks controversy rages on, one thing is becoming clearer among some of these political types: they hold the authoritarian and incredibly hypocritical "do I say, not as I do" perspective of the rules they seek to impose on others.

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Stock Down

UK's grim economic forecast: Lockdown to depress GDP till 2024, unemployment to double

Annabel Banks
Ernst & Young
Mon, 27 Jul 2020 19:57 UTC
England people
The EY ITEM Club Summer Forecast has significantly downgraded the near-term economic outlook for the UK with GDP now expected to contract by 11.5% over the course of 2020. This compares to the 8.0% contraction predicted just last month in the EY ITEM Club's Interim Forecast, and almost double the 6.8% contraction expected in April's Spring Forecast.

With hopes of a V-shaped recovery fading, the UK economy is now not expected to match its Q4 2019 size until late-2024 - much later than the early-2023 prediction from the June forecast. Additionally, the EY ITEM Club now expects the Q2 GDP contraction to come in at a record 20% - a sizeable downgrade from the 15% contraction predicted last month.

Positively, growth prospects for 2021 have been raised slightly, with the economy now forecast to grow 6.5% over the year, up from the 5.6% predicted in June's forecast, and up from 4.5% in April's forecast. The EY ITEM Club expects the economy to return to growth in Q3 2020 with expansion around 12% quarter-on-quarter (q/q).

Comment: See also:

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Propaganda

US police are wearing imaginary CGI armor to appease Putin, suggests acclaimed Russiagate huckster


RT
Mon, 27 Jul 2020 21:41 UTC
police fake armor
© Twitter / @CheriJacobus ; @BrentAllpress
Commentary on Donald Trump's decision to send federal police to riot-stricken cities has taken a creative turn: according to a celebrated Russiagate disciple, Putin has "ordered" US cops to wear cyberpunk armor that doesn't exist.

Cheri Jacobus, a popular #NeverTrump Twitter pundit and Russian collusion peddler, has joined the growing chorus of outrage over the use of federal law enforcement to help maintain order in Portland, Oregon, which has seen two months of increasingly violent demonstrations.

While most critics have focused on allegations that federal officers are too militarized and use excessive force against protesters, Jacobus took aim at the glaring elephant in the room: Trump is equipping law enforcement personnel with terrifying body armor, at the behest of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
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Green Light

How Russia won race for Covid-19 vaccine: Decades of research, not political power plays


RT
Mon, 27 Jul 2020 19:50 UTC
russia vaccine coronavirus
© Russian Defense Ministry / RIA
A vial containing a Russian Covid-19 vaccine undergoing human trials
Five months into the pandemic, Russia's first Covid-19 vaccine is in its final development stages, already proven safe. Decades of research - not spying on foreign know-how - led to the breakthrough, a top scientist told RT.

Like their colleagues in the world's other leading nations, Russian scientists have traveled a bumpy road from the discovery of coronavirus to the development of a promising vaccine in record time.

This month, Moscow's famed Sechenov University announced that the first phase of clinical trials for a vaccine had been a success. Some 38 volunteers who took part in human trials have been released with little or no side effects recorded.

Comment: While a vaccine for the vast majority isn't even necessary, it's likely the vaccines from Russia aren't going to be as dodgy as those produced by the blatantly compromised companies in the US: And check out SOTT radio's:

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