Society's Child
UK medical journal The Lancet has just published a familiar, downbeat assessment of the future of climate change and human health. The latest edition of its Countdown on Health and Climate Change, an annual analysis that tracks progress across 41 key indicators, examines the impact on human health if the world either takes action to meet the Paris Agreement targets or continues with 'business as usual'.
The project is a collaboration between 120 experts from 35 institutions including the World Health Organisation (WHO), World Bank, University College London, and Tsinghua University in China.

Pope Francis arrives Nov. 14, 2019, for an audience at the Vatican with participants in an international conference on protecting children and preventing their exploitation online.
Francis spoke at the start of a Vatican conference on "Promoting Digital Child Dignity" that brought companies like Apple Inc, Alphabet Inc's Google, Microsoft Corp and Facebook together with child protection groups and law enforcement and judicial officials.
"Companies that provide (internet) services have long considered themselves mere suppliers of technological platforms, neither legally nor morally responsible for the way they are used," Francis said.
"There is a need to ensure that investors and managers remain accountable, so that the good of minors and society is not sacrificed to profit."
Francis said the Church's "painful and tragic experience" with its own sexual abuse crisis gave it a "duty to approach these issues with a long-term vision".

Police and emergency vehicles on the scene of a shooting at Saugus high school in Santa Clarita
The Los Angeles County sheriff's department said the suspected gunman, an Asian male wearing black clothing who was last seen at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita, was at large.
"This is an active shooter situation," said a tweet from the Santa Clarita Valley sheriff's office. "If you live in neighborhoods anywhere near Saugus High, PLEASE LOCK DOORS and stay inside. If you see suspect, male dark clothing, in backyards, etc. CALL 911"
Comment: KTLA5 reports at least five victims have been hospitalized:
Around 7:30 a.m., deputies responded to a report of shots fired on the campus, located at 21900 Centurion Way, the Santa Clarita Sheriff's Station said in a series of tweets.RT reports:
At least five victims have been hospitalized, including two in critical condition, according to Henry Mayo Hospital.
The Los Angeles County Fire Department indicated there were six to seven victims, but officials were not sure if all of them had been shot.
The shooter is described as an Asian male wearing black clothing, according to the Sheriff's Department.
Sheriff Alex Villanueva told KTLA that the department has identified the suspect, who appears to be a student. He did not release the student's name.
Authorities are set to serve a search warrant at a home in the area, the sheriff added.
Residents who live anywhere near Saugus High are being told to lock their doors, stay inside and call 911 if they see the suspect. Everyone else is being asked to avoid the area.
Parents will be able to pick up their students at Central Park at 27150 Bouquet Canyon Road.
KTLA's Nidia Becerra, Anthony Kurzweil and Kristina Bravo contributed to this story.
Police responded to a shooting at Saugus High School, around 40 miles north of Los Angeles, early Thursday morning. Local media reports three casualties, but police have not yet confirmed this number.
Video footage from the scene showed lines of students being evacuated with their hands over their heads, and paramedics wheeling what appeared to be wounded students out on gurneys.
Around 2,440 students are enrolled at Saugus High School, which serves the city of Santa Clarita.

Boeing is abandoning robotic production machinery, known as Fuselage Automated Upright Build, or FAUB, used to add fasteners on 777 fuselages.
Boeing said Wednesday it is reverting to an older approach that "has proven more reliable, requiring less work by hand and less rework, than what the robots were capable of."
The robotic system entailed holding the large curved metal panels that make up the 777 fuselage sections right-side up in a cradle as the moving robots stitched the panels together, drilling holes and adding tens of thousands of fasteners.
Because this was different from the traditional build process in which the lower fuselage was built upside down, then flipped before the upper fuselage was added, Boeing awkwardly dubbed it the "Fuselage Automated Upright Build" process or FAUB.
Benjamin was accused of assaulting Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-Florida) - months after the alleged incident - when over a dozen officers surrounded her home on Wednesday in Washington, DC.
In footage she posted to Facebook, Benjamin strenuously denies the accusations, explaining that she was the one assaulted - pushed and pulled by right-wing Venezuelans ("big guys") supporting the US-backed opposition leader Juan Guaido at an anti-Maduro press conference.
Unable to secure a warrant or convince Benjamin to voluntarily go back to the station with them without one, the police ultimately chose not to detain her, according to journalist Anya Parampil, who was with Benjamin at the embassy in May. Even though police insisted they had footage of the "assault," after reviewing it they apparently chose not to proceed with the arrest.
"Operational suitability of the F-35 fleet remains below service expectations", Behler told the US House Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness and Tactical Air and land Forces. "No F-35 variant meets these specified reliability or maintainability metrics".Behler explained that the F-35 aircraft breaks down more often and the necessary repairs take more time than expected.
Comment: The Pentagon won't be giving the Russians any competition for military equipment any time soon:
- Russia's Su-35 is the plane the US Air Force should fear
- Russia's next-gen MiG-35 fighters superior to F-35, half the price
- Russia's superior military technology which was not mentioned in Putin's speech
- Pentagon report: Can't aim guns, short-lived, the troubled F-35 jet reveals more problems
- Trump demands NATO allies to spend more, meanwhile Pentagon buys $1.2K mugs, $10K toilet seats
- Poland balks at "unacceptable" $10.5 billion cost for US Patriot missiles that don't work

Worcester College's (pictured) provost is now facing a furious backlash after trying to abolish the centuries-old customs of standing for dons and saying grace before meals
Worcester College's provost is now facing a furious backlash after trying to abolish the centuries-old customs of standing for dons and saying grace before meals.
Students said they had been told by catering staff that they were no longer required to get up when senior academics entered and left the dining hall.
They have also been informed about proposals to axe the Anglican Grace, which is read before meals in Latin, and replace it with a 'range of set texts of thanksgiving from any world culture, religious or not'.
Professor Kate Tunstall's plans have infuriated students from the junior common room, who held a vote on the issue.
The majority were in favour of preserving the traditional practices and have decided to petition the governing body to reinstate the standing policy.
Comment: And in related news about cultural traditions being relegated to the dust bin....
Lily Allen has said the country should stop singing the traditional anthem "Rule, Britannia!" because of its problematic lyrics.
Writing "Sorry, what?" on her Instagram story, the singer singled out the following lyrics:"Britons never, never, never shall be slaves. The nations, not so blest as thee, must in their turn, to tyrants fall, while thou shalt flourish, shalt flourish great and free, the dread and envy of them all."After the anthem featured in many of the Remembrance Day services last weekend, Allen wrote: "I think we should not sing this song anymore."
Allen's comments sparked a backlash on social media, with one Instagram user writing: "You should respect the fallen, who gave you the chance to sing and make a career."
In response, Allen called the widespread criticism "pretty pathetic", adding: "Anyway, I don't really give a s***, that song is jank and should go in the bin. Besides men and women died for our right to express our opinions soooo..."
"Rule, Britannia!" is a patriotic song written in 1740, originating from a poem by James Thomson.
Disney+ is the studio's long-awaited multi-billion foray into the streaming wars. Its back catalogue includes classic children's films, Star Wars feature films, Marvel and new television series. This material stretches back almost ninety years, and society has changed dramatically over that period. This presents Disney with a problem. Depictions of ethnic minorities, foreign cultures and women in old material are often at odds with current views.
Once they won Oscars - but now you are not allowed to see them
Disney has taken steps to soften controversial material. The Jim Crow character - a caricature of black Americans - has been edited out of Dumbo in the version for Disney+. The Siamese Cat song from Lady & The Tramp will be changed in the forthcoming live-action remake.
One film not on the Disney+ schedule is the musical Song of the South (1946). It features Uncle Remus, a black main character-narrator (played James Baskett), telling folk tales about animals. It was an innovative color film that combined live action and animation. Despite its success, the film was later criticized as being too sympathetic towards Reconstruction Era America and reinforcing negative racial stereotypes. Disney has since distanced itself from the film. The movie has never been released on home video in the USA, though it has been released in non-American regions. This suppression of Song of the South has deprived American audiences of Baskett's Academy Award-winning performance.
Flying national and indigenous flags and chanting pro-Morales slogans, the protest march met a forceful police response in Bolivia's administrative capital on Wednesday, facing down volleys of tear gas from armored security forces, dramatic footage captured by Ruptly shows.
Comment: Without quorum or vote, random blonde declares herself 'interim president' in Bolivia
Opposition politician Jeanine Añez has declared herself "interim president" of Bolivia without a vote, but the party of ousted President Evo Morales said that the Senate had no quorum and the legislature's session was not legal.[..]
While opposition activists claimed that Añez's declaration was in line with the Bolivian constitution, lawmakers from the ousted president's Movement for Socialism called the assembly session illegal. They have refused to attend the proceedings, saying that armed groups loyal to the opposition controlled the roads and could not guarantee their safety. [..]
Morales was one of the few Latin American leaders bucking the US line on Venezuela and supporting Maduro.
- Resignation of Bolivia's Evo Morales was no victory for democracy, but a US-sponsored coup
- Bolivia Coup Led by Christian Fascist Paramilitary Leader And Millionaire - With Foreign Support
- Bolivian coup comes less than a week after Morales stopped multinational firm's lithium deal

A protester is seen in front of a fire in the Mong Kok area in Hong Kong, China November 11, 2019.
The assault was reportedly sparked by a political disagreement between the woman and a group of armed demonstrators. Video of the attack shows the woman trying to walk away, only to be thrown to the ground by one of the black-clad rioters. One of the men then uses what appears to be a metal rod to beat her over the head. The woman then sits on the pavement as the group surrounds her and taunts her. A journalist then helps her to her feet as blood trickles down the side of her face. She attempts to leave the scene, but the rioters catch up to her and begin to beat her with their rods once again. A man then shields her with his body as she sits curled up on the ground.










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