Society's ChildS


Eye 1

Germany needs $1 trillion to achieve 2030 green energy goals - Bloomberg

german energy gap
Germany has set aside more than €260 billion ($275 billion) to deal with the immediate risks of an energy crisis triggered by Russia's war in Ukraine, but the ultimate fix will be much costlier — if the country can pull it off at all.

The pending price tag for future-proofing the country's energy system is projected to amount to over $1 trillion by 2030, according to BloombergNEF. The costs include investments in upgrading power grids and above all new generation to manage the phase out of nuclear and coal plants, handle increased demand from electric cars and heating systems, and meet climate commitments.

The transition will require the installation of solar panels covering the equivalent of 43 soccer fields and 1,600 heat pumps every day. It also needs 27 new onshore and four offshore wind plants to be built per week, according to a wish list presented by Chancellor Olaf Scholz during a recent visit to Volkswagen AG's headquarters in Wolfsburg.

Comment: Germany has no realistic idea how it will achieve its goals, but, in the meantime, it will carry on with shutting down power plants, which will result in unimaginable damage to the economy, and, ultimately, the suffering and death of a great many people who will lose their jobs, freeze, and starve.


Megaphone

Thousands protest in Portugal over cost-of-living crisis, 50% of workers earn less than $1000 a month

Portugal protest
© REUTERS/Pedro NunesPeople shout slogans during a demonstration against the mounting costs of living, in Lisbon, Portugal, February 25, 2023.
Thousands took to Lisbon's streets on Saturday to demand better living conditions at a time high inflation is making it even tougher for people to make ends meet.

Portugal is one of Western Europe's poorest countries, with government data showing more than 50% of workers earned less than 1,000 euros ($1,054.60) per month last year. The monthly minimum wage is 760 euros.

House prices in Portugal rose 18.7% in 2022, the biggest increase in three decades, and rents have also increased significantly in part due to a speculative property bubble.

Comment: Protests against the deteriorating living standards are surging across Europe - France has already recorded just one protest with a massive 2 million people in attendance; Spain had well over 500,000 - and it's likely that as a variety of avoidable issues converge, life for the many is only going to get worse, and protests will


Dominoes

US heading for 'national divorce' - congresswoman

Greene
© Win McNamee/Getty ImagesMarjorie Taylor Greene during Joe Biden's State of the Union address • February 7, 2023
Republican firebrand Marjorie Taylor Greene has doubled down on her recent statement that she believes red and blue states in the US are hurtling towards a "national divorce," but says she doesn't want disagreements in the political ecosystem to incite another civil war.

Georgia Representative Taylor Greene, a key ally of Donald Trump in his 'America First' and 'MAGA' movements, proposed a separation of states by their political ideologies on February 20, which marked President's Day. She complained that
"from the sick and disgusting woke culture issues shoved down our throats to the Democrat's (sic) traitorous America Last policies, we are done."
Following backlash, Taylor Greene doubled down on the comments on Sunday, tweeting:
"Washington and the political world are totally disconnected from real Americans and how they think [and] feel and they hate it when I'm right. Whether anyone likes it or not we are headed for a national divorce, but I don't want a civil war, and it should never come to that."

Star of David

Former US ambassador accuses Israel of 'creeping annexation' of the West Bank

womanbaby
© Abir Sultan/DPAWoman and baby in the settlement of Sde Boaz in West Bank • February 16, 2023
A former US ambassador to Israel has accused Benjamin Netanyahu's far-right government of breaking a written agreement with Washington by legalising a group of hardline nationalist and religious settlements in the West Bank.

Daniel Kurtzer, who served in Tel Aviv during the George W Bush administration, also warned that some ministers in Netanyahu's new coalition are not interested in a peace agreement with the Palestinians. He called on the Biden administration to be more proactive in stopping Israel's "creeping annexation" of the West Bank.

Kurtzer said the retroactive authorisation of the nine so-called outposts earlier this month, alongside plans to build thousands of new homes in larger West Bank settlements, is a further blow to a deal between Israel and the Palestinians.


Comment: The Biden administration is the opposite side of the coin. It prioritizes migrants over citizens.


Comment: Move the peace process forward? Kurtzer has no clue.


Handcuffs

'Impossible to escape' prison accepts first inmates

inmates, prisoners, Terrorist Confinement Centre, CECOT
© AFP / Salvadorean presidencyThe arrival of inmates to the Terrorist Confinement Centre (CECOT) in Tecoluca, El Slavador.
The first 2,000 inmates have been transferred to a mega-prison set up by authorities in El Salvador amid a crackdown on violent street gangs, the Central American nation's President Nayib Bukele has announced.

Photos and videos made at the Center for the Confinement of Terrorism (CECOT) on Friday showed numerous heavily tattooed men stripped-down to their underpants, arriving at the facility under the supervision of armed guards in full riot gear.

The inmates were filmed crouching down with their hands behind their heads before being positioned on the floor next to each other and chained.

President Bukele said on Twitter that the men were "gang members" and that CECOT will "be their new home, where they'll stay for decades, mixed up, unable to do any more harm to the population."


Family

Tennessee legislature passes bill to ban medical gender transitions on children

child in hospital
© Getty Images/HRAUN
The Tennessee State Legislature passed a bill that would ban the use of puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and surgical operations on children in order to "change" their gender. The legislation now awaits Gov. Bill Lee's signature.

Lawmakers in the State House passed the legislation 77 to 16, with three Democrats voting with the Republicans.

After allowing for a grace period for those who have already begun to attempt a transition, the bill would authorize the attorney general to investigate healthcare providers who violate the ban, who could be fined up to $25,000.

House Majority Leader William Lamberth remarked that "These children do not need these medical procedures to be able to flourish as adults."

"They need mental health treatment. They need love and support, and many of them need to be able to grow up to become the individuals that they were intended to be," Lamberth went on to say.

Similar bills have gained traction in various other Republican-led states, including Nebraska, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and South Carolina.

Meanwhile, the American Civil Liberties Union has signaled that it intends to challenge the bill in court if it is signed into law. "All Tennesseans should have access to the health care they need to survive and thrive," Lucas Cameron-Vaughn, an ACLU-TN staff attorney, remarked in a statement before going on to argue "Legislators are risking trans young people's health, wellbeing and safety with this dangerous legislation."

Tennessee lawmakers promised to take action after an investigation from Daily Wire host Matt Walsh found that Vanderbilt officials had referred to transitions, particularly sex change operations, as "big money makers."

Comment: See also: Tennessee legislature passes bill to ban drag shows in front of kids


Yoda

Tennessee legislature passes bill to ban drag shows in front of kids

Anderson Distillery Drag Show
© Video Screenshot/Tayler Hansen
Tennessee lawmakers passed a bill that would prevent drag shows from taking place on public property or in front of children.

The bill classifies "male and female impersonators" as adult cabaret performers, while also banning "adult-oriented performances that are harmful to minors." The legislation, SB3, now makes its way to Republican Gov. Bill Lee's office.

State Rep. Chris Todd, R-Madison County, filed the bill, saying "this is a common sense child-safety bill." The bill, which passed by a vote of 79 to 19, makes it illegal to host an "adult cabaret performance" in a location where children are present. The legislation, which was proposed by Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson also bans adult cabaret performances on public property.

Comment: See also: Tennessee GOP hits wokeness with one-two legislative punch, filing bills to ban public drag shows and 'gender-affirming' mutilations of children


Clipboard

Ukraine fatigue: Poll finds 46% see Ukraine-Russian war as stalemate, up from 38% in December

biden zelensky
© AP Photo/Evan VucciUS President Joe Biden, left, walks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at St. Michaels Golden-Domed Cathedral during an unannounced visit, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, Feb. 20, 2023.
Americans increasingly perceive the Russian war against Ukraine as a stalemate, as American taxpayers continue to fund Ukraine's border security, a Rasmussen Reports poll found Friday.

The poll asked respondents, "Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year. Who is currently winning the war, Russia or Ukraine? Or is the war in Ukraine basically a stalemate now?"

Forty-six percent said the war was a stalemate, up from 38 percent in December. Just 21 percent said Ukraine is winning, down from 32 percent in December. Nineteen percent said Russia is winning the war. Another 14 percent said they are unsure who is winning.

The poll sampled 900 likely voters from February 19-20 with a 3 point margin of error.

Comment: There's going to be a lot of surprised faces as Russia finishes rolling up Bakhmut, regains the territory it ceded in Liman and steamrolls it way past Ukraine's last remaining defense line. It won't be quick, but according to rational analysts like Col Douglas McGregor, Scott Ritter and Brian Berletic, it is inevitable.


Stop

Paul Ryan will skip Republican National Convention if Trump wins primary

Paul Ryan
© AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite
Paul Ryan, a member of the Fox Corporation Board of Directors, said this weekend he will skip the 2024 Republican National Convention if former President Donald Trump wins the Republican Party primary.

In an interview on WISN ABC, Ryan was asked where he would be during the 2024 convention held in Milwaukee.

"Where will you be?" the host asked.

"It depends on who the nominee is," Ryan replied. "I'll be here if it's not named somebody Trump."

"You won't show up if it's someone — ," the host said before Ryan quickly cut in.

"Yeah, I'm not interested in participating, no," Ryan retorted.

"Even if in Wisconsin?" the host asked.

Ryan replied, "Even Wisconsin":

Comment: Ah, shucks. We were so looking forward to seeing Ryan at the RNC... NOT!


Cell Phone

Young people turning to TikTok for health information - study

Tiktok
© Lionel BONAVENTURE / AFPThis photo taken on November 21, 2019, shows the logo of the social media video sharing app Tiktok displayed on a tablet screen in Paris.
Millions of millennials and Generation Z members are using social media to seek out information on health conditions, according to a new study in the US, UK, Germany, China and Japan.

One third, or 33% of Gen Z members - those born between the late 1990s and early 2010s - use apps including TikTok to discuss illnesses, according to the study by Hall & Partners and the healthcare consultancy ThinkNext. Meanwhile, 26% of millennials are using social media to research their health issues.

The study found that more than six million people in the UK alone turn to social media for advice on dealing with chronic conditions or general health issues.

Gen X (those in their 40s and 50s) and Baby Boomers (those in their 60s and 70s) are less inclined to rely on social media, with only 14% and 5% respectively searching for health information on such platforms.

Across all generations, 52% said they have used at least one virtual health tool and/or channel more than once.