Society's ChildS


Megaphone

52% of French people want 'social explosion' protest movement over deteriorating living conditions, Yellow Vest's renew rallies in Paris


Al Mayadeen
Sat, 07 Jan 2023 20:59 UTC
yellow vests
© AFPDemonstrators gather near the Arc de Triumphe in Paris during protest
France's protest movement, the Yellow Vests (Gilet Jaunes), mobilized on Saturday, to protest rising inflation and the government's plans to push forward pension reform, RIA Novosti reported.

The movement also protested against the government's repeated usage of "Article 49.3" which, in their opinion, cut short democratic, legislative debate in order to adopt the budget for 2023.

Comment: Andalou Agency reports on the findings of the new poll that reveals over half of French people are outraged over Macron's proposed reforms and the state of their nation:
As the details of the French government's controversial new pension reform plan become clearer, a poll found that 52% of those asked said they would like to see France experience a "social explosion" in the coming months with the rise of a "Yellow Vests-type movement."

This is the conclusion of a survey conducted Thursday by the French polling institute Ifop, which also found that 79% of the respondents also consider the scenario of an imminent "social explosion" including a new protest movement, to be realistic.

It is the second highest figure ever recorded by the polling institute since it was founded in 1998.

Only in November 2020 was the figure higher, at 85%. At that time, it was due to the government's strict coronavirus restrictions, including a second lockdown.

According to the latest survey, 48% of French people are "outraged" over the country's economic and social situation.

Some 32% declared that they are "resigned" to the situation, while only 18% said they are "confident."

Credit goes to French citizens for their perspicacity; because not all the peoples of Europe (or elsewhere in the world, for that matter), that are facing a similarly dire situation at home, seem to be able to read the signs, and plan to take action accordingly:

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No Entry

California vehicle ban will force 70,000 big rig trucks off road, threatening significant supply chain disruptions

Andrew Chamings
SF Gate
Wed, 04 Jan 2023 14:38 UTC
truck driver
© Getty ImagesExceptions to the rule include vehicles that travel less than 1,000 miles a year.
The final rule in a set of regulations adopted 15 years ago takes effect this week, banning some 70,000 big rigs from California roads.

A set of clean air regulations implemented by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) in 2008, and later signed into law as Senate Bill 1, states that any diesel vehicles weighing over 14,000 pounds and built before 2010 are banned from operating on California roads as of Jan. 1, 2023.


Comment: Whilst California is concerned about air quality meanwhile the number of people living in tent cities grows, overdose deaths surge, violent crime soars, and former citizens feel forced to flee: The exodus from 'liberal' US cities is accelerating, new census data shows


"Diesel exhaust is responsible for 70% of the cancer risk from airborne toxics," CARB states on its site. "Therefore, by January 1, 2023, nearly all trucks and buses will be required to have 2010 or newer model year engines to reduce particulate matter (PM) and oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions."

The agency estimates that around 200,000 vehicles, including 70,000 big rig trucks, do not comply with the rule and will be prohibited from operating in the state, according to KCRA. Exceptions to the rule will be made for vehicles that have replaced their engine with one manufactured after 2010, and vehicles that travel less that 1,000 miles a year. The law will be enforced by DMV denying registrations to non-compliant trucks and buses, and CARB's enforcement unit will conduct audits of commercial fleets that may result in citations.

Comment: California may achieve its goal of reducing smog, somewhat, meanwhile the rest of the US that relies on these trucks will either be forced to go pay more for the products once alternative, more costly, routes are found, or simply have to go without; and some of these supplies may serve a critical function that, when removed, will wreak havoc on people's lives.

We're already seeing the warnings signs of another, even greater, disruption of the supply chain:

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Popcorn

Wood pellet shortage forces UK households to burn cat litter, top supplier in Russia is sanctioned

Hannah Boland
The Telegraph
Sat, 07 Jan 2023 20:53 UTC
wood pellets
© Krisztian Bocsi/BloombergA stack of wood pellets at the Hans Engelke Energie OHG depot in Berlin, Germany, on Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2022. For many Europeans, the key concern during the current energy crisis is doing whatever it takes to stay warm in the coming months.
Jollyes, one of the UK's largest pet food stores, said its cat litter suppliers were "working overtime to fulfill demand" for wood pellets, after a sharp jump in sales earlier this winter.


Comment: And Europe has had a relatively balmy winter thus far.


It said this came in the wake of "a lot of chatter on social media about using wood pellet cat litter as household fuel in the last few weeks around the cost of living crisis".

Millions of households across the UK have experienced jumps in their energy bills this year, after Russia's invasion of Ukraine sparked turmoil in the international markets.

Comment: Shortages of all kinds are on the increase, and for some products an alternative supplier either doesn't exist, or, for example with food, it will take at least one growing season to restock, and that's only if the businesses are still going to help replenish it:

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Fire

Portland arson suspect charged for church fire - historic 1905 house of worship to be demolished

Danielle Wallace
Fox News
Thu, 05 Jan 2023 18:48 UTC
Old Portland Korean Church arson
© Greg Mur/ Portland Fire & Rescue Flames pierce through Old Portland Korean Church.
Cameron David Storer, also known as Nicolette Fait, charged over devastating fire that destroyed Old Portland Korean Church

Portland authorities arrested a suspect in connection to a devastating fire at a historic church located in an area known by locals for "heavy transient activity" with tents for the homeless lining the streets.

The suspect, assigned male at birth, indicated a preferred name traditional for females, though Portland officials could not immediately confirm whether the individual identifies as transgender.

Comment: Andy Ngo adds in the New York Post:
According to prosecutors, Storer walked into the Multnomah County Detention Center and confessed to setting the church on fire using a lighter.

"Storer stated that they heard voices in their head saying they would 'mutilate' Storer if they did not burn the church down and that they had planned it up to one day in advance," said the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office in a press release. Storer allegedly told investigators she was taking oxycodone and had a history of mental illness.

The suspect was arraigned on Thursday afternoon and prosecutors asked that Storer be denied bail. Storer did not appear to enter a plea, according to court documents.

Storer's last address is in Rhode Island, where the landlord has an open eviction case against her.


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Clipboard

DeSantis demands universities account for CRT, diversity spending

Ben Whedon
Just the News
Thu, 05 Jan 2023 04:34 UTC
DeSantis
© Octavio Jones/ReutersFlorida Governor Ron DeSantis Octavio
Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis's administration has demanded that both the state's Department of Education and its public university system provide information on their use of state resources for programs connected with Critical Race Theory and diversity, equity, and inclusion activities.

In a letter dispatch to those institutions, the governor's office has asked that they provide descriptions of all such programs as well as a report on their costs, including the extent to which taxpayers funded those efforts.

The letter indicates that the governor seeks the information to prepare its 2023 budget proposals, asserting "it is important that we have a full understanding of the operational expenses of state institutions."

Comment: The request for line-item costs is a realistic one. The public deserves to know how their taxes are spent.

See also:





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Arrow Up

US police killings reached record high in 2022 - NGO


RT
Fri, 06 Jan 2023 15:23 UTC
Cops
© Matthew Hatcher/AFPProtest over the killing of Jayland Walker shot by police
Akron, Ohio • July 3, 2022
Cops in the US killed 1,176 people in 2022, making last year the deadliest on record, according to a nonprofit group that tracks police violence. However, officers faced more attempts on their own lives, as crime in some cities soared to new heights.

Mapping Police Violence - a project connected to the Black Lives Matter movement - found that police fatally shot, beat, tased and restrained 31 more people last year than in 2021, when they killed 1,145 people. 2022's total of 1,176 is the highest annual tally since the nonprofit group began tracking such statistics in 2013.

There were only 12 days without a single police killing last year. Officers killed an average of more than three people every day, the statistics show. 132 of these killings involved victims who hadn't been suspected of a crime, and 98 fatal encounters began as traffic stops.

Comment: As the economy and social structures weaken, predictably crime and violence are on the rise. Set in motion, who benefits?

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Stock Down

11 signs the economic "tipping point" everyone was waiting for is here

Michael Snyder
The Economic Collapse
Sat, 07 Jan 2023 18:23 UTC
crash económico
© Desconocido
How bad do things have to get before people start realizing that we are in the midst of a full-blown economic crisis? The "experts" on television are endlessly debating about whether or not we are going to have a "recession" this year, and meanwhile economic activity is imploding all around us. The number of homes being sold in this country each month has already fallen by a third. The number of job cuts in November was 417 percent higher than it was during the same month a year earlier, and at this point even Amazon is laying off thousands of workers. The Federal Reserve has declared war on inflation, but prices continue to spiral out of control. In fact, vegetables are 80 percent more expensive now than they were 12 months ago. Meanwhile, the financial markets continue to plunge. A third of the value of the Nasdaq has already been wiped out, and more than two-thirds of the value of all cryptocurrencies is already gone.

After everything that has already transpired, everyone should be able to clearly understand what is happening.

So many people have been waiting for an economic nightmare to come, but the truth is that it is already here.

The following are 11 signs that the economic "tipping point" that everyone has been waiting for has now arrived...

Comment: Buckle up . . . . . .

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Newspaper

Two-thirds of Britons now support future referendum on rejoining the EU

Kate Devlin
Independent
Sat, 07 Jan 2023 01:12 UTC
brexit pins
© Reuters / Toby MelvillePro-Brexit pins are seen on a supporter's jacket at Parliament Square, on Brexit day in London
Two years after the UK transitioned out of the European Union nearly two-thirds of Britons now support a referendum on rejoining.

A Savanta survey for The Independent also shows that the number of people who oppose another vote has fallen, with less than a quarter of voters now against a referendum.

The UK formally left the EU on 31 January 2020, but the "transition period" meant it observed Brussels laws and remained in the single market until 31 December 2020.

Comment: Will this be one of the first predictions from Russia's former president, Dmitry Medvedev, to come true?



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Bullseye

Will reparations finally resolve America's tragic slave trade legacy?

Robert Bridge
RT
Fri, 06 Jan 2023 23:56 UTC
mlk martin luther king yolanda granddaughter
© Jonathan Ernst/Pool via AP, FileAug. 28, 2020, Yolanda Renee King, granddaughter of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., raises her fist as she speaks during the March on Washington, on the 57th anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" speech.
Most Black Americans favor the idea of monetary compensation for the hardship of their ancestors. But who is ready to shell out the cash?

In these post-George Floyd days, calls for reparations to the descendants of black slaves have been intensifying. But should Americans, many with painful life stories of their own, be forced to pay for crimes they did not commit?

If California Governor Gavin Newsom gets his way, the Black Americans living in his state could soon be hitting the proverbial jackpot. Newsom, one of the most radical progressive liberals in the country, created a Reparation Task Force in 2020, a nine-person group tasked with gathering data to estimate the impact of historical racist policies on black people in the state, and how that impact translates into monetary damages to be potentially compensated with reparations. Eligible Californians, the task force has ruled, are the descendants of African American slaves or of free black people who lived in the US before the 20th century.
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Health

UK suffering cold & flu medicine shortage, supply chain issues blamed

Tom Ambrose
The Guardian
Fri, 06 Jan 2023 23:28 UTC
pharmacy
© Andy Buchanan/AFP/GettyTom Ambrose and agencyPharmacists report that they are struggling to obtain the most common cold and flu medicines.
A shortage of cough and cold medicines in the UK is a result of ministers' "lack of planning", according to pharmacy leaders.

Rishi Sunak's Conservatives were accused of "being in denial" as supply chain problems worsen, with pharmacists reporting shortages of once-common cold and flu medicines.

The Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies said throat lozenges, cough mixtures and some painkillers are among the affected medicines, after issues with the supply of antibiotics and HRT last year.

"Pharmacists are struggling to obtain the very basic, most common cold and flu medicine," chief executive Leyla Hannbeck told the PA news agency. "This isn't just the branded medicines, it is also simple things like throat lozenges, cough mixtures or painkillers - particularly the ones that are soluble.

Comment: A few months ago the US announced it was due to suffer shortages of ADD medications, like ritalin, and just yesterday it was confirmed that, indeed, patients were being forced to go without.

France announced just a few days ago that it was short on supplies of paracetamol after China banned exports due to lockdowns. Doctors in the country have also revealed that other standard medicines medications are also in very short supply.

Taken together, it would appear that this is part of a much larger trend, that is likely to only get worse; and that appears to be due to the nearly 2 year long lockdowns much of the planet enforced.

The inevitable consequence of all this will be that patients struggling with mental illness will not be medicated, whilst others will need to forgoe basic medicines, and which may lead to their health deteriorating much further than it might otherwise.



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