Society's ChildS


TV

RT suspends host after 'disgusting' remarks about Ukrainian children


RT
Sun, 23 Oct 2022 22:11 UTC
Anton Krasovsky
© RTAnton Krasovsky
RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan has condemned comments from Russian-language broadcast host Anton Krasovsky suggesting Ukrainian children should be "drowned," and suspended his contract.

Krasovsky made the remarks during an episode of his program in which science fiction writer Sergey Lukyanenko was a guest. The latter said that back in 1980, in a hospital in the Uzhgorod region in Western Ukraine, local children told him that "Ukraine is occupied by Muscovites," and if this were not the case, their lives would be better.

Krasovsky responded to this by saying: "It is necessary to straight-up drown these children. A kid said that 'Muscovites have occupied' - you immediately throw them into a river with a turbulent current." When Lukyanenko objected, Krasovsky added that children could still be "beaten into the hut and burned."

Comment: RT reported that the suspended RT host is under federal investigation:
The head of Russia's Investigative Committee (RIC), Alexander Bastrykin, has ordered an investigation into recent statements made by suspended RT host Anton Krasovsky, who suggested drowning and burning Ukrainian children.

On its official Telegram channel, the RIC said on Monday that it has been ordered to write up a report on "the situation that arose on the air of the television channel" after a user on social media requested that Bastrykin check Krasovsky's series of "harsh statements."

[...]

Krasovsky has since come out with an apology to all those "stunned" by his statements, writing on his Telegram channel that he is "embarrassed" that he "didn't see that line. About children." He explained that "this kind of thing happens: You sit on the air and you get carried away. And you can't stop," adding that he apologizes to everyone to whom this seemed "wild, unthinkable and insurmountable."


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Fire

Car bombing hits media company in Russia's Melitopol


RT
Tue, 25 Oct 2022 16:49 UTC
car bomb, Ukraine, ZaTV, Melitopol
© Media Malkevich / Telegram
An explosive-laden car detonated near the office of a local media outlet in the city of Melitopol in Zaporozhye Region on Tuesday, injuring five people and causing "significant damage" to the premises, Aleksandr Malkevich, a member of Russia's Civic Chamber, has said. He added that there were no military targets in the vicinity.

The car bombing rocked the building of the channel ZaTV, injuring employees and other civilians and damaging the building itself, according to the official.

Zaporozhye was officially declared part of Russia in early October, along with Kherson Region and the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, after voters in those regions overwhelmingly supported the move in public referendums.

Malkevich said that the explosive device had a yield equivalent to 1.5-2kg of TNT.
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People 2

Nearly half of Australians back military intervention in Taiwan - poll


RT
Tue, 25 Oct 2022 14:31 UTC
Taiwanese soldier
© AP / Wally SantanaFILE PHOTO: A Taiwanese soldier stands in a frontline military installation just 1.8 kilometers (0.7 miles) off the coast of China, on Kinmen island, Taiwan.
Nearly half of the Australians surveyed in a recent poll said they would support sending military forces to "defend Taiwan" in the event of a Chinese attack, according to The Guardian, which obtained the polling results ahead of their release.

Of 1,068 Australians asked, 46% said they agreed or strongly agreed that their country should deploy troops "to help the United States defend Taiwan," the outlet reported on Monday, citing a yet-to-be-published survey conducted by the US Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. The complete results are set to be released on Wednesday.

About one-quarter of respondents said they disagreed with the idea, 9% of which said they 'strongly' opposed military intervention - just half the percentage of those who 'strongly' supported it.

The polling indicates more enthusiastic support for such a policy among Australians than among American or Japanese citizens. In Japan, 35% of respondents said they would approve sending the Japanese military to Taiwan's defense, while just 33% of Americans said they would support a US intervention. Similar percentages in both countries said they would disagree with a military deployment, suggesting opinion is more evenly divided there.
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Bullseye

Common sense: Children who think they're trans are probably just going through a 'phase', NHS says

Emily Craig, John Ely
The Daily Mail
Tue, 25 Oct 2022 13:21 UTC
transgender, pride flag
Children considering changing gender could be discouraged from social transitioning, like switching pronouns or dressing like the opposite sex as NHS the proposes to shake-up its approach to gender identity care
Children who believe they are trans are probably just going through a short-lived phase, the NHS has told doctors.

The health service last week issued draft guidance on treating children and young people with gender dysphoria — those who feel their gender is different from their sex.

Doctors should be open to 'exploring all developmentally appropriate options' with youngsters who believe they are trans but be 'mindful that this may be a transient phase', it states.

Health chiefs noted that in 'most cases gender incongruence does not persist into adolescence'.

Its guidance says 'social transitioning' should be no longer be viewed as a 'neutral act' due to the significant effects it may have on a child's psychology.

Social transitioning is when a person lives as a gender different to their biological sex but doesn't take drugs to transition, such as controversial puberty blockers or hormones.

It may see a person change their name, pronouns and dress in clothes associated with their opposite sex. They may also use the bathrooms of their preferred identity rather than their biological sex.

Comment: It remains to be seen whether there will be any meaningful change, only time will tell. See also:

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Microscope 1

An International Tribunal on the Origins of COVID-19

Robert W Malone MD
rwmalonemd.substack.com
Mon, 24 Oct 2022 17:07 UTC
coronavirus
Organizations and individuals must band together to call for an independent investigation.
Endonuclease fingerprint indicates a synthetic origin of SARS-CoV-2

bioRxiv preprint October 18, 2022 doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.10.18.512756; this version posted October 20, 2022
Lay Summary: To construct synthetic variants of natural coronaviruses in the lab, researchers often use a method called in vitro genome assembly. This method utilizes special enzymes called restriction enzymes to generate DNA building blocks that then can be "stitched" together in the correct order of the viral genome. To make a virus in the lab, researchers usually engineer the viral genome to add and remove stitching sites, called restriction sites. The ways researchers modify these sites can serve as fingerprints of in vitro genome assembly.

We found that SARS-CoV has the restriction site fingerprint that is typical for synthetic viruses. The synthetic fingerprint of SARS-CoV-2 is anomalous in wild coronaviruses, and common in lab-assembled viruses. The type of mutations (synonymous or silent mutations) that differentiate the restriction sites in SARS-CoV-2 are characteristic of engineering, and the concentration of these silent mutations in the restriction sites is extremely unlikely to have arisen by random evolution.

Both the restriction site fingerprint and the pattern of mutations generating them are extremely unlikely in wild coronaviruses and nearly universal in synthetic viruses. Our findings strongly suggest a synthetic origin of SARS-CoV2.

Comment: See also:

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2 + 2 = 4

Test scores dropped to lowest levels in decades during pandemic, according to nationwide exam


NBC News
Mon, 24 Oct 2022 12:41 UTC
student class masks
© John Moore / Getty Images fileA student raises her hand on Sept. 9, 2020, during her first day of kindergarten in Stamford, Conn.
Across the country, math scores dropped their most ever. Reading scores dropped to 1992 levels. Nearly 4 in 10 eighth graders failed to grasp basic math concepts.

The Covid-19 pandemic spared no state or region as it caused historic learning setbacks for America's children, erasing decades of academic progress and widening racial disparities, according to results of a national test that provide the sharpest look yet at the scale of the crisis.

Across the country, math scores saw their largest decreases ever. Reading scores dropped to 1992 levels. Nearly four in 10 eighth graders failed to grasp basic math concepts. Not a single state saw a notable improvement in their average test scores, with some simply treading water at best.

Comment: Let's face it, American education has been on a steady downward trajectory for decades now. And while the pandemic undoubtedly had something to do with the current noted decline, this article makes a good argument that politicized education also bears some of the responsibility. The two together make a recipe for disaster.

See also:

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Stock Down

Millions of Brits struggling with bills - watchdog


RT
Mon, 24 Oct 2022 06:44 UTC
Pound sterling
© Getty Images / Matt Cardy / Contributor
One in four UK adults are in "financial difficulty," the FCA says.

Nearly 32 million people, or 60% of all UK adults, are finding it a heavy burden or somewhat of a burden to pay their bills, a survey by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) showed on Friday.

According to the research, which was carried out between February and June, the total was up six million from 2020, when the economy went into lockdown to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
"One in four UK adults are in financial difficulty or could quickly find themselves in difficulty if they suffered a financial shock," the report said, noting that 4.2 million people have missed bills or loan payments in at least three of the six months before the survey took place

Comment: See also:

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Cardboard Box

Exclusive: 90% of schools in England will run out of money next year, heads warn

Anna Fazackerley
The Guardian
Sat, 22 Oct 2022 14:00 UTC
Eng kids
© SolStock/Getty ImagesHeadteachers say they are floundering as energy costs and pay bills mount
Nine out of 10 schools in England will have run out of money by the next school year as the enormous burden of increased energy and salary bills takes its toll, the Observer can reveal.

Early data from the National Association of Head Teachers - results of a survey of its members are due later this month - shows that 50% of heads say their school will be in deficit this year, with almost all expecting to be in the red by next September, when their reserve run out. This comes as Jeremy Hunt has made clear that all departments, including education, will be expected to make cuts as part of the government's debt reduction plan, to be announced on 31 October.

Headteachers and academy leaders are warning that further spending cuts will push many schools and academy trusts over the cliff, and result in most schools having to lose essential teaching and support staff.

Comment: Western governments have no qualms about spending billions on a preventable war in Ukraine versus the welfare and future of their constituents.

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Sheriff

Wonder why? Minneapolis struggles to hire police after George Floyd's death, 'defund police' movement

Olivia Rondeau
The Post Millennial
Sun, 23 Oct 2022 00:01 UTC
minneapolis police protests
Minneapolis, Minnesota is struggling to recruit law enforcement officers to fill the vacant spots that were left as a result of the anti-cop movement following the 2020 death of George Floyd.

Floyd's police-involved death resulted in violent unrest and riots against the police, spurring a "mass exodus" of officers that have yet to be replaced, reported Fox News.

Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) spokesman Garrett Parten said they only had 57 applicants this year, down from 292 applicants in 2019. A typical class can hold up to 40 recruits, but only six people advanced from the most recent MPD class in September.

Comment: See also:

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Info

Salman Rushdie attack results in loss of eyesight in 1 eye, use of 1 hand: report

Olivia Rondeau
The Post Millennial
Sun, 23 Oct 2022 00:01 UTC
salman rushdie satanic verses
British-Indian author Salman Rushie has lost his eyesight in one eye and the use of one of his hands, according to his agent.

The serious injuries are a result of the August attack on the writer, 75, just before he was set to deliver a lecture in New York.

Literary agent Andrew Wylie on Saturday told the Spanish outlet El Pais that Rushdie suffered "serious wounds" to his neck, chest, and torso as well.

Comment: See also:

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