Comment: We have only just begun to see the detrimental effects on the mental health of millions because of the unnecessary lockdown. But that we would already see such despair from a child is tragic beyond words. One wonders, also, just how much of a negative effect being so focused on gaming might have had on this child.

• Fear, isolation, depression: The mental health consequences of the pandemic lockdown
• A cure worse than the disease: 150,000 Brits will die an 'avoidable death' during coronavirus pandemic through depression, domestic violence and suicides
• Trump: Suicides from depression a 'far greater' risk than coronavirus unless America reopens for business soon

Comment: See also:

• Minnesota Police arrest CNN reporter and crew covering George Floyd protests live on air
• Deadly shooting near George Floyd protest as looting, arson grip Minneapolis
• Minneapolis 'war zone': Rioters take over police station amid clashes, fires & tear gas
• Race war or bust? MSM smothers racial unity over police killing of Minneapolis man by reminding blacks & whites to hate each other
• 'I can't breathe' 2.0: Minneapolis police in hot water as suspect dies during BRUTAL chokehold arrest - HUGE crowds clash with cops during protest

Comment: The FBI and local prosecutors are dragging their feet - according to residents - by saying they need more evidence to file charges against the officers who killed Goerge Floyd. A "robust and meticulous" investigation is reportedly underway, but Hennepin County attorney Mike Freeman added,

"I will not rush to justice, I'm going to do this right," Freeman said, adding that the footage of Floyd's last moments alive in police custody is "graphic and horrible," but that investigators must "prove [the officer] violated a criminal statute, and there's other evidence that does not support a criminal charge."

According to MSNBC host Ali Velshi, the protests/riots were "not, generally speaking, unruly", despite arson fires raging behind him:


Candace Owens is blaming Soros and agents provocateurs for the looting and vandalism:



Shots were fired in Louisville while rioters tried to flip a police van; seven were reportedly injured, one critically. Police deny they were the ones who opened fire, saying that arrests had been made in connection to the shooting.


Gunfire was also heard in Denver.


At least 30 protesters were arrested in New York City.


Mayor de Blasio is fueling the racial tension with his crystal ball-reading abilities:

Comment: See also:

• The US does NOT lead in COVID-19 deaths
• Spain revises coronavirus deaths due to double counting and other errors
• California doctors say they've seen more deaths from suicide than coronavirus since lockdowns
• Death by lockdown: Nursing home deaths account for 70% of Ohio's overall total
• Washington officials admit to counting GUNSHOT DEATHS in Covid-19 tally, say virus death toll likely underreported despite lapses
• The US is dramatically overcounting Coronavirus deaths
• US has seen NO INCREASE in overall deaths in 2020, yet Americans continue ceding all rights to the state

Comment: See also:

• Spain, US & Russia using Hydroxychloroquine to treat coronavirus while France, Italy and Belgium ban it due to WHO concerns
• France revokes decree authorizing use of hydroxychloroquine to treat Covid-19
• WHO suspends hydroxychloroquine clinical trial, touted by Trump as 'coronavirus cure', stating safety fears
• Association of American Physicians and Surgeons: Hydroxychloroquine has about 90 percent chance of helping COVID-19 patients

Comment: Now you can succumb to the virus hysteria, still go out clubbing "safely" - and look like you work at the Pentagon's most flamboyant bio-research lab in existence while doing it! Welcome to the New Stupid!

Comment: And, needless to say, the airline industry has taken a very big hit leaving many working in that sector unemployed - or about to be:

International carriers which have been suffering massive losses due to the coronavirus crisis are massively cutting their workforce, leaving thousands without jobs. More cuts could come as the prospects for a quick recovery fade.

Europe's top airlines said they would have to ax tens of thousands of jobs in order to cut costs because of the rapidly deteriorating medium-term outlook for aviation. According to the general secretary of the British Airline Pilots' Association, Brian Strutton, aviation workers face a "tsunami of job losses."

Ryanair, Lufthansa, British Airways, Scandinavian Airlines, and Air France-KLM could shed as many as 32,000 jobs among them. The Irish discount carrier Ryanair will cut 3,000 jobs and keep 99 percent of flights grounded through June, adding to a mounting employment toll that includes 12,000 cuts at British Airways and 5,000 at SAS AB.

EasyJet announced on Thursday it will cut up to 30 percent of its workforce and reduce its fleet, with CEO Johan Lundgren saying these were "very difficult decisions."

[...]

While the pandemic has led to a 96 percent plunge in air travel within the United States, the nation's airlines are not allowed to implement any layoffs as a condition of their $25 billion bailout package. However, the ban only runs until September 30.

United Airlines has already told staff it plans job cuts of at least 30 percent on October 1. According to reports, a third of United's 12,250 pilots may have to leave the company. Other airlines, including Delta, also have warned of coming job cuts.
Around 100,000 employees at the four major US airlines (American, United, Delta, and Southwest) have also agreed to take salary cuts or unpaid leave, some for as long as nine months.

American Airlines announced on Thursday it is planning to cut 30 percent of its management and support staff, a reduction of about 5,000 jobs, because of the toll the pandemic is taking on the business. The carrier had about 130,000 employees at the end of 2019 and so far, about 39,000 have taken voluntary leave or early retirement.

Comment: LMT online adds:

Smith, who said he did not believe that the virus poses a serious threat, wanted to stir the pot.

For years, he has run his 60-seat bar, which occupies a converted alleyway on Elgin's main drag, just as he pleases. Smoking is permitted during karaoke nights and performances by local talent, and beers are served in black-and-white koozies that say, "Come and drink it," playing off the Texan battle flag.

A two-month shutdown from Texas officials had forced him to cancel a benefit concert for veterans and close down during the busy rush of customers that fly into nearby Austin for South by Southwest. For three weeks, a Bastrop County rule required him to wear a face mask in public or face up to 180 days in jail.

"Why are we having to do this?" he asked. "We're not here to live in fear."

A town of about 10,000 people, Elgin has reported 53 coronavirus infections and one of the two deaths in the county. Even as numbers in Texas are on the rise and local officials continue to encourage residents to cover their faces, Smith said he does not believe masks are necessary.

Bartenders need to see their customers' faces to check IDs and make sure no one gets served too many drinks, he argued. Anyone with the virus, including those who are asymptomatic, should not be coming out to begin with. Besides, he asked: How are you supposed to down a beer with a bandanna stretched across your lips?

One regular at the Liberty Tree Tavern, 58-year old Charles Chamberlain, said he survived both stage 4 cancer and the H1N1 virus, also known as swine flu. He spent a full year living out of a Houston hospital, he told the Austin American-Statesman, before becoming so frustrated at his isolation that he cut the cancer treatment short.

"This quarantine . . . That's not living, that's existing," he said. "Going to the bar, going to the lake, going swimming with your friends, barbecuing, fishing - that's living."

Smith, who also ranches cattle, said his customers have social distancing built into their rural lifestyle. For now, the regulars don't seem to mind his request. No one had been kicked out yet for disobeying the poster, and one customer's son, who has intellectual disabilities, was allowed to keep his mask on.

Chamberlain, who has been out to the Liberty Tree Tavern about three times since it reopened, plans to keep coming back.

"You should have a choice of what you want to do," he told the Statesman. "If I get it, I get it. If I do, I'll deal with that. You can't his sentiments clear:

Kevin Smith was a little more blunt about his sentiments on Twitter: