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US suicides dropped last year, defying pandemic expectations

Mike Stobbe
Yahoo!
Fri, 09 Apr 2021 00:05 UTC
graveyard
© AP Photo/David Goldman
In this Wednesday, March 17, 2021 file photo, morning fog blankets a cemetery in West Virginia. The number of U.S. suicides fell nearly 6% in 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic — the largest annual decline in at least four decades, according to preliminary government data.
The number of U.S. suicides fell nearly 6% last year amid the coronavirus pandemic — the largest annual decline in at least four decades, according to preliminary government data.

Death certificates are still coming in and the count could rise. But officials expect a substantial decline will endure, despite worries that COVID-19 could lead to more suicides.

It is hard to say exactly why suicide deaths dropped so much, but one factor may be a phenomenon seen in the early stages of wars and national disasters, some experts suggested.

Comment: See also:

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Handcuffs

As reforms continue, Russia's prison population drops by 38% in a decade; per-capita incarceration rate now only half that of US

Jonny Tickle
RT
Fri, 09 Apr 2021 11:40 UTC
russia moving prisoners
© RIA
Prisoners move from the living area to the dining room in the high-security penal colony No. 17 of the GUFSIN of the Krasnoyarsk Territory.
A report produced by the Council of Europe has revealed that the number of people in Russian prisons has fallen from 574.8 to 356.1 per 100,000 residents in the last decade, meaning that the prison population has dropped by 38.1%.

This means that Russia no longer has the most people imprisoned per capita in the entire Council of Europe, with Turkey now taking the lead in that measure. It is the first time that the organization's largest member has not been at the top of the incarceration charts.

While still stubbornly high by European standards, the Russian figure is significantly lower than that of the US, which has the world's largest prison population at over 2,000,000, at an incarceration rate per 100,000 of 639.

Comment: See also:

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Attention

Court rules gov't cannot impose quarantine hotel stay, few leave anyway

Andie Sophia Fontaine
The Reykjavik Grapevine
Tue, 06 Apr 2021 07:51 UTC
Fosshótel Reykjavík iceland
© Art Bicnick
A government measure that went into effect April 1st, which compelled anyone arriving in Iceland from countries where the 14-day incidence of COVID-19 infection exceeds 500 per 100,000 population to stay in Fosshótel Reykjavík between screenings, has been ruled by Reykjavík District Court to have no legal ground to compel people who have legal residence in Iceland to stay in this hotel, RÚV reports. Nonetheless, in the wake of the ruling, few people have opted to leave the hotel.

The Minister of Health and the chief epidemiologist contended that they had the legal authority for this action, and that it did not go farther than necessary for ensuring public health, the decision itself being made in light of multiple reports of people breaking quarantine. Chief epidemiologist Þórólfur Guðnason has expressed disappointment with the ruling, and will appeal the matter to Appellate Court.

The basis for the complaints put before the court was that the five-day hotel stay constituted "unlawful detainment". The ruling was specifically applied to people with legal residence in Iceland, and judge Skúli Magnússon told reporters that no other circumstances were taken into consideration, e.g., people visiting Iceland who do not have legal residence here.

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Pirates

Germany to enforce yet another lockdown, Merkel will take control from federal states to do so


Reuters
Fri, 09 Apr 2021 11:06 UTC
germany lockdown

FILE PHOTO: General view of "Reeperbahn Street" in the famous red-light district "Reeperbahn" during a lockdown, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in Hamburg, Germany April 3, 2021.
The president of Germany's Robert Koch Institute has called for a new lockdown of two to four weeks to end a third Covid-19 wave there, as Chancellor Angela Merkel plans to impose uniform restrictions across the country.


Comment: This is after she had to backtrack following a revolt amongst ministers against yet another lockdown.


"Every day in which we don't act, we lose lives," said Prof. Wieler, president of the Robert Koch Institute - a German federal government agency and research institute responsible for disease control and prevention - during a weekly news conference.

Meanwhile Chancellor Merkel plans to take control from federal states to impose lockdown restrictions across the country. German government spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer said the federal government was planning to adopt new legislation next week to impose uniform coronavirus restrictions across the country.


Comment: Indeed, these days leaders are having to resort to dictatorial measure because any attempts to do so democratically fail.


Comment: See also: Ontario has had the longest lockdown in North America - which has been so successful it's just gone into another one

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Health

Former 49er Phillip Adams kills 5, then himself in South Carolina


KRON4
Fri, 09 Apr 2021 21:06 UTC
Phillip Adams
© Maddie Meyer | Getty Images
Phillip Adams #28 of the Oakland Raiders looks into the crowd during the first half against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium on December 8, 2013 in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
The gunman who killed five people including a prominent doctor in South Carolina was former NFL player Phillip Adams, who killed himself early Thursday, according to a source who was briefed on the investigation.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak publicly, said Adams' parents live near the doctor's home in Rock Hill, and that he had been treated by the doctor. The source said Phillips killed himself after midnight with a .45 caliber weapon.

The York County Sheriff's Office said they had searched for hours before finding the suspect in a nearby home.

Adams played as a defensive back for multiple teams including the 49ers and the Atlanta Falcons after starring at South Carolina State. He also suffered multiple injuries in the NFL, including concussions and a broken left ankle.

The York County coroner's office said Dr. Robert Lesslie, 70, and his wife, Barbara Lesslie, 69, were pronounced dead at the scene along with grandchildren Adah Lesslie, 9, and Noah Lesslie, 5.

A man who had been working at the home, James Lewis, 38, from Gaston, was found shot to death outside, and a sixth person was hospitalized with "serious gunshot wounds," York County Sheriff's Office's spokesperson Trent Faris said.
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Dollar Gold

BLM co-founder Patrisse Khan-Cullors lands $1.4 million Topanga Canyon compound

Mark David
Dirt
Wed, 07 Apr 2021 21:01 UTC
Patrisse Khan-Cullors
© Redfin; Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP
A secluded mini-compound tucked into L.A.'s rustic and semi-remote Topanga Canyon was recently sold for a tad more than $1.4 million to a corporate entity that public records show is controlled by Patrisse Khan-Cullors, 37-year-old social justice visionary and co-founder of the galvanizing and, for some, controversial Black Lives Matter movement.

Kahn-Cullors, a UCLA and USC graduate married about five years ago to social activist (and amateur boxer) Janaya Khan, co-founder of Black Lives Matter Toronto, created the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag in 2013 in response to George Zimmerman's acquittal in the 2012 shooting of Trayvon Martin. Since then, the largely decentralized movement has been at the influential forefront on issues of police brutality and racially motivated violence against Black people, particularly in the wake of George Floyd's killing last summer that sparked massive protests across the United States and around the globe. Kahn-Cullors' published "When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir" in 2018.

Comment: Doing quite well for herself, it appears.



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Stock Down

Deaths in England and Wales now 5% below the five-year average

Noah Carl
Lockdown Sceptics
Thu, 08 Apr 2021 20:51 UTC
uk ambulance
The ONS announced today that there were 10,045 deaths registered in England and Wales in the week ending March 26th. This is 266 fewer than the previous week (which was the lowest since 2014 for that week). In addition, this week's number is 5% below the five-year average, and marks the third consecutive week of "negative excess deaths". Here's the chart from the ONS:
uk excess mortality
Over the last three weeks, there were 1,800 fewer deaths than you'd expect based on the average of the last five years. (And note that, because the population is ageing, the five-year average slightly understates the expected number of deaths.)

What's more, the number of deaths registered in the week ending March 26th was below the five-year average in seven out of nine English regions. (Only the East Midlands and West Midlands saw positive excess deaths.) Compared to the five-year average, weekly deaths were 7.5% lower in London, 9.3% lower in the South West, and a remarkable 10.7% lower in the East of England.

As I've noted before, there are several possible reasons why the number of deaths is so low at the moment. But whatever the exact reason, or mix of reasons, today's numbers are surely cause for optimism.
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Briefcase

Chauvin trial Day 9 wrap-up: Medical experts pull prosecution's case out of the fire

Andrew Branca
Legal Insurrection
Thu, 08 Apr 2021 19:37 UTC
Dr Martin Tobin chavin floyd murder trial

Screen capture from video of April 8, 2021 court proceedings in MN v. Chauvin.
Medical experts gave testimony state needed, without imploding on cross

Overview

Today the state presented three medical/science experts. The first was Dr. Martin Tobin, Physician in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Chicago, presented as an expert witness on respiratory matters. He was followed by Daniel Isenschmit, Forensic Toxicologist, NMS Laboratories, who was involved in drug testing Floyd's blood. And the day closed with Dr. William Smock, Emergency Medical Physician, and self-described "Police Surgeon," who discussed excited delirium and some other issues.

OK folks, I won't bury the lede — today's trial proceedings looked a lot more typical for a prosecution presenting its case in chief than has been the case so far in Minnesota v. Chauvin. What I mean by that is that the state finally had a day in which its own witnesses did not end up doing the defense more good than themselves.

We've grown so accustomed to Nelson simply having his way with prosecution witnesses that today might appear as if it were bad for the defense. It would be more accurate to say it was not a great day for the defense — which is quite a change from past experience.
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Mr. Potato

CNN asks if fonts can be racist: Of course their answer is yes.

Joel Abbott
Not the Bee
Fri, 09 Apr 2021 18:30 UTC
racist fonts CNN
© Not The Bee
CNN scrapes the bottom of the woke barrel
Let me break down the madness.

CNN is taking a break from ignoring the border crisis, human trafficking, the perils of socialism, and the rise in addiction and suicide to lecture us about how fonts are now racist:


What does this mean? Simply put, it means our betters in the mainstream media are really scraping the bottom of the barrel to make everything and anything about race.

Comment: Comment: At least no one can complain that Chet Hanks isn't inclusive
chet hanks racist fonts inclusive
© Chet Hanks/Instagram


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Snakes in Suits

Ontario has had the longest lockdown in North America - which has been so successful it's just gone into another one

Eva Bartlett
RT
Thu, 08 Apr 2021 17:39 UTC
Ontario lockdown
© Getty Images / Steve Russell / Toronto Star
FILE PHOTO: Spice Lounge and Tapas on Lakeshore Road East has signs in their business door that expresses frustration with confusion over the lockdowns as Ontario tightens restrictions to slow the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in Port Credit. April 5, 2021
It's April 2021 and we're still being fed the same "stay home, save lives" line of 2020. But lockdowns are based on dodgy data and exaggerations, as well as causing more harm than they supposedly prevent.

As of today, Ontario is once again locked down. The last lockdown of two months was lifted only a month ago.

The province has endured the longest lockdowns in the country, thanks to politicians and medical officers pushing selective statistics.

The "Stay-at-Home" order (sounds so much nicer than lockdown!) requires people to imprison themselves again, except for "essential purposes" (exempt, of course, are Canadian politicians, who have repeatedly violated their own exhortations).

Comment: See also:

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