https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-57067190

The World Health Organization (WHO) has classified the coronavirus variant first found in India last year as a "variant of global concern". It said preliminary studies show the B.1.617 mutation spreads more easily than other variants and requires further study.

The variant has already spread to more than 30 countries, the WHO says. Three other variants from the UK, South Africa and Brazil have been given the same designation.

A mutation is elevated from a "variant of interest" to a "variant of concern" (VOC) when it shows evidence of fulfilling at least one of several criteria, including easy transmission, more severe illness, reduced neutralisation by antibodies or reduced effectiveness of treatment and vaccines.

The variant is being studied to establish whether it is responsible for a deadly surge in India, which is currently overwhelming hospitals and crematoriums. India reported 366,161 new infections and 3,754 deaths on Monday, down from record peaks. Experts say the actual figures could be far higher than reported.

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A total ban will be imposed on advertising unhealthy food online, as ministers say that the pandemic has shown the need to get serious about obesity. Although proposals to put calorie labels on pints of beer and glasses of wine have been dropped, health campaigners have praised “landmark” reforms that would see tight controls on promotion and advertising of foods high...

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/queens-speech-includes-ban-on-online-junk-food-ads-to-curb-obesity-k7ghg2tg6


A total ban will be imposed on advertising unhealthy food online, as ministers say that the pandemic has shown the need to get serious about obesity. Although proposals to put calorie labels on pints of beer and glasses of wine have been dropped, health campaigners have praised “landmark” reforms that would see tight controls on promotion and advertising of foods high in sugar, salt and fat.

Discount deals for such food will be banned, as will advertising them on television before a 9pm watershed after Boris Johnson recommitted to tough action on obesity in the Queen’s Speech today. The proposals are contained in a series of 31 bills to go before parliament covering planning law reform, an expansion of police powers and a revamp of electoral law. There were concerns, however that social reform had been put on the backburner.

The Queen delivered the speech, her first major public royal engagement since the death of Prince Philip, in a socially distanced ceremony at the state opening of parliament. Under the new junk food controls, people will be rewarded with shopping vouchers for losing weight and exercising more under a “fit miles” incentive scheme to encourage healthier living.

Restaurants will be required to put calorie counts on menus, although pubs will not have to do the same on beer pumps and bottles. Johnson, who lost weight after being seriously ill with Covid-19 last year, had been wobbling over a total online advertising ban for junk food after protests from the industry and advertisers, who insisted that there was no evidence for such a far-reaching move. But today the Queen’s Speech promised a “total ban online” for junk food.

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https://twitter.com/KeithOlbermann/status/1391841678001164288

https://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1962087

Ghost in the Machine Donating Member

Tue Oct-02-07 05:57 PM

Republican U.S. Justice Department official John David R. Atchison, 53, an assistant U.S. attorney from the northern district of Florida, has been arrested on suspicion of traveling to Detroit over the weekend to have sex with a 5 year old child. An undercover officer posed as a mother offering her child to Atchison for sex, according to police.

In deposition, detectives said Atchison suggested the mother tell her daughter that "you found her a sweet boyfriend who will bring her presents." The undercover detective expressed concern about physical injury to the 5-year-old girl as a result of the sexual activity.

Detectives said Atchison responded, " I am always gentle and loving; not to worry, no damage ever, no rough stuff ever. I only like it soft and nice." The undercover detective asked how Atchison can be certain of no injury. He responded, "Just gotta go slow and very easy. I've done it plenty," according to detectives.

Psilocybin and MDMA are poised to be the hottest new therapeutics since Prozac. Universities want in, and so does Wall Street. Some worry a push to loosen access could bring unintended consequences.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/09/health/psychedelics-mdma-psilocybin-molly-mental-health.html



It’s been a long, strange trip in the four decades since Rick Doblin, a pioneering psychedelics researcher, dropped his first hit of acid in college and decided to dedicate his life to the healing powers of mind-altering compounds. Even as antidrug campaigns led to the criminalization of Ecstasy, LSD and magic mushrooms, and drove most researchers from the field, Dr. Doblin continued his quixotic crusade with financial help from his parents. Dr. Doblin’s quest to win mainstream acceptance of psychedelics took a significant leap forward on Monday when the journal Nature Medicine published the results of his lab’s study on MDMA, the club drug popularly known as Ecstasy and Molly. The study, the first Phase 3 clinical trial conducted with psychedelic-assisted therapy, found that MDMA paired with counselling brought marked relief to patients with severe post-traumatic stress disorder.

The results, coming weeks after a New England Journal of Medicine study that highlighted the benefits of treating depression with psilocybin, the psychoactive ingredient in magic mushrooms, have excited scientists, psychotherapists and entrepreneurs in the rapidly expanding field of psychedelic medicine. They say it is only a matter of time before the Food and Drug Administration grants approval for psychoactive compounds to be used therapeutically — for MDMA as soon as 2023, followed by psilocybin a year or two later. After decades of demonization and criminalization, psychedelic drugs are on the cusp of entering mainstream psychiatry, with profound implications for a field that in recent decades has seen few pharmacological advancements for the treatment of mental disorders and addiction. The need for new therapeutics has gained greater urgency amid a national epidemic of opioid abuse and suicides.

“Some days I wake up and can’t believe how far we’ve come,” said Dr. Doblin, 67, who now oversees the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, a multimillion dollar research and advocacy empire that employs 130 neuroscientists, pharmacologists and regulatory specialists working to lay the groundwork for the coming psychedelics revolution. The nation’s top universities are racing to set up psychedelic research centers, and investors are pouring millions of dollars into a pack of start-ups. States and cities across the country are beginning to loosen restrictions on the drugs, the first steps in what some hope will lead to the federal decriminalization of psychedelics for therapeutic and even recreational use.

“There’s been a sea change in attitudes about what not long ago was considered fringe science,” said Michael Pollan, whose best-selling book on psychedelics, “How to Change Your Mind,” has helped destigmatize the drugs in the three years since it was published. “Given the mental health crisis in this country, there’s great curiosity and hope about psychedelics and a recognition that we need new therapeutic tools.” The question for many is how far — and how fast — the pendulum should swing, and even researchers who champion psychedelic-assisted therapy say the drive to commercialize the drugs combined with a growing movement to liberalize existing prohibitions could prove risky, especially for those with severe psychiatric disorders, and derail the field’s slow, methodical return to mainstream acceptance.


The psychedelic researcher Rick Doblin dropped his first hit of acid in college and decided to dedicate his life to the healing powers of mind-altering compounds. Now his research center, MAPS, has raised $44 million over the past two years.Credit...Tony Luong for The New York Times

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This is disgusting and should be criminal.

https://twitter.com/KylaInTheBurgh/status/1391749421382127626

https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/publications/report/2021/living-working-and-covid-19-update-april-2021

Full Document:

https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/sites/default/files/ef_publication/field_ef_document/ef21064en.pdf

Russia’s leading opposition figure has endured ignominy, imprisonment and poisoning over the course of his political career. He isn’t finished yet

https://www.economist.com/1843/2021/05/02/ive-mortally-offended-putin-by-surviving-why-alexei-navalny-keeps-fighting







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much, much more at the link

Label:
MCA Records – MCA-23638
Format:
Vinyl, 12", 45 RPM, Single
Country:
US
Released:
1986
Genre:
Rock
Style:
Alternative Rock, New Wave