7/22/2021

The Cruel, Cold and Calculated Popularised Statement: The Benefits Outweigh The Risks



Oh, yes! The blood money is surely good by the crooks' standard. Every crook will say the benefits outweigh the risks. Otherwise, they won't be crooks.

Murderous Whitemen invading native lands and massacred millions of people, surely think that the benefits outweigh the risks.

The brutal rapists of India must have thought that the benefits outweigh the risks.

Bank robbers always think that the benefits outweigh risk, until they got arrested.

Those who visit prostitutes must have also thought that the benefits outweigh the risks, until they get AIDS.

To the money-making big Pharmas, the benefits of $billions from the sales of their vaccines surely outweigh the risks because they covered their arskholes by inserting a "No-Liability Clause" in their Sales/Purchase Contract.

To the cruel, cold, calculative and iron-hearted government leaders, the benefits outweigh the risks because they never think of their people as humans. They think of their people as mere digits. Therefore, the economy comes first. People can suffer or die from COVID-19, never mind. It's worth it to try out.

To those who aspire to become Singapore's next PM, I can visualise what's gone through their thinking when they tell us to live with COVID-19:

"I must be bold and daring enough to show people that I am the one they should choose as their leader to lead the country forward. I must open up the economy by hook or by crook. Some old folks will surely die. Never mind. Take this as collateral damage. The benefits outweigh the risks. No venture no gains....."

So, whoever tells you that the benefits outweigh the risks, do not regurgitate like a parrot. Use your brain to think for YOURSELF!

Think first before you copycat what others say.


SSO - 20 July 2021.

47 comments:

Anonymous said...

The incredible unsinkable American economy
Linda Lim

This strong economic rebound means that the US will be the largest source (a forecast 28 per cent) of global growth in 2021. Other advanced economies are also growing, and China for one will best the US growth rate, but the much larger size of the US economy in dollar terms means that it will pull in more imports of goods and services from the rest of the world.

For the world, and for Singapore, this means a much-needed injection of export demand (including "leakage" from US stimulus) that will help our economies recover.

https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/the-incredible-unsinkable-american-economy

Anonymous said...

The battle between vaccines and the Delta variant of coronavirus is coming to a head in the UK. Almost all Covid-era restrictions were lifted in England on Monday. At stake is whether advanced economies with high vaccination rates can enjoy something approaching pre-pandemic life in the face of fast transmitting versions of the virus.

The experiment should give a strong signal of whether Covid-19 can be relegated to the status of a manageable, seasonal menace such as influenza and whether lockdowns and social distancing can be consigned to the past. Singapore's ruling PAP 4G elites are contemplating the same path in tackling the coronavirus.

Behind the U.K.’s big-bang approach is the hope that vaccination, and public caution, will prevent a repeat of the mass hospitalizations and deaths that accompanied previous waves of the pandemic.

The strategy puts the U.K. at odds with its neighbors in Europe, parts of the U.S., and other highly-vaccinated countries such as Israel, where vaccine rollouts are going hand-in-hand with the tightening of some public health measures such as mask-wearing and social distancing to stem the Delta variant’s spread.

As the summer plays out, Mr. Johnson and his scientific advisers believe that ongoing vaccination and recovery from infection should move the U.K. close to the point of herd immunity, when the virus can no longer spread easily enough to trigger future large outbreaks.

In defending its strategy, the U.K. government says vaccination means rising cases aren’t pushing up hospitalizations and deaths to the same extent as they did during previous waves of infection, lessening the justification for onerous legal controls on the economy and society.

The plan has met with criticism from many public-health experts, in the U.K. and internationally. Dozens have signed letters to medical journals and participated in online conferences to decry the British strategy as reckless and unethical. They accuse the government of needlessly exposing Britons to illness and stoking the risk that new variants emerge that can evade vaccine defenses.

“I believe it’s a rather dangerous experiment,” said Prof. Hendrik Streeck, a virologist with the University of Bonn.

The big worry for those treating patients is the trajectory of the current epidemic, and the risk of a sharp increase in the numbers of people getting ill even though most of the population is protected.

“I’m nervous to say the least about the U.K.’s current approach,” said David Strain, a physician and instructor at the University of Exeter’s medical school in England who treats Covid-19 patients. “We are dependent on the vaccine to save us, and on its own the vaccine isn’t strong enough.”

Anonymous said...

Rhis is pure propaganda to brainwash the simpletons and to allay fears and panic.

The US economy is fucked this year. So is Singapore's. Anyone saying otherwise is a con artist paid to give a false impression.

If there is any statistics to show otherwise, it must be massaged or fake figures from fake surveys by fake entities.

With the deliberate budget of $300 million a year just to demonize China alone, how much more money has been allocated for the whole world and other devious schemes to deceive the world?

Anonymous said...

Who the fxxks is Linda Lim?

Anonymous said...


“I’m nervous to say the least about the U.K.’s current approach,” said David Strain, a physician and instructor at the University of Exeter’s medical school in England who treats Covid-19 patients. “We are dependent on the vaccine to save us, and on its own the vaccine isn’t strong enough.”

Anonymous said...

The plan has met with criticism from many public-health experts, in the U.K. and internationally. Dozens have signed letters to medical journals and participated in online conferences to decry the British strategy as reckless and unethical. They accuse the government of needlessly exposing Britons to illness and stoking the risk that new variants emerge that can evade vaccine defenses.

“I believe it’s a rather dangerous experiment,” said Prof. Hendrik Streeck, a virologist with the University of Bonn.

Reckless, unethical, dangerous? Cannot be. How could our imbeciles follow such reckless, unethical and dangerous approach to protect the citizens? It must be a lie. The approach must be safe, ethical and not dangerous.

Stupidity has no cure.

Anonymous said...

U.S.-China Goods Trade Booms as If Virus, Tariffs Never Happened

Monthly two-way trade, which tumbled to $19 billion in February of last year amid shutdowns in Chinese factories, rebounded over the past year to new records, according to official Chinese data. And that boom looks set to continue, with China purchasing millions of tons of U.S. farm goods for this year and next and stuck-at-home U.S. consumers still shopping and importing in record amounts.

“We’ve seen the strong consumer demand that’s been occurring throughout the pandemic, and we’ve seen the import levels just go through the roof,” said Jonathan Gold, vice president of supply-chains and customs policy at the National Retail Federation, which represents vendors from mom-and-pop stores through the big-box chain behemoths. “That’s a strong sign that the economy continues to recover.”

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-07-22/u-s-china-goods-trade-booms-as-if-virus-tariffs-never-happened

Anonymous said...

The American economy is on steroid, not producing anything, producing less but pumped up by printing more money. How long can this last before the bubble goes pop?

The Chinese economy is bursting at the seams because it is the only country where the manufacturing base has not been affected by the Pandemic but boosted instead as the whole world is turning to China for their needs. Export numbers have been shooting to the sky.

American economy strong rebound? What insane statement.

Anonymous said...

It is a blessing in disguise for the rest of the world that the UK is experimenting with 'how to live with the virus'. This is a lesson the world must learn if successful, free of charge, and with no collateral damage to boot if it fails, and it is all due to the luck of Boris Johnson leading the UK.

Anonymous said...

How could the USA economy be said to rebound when nothing much is being produced except massive printing of fiat money? The USA is making hay while the sun still shines, as the US$ hegemony is coming to it's tail end.

And it seems the US/China trade war is on hold. Someone is feeling the hurt and we can guess which side.

Still, the USA is desperately seeking to have a meeting with China. After the failure to persuade Russia to distance cooperation with China, are they thinking of now asking China to distance itself from co-operating with Russia? China and Russia thankfully are not two headed snakes like the USA, who will sell their grandmothers to the highest bidder. Forget the thought USA.

SSO said...

The fruit seller will only say his fruits are good and saleable everywhere.

Show me which fruit seller says his fruits are not good and not saleable.

The snake oil seller is even smarter to con you until you become a snake.

Anonymous said...

Bloomberg used to be neutral and trusted.

In the last 10 years of overall growth of US fake news culture spreading across the whole world, Bloomberg has evolved together with the wind of change into one of the most active con artists in the Propaganda industry of Western Evils.

Anonymous said...

When our main media blindly republished the fake news from Bloomberg, can they be pofma?

Anonymous said...

Singapore main medias are not news outlets any more.

They have been transformed into PAP'S Propaganda Mouth Pieces.

Everyone knows.

Even the reporters ans editors know.

That's why their Chief of The Controlling and Censorship Body, known as SPH, the failed again and again ex-general Ng took umbrage of the reporter who opened a can of worms in front of him.

Anonymous said...

That's why they have been running at a loss over and over again, from bad to worst, in the last 10 to 15 years. And finally transformed into a non-profit entity using taxpayers money given by the government to prop them up.

Anonymous said...

Yes, the famous snake oil sellers will always tell you to buy their products because of certain benefits that you can never know until you have tried out their products. By the time you tried their products, your money is already in the snake oil seller's pocket. When you then found out, after trying the snake oil, that the result is not what the con artist has claimed, it is already too late.

Anonymous said...

Who is Linda Lim?
From the way she wrote, she looks like an amateur con artist.

Anonymous said...

Why CPF Board refused to allow 81-year-old man to use his MediSave to pay a S$128 A&E bill?

After being unable to use the S$46,000 in his MediSave account for a S$128 A&E bill, an 81-year-old man questioned if he would be able to even use the money to buy a coffin after he dies.

In a Facebook post by the man’s son, one Robin Lim, the elderly man visited the Accident & Emergency centre of Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (KTPH) with chest pains sometime in May 2021.

Mr Lim wrote that his father’s bill was S$128 after subsidies, and he was then informed that he could not use the money in his MediSave account to pay the remaining amount.

“My father has more than $46,000 in his Medisave account”, Mr Lim wrote.

When his father called Mr Lim to ask why his MediSave could not be used to pay off the balance amount from the bill, “I explained to my father that usage of Medisave is NOT allowed for this situation due to existing policy, he highlighted that he is already 81 years old and does not have much years left to live for”.

“I feel I failed as a adult son to provide any logical/reasonable explanation to my father regarding this situation of Medisave usage”, Mr Lim wrote.

He went on to add that his 81-year-old father is not highly educated and “trusted the purpose of Medisave account introduced by Singapore government in 1984 and believed that his old age medical expenses will be taken care of by Medisave with sufficient balance in it”.

As such, Mr Lim wrote that his father was “extremely disappointed” to learn that he could not use the funds in his MediSave account to pay his public hospital bill.

“Kindly note that we are not seeking any financial assistance regarding this situation.

I just hope that MOH will consider reviewing existing policy on the usage of Medisave during old age”, Mr Lim wrote.

Though his post was initially written in early Jul, it was once again re-circulated and shared on social media on Sunday (Jul 18).

Netizens who commented on the post once again sought clarification from the Ministry of Health, as it is an issue that others are also concerned.

My take is that the CPF Board's primary objective of taking care of the people has been transformed to providing funds for the government, Temasek Holdings, GIC and MAS to use in the form of cheap loans. This is the main cause of all the unnecessary problems faced by the CPF savers.

Anonymous said...

They don't let him use his more than $46,000 because the CPF Board of Directors need to make use of his money to fund Temasek Holdings and GIC investments. That's why they put up all sorts of limitations, obstructions and red tapes to make it very difficult for the rightful owners of the savings to use their own money. Instead, the Board of Directors makes it easy for MAS, Temasek and GIC to make use of OPM (Other People's Money.)

The world has turned up side down.

The CPF BOARD should be closed down because it is no more what it was originally formed for.

Anonymous said...

Likewise, the NTUC should be deregistered as it has transformed to protecting the employer instead of protecting the worker.

Anonymous said...

The Tripartite is not the representative of the government, the employers and the workers.

The government is now the biggest employer.

NTUC is now the second biggest employer.

So the Tripartite is actually the representative of three groups of employers in Singapore. In other words, it does not represent the workers at all.

Trade unionism in Singapore is one of the biggest scams in the world.

Queen of Hearts said...

To the PAP, the benefits always outweigh the risk because it has no risk of being voted out for the last 55 years. Because it has no accountability, no transparency and no admission of mistakes.

Anonymous said...

Higher proportion of unvaccinated Covid-19 patients above 50 years old need supplemental oxygen: NCID study


A study by the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) has found that a higher proportion of unvaccinated Covid-19 patients above the age of 50 needed supplemental oxygen, compared to those who are either fully or partially vaccinated.

The study, which analysed the effect of age and vaccination on Covid-19 patients, examined 1,165 unvaccinated Covid-19 patients who were admitted to NCID between February and December last year, and 328 Covid-19 positive patients who were admitted to NCID between April 28 and June 27 this year.

Those in the earlier group were not vaccinated as the vaccines were only available in December last year.

In a statement on Thursday (July 22), NCID said that of the 153 Covid-19 patients aged above 50 who were admitted to NCID between ​April 28 and June 27 this year, 41.8 per cent of those who were unvaccinated required supplemental oxygen, compared to 11.1 per cent for those who were partially vaccinated, and 1.7 per cent for those who are fully vaccinated.

Only one fully vaccinated Covid-19 patient required supplemental oxygen and this was a 98-year-old patient.

“The findings show the beneficial effects of (the) vaccine,” said NCID. “In addition, there may be partial protection with one dose of vaccine before completion of the two-dose regimen.”

“However, it should be stressed that one should complete (the) full vaccination (regime) of two doses for maximum protective effectiveness.”

The study also found that none of the fully vaccinated patients above the age of 50 required high dependency or intensive care, while 10.6 per cent of in the same group who were unvaccinated or partially vaccinated required such care.

https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/higher-proportion-unvaccinated-people-above-50-need-supplemental-oxygen-compared-those-who

Anonymous said...

The main mouth pieces of the PAP are energetically spouting pro-mRNA Vaccines Manufacturers' Propaganda to scare simple minded people to go for vaccination with the EXPERIMENTAL mRNA Vaccines approved for Emergency Use ONLY, with unknown long-term consequences throughout their lives and regret too late.

Anonymous said...

"The study also found that none of the fully vaccinated patients above the age of 50 required high dependency or intensive care, while 10.6 per cent of in the same group who were unvaccinated or partially vaccinated required such care."

This statement has indirectly told all of us that people who have been vaccinated still get infected. That means the vaccines are not effective enough.

The study has avoided to indicate this glaring but important fact that those who have not been vaccinated yet need to consider before they subject themselves to the Global Experiment / Global Scam of Big Pharmas.

Anonymous said...

If China and some other big countries had waited for the Pfizer vaccines, how many would have departed this world already, like the Indians. 4.9 million are said to be missing from the dead count of only a little more than 400,000. How about the infected?

anyway, do remember Trump's words - 'America first' from the word go in their development of the vaccine. Had China waited, do you think Trump would make available the Pfizer vaccine, which the Whites had been boarding from the very first day. Trump certainly would not let China have it, a country he is trying to decimate?. Think of the consequences if you want to trust the White devils.

So, why do the Chinese go for the so called less effective self made vaccine instead of waiting indefinitely for the more effective ones? It is a question of survival and fearing the consequence of trusting the USA and Trump.

To understand the USA's evil nature is caution, to trust them is deadly. The Chinese have long memories and lessons have been learnt dealing with the USA. They do not honour their words, have no conscience and care little about world opinion.

Anonymous said...

Idiots believe in efficacy rate of vaccines. Because whatever the efficacy rate, vaccinated people still get infected.

Smart people go for effective rate (how long will it last) of not getting infected after having taken the vaccine.

In previous vaccines, like those for small pox, anti-tetanus, polio, etc., there were no such problems. Only in the present COVID-19 vaccines, so many problems have arisen because of the Vaccines War launched by the West.


Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

'In a statement on Thursday (July 22), NCID said that of the 153 Covid-19 patients aged above 50 who were admitted to NCID between ​April 28 and June 27 this year, 41.8 per cent of those who were unvaccinated required supplemental oxygen, compared to 11.1 per cent for those who were partially vaccinated, and 1.7 per cent for those who are fully vaccinated.'

Understanding how to manipulate statistics to tell a story that you want to tell.

1. First point to query about this statistic. Why lower the age of seniors to 50 and not 60 and above?

2. Of the 153, how many were 60 and above? Less than 50, less than 10?

3. 41.8% of the unvaccinated? How many were unvaccinated? 75, 50, 30?

4. 11.1% of the vaccinated? Again how many were actually vaccinated?

What would the picture look like if 133 were unvaccinated and 20 were vaccinated?
Using the above percentages, 41.8 = 56, 11.1 = 2.

Conversely, if 20 were unvaccinated and 133 were vaccinated, the corresponding numbers would be 8 and 15.

In the above two examples, one gave a high percentage and equally high real cases. Another gave a high percentage but a low actual cases.

By not disclosing how many were actually vaccinated and not vaccinated, all we know are the percentages, not the real numbers.

It would be more interesting to know how many were below 60 and how many were 60 and above.

Don't pray pray with statistics.





Anonymous said...

They are now spreading misinformation that China is going to use Pfizer vaccines, in a way admitting that Chinese vaccines are ineffective. Would China do that knowing that the whole game is political and a war?

There may be Chinese companies getting licence to produce Pfizer vaccines. This could be for commercial reasons, to be exported. Or Pfizer knew they did not have the capacity to produce the numbers they want to sell, so licenced to some Chinese companies to produce as a commercial product for the rest of the world.

China has so many vaccines would not go and buy more expensive and questionable mRNA vaccines. If they really think this is effective, they would produce their own for domestic consumption rather than pay Pfizer for it.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous makes a valid point. In the development of other vaccines for other diseases, without much competition, there was little we hear about comparing efficacy. Only in the development of COVID19 vaccines does this question of efficacy come to the fore.

The obvious reason is probably that there were so many manufacturers, in fact hundreds, competing and hoping to make a killing with theirs, so they have to think of something like 'efficacy' using slick marketing to give them the edge.

The fact that the tenor of protection is now found to be so short, and getting shorter, the more important criteria would probably be to place more emphasis on how long the vaccine can prevent infection after being administered, rather than on efficacy at the point of vaccination.

Anonymous said...

30 unlinked
+
69 linked but not yet quarantined

Total: 99 community nodes

With covid, 10~20% of potential superspreaders are responsible for 80~90% of secondary transmission.

And 2% could be responsible for 90% of the viral load, based on a study of over 1000 people in Colorado.

With an R0 of 6, each Delta node can infect an average of 6 others, possibly more.

So 99 community nodes mean they could already infect another 600 more, and those 600 more could infect another 3600 more.

That is explosive!

And what does the superspreader pattern tell us?

It tells us that we are not dealing with averages.

We are dealing with missing that 1, 2, or 20 people who could be infecting the next 500 people.

What else are the numbers telling us?

They are telling us that for every covid positive case detected, we are probably missing 3, 4, or more.

So folks, don’t play play.

And God helps those who help themselves.

So on top of pray pray, go get vaccinated.

Don’t wait till it’s too late.

Our hospital system is excellent, and our healthcare folks are top class.
But they are not miracle workers.

For Covid, there are no special drugs that provide miracle cure.

If we don’t train our body ahead of time, we are bullying ourselves, and fooling ourselves that it can take care of the virus without pre-training.

Vaccinate for lives and livelihood.

Vaccinate before it’s too late.

- Ms Ho Ching

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

The anti China fake news are all out to smear Chinese vaccines. China has so few cases that it could not even do the trials for Sinovac and SinoPharm inside China and had to seek cooperation with foreign countries to do the trials.

What nonsense is this that mRNA vaccines is conducting trial in China when there is no Covid19 cases to do the trial except for a handful imported cases in Yunnan?

Anonymous said...

Think wisely. Is it really feasible to claim that China is going to use the Pfizer vaccine because Chinese vaccines are not effective? If Chinese vaccines are not effective, how could a country with a population of 1.4 billion, still have a death toll that is just a fraction of the USA? The reality does not fit the narrative.

Do we need to say anything more?

Anonymous said...

68% Indians Have Been Infected With COVID-19?!

Indian experts claimed that 68% of Indians tested have the Covid19 anti bodies. India is thus reaching a herd immunity status.

No one, not Trump or any Americans is accusing India of being not transparent and hiding their numbers, of lying.

68% of 1.3b is about 800 million people already exposed and infected to the Covid19 virus. India is still reporting 3m infections, less than the USA. 800m is more than double the population of the USA.

Anonymous said...

Sinovac too effective....

It is unclear why the firms have decided to conduct part of the clinical trial locally, though the two border provinces of Guangxi and Yunnan have sporadic imported cases and occasional small clusters.

China has shifted from its initial reservations about mRNA vaccines to developing its own. In the face of the highly transmissible Delta variant, health officials are especially seeking boosters to strengthen the immunity of those who have already received doses of the traditional inactivated vaccines produced by Sinovac and Sinopharm.

Several countries using Chinese inactivated vaccines have started giving Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca shots as boosters, as doubts arise about how well inactivated vaccines can fend off the Delta variant.

In a small trial in Shanghai, another mRNA vaccine developed by two Chinese companies, Stemirna Therapeutics and Shanghai East Hospital, are to be administered to a group of 10 people who have already received two doses of inactivated vaccines.

Feng Duojia, president of the China Association of Vaccines, said in April that he was expecting Chinese mRNA vaccines to hit the market by the end of the year.

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3142084/domestic-clinical-trials-planned-chinas-mrna-covid-19-vaccine

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

Conducting clinical trial on 10 people? You believe that is a meaningful trial?

If 10 people or 1,000 or 5,000 people is meaningful, why would China have to conduct its trials overseas?

Only the unthinking believers of American propaganda would believe in this shit.

I wanted to delete this post but the stupidity is hilarious. So I will leave it here for the stupid to believe this is true, not fake news.

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

Now their Delta Variant are causing so much havoc in so many countries because of their 68% of their 1.3 or 1.4 billions infected.

If NOT most countries already in the Norm open up.

Still NOT many cursing them.

Singapore is a happy recipient and a satisfied customer of Delta Variant and still opening its door asking for more.

Anonymous said...

China is probably thinking ahead knowing the COVID19 is not going away soon, and are in the process of getting prepared for more virulent mutated versions of the virus. Hence it is also looking at mRNA vaccines as another alternative should the inevitable happens. After all, there is nothing to lose for commercial reasons and lessening the risk of putting all their eggs in one basket.

China's vaccine development in the direction of mRNA is a sensible move. And the USA and the West will no longer think they own the sole bragging rights about the efficacy of their vaccines using the mRNA technique. That is going to change the whole narrative for sure.

Anonymous said...

Call it 'Indian Delta Variant' would be more appropriate, since WION, the Indian Propaganda Machine is still using the term 'Wuhan Virus' not COVID19.

Anonymous said...

Evils of Whitemen released bio weapons on China and the world, God releases the following :

Fires at:

Australia,
Canada and
USA;

Tornadoes,
Hurricanes and
Storms
at USA.


Floods at USA:

Alabama,
Arizina,
Colorado and
New Mexico.

Floods at UK:

Eastern England
Central England
South West England
Wakes.

Floods in Europe:

1. Romania,

2.Netherlands,

3.Germany,

4. France,

5. Belgium.

6. Other European countries.

SSO said...

Enormous scale of destruction is revealed as water subsides after historic western Europe flooding

(CNN) At least 189 people are dead and hundreds more remain missing after catastrophic flooding hit large swaths of western Europe, with tens of thousands unable to return to their homes and many still left without access to power and drinking water.

The flooding, caused by unprecedented rainfall, has hit parts of western Germany before shifting to neighboring Belgium and the Netherlands.

Several areas across the southern Netherlands remain evacuated after the river Maas rose to levels not seen in over a century on Saturday. In Venlo, a city that sits right on the Maas, 10,000 people had to leave their homes.

The rapidly rising water levels forced volunteers and the military to race against the clock on Saturday to prepare the city for the flooding. They produced sand bags and put up flood defenses while engineers focused on strengthening the dikes after one such embankment broke in the South Limburg province on Friday, causing large-scale flooding in the surrounding areas.

The preparation paid off -- the Venlo regional security agency said the dikes and flood defenses held overnight and no major flooding was expected.

Meanwhile in Germany, the true scale of the destruction brought by the floods was being revealed as the water subsided over the weekend, leaving behind devastation, mud and chaos.

Entire towns, train lines and roads were swept away and at least 158 people have died in what the German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier described as the "worst natural disaster" in a century.

By far the most deaths were reported in the western state of Rhine-Palatinate, where 110 people lost their lives, according to a statement issued by Koblenz police on Sunday.

Visiting Schuld, one of the worst hit towns, on Sunday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the devastation was "surreal."

"It is shocking -- I can almost say that the German language doesn't have words for the devastation," she told reporters in the town of Adenau, in Rhineland-Palatinate. Merkel promised her government would provide financial aid quickly.

Speaking alongside Merkel, Rhineland-Palatinate state premier Malu Dreyer said the area was "a place of horror and destruction."

Pope Francis expressed his solidarity with the regions hit by the disaster.
"May the Lord welcome the deceased and comfort their loved ones, may he sustain the efforts of everyone who are helping those who have suffered serious damage," he said during an address in the Vatican on Sunday.

Catastrophic disaster of historic proportion

In Belgium, the national Crisis Center said Sunday the situation was gradually improving throughout the country and that the areas hit by the floods are "out of imminent danger." It said search for victims continues and that the biggest concern at the moment was a lack of drinking water in some of the worst-affected areas. At least 31 people have died in the country, according to the center.

"Rescue operations have concluded, but search operations are still ongoing in a number of areas," the center said in a statement.

The devastating floods came after parts of western Europe experienced historic levels of rainfall, with more than a month's worth of rain falling in 24 hours.

Cologne, in North Rhine-Westphalia, recorded 154 millimeters (6 inches) of rainfall in the 24 hours to Thursday morning, which is nearly double its monthly average for July of 87 millimeters. In the Ahrweiler district, 207 millimeters (8.1 inches) of rain fell in only nine hours, according to the European Severe Weather Database.

The downpours resulted in extreme flash flooding, with water levels rising within minutes.

While it's too early for scientists to say how big a role climate change has played in causing this particular flooding, extreme rain events like the ones seen in western Europe this week are becoming more common and more severe.

SSO said...

India Deadly Variant, not Delta Variant. In short, IDV.

Anonymous said...

Uncle RB, please delete all the postings intended to smear China and the Chinese.

Anonymous said...

Uncle RB, please kan all the mainland china postings on weixin intended to smear China and the Chinese

SSO said...


From the title and write-up of the article above, if you analyze deeper into the data given, you can find that there are a few factors that are more important to highlight than what the NCID has deliberately put forth, with the clear intention to influence the minds of those who refuse to be vaccinated.

That action brings the NCID down from its status as medical professionals to that of an amateur advertiser or a feverish propagandist.

This is unnecessary, uncalled for, unacceptable and most disgusting, and despicable.

Anonymous said...

The war is between China and the USA. India is just a sideshow. At most an irritant.

Anonymous said...

Ya, like housefly. When you are busy with something important, it would keep flying into your face asking to be swat.