onthedarkside

A misinformation post and several trolling posts and replies have been removed.

A series of trolling posts, including several with unsourced claims, have been removed, along with ensuing replies.

Worldwide, about 10.5 million children may have lost parents or caregivers to COVID-19 and 7.5 million were orphaned, according to new study that estimated excess mortality using World Health Organization (WHO) data. In the study, published [Sept. 6] in JAMA Pediatrics, a University of Oxford researcher led a team in analyzing excess COVID-19–related deaths from Jan 1, 2020, to May 1, 2022. ... An estimated 10.5 million children lost parents or caregivers to COVID-19, and 7.5 million were orphaned, with the greatest numbers in the Africa (24.3%) and Southeast Asia (40.6%) WHO regions and the least in the Americas (14.0%), Eastern Mediterranean (14.6%), European (4.7%), and Western Pacific (1.8%) regions. (more) https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2022/09/covid-19-may-have-orphaned-75-million-kids-worldwide Also: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2795650 https://imperialcollegelondon.github.io/orphanhood_calculator/#/country/Global

A post with numerous unsourced and unsubstantiated claims has been removed.

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A post from a disallowed social media source that also lacked a required weblink has been removed, along with several ensuing replies. Forum rule: "in factual areas such as but not limited to news, current affairs and health topics, social media cannot be used unless it is from a credible news media source or a government agency, and must include a link to the original source."

‘We are the invaders of the viral world, not vice versa,’ a virologist says ... In many respects, the viral invasion is no accident. A warming climate, vanishing forests and global travel have accelerated the spread of pathogens from animals to people, as well as among people in different parts of the world. ... “We live in a world of microbial evolution and the microbes are taking every advantage they can,” said Michael Osterholm, the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. ... The summer of 2022 may go down as the moment that humans began to get the picture. Infectious diseases became big news. (more) https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2022/09/01/summer-viruses-covid-19-monkeypox-polio/

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A comment on moderation and COViD misinformation post has been removed, along with several ensuing replies.

Several posts and comments with unsourced and unsubstantiated claims have been removed, along with a conspiracy theory post, and with ensuing replies.

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Some members here have been getting, shall we say, overly exuberant in their placing of negative emoticons ("sad" or "confused") on particular other members' posts. Using emoticons within limits and reason is fine. But excessive use of negative emoticons, particularly concentrated targeting of particular other forum members in volume, is considered "stalking" and is a violation of forum rules -- punishable by a posting suspension. So please, let's not overdo it... "11. You will not stalk other members by using forum posts, private messages, the use of emojis or any other means." https://aseannow.com/terms/

A post making a misleading, partial excerpt of a quoted source has been removed. Also an off-topic diversionary post talking about Iraq.

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File photo LONDON, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Like thousands of pubs across Britain, the Red Lion and Sun fears financial ruin this winter as its energy costs surge, just as business was starting to recover from the fallow years of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nestled in a leafy north London suburb, the pub's annual energy bill is on course to more than quadruple this year to 65,000 pounds ($76,000) from 16,000 pounds, said James Cuthbertson, a director of The Frisco Group, which manages the pub along with two others in the capital and southeast England. "We need to come up with an extra 50,000 pounds in profits each year, at the same time that profits are coming to a standstill as consumers see their own prices rise at home," he said. (more) https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/last-orders-uk-pubs-brace-mass-closures-energy-costs-soar-2022-09-01/

More than one third of Pakistan is underwater, according to satellite images from the European Space Agency (ESA), as deadly floodwaters threaten to create secondary disasters. Food is in short supply after water covered millions of acres of crops and wiped out hundreds of thousands of livestock. Meanwhile, aid agencies have warned of an uptick in infectious diseases, leaving millions vulnerable to illness caused by what the United Nations has called a “monsoon on steroids.” More than 1,100 people have died from the floods since mid-June, nearly 400 of them children, while millions have been displaced, according to Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). Pakistan, which was already grappling with political and economic turmoil, has been thrown into the front line of the human-induced climate crisis. (more) https://edition.cnn.com/2022/09/02/asia/pakistan-floods-climate-explainer-intl-hnk/index.html

Hundreds of mourners pay tribute in Russian capital to former Soviet leader credited with helping to end cold war Hundreds of mourners are lining up in central Moscow to bid farewell to Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, often credited with bringing an end to the cold war. The farewell ceremony, which is being held in the Hall of Pillars in Moscow’s House of the Unions, will be followed by a closed funeral in the Novodevichy cemetery. While the funeral would contain “elements of a state funeral”, a Kremlin spokesperson said, it will not be attended by the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, due to his “work schedule”. (more) https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/sep/03/mikhail-gorbachev-funeral-moscow-putin-too-busy-to-attend