Good morning,
Royal Bomb Shell
A 90 minute extradordinary interview with by Meghan Markle and Prince Harry with Oprah, has rocked the Royals with a revelation she was so distraught in her treatment by ‘the Firm’ also known as the family, she contemplated suicide. And that her efforts to seek medical help were blocked by the family, because of the concern of the effects that might have on Royal reputation.
“I was ashamed to have to admit it to Harry. I knew that if I didn’t say it, I would do it. I just didn’t want to be alive anymore.”
She claims in a conversation, Harry was told the family did not want the couple’s biracial unborn child, Archie, to be a prince or princess, and expressed concerns about how dark the color of the baby’s skin would be. Harry would not identify who was involved in that controversial discussion, and said he would never name them.
It clearly labels the Royal family, as racist and is damaging to The Queen and all of those who represent her.
The news is front page here in Britain and will have huge ramifications for Buckingham Palace and The Queen, as Harry and Meghan Markle have worked to distance themselves from Royal life including leaving Britain to take up residence in Los Angeles.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-56316850
Meghan is not going to receive unanimous praise in Britain or elsewhere for the interview that some will see as incredibly unfair and damaging to the Monarchy, and many will question why Prince Harry is not more protective of his grandmother the Queen, and given while his 99 yr old grandfather Prince Phillip is in the hospital recovering from a heart operation.
More to come…because there is still more interview that has yet to air.
Back to School
After just over 2 months of home schooling because of lockdown my kids went back in school today. Both teenage boys, they didn’t say the missed class that much, but I know they missed their friends and the social aspects of being a teenager and much of that has been robbed from them over the last year through 3 different lockdowns in London. But I know these lockdowns were smart, and the sober sane thing to do, and when I look at whats happened in America with the politicization of masking and social distancing I can’t believe how ridiculous it has become in places like Texas and Florida.
The boys were each required to go to school on the weekend have covid tests and they will be tested at least once a week through school now and remain in year ‘bubbles’ so a positive test at school doesn’t mean they send home every class, but small groups of kids that would have to isolate for 10 days. The country is now calling in people in their 50’s to get the vaccines after having called up those aged 60 plus.
More than 18 million people across England – more than one-third of the adult population – have already received a vaccine. Across the whole of the UK, more than a million people have received both doses of a Covid-19 vaccine, while almost 21.4 million people have had one dose.
Russia Deaths
Russia has largely played down the covid pandemic and life is supposedly “normal” in big City’s like Moscow and St. Petersburg, but the numbers of dead from the virus appear to be among the highest in the world. Excess deaths put the toll at 55 thousand in January alone, and altogether near 400 thousand.
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2021/03/05/russias-excess-death-toll-approaches-400k-a73168
U.S. Covid
The U.K. variant has been found to deliver 64% more hospitalizations and has been found across the U.S. (See Lancet link below)
And, after the highly criticized decision by the Texas Governor Abbot to reopen the state and even remove masking mandates, covid variants have spread rapidly and Houston has become the first major U.S. City to record every major Covid variant including South Africa, Brazilian and U.K. variants which spread much more easily, increase the impact of the illness, and are showing signs of decreasing vaccine effectiveness. Miami also shows signs the decrease in Covid spread is slowing, and hospitalizations increasing. All of these variants are much more transmissible and now the Danish study shows what we knew in the U.K. for sometime - the variants are also increasing hospitalizations and that’s why Texas and other U.S. states where in particular the B117 UK variants is only now getting a foothold, will see huge strains on hospital UCU’s.
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3792894
U.S. Covid Relief
Biden’s 1.9 trillion pandemic relief measure has passed the Senate and cheques are about to be mailed out to suffering families in an America hammered by the pandemic with more than 10 million people out of work and more than half a million people have died.
By the end of 2020, more than 83 million Americans were having trouble meeting bills by January 2021, 30 to 40 million Americans were at risk of eviction because they could not make their rent payments and 39 percent of low-income households saw job losses early in the pandemic showing the worst hit have been lower income households.
Isn’t it incredible that not one Republican voted for the bill? They have cited opposition to the aid being proportional to the numbers of unemployed in each state, and said America can’t afford this and proposed another alternative bailout of about one third or 600 billion dollars.
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/03/06/senate-approves-bidens-19t-pandemic-relief-plan-473920
ICC and Israel
On Back Story with Dana Lewis we have a 2 part series on the Int. Criminal Courts decision to investigate war crimes in the West Bank and Gaza, namely Palestine. Israel has reacted bitterly to the decision. That’s part 2. In part 1 Palestinians want Israel to be held to account, and we discuss the case of Ahmad Erekat among others.
Part 1 Israel/Palestinian Human Rights:
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1016881/8087243
Part 2 Israel/Palestinian Human Rights:
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1016881/8092036
Have a good Monday everyone.