Author: Osumashi
Not All Heroes Wear Capes
Some of them wear shorts while saving a cat:
My boyfriend saving a cat from flood waters near Bonita Beach. #HurricaneIan #Naples #Bonita #FortMyers pic.twitter.com/BlBC9P1rdy
— Megan Cruz Scavo (@MeganScavo) September 28, 2022
Saving pups:
Dog rescued from sailboat in Fort Myers. He went back and got a cat too. pic.twitter.com/JFcWl4972g
— Brian Entin (@BrianEntin) September 28, 2022
Or telling everyone what he thinks of Joe Biden.
Canada Not A Great Place to Retire
But don’t take my word for it:
Canada fell out of the top 10 ranking of the best countries for retirement security this year, according to Natixis Investment Managers (Natixis IM). In the investment research group’s 10th annual retirement index, Canada dropped five places to 15th out of 44 countries, after securing a top 10 spot for the first time last year.
The main reasons for the drop, Natixis IM said, are a decline in financial well-being and happiness, increased tax burdens, a rapidly aging population and environmental factors, such as a lack of biodiversity.
Yeah, that must be it.
Canadian Government to Match Donations to Pakistan
I don’t remember agreeing to this:
The federal government will match donations from Canadians to help the people of Pakistan, where a humanitarian emergency has been caused by massive flooding.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says donations made to one of the 12 aid agencies that make up the Humanitarian Coalition will be matched until Sept. 28, to a maximum of $3 million.
Emergency food, water, sanitation and health services are badly needed after monsoon rains over the last three months have left more than one-third of the country underwater.
More than 33 million people are affected by the floods and with much of the country’s agricultural land underwater, the Pakistani government is warning of an impending food shortage.
Canada will send another $25 million to Pakistan to respond to the flooding and support development projects.
International Development Minister Harjit Sajjan is in Pakistan now witnessing the devastation.
Emperor Naruhito to Attend Royal Funeral
Here:
Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako will travel to London from Sept. 17 to 20 to attend the state funeral for Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, their first overseas trip since Naruhito ascended the Chrysanthemum Throne in 2019.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno announced at a news conference on Sept. 14 that the Cabinet will grant official approval on Sept. 16 for the couple’s visit to London. Elizabeth’s funeral is scheduled to be held in Westminster Abbey at 11 a.m. on Sept. 19.
While it is unusual for the emperor to attend the funeral of a member of a foreign royal family, the government took into account the traditional close ties between the imperial family and the British royal family.
The late queen, the world’s longest-reigning monarch who died on Sept. 8 at age 96 after 70 years on the throne, had interactions with not only Naruhito but also his father, Emperor Emeritus Akihito, and his grandfather, Emperor Hirohito (1901-1989), posthumously known as Emperor Showa.
“Although the plan was shelved by the outbreak of the global novel coronavirus pandemic, the queen herself had invited the emperor and empress to visit Britain,” Matsuno said of the major reason behind the latest decision.
He added that Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and other Japanese government officials will not attend the funeral.
According to Imperial Household Agency officials, Akihito and Empress Emerita Michiko attended the state funeral in 1993 for Belgian King Baudouin, the only other time an emperor has attended a state funeral for a foreign head of state or royal family member.
Rise In Blood Pressure in South Korean Children
The obesity rate among primary and secondary schoolchildren in Seoul has increased since the surge of the COVID pandemic, and now one in five or six schoolkids has high blood pressure, fresh data suggest.An earlier government survey found that obesity among children increased as they engaged in fewer activities and their eating habits changed in lockdown.The new data from the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education also show that risk factors of major chronic diseases such as blood pressure, blood glucose and cholesterol levels and liver somatic index worsened.
Japanese Scientists Find Protein That Determines COVID Severity
Here:
A team of Japanese researchers identified a protein that can foretell severe COVID-19 cases, potentially making it possible to determine the severity of a patient’s symptoms.
Scientists from Chiba University said they discovered the protein–called myosin light chain 9 (Myl9)–rose in volume in blood vessels among patients with more serious signs of the novel coronavirus. Myl9 is one of the components that make up blood platelets.
The research was carried out primarily by a team headed by Kiyoshi Hirahara, an immunology professor at the university’s graduate school.
“If a simple kit could be developed that could measure the concentration of Myl9, the severity of patients’ conditions could be predicted,” Hirahara said at an Aug. 1 news conference. “That would help determine which patients to hospitalize first.”
The findings have been published in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, the official journal of the National Academy of Sciences.
“Creating a therapeutic agent featuring an antibody against Myl9 could help doctors prevent symptoms from worsening,” Hirahara said.
Hirahara and his colleagues examined inflammation around the pulmonary blood vessels of individuals who deaths were due to COVID-19.
The researchers then found the virus damaged blood vessels, leading to the platelet-constituting Myl9 to swarm around blood clots generated in the process.
Analyzing the blood samples of 123 hospitalized patients from 11 medical centers, including Chiba University Hospital, the scientists discovered Myl9 levels were three to five times higher among those with moderate conditions than seen in mild cases.
It was 10-fold among patients who died of the virus.
Patients who showed higher Myl9 levels when they were admitted to hospital ended up being hospitalized for longer periods, according to the team.
Myl9 exists in the blood of healthy people but in only limited amounts.
According to the team, Myl9 levels among COVID-19 patients rise more markedly than in those with severe blood vessel problems, such as sepsis, and underwent cardiac and other surgical procedures that took a heavy toll on their bodies.
If We Are So Worried About China, Why Trade With It?
Indeed:
The French foreign minister said Wednesday that the war in Ukraine will not overshadow France’s commitments to the Indo-Pacific region, where India and its allies view China’s rising influence with suspicion.
Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna and her Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar discussed the security situation in the region and the consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, including concerns about food security and rising inflation, officials said.
Colonna said the two countries share the same concern about China’s role in the region.
“We spoke a lot about the general situation in the Indo-Pacific and the many challenges that have emerged because of China. We have basically the same analysis, we also share the same concerns, because we know the role the Chinese are playing and we want to make sure that there is no imbalance in the Indo-Pacific,” Colonna said at a news briefing.
Jaishankar said that it was important for like-minded countries to work together in the region to ensure peace, security and prosperity. “We consider France as an Indo-Pacific player that has a long-standing presence in the Indian Ocean,” he added.
Indian and Chinese soldiers last week began pulling back from a key friction point on their disputed border as part of efforts to lower tensions in a more than two-year standoff that has sometimes led to deadly clashes. The two countries have stationed tens of thousands of soldiers backed by artillery, tanks and fighter jets along the de facto border, called the Line of Actual Control.
In June 2020, India said it lost 20 troops and China said it lost four soldier when the two sides fought with clubs, stones and fists.
Jaishankar said Wednesday that the disengagement of troops was completed.
**
The Chinese ambassador called on Japan for caution in dealings with Taiwan at a symposium in Tokyo on Sept. 12 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of normalization of ties between Japan and China.
“We hope (the Japanese government) is cautious in its words and actions with regard to the Taiwan issue, not sending a wrong signal to people supporting Taiwan’s independence, as well as not participating in any provocative moves that use Taiwan to keep China in check,” said Kong Xuanyou, the Chinese ambassador to Japan.
Russia Imports North Korean Military Kits
Vladimir Putin’s forces are being forced to source equipment from North Korea and Iran as the impacts of sanctions and military losses in Ukraine bite, defence experts believe.
British defence intelligence analysts think that Moscow is “increasingly sourcing weaponry from other heavily sanctioned states” as its own stockpiles are depleted.
An update published by the UK’s Ministry of Defence pointed to claims that Ukrainian forces had shot down an Iranian-made drone as evidence of Moscow’s use of systems sourced from Tehran.
Ukraine claimed it shot down the drone near Kupiansk as part of the offensive that has punched through Russian lines around Kharkiv on the eastern front.
The image suggested the Shahed “suicide drone” had been shot down by Ukrainian forces and had not detonated on impact as designed, though little information was released by the authorities in Kyiv.
If it makes everyone feel better, Justin relies on South Korea to pull its fat out of the fire:
Canada has asked the government of South Korea to produce and deliver more artillery rounds to backfill supplies that Ottawa sent to war-torn Ukraine.
(Sidebar: this article is dated June of this year.)
What’s worse is that Justin will bore South Korean president Yoon Sok-yeol later on this month.
Poor Mr. Yoon.
LTC Bill Passes
Ontario’s Progressive Conservative government has passed legislation that would force hospital patients awaiting long-term care into nursing homes not of their choosing on a temporary basis.
But Premier Doug Ford says patients who refuse to move will not be charged an uninsured rate of $1,800 per day.