News Round-Up: Mega Cost for Transition to Renewables in Germany, British Parliament Group Asks About Excess Deaths and the Dark Truth of 'Transgender Health'
News Round-Up: Mega Cost for Transition to Renewables in Germany, British Parliament Group Asks About Excess Deaths and the Dark Truth of 'Transgender Health'
Every week, the editorial team of Freedom Research compiles a round-up of news that caught our eye, or what felt like under-reported aspects of news deserving more attention.
Over the past week, the following topics attracted our attention:
British parliamentary group is calling for the release of data on mortality following Covid vaccination.
Germany's state auditors: the switch to renewables will mean €460 billion grid investment.
The WPATH Files: 'transgender health care' advocates and practitioners flagrantly violate medical ethics.
Study: EVs release more toxic emissions than petrol engines.
England Football Association threatens girls' league: if you don't let boys play, we'll shut you down.
British parliamentary group is calling for the release of data on mortality following Covid vaccination.
Twenty-one members of the UK Parliament are accusing the country's health secretary of withholding data they believe could link Covid vaccines to excess mortality in recent years, reports The Telegraph. An all-party parliamentary group also criticises the 'wall of silence' on the issue of excess mortality and its possible link to vaccines in a letter to Minister Victoria Atkins and several state agencies. The letter refers to "growing public and professional concerns" about a significant increase in excess mortality after 2020. In the past, responsible officials have blamed the UK's high excess mortality on the consequences of the Covid pandemic, e.g. the partial suspension of treatment during lockdowns, and long waiting lists for treatment. However, MPs are demanding the release of data that has so far allowed the government to claim that there is "no evidence" linking excess deaths to the mass administration of Covid vaccines. “If those data do indeed exist, please share them; if thorough investigations have already ruled out such a link, please share the relevant reports,” their letter says. “There is no place here for blind faith.”
Data showing the date on which people were injected with the Covid vaccine and, if the person has died since then, the date of their death are requested to be made public. Significantly, although this data has not been shared with the public, it has been made available to the pharmaceutical companies that produced the vaccines. MPs are therefore calling for the data to be made publicly available on the same anonymous basis and note that there does not appear to be any credible reason why this should not be done.
This is not the only criticism that British MPs have made recently of the public health authorities in relation to their actions during the Covid pandemic and in dealing with its aftermath. For example, last week, the same parliamentary group was seeking an inquiry into the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency's delay in informing the public about the dangerous side effects of Covid vaccines for months in 2021.
Germany's state auditors: the switch to renewables will mean €460 billion grid investment
Germany's national audit office (Bundesrechnungshof) has published a report stating that Germany is narrowly focusing on climate targets in its energy restructuring while neglecting other crucial aspects of the energy economy. According to the agency's report, energy policy should focus not only on climate issues but also on the environment in general, and at the same time on security of supply and affordability.
The auditors note, however, that the risks to Germany's energy supply have worsened instead of improving in all areas of energy policy since the previous report published in 2021. In fact, renewable energy capacity has not been developed at the pace targeted by the government. As renewable energy - wind and solar - are seasonal and weather-dependent, reserve capacities must also be developed to ensure the security of supply. Again, the government has failed to do this, according to the auditors.
Alongside new capacity, investment is also needed in the electricity grid to connect newly built renewables to it - 6,000 kilometres and seven years behind schedule, according to the auditors. But more importantly, it is very expensive to develop the grid for the needs of new renewable capacities. According to the auditors' calculations, more than €460 billion will have to be invested in extending the electricity grid up to 2045. This is more than four times the amount that was spent between 2007 and 2023. The report notes that while high electricity prices are already a burden for German businesses and households, the switch to renewable energy generation will lead to a further increase in electricity prices.
The auditors also point out that, while the wider uptake of renewable energy reduces greenhouse gas emissions, it has other negative environmental impacts. For example, many rare resources and landscapes are utilised and other negative environmental impacts, like the impairment of biodiversity. At the same time, there is insufficient or no data available for many of the environmental impacts caused by the energy transition.
The WPATH Files: 'transgender health care' advocates and practisioners flagrantly violate medical ethics
The US think tank Environmental Progress this week published documents exposing the inner workings of one of the world's leading proponents of transideology and 'sex change' procedures. The organisation, which calls itself the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), is seen as the world's leading body on 'transgender medical treatment' issues, influencing policy on gender reassignment in much of the world. In simple terms, of course, it is an association that advocates that so-called gender reassignment should be possible for young boys and girls from an early age and recommends the use of 'puberty blockers', hormone treatment and surgical interventions instead of psychological help for youngsters who are confused about their gender.
The documents show that the WPATH members are not actually serious about the health of people who think they are transgender. The records show that the organisation does not meet the standards of evidence-based medicine, and members frequently discuss improvising treatments as they go along. Members are fully aware that children and adolescents cannot comprehend the lifelong consequences of “gender-affirming care,” and in some cases, due to poor health literacy, neither can their parents.
Members also demonstrate a lack of consideration for long-term patient outcomes despite being aware of the debilitating and potentially fatal side effects of cross-sex hormones and other treatments. Messages in the files show that patients with severe mental health issues, such as schizophrenia and dissociative identity disorder, and other vulnerabilities such as homelessness, are being allowed to consent to hormonal and surgical interventions. Members dismiss concerns about these patients and characterize efforts to protect them as unnecessary “gatekeeping.” The files provide clear evidence that doctors and therapists are aware they are offering minors life-changing treatments they cannot fully understand. WPATH members know that puberty blockers, hormones, and surgeries will cause infertility and other complications, including cancer and pelvic floor dysfunction. Yet they consider life-altering medical interventions for young patients, including vaginoplasty for a 14-year-old and hormones for a developmentally delayed 13-year-old.
Michael Shellenberger, founder and president of Environmental Progress, said the documents clearly reveal that what is being called in this case gender medicine is neither science nor medicine. "The experiments are not randomized, double-blind, or controlled. It’s not medicine since the first rule is to do no harm. And that requires informed consent," he said.
All the leaked documents and files were made publicly available by Environmental Progress.
Study: EVs release more toxic emissions than petrol engines
As electric cars are significantly heavier than internal combustion cars, and they generate more air pollution, The Daily Mail reports. A study by Emissions Analytics found that electric cars are on average 30% heavier than petrol cars, which means that their brakes and tyres wear out faster. However, this rapid wear means that more small particles, oftentimes toxic, are released into the air. It is estimated that electric car brakes and tyres emit 1,850 times more of these particulates compared to emissions of petrol cars, which nowadays are fitted with emission control filters in their exhaust pipes.
Such particulate pollution can increase health problems in humans, including heart disease, asthma, lung disease and, in extreme cases, cancer and premature death. The study also found that, compared to exhaust from internal combustion engines, most of the particulates emitted by tyres and brakes due to rapid wear end up in soil and water.
The study was actually published in 2022 but has now been highlighted again because it was cited in an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal.
England Football Association threatens girls' league: if you don't let boys play, we'll shut you down
The Football Association of England is threatening to close down one of the country's biggest girls' football leagues because its managers refuse to allow boys to play in girls' teams, reports The Daily Mail. The row between football officials and the organisers of the West Riding Girls Football League began when the parents of a boy complained that their son was not being allowed to take part in the girls' league. The boy's parents explained that their child did not want to play with other boys because his level and ability were inferior to theirs and therefore he should be allowed to join the girls' league. As a result of the negative response, the local football association was informed and started to put pressure on the league, threatening them with possible sanctions if the boy was not allowed to play.
The girls' league has more than 300 teams and at least 6,000 girls under 18. However, the Football Association has a policy that states that any under-16 teams must allow both boys and girls to play, despite admitting that 'physical strength, stamina or physique' can put one sex at the disadvantage of the other.
Both West Riding Girls Football League officials and team coaches see a very real danger in boys joining girls' leagues and intend to fight it. There are also leagues in England where children of both sexes play together and a boy could join. At the same time, the coaches see a big problem with such leagues as well. The manager of one girls' club said that they have had several girls come from these 'mixed' leagues saying they have not been able to play there - for example, they have been excluded from having the ball passed to them or have been tackled and had bones broken. The same manager says a lot of the parents have said they will withdraw their daughters from training when the boys join the teams.