Some 40,000 children slave away in Chinese-operated Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) mines, digging out cobalt for cell phones, laptops, Teslas and Green New Deal technologies, the London-based Guardian has reported. They're exposed constantly to toxic and radioactive mud, dust, water and air. Blood and respiratory diseases, birth defects, cancer, paralysis and death by suffocation are common. Other investigators have confirmed the horrors. But the human rights violations continue.
Unfortunately, other Guardian stories are a bizarre mix of fact, fake news, junk science, conjecture and nonsense. "Is our destruction of nature responsible for Covid-19?" a recent headline blared, adding "As habitat and biodiversity loss increase globally, the coronavirus outbreak may be just the beginning of mass pandemics." The story blamed the destruction and virus on road building, mining and logging.
