Happy Christmas
For the past three days we’ve published a pared down version of Lockdown Sceptics so we can have a bit of time off over Christmas. Cartoonist Bob Moran has very kindly given us three original cartoons which we’re running on consecutive days.
Happy Christmas to all our readers. Thanks for all your links, stories and suggestions, as well as your comments below the line and in the forums. Lockdown Sceptics is a collaboration between our small team, the writers who contribute original material, and the readers who post comments or send emails to us at lockdownsceptics@gmail.com. To date, we’ve had over 21,000 emails and we do our best to read them all.
Back in April, when I set up this blog, I imagined I’d be signing off about now. Turns out, that was naive. God knows when this madness will end, but at least there are some comforts in this digital camaraderie. Readers often get in touch to say Lockdown Sceptics has kept them sane. The feeling’s mutual.
Neil Ferguson: I was inspired by Communist China
Professor Lockdown gave an interview to yesterday’s Times in which he revealed that China’s lockdowns in January inspired him to push for more draconian measures in the UK than he had initially thought possible. Freddie Sayers in UnHerd has more.
Professor Neil Ferguson has given an extraordinary interview to Tom Whipple at The Times, in which he confirms the degree to which he believes that imitating China’s lockdown policies at the start of 2020 changed the parameters of what Western societies consider acceptable.
“I think people’s sense of what is possible in terms of control changed quite dramatically between January and March,” Professor Ferguson says. When SAGE observed the “innovative intervention” out of China, of locking entire communities down and not permitting them to leave their homes, they initially presumed it would not be an available option in a liberal Western democracy: “It’s a communist one party state, we said. We couldn’t get away with it in Europe, we thought… and then Italy did it. And we realised we could.”
He almost seems at pains to emphasise the Chinese derivation of the lockdown concept, returning to it later in the interview:
“These days, lockdown feels inevitable. It was, he reminds me, anything but. ‘If China had not done it,’ he says, ‘the year would have been very different.’”
To those people who, still now, object to lockdowns on civil liberties principles, this will be a chilling reminder of the centrality of the authoritarian Chinese model in influencing global policy in this historic year.
When lockdown critics like Dan Hannan claimed that the lockdown policies of Western governments were inspired by China’s illiberal response he was accused of political point-scoring. So it’s good to have it from the horse’s mouth.
Stop Press: A joint investigation by the New York Times and Politico has revealed the extent of China’s efforts to censor social media at the beginning of the pandemic, hoping to conceal its role in triggering the global crisis. Were the architects of the West’s lockdowns inspired by that policy too?
Stop Press 2: We’re publishing an original piece today entitled “When Did Scientists Turn Into Lobbyists?” about the ‘open letter’ that circulated in mid-March, supposedly by scientists (but mainly signed by mathematicians), urging the Government to go for a full lockdown. The author is an academic scientist who doesn’t want his name to be published.
Another Dodgy PCR Test Result
We get a lot of these stories at Lockdown Sceptics. As this reader says, whether you get a positive or a negative result from a PCR test is a bit of a coin toss.
Over Christmas, a family friend told me that he had recently been offered two tests – one for himself and one for his severely disabled son.
The son will not brush his own teeth without a fight, let alone accept a nasal swab, so our friend decided to take both tests himself. He took one test immediately after the other, and sent the tests off under the separate names.
Can you guess the results? One test was negative and the other test was positive! A 50:50 split from the same sample. Go figure.
Neither party had shown any symptoms of course. The son required a negative result to be allowed back into his special care facility after the holidays. Worryingly, it was ‘his’ test that was positive.
Our friend cannot work full time and/or look after his son 24/7 without specialist support, which has now been totally withdrawn for two weeks.
Not only is this PCR test completely arbitrary (it’s essentially a coin toss), it is actively putting vulnerable lives at risk.
We Fought the Law and the Law… Didn’t Win
A heart-warming Christmas story from a reader about how he and his family managed to celebrate in spite of all the restrictions.
Despite the insanity we managed to have a fairly normal Christmas with our family, who live 180 miles away, simply by ignoring all of it. We loaded up the car on Wednesday with dogs, presents and luggage and set out from our Welsh detention camp to my brother-in-law’s house in Suffolk. Once there we had dinner with them and their friends, spent Christmas Eve at our niece’s house and spent Christmas Day with the entire extended family. Meanwhile Suffolk was placed into Tier 4 but we returned home on Boxing Day with no sign of the police trying to enforce non-existent borders. I wonder if we are actually winning?
Stop Press: This reader’s behaviour was quite unusual. According to a Daily Mail poll, 85% of Britons complied with the rules.
Round-up
- “Doctor allergic to shellfish suffers severe reaction to Moderna vaccine & gives himself EpiPen shot to lower heart rate” – The Sun has a report about the first doctor to have an allergic reaction to the Moderna vaccine
- “Irish Catholics protest Government shut-down of public Masses” – Irish Catholics were banned from worshipping in churches this Christmas so they held services outside them
- “Our year of bowing down to ‘The Science’” – Great piece by Bruce Pardy, a Law Professor at Queen’s University in Canada
- “South Africa says ‘no evidence’ its virus variant more dangerous than UK strain” – Matt Hancock may have to come up with a new excuse when he moves the entire country into Tier 5
- “Free us from this futile cycle of Covid control” – Dr John Lee in the Daily Mail reminds us how pointless lockdowns are
- “Keep schools open by getting Army medics to train teachers how to give pupils Covid tests” – Former Defence Secretary Tobias Elwood MP has come up with a novel way to keep schools open
- “One in five train services could be AXED next year” – 20% of train services could be cut, according to Treasury officials
- “French Government delays bill branded as ‘vaccine blackmail’” – The French Government has delayed plans to make it legal to discriminate against people who haven’t had the vaccine
- “Vaccines and our own antibodies hold fast against mutant Covid army” – According to the Sunday Times, if you’ve got the antibodies you should be immune to the new variants
- “Beds aren’t the problem. It’s the shortage of doctors and nurses” – Andrew Gregory, the Sunday Times‘s Health Editor, confirms the analysis of the senior doctor who writes regularly about the NHS for Lockdown Sceptic
- “Back to Normal, Save Lives” – If you want to get involved in a grass roots campaign, contact this group and ask them to send you some of their leaflets to deliver
- “Scientists Eye Potential Culprit Behind COVID-19 Vaccine Allergic Reactions” – According to the Wall St Journal, the allergic reaction to the vaccines could be caused by an ingredient they all have in common: polyethylene glycol, or PEG
- “‘Hypocrite’ Deborah Birx says she broke her own Thanksgiving travel warning after her parents ‘stopped eating’ and became depressed during the lockdown she helped create” – One of the architect’s of America’s shut downs broke the rules herself
- “With Covid mutating, it’s clearer than ever that we must eliminate this virus” – Social anthropologist Devi Sridhar doubles down on her ‘zero Covid’ strategy
- Blue Labour trade unionist Paul Embery pointed out in a tweet that to date only 377 people under 60 with no underlying health conditions had died of Covid. The responses by lockdown zealots weren’t pretty
Theme Tunes Suggested by Readers
Just two today: “War on Freedom” by Killing Joke and “I Think I’ll Just Stay Here and Drink” by Merle Haggard.
Love in the Time of Covid
We have created some Lockdown Sceptics Forums, including a dating forum called “Love in a Covid Climate” that has attracted a bit of attention. We have a team of moderators in place to remove spam and deal with the trolls, but sometimes it takes a little while so please bear with us. You have to register to use the Forums, but that should just be a one-time thing. Any problems, email the Lockdown Sceptics webmaster Ian Rons here.
Sharing Stories
Some of you have asked how to link to particular stories on Lockdown Sceptics so you can share it. To do that, click on the headline of a particular story and a link symbol will appear on the right-hand side of the headline. Click on the link and the URL of your page will switch to the URL of that particular story. You can then copy that URL and either email it to your friends or post it on social media. Please do share the stories.
Social Media Accounts
You can follow Lockdown Sceptics on our social media accounts which are updated throughout the day. To follow us on Facebook, click here; to follow us on Twitter, click here; to follow us on Instagram, click here; to follow us on Parler, click here; and to follow us on MeWe, click here.
Woke Gobbledegook
We’ve decided to create a permanent slot down here for woke gobbledegook. Today, we bring you the ‘Wokies’ – the 10 most egregious examples of corporations pandering to identity politics. Not our idea, but RT‘s. Here are numbers 10, nine and eight.
10. Boeing
Perhaps attempting to distract from the revelation that management knew about the shortcomings in the 737 MAX’s onboard computer that killed hundreds of passengers in two crashes within six months, Boeing was quick to embark on an internal witch hunt as Black Lives Matter took over the sociopolitical discourse this summer, wielding the big stick of cancel culture against its own employees. Communications chief Niel Golightly resigned after just six months with the company over a 33 year-old article he’d written arguing against women serving in the military. While he claimed the piece no longer reflected his views, it was nevertheless “embarrassingly wrong and offensive”, Golightly said – to applause from the CEO, who boasted about the company’s “unrelenting commitment to diversity and inclusion in all its dimensions”.
Boeing’s planes may still be horrifically unsafe, but at least doomed passengers can die content that the airplane manufacturer has “zero tolerance for bigotry of any kind”.
9. SAS
Not to be outdone by the Americans, top Scandinavian airline SAS let its customers know in February that “nothing is truly Scandinavian”. Releasing a commercial claiming that cultural touchstones from Norway, Sweden and Denmark had actually come from elsewhere and declaring those countries’ residents were “no better than our Viking ancestors” in terms of (metaphorical) pillaging, the company seemed surprised when Scandinavians didn’t take kindly to being told they had no culture of their own. SAS ultimately removed the spot – though not before blaming the backlash on “right-wingers” and “hate groups”.
8. Penguin Random House
Publishing giant Penguin Random House in partnership with Barnes & Noble planned to celebrate Black History Month in February by changing the races of iconic literary characters for 12 re-released editions of young adult classics – confusing those they were trying to pander to (who asked why the publisher hadn’t just featured works written by actual black authors) and alienating others with the cheap stunt. At the eleventh hour, the “culturally diverse” book launch was shelved.
Worth reading in full.
Stop Press: Lewis Hamilton credits the “inspiration” provided by Black Lives Matter for his seventh Grand Prix win. I wonder how much of his £210 million fortune Hamilton will be allowed to keep if the “trained Marxists” who run BLM ever succeed in overthrowing the capitalist system?
Stop Press 2: Watch Tucker Carlson’s interview with Heather Mac Donald about how identity politics has destroyed the state of California.
“Mask Exempt” Lanyards
We’ve created a one-stop shop down here for people who want to buy (or make) a “Mask Exempt” lanyard/card. You can print out and laminate a fairly standard one for free here and it has the advantage of not explicitly claiming you have a disability. But if you have no qualms about that (or you are disabled), you can buy a lanyard from Amazon saying you do have a disability/medical exemption here (takes a while to arrive). The Government has instructions on how to download an official “Mask Exempt” notice to put on your phone here. You can get a “Hidden Disability” tag from ebay here and an “exempt” card with lanyard for just £1.99 from Etsy here. And, finally, if you feel obliged to wear a mask but want to signal your disapproval of having to do so, you can get a “sexy world” mask with the Swedish flag on it here.
Don’t forget to sign the petition on the UK Government’s petitions website calling for an end to mandatory face masks in shops here.
A reader has started a website that contains some useful guidance about how you can claim legal exemption. Another reader has created an Android app which displays “I am exempt from wearing a face mask” on your phone. Only 99p, and he’s even said he’ll donate half the money to Lockdown Sceptics, so everyone wins.
If you’re a shop owner and you want to let your customers know you will not be insisting on face masks or asking them what their reasons for exemption are, you can download a friendly sign to stick in your window here.
And here’s an excellent piece about the ineffectiveness of masks by a Roger W. Koops, who has a doctorate in organic chemistry. See also the Swiss Doctor’s thorough review of the scientific evidence here.
Stop Press: Austria’s constitutional court has ruled that compulsory mask wearing in schools is illegal, according to Agence France-Presse.
Stop Press 2: Baroness Nicholson tweeted a great video in which portraits of various famous Britons have been adapted so they’re all wearing masks. Not pretty.
The Great Barrington Declaration
The Great Barrington Declaration, a petition started by Professor Martin Kulldorff, Professor Sunetra Gupta and Professor Jay Bhattacharya calling for a strategy of “Focused Protection” (protect the elderly and the vulnerable and let everyone else get on with life), was launched in October and the lockdown zealots have been doing their best to discredit it ever since. If you googled it a week after launch, the top hits were three smear pieces from the Guardian, including: “Herd immunity letter signed by fake experts including ‘Dr Johnny Bananas’.” (Freddie Sayers at UnHerd warned us about this the day before it appeared.) On the bright side, Google UK has stopped shadow banning it, so the actual Declaration now tops the search results – and Toby’s Spectator piece about the attempt to suppress it is among the top hits – although discussion of it has been censored by Reddit. The reason the zealots hate it, of course, is that it gives the lie to their claim that “the science” only supports their strategy. These three scientists are every bit as eminent – more eminent – than the pro-lockdown fanatics so expect no let up in the attacks. (Wikipedia has also done a smear job.)
You can find it here. Please sign it. Now over three quarters of a million signatures.
Update: The authors of the GBD have expanded the FAQs to deal with some of the arguments and smears that have been made against their proposal. Worth reading in full.
Update 2: Many of the signatories of the Great Barrington Declaration are involved with new UK anti-lockdown campaign Recovery. Find out more and join here.
Update 3: You can watch Sunetra Gupta set out the case for “Focused Protection” here and Jay Bhattacharya make it here.
Update 4: The three GBD authors plus Prof Carl Heneghan of CEBM have launched a new website collateralglobal.org, “a global repository for research into the collateral effects of the COVID-19 lockdown measures”. Follow Collateral Global on Twitter here.
Judicial Reviews Against the Government
There are now so many JRs being brought against the Government and its ministers, we thought we’d include them all in one place down here.
First, there’s the Simon Dolan case. You can see all the latest updates and contribute to that cause here. Alas, he’s now reached the end of the road, with the Supreme Court’s refusal to hear his appeal. Dolan has no regrets. “We forced SAGE to produce its minutes, got the Government to concede it had not lawfully shut schools, and lit the fire on scrutinizing data and information,” he says. “We also believe our findings and evidence, while not considered properly by the judges, will be of use in the inevitable public inquires which will follow and will help history judge the PM, Matt Hancock and their advisers in the light that they deserve.”
Then there’s the Robin Tilbrook case. You can read about that and contribute here.
Then there’s John’s Campaign which is focused specifically on care homes. Find out more about that here.
There’s the GoodLawProject’s Judicial Review of the Government’s award of lucrative PPE contracts to various private companies. You can find out more about that here and contribute to the crowdfunder here.
The Night Time Industries Association has instructed lawyers to JR any further restrictions on restaurants, pubs and bars.
And last but not least there’s the Free Speech Union‘s challenge to Ofcom over its ‘coronavirus guidance’. A High Court judge refused permission for the FSU’s judicial review in December and the FSU has decided not to appeal the decision because Ofcom has conceded most of the points it was making. Check here for details.
Samaritans
If you are struggling to cope, please call Samaritans for free on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@samaritans.org or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch. Samaritans is available round the clock, every single day of the year, providing a safe place for anyone struggling to cope, whoever they are, however they feel, whatever life has done to them.
Quotation Corner
We know they are lying. They know they are lying, They know that we know they are lying. We know that they know that we know they are lying. And still they continue to lie.
Alexander Solzhenitsyn
It’s easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled.
Mark Twain
Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, one by one.
Charles Mackay
They who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.
Benjamin Franklin
To do evil a human being must first of all believe that what he’s doing is good, or else that it’s a well-considered act in conformity with natural law. Fortunately, it is in the nature of the human being to seek a justification for his actions…
Ideology – that is what gives the evildoing its long-sought justification and gives the evildoer the necessary steadfastness and determination.
Alexander Solzhenitsyn
No lesson seems to be so deeply inculcated by the experience of life as that you never should trust experts. If you believe the doctors, nothing is wholesome: if you believe the theologians, nothing is innocent: if you believe the soldiers, nothing is safe. They all require to have their strong wine diluted by a very large admixture of insipid common sense.
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
Nothing would be more fatal than for the Government of States to get into the hands of experts. Expert knowledge is limited knowledge and the unlimited ignorance of the plain man, who knows where it hurts, is a safer guide than any rigorous direction of a specialist.
Sir Winston Churchill
If it disagrees with experiment, it’s wrong. In that simple statement is the key to science.
Richard Feynman
Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.
C.S. Lewis
The welfare of humanity is always the alibi of tyrants.
Albert Camus
We’ve arranged a global civilization in which most crucial elements profoundly depend on science and technology. We have also arranged things so that almost no one understands science and technology. This is a prescription for disaster. We might get away with it for a while, but sooner or later this combustible mixture of ignorance and power is going to blow up in our faces.
Carl Sagan
Political language – and with variations this is true of all political parties, from Conservatives to Anarchists – is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.
George Orwell
The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.
Marcus Aurelius
Necessity is the plea for every restriction of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.
William Pitt the Younger
If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.
Joseph Goebbels (attributed)
The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, most of them imaginary.
H.L. Mencken
I have always strenuously supported the right of every man to his own opinion, however different that opinion might be to mine. He who denies to another this right, makes a slave of himself to his present opinion, because he precludes himself the right of changing it.
Thomas Paine
In every age the men who want us under their thumb, if they have any sense, will put forward the particular pretension which the hopes and fears of that age render most potent… It has been magic, it has been Christianity. Now it will certainly be science… Let us not be deceived by phrases about “Man taking charge of his own destiny.” All that can really happen is that some men will take charge of the destiny of others.
C.S. Lewis
Shameless Begging Bit
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And Finally…
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I’m honoured
Congrats! I thought only supporters of the vaccines/lockdown narrative were in line for honours these days – I suspect it will be a cold day in hell when professor “sir ” Carl Heneghan gets his gong!
So how long until the nightmare’s over then? next May? 2022? never?
It’s only over if enough people say it is.Millions have ignored the governments edicts over Christmas.That needs to translate to mass civil disobedience over all the restrictions.
I live in hope. “A lot of frightened people out there” though. (Name the film…)
Someone put this link up yesterday:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1t8g-Q3rVI
19 mins in are DR’s suggestions as to what is needed.
That’s brilliant. Thanks.
The whole thing is definitely worth watching. Thank you 🙂
Gandhi, Vaclav Havel and Mandela all said it takes only one person to stand up against the lie.
I find it possible to pick holes in all three. Gandhi was tolerated by the British because he did not favour violent opposition to British rule, and towards the end of his life he preached holy poverty while staying on the grounds of Birla House, owned by one of the wealthiest people in India. Indian leftists certainly noted the contradiction.
Havel came from a wealthy Czech family that lost property and social status when the Communists came to power but had no problems under the German occupation. His uncle ran the Barrandov film studios during the occupation and postwar was charged with collaboration. Although acquitted, he moved to Germany.
Mandela for his part was close to the South African Communist Party, although when asked whether the CP was using him, he replied that it could just as easily be said that he was using the CP.
None of what you say has any real bearing on what karenovirus posted, so I have to wonder why you actually bothered.
It does if you think about it a little. All three are held up as exemplars of resistance. But the Brits preferred Gandhi to more violent opponents of British rule like Bhagat Singh and the rich also felt unthreatened by him, for all his praise of poverty. Havel’s family did not resist the Germans and even prospered under them, which made things difficult after 1945. As for Mandela his link to the Communists was controversial although of the three he is the one I find least objectionable. Although the real fly in the ointment was Winnie.
What (or who) can you not tear down and stand over, as righteous judgement? The persona is the focus of moral oneupmanship. But the pivotal moments of all changes are lived through specific situation in which a more universal recognition allows the release of a situation of conflict to one of some measure of cooperation. The principle is key – not worshipping and idealising or idolising the person or event. As one who identifies in terrain theory, I don’t see the pathogen or the apparent saviour in isolation from the context that draws forth the condition. This is a different way of seeing – as within a wholeness rather than as if set apart and set over a wholeness torn down and stood over in a game of ‘king of the castle’ – and the dirty rascal. Nothing can bring recognition of life as whole to a mind intent on picking holes. However, when any form, idea or system is idolised, and presented as a god-narrative to comply and conform in, the willingness to see it is full of holes is the release from taking one’s identity from its compliance, worship or accepted currency. Politics has been called the art… Read more »
Bill Gates and many others who embrace the Global Action Plan consider themselves superior beings.
Forget Mandela, listen to Hugh Masekela.
Hugh Masekela: Mace & Grenades
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3LRDZkgJTY
WOW!!!
Somewhere I have a reel to reel tape from long ago of a concert by Abdullah Ibrahim. One of the songs made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up
“South African sunshine
You can see the guns shine . . .”
The only good thing to come out of apartheid was all the ZA musicians who went into exile in the UK. US and Europe. Chris MsGregor’s. Blue Notes became the Brotherhooid Of Breath with the addition of local jazzers. They’re pretty much all dead now except for Louis Moholo, nearly 80 and still drumming though he needs to be helped on and off stage, playing with some of the New Young Lions like Shabaka Hutchins, Alexander Hawkins and Kyle Shepherd
An old favourite. Mra
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mxl0tz6X7ug
Yes, it goes on for ever unless or until the sheep themselves fight back.
And the Chinese one re. HK. Is it still the case that no teacher has died from Covid-19 after being infected by their pupils?
And re. professor pantsdown, who believes that copying Chinese lockdown measures has moved the parameters of what Western populations consider acceptable – perhaps we should have a slogan in May – “vote Tory/Labour, get China!”
That’s my theory, CCP ramped it up to deal with its HK problem and then spotted the wider benefits to them of worlwide panic.
Yes if it was a Chinese master stroke, then who could blame them.
Great slogan. Who will use it? For whom can we vote?
Assuming we do get a vote. I have said before I think it will be postal only and involve some Dominion voting machines
The only option I will be considering is to spoil my voting paper with a written message. If we keep voting for a rigged system, we’ll continue getting a rigged outcome.
I started watching a film called “1984” (freedom is slavery, apparently). I wondered if it should be renamed “2020”.
Annie, you might get this reference – ” Furcht und Elend des Dritten Reiches” (Bertolt Brecht). That. And under “libertarian” Boris Johnson too! What have we become?
[edit not working again] I’ve got to the bit where she says “We can even touch each other if we want to”. It really should’ve been called “2020”!
My edit is working, on an Android.
Funny thing, edit seems to work on some messages and not others.
Must admit I have only a hazy notion of what android is (love Arkanoid though!). I never signed up to Twitter or Face Book either…
Android phone, perhaps the site works differently with different devices.
I suspect that once a post has been up or down ticked …or replied to, it becomes uneditable. Just a theory.
There is a ten minute window to edit unless some replies first. This is to stop their reply being made to look ridiculous.
Thanks. Thought it’d be something like that.
And this – “If the state says ‘I am not holding out 4 fingers but 5’, how many fingers am I holding out?”
This really is 1984!
Always loathed Brecht. His preferred cure for Fascist tyranny was Communist tyranny. Now we’ve got both. It’s all fear and misery, as the murderous Fourth Reich, controlled through Communist stooges like Pantsdown, extends its tentacles across the globe
I’d already read the deconstruction of ferguson’s Times interview in UnHerd (main article). Obviously I didn’t want to look at his ugly mug so enhanced his image.
Further down todays main page we come to Baroness Nicholson’s photo montage of bemasked persons and offer it for future inclusion.
This was pretty good though, so cut him some slack (June 1953).
After the uprising of the 17th June
The Secretary of the Writers Union
Had leaflets distributed in the Stalinallee
Stating that the people
Had forfeited the confidence of the government
And could win it back only
By redoubled efforts. Would it not be easier
In that case for the government
To dissolve the people
And elect another?
And Mother Courage is a damn fine play.
China has the worst features of every form of government according to Roger Scruton. Brecht has a certain heroic austerity, but believed that poetry should be politically useful. I think poetry should be read for its artistic merit only. For the last 30 years at least, English Lit has been used as a vehicle for encouraging ‘right think’.
As Hitchens likes to point out, the PM is not a libertarian, he’s a libertine.
Or as Sumption said, a Johnsonite.
Best version is the original book – a true movie adaptation would be very difficult to make.
It has always been thought the book is named after the year the story is based. I’ve learned not to believe there are coincidences in politics and I don’t think it’s coincidental that the act used to lock us down is the 1984 Control of Disease Act. I agree with those who say the book is not a prophecy, it’s a warning.
The title swapped the last two digits if the year the novel was written.
Always found it hard to believe that this intensely urban story was written on the coast of Jura, as wild and remote a spot as you’d find in Britain.
I have read Orwell intended ‘1948’.
Publisher insisted otherwise.
Last week I posted that my father was discharged from hospital for a problem with his lungs. Unfortunately he had a stroke a few days ago and will probably take a long time to recover, if ever. He has had a bad heart for a while and things have finally caught up with him. 2 tests for sars-cov-2 have turned up negative. However both the lung condition and the stroke are in the list of possible effects from covid-19. Is it possible that it was undetected virus that caused both of these things? Sure but it’s also likely that it was something that was going to happen anyway. It sucks but there’s never a good time for these things to happen. They just happen and you have to deal with them as best you can. If he had tested positive would I be expected to blame it on somebody else even if it turned out to be my wife, daughter or even myself? Maybe it was another person, should I seek them out for retribution? Should whoever was responsible be made to feel guilty or even be punished? Since he tested negative there is no-one to blame but how many… Read more »
1984!
“As best you can”. Seriously, try “The ABC’s of Disease” by Philip Day. He was recommended by one of my Christian friends who knows him and who has worked in care homes and seen the abuses and problems. Day is very much on our side re. the abuses of big pharma and takes a nutritional approach to diseases. His book contains useful info on many diseases including heart disease and stroke for those who want an alternative to the drugs based approach of medicine
Completely agree that nutrition is a key factor in disease control…and yes, I know of Phil Days work, very interesting….goes hand in hand with what some USA doctors and scientists have been trying to get out to the populace… Vit D, Vit C, zinc and lysine prophylaxis treatments have been shown to stop covid symptoms in their tracks…lots of research coming through online, but it’s being suppressed…. These substances are for free, in food and supplements so can’t be patented, so Big Pharma can’t make any money from it!
If you keep a population sick, scared and stupid, you can do what you like as they’ll follow like sheep…. So stay healthy, unafraid and we’ll informed, that is what this govt and other powers are afraid of….their mantra of ‘problem, reaction, solution’ can and must fail..
We’re taking extra vitamins since Professor Delores Cahill spoke out earlier on this year. Neither of us have been ill so far, and no colds. Some might say the restrictions this year may have attributed to being healthier perhaps that is so, however our waistlines have disappeared instead.
Yes! Philip Day deserves a lot more attention.
Getting the population to be suspicious and fearful of each other has been part of the plan for years. Makes them easier to manipulate.
Sorry to hear about your dad
The desire to blame others (the state or inviduals) for misfortune, and to believe that if somehow things had been done different you could have avoided misfortune, seems natural but is insidious
Of course there are times when misfortune is a result of others actions or lack of action in bad faith, but often it’s just the inevitable result of life. Stoicism in the face of adversity seems to reduce in line with our increased comfort, and this has led us to the disastrous state we’re in now
I think much of the worry for people is not that their loved ones, suffering from other issues, become ill. Its that they are marked as Covid. Given that need to then blame non compliance, or at least the fact that such scapegoating appears widespread, it comes with so much baggage.
I put this down to the lockdown lovers who are forever trying themselves in knots, so determined they are to control the moral high ground. They do not recognise the insidious hate they hold for their fellow man. If everyone could only just be like them.
Sorry for your troubles by the way. I hope 2021 brings more to be joyful for
Covid-19 is a scam. If you want to blame someone, then start with the government, which is doing everything it possibly can to keep this blatant scam going.
Excellent post. The government and SAGE think their messaging is “clever”. In reality it’s deeply corrosive of the bonds that tie us together as a society. It’s very damaging. One of the worst elements us this objectification of humans as medical cases rather than loved ones, people we hold in our heart, people we view and understand subjectively as our gran, husband, child, friend or even neighbour. This is how we end up with the idea -as insisted upon by government – that it is “bad” for an 89 year old nearing the end of life to die after contracting Covid.
Only the person departing this world and those who loved them can offer any meaningful judgement on that – and it is contingent on what will happen if the person does not die of Covid: would it be “good” if they don’t die of Covid but contract septicaemia the following month, have to endure double amputation and linger on for three months in misery and pain before they die?
The government’s position is a curious mix of political cynicism, cold science and lazy sentimentality.
I watched The Snowman on Xmas Day, totally lost its magic I’m afraid.
I live in what had been an active and prosperous small city, we barely noticed Austerity with unemployment bumbling along at 1-1.5% for the past decade or more.
Parts of the city are now Desolation Row.
These three retail premises are just off the high street and within 50 yards and sight of each other.
The first used to supply equipment to commercial kitchens, hotels, restaurants and the like, this pic only shows half of it.
Up the street was a large bicycle outlet
And on the corner was a wedding dress retailer.
The whole unit, the food image in the window is presumably an attempt to make it look less tumbleweed.
Very disturbing photos. Some time ago, a journalist on Twitter invited people to reply to a thread he started by posting photos of their local high street or any they happened to be in.
The response was overwhelming and while the images were depressing what stood out for me were photos sent from affluent places like Bath, Richmond, Oxford, Kensington, etc. Which is a dead giveaway that this is extremely bad when even businesses in rich areas are also going under.
On St Lawrence, Montreal, there are many closed shops that have similar window dressing to yours.
They want to ban cars and make everybody walk or ride bicycles, yet their actions have closed down a bicycle shop.
I’ve noticed that TFL have stopped with their walking or cycling adverts and announcements. Plus the cycle lanes in central London are pretty deserted.
Peter Hitchens in the MoS has made up some little fables. He orovides a moral, but nobody here will need it spelled out: “The first is The Man Who Burned Down His House To Get Rid Of A Wasps’ Nest. In this, citizens see their neighbour doing this mad thing and rush to try to stop him. But he refuses to be dissuaded, shouting as he throws petrol on the flames ‘Well, what would you have done?’ while his neighbours shout back ‘Not that, anyway!’ until the entire street is burned to embers, while the unharmed wasps buzz round his silly blond head. The next is The Surgeon And The Verruca, in which a man comes to see his doctor with a verruca. ‘That’s a really terrible verruca,’ says the medic. ‘The only thing I can do is cut off your leg.’ The man is not sure about this but the doctor tells him that this is an advanced new treatment and that without it, the verruca will probably be fatal. His assistant, an eminent sage, produces reams of figures which seem to prove this. The man submits and duly wakes up with one leg. Filled with remorse, he… Read more »
The Australian outback farmer who was forbidden from clearing the scrub around his farmstead to preserve the environment for a special breed of frog that lived nearby.
Following a firestorm he told a news reporter ” the the house has gone, the scrub’s gone and so’s the bloody frog’. “
not sure if Karenovirus’s example is meant to be a fable or not. certainly most of the forest fires that devastated Australia last summer and which were all put down to global warming were because, as per Karenovirus’s example, people were prevented from carrying out clearances of scrub by government. This scrub and undergrowth provided the fuel for the fires. America has had the same issues, with authorities cutting down (excuse the pun) on forest maintenance,so making fires there more frequent and bigger.
The law of unintended consequences
Australia deliberately released the RHD virus to kill its rabbit population. That virus spread around the world and begun killing rabbits elsewhere inc. pet rabbits. Now most rabbit owners in the world are told to vaccinate against RHD.
It was widely reported following a series of bush fires some years earlier.
The farmers point, as you suggest, was that he routinely cleared the scrub to create firebrakes and to prevent such fires reaching his home.
Similar circumstances in California (see TC interview linked here) with new homes in forests where occasional fires were a normal part of the life cycle of the forest.
The best speaker that I know of about California is Victor Davis Hanson who is both an academic and a practicing farmer.
His number one point is that on environmental grounds the State has not built a single reservoir for forty years despite an ever rising population.
Calufornias ruin will not be tectonic it will be lack of water.
And their public schools vie with Mississippi at the bottom of the league table despite having more top Universities than any country except the USA itself.
Meanwhile Governor Nuisance wines and dines his ministers in expensive French restaurants.
The same applies closer to home and the dredging and maintenance of the Somerset levels drainage system. After the devastation of 2013/14 they finally told the idiots to piss off and dredged the system properly having left it to silt up for a generation and since then the flooding has only happened where it is meant to, on the moor and not into houses.
I live there, and there are still floods that have closed many roads and flooded areas of farmland, over the past couple of weeks, but not to the degree seen in 2014. Yet!
Fields and roads flooding has always happened. In 2014 houses flooded that have never even come close and the rainfall wasn’t as severe as 2000/2001. I am born and bred on the levels, my family still farm there and much of the ground is under water as we speak. But, crucially, because they have properly cleared the system, and maintained it since 2014, the arteries are no longer clogged which means the water can be pumped away between storms.
I live on the levels too – and what they have done appears to be working. Parts of the Levels will always flood but the closure of the A361 for months on end was something else. Water levels 8ft deep upto the roof of the old willow works never seen before.
Re the Levels, I believe they also no longer had their dredgers and had to import new ones.
Yes, because the bitch who caused it all, sold the dredgers off for scrap and turned off the pumping stations. She should have been sued into penury for what she did.
Yes I remember it back in the seventies, there was constant dredging on the Tone and Parret and the floods went where they were expected to. Meanwhile in other parts of the country they built houses on the flood plains and were surprised when they got flooded.
for example – China and the “four pests campaign” they exterminated the sparrows because they were eating grain. This caused a famine because all the grain was then eaten by locusts and other insects that had boomed in numbers as there was no sparrows to eat them. Links to wuhan flu????
Social Engineers imposing their stupidity on Nature.
Another example: Cats culled in one of the plagues, just encouraged the higher infected rats.
Consequences eh?
Anything to help push Agenda 2030.
Past ages knew that the doctor could be more dangerous than the disease. Many common medical practices like bleeding are now known to have done more harm than good.
I recommend Molière’s Le Malade imaginaire. Not just for its hilarious satire on doctors, but for its portrayal of a stupid, selfish, gullible man whose every decent instinct is perverted by pseudo-medical tyranny. I bet the author never dreamed that four centuries later, most of Europe’s population would be exhibiting exactly the cretinous stupidity that he thought he was exaggerating for comic effect.
Welsh Government Press release ‘We are concerned that the public have confused themselves about what constitutes ‘essential goods’ to be sold in shops under our new life saving laws We have taken on board concerns about children’s winter clothes and items such as toasters and microwave ovens that that occurred during our much praised firebreak We are therefore pleased to announce that the above goods are available for sale in supermarkets on the basis that the original item is ‘worn out’ The decision about wornoutedness is strictly a matter for the store In order to ensure compliance and uniformity across the country we have issued the following guidance to supermarkets Each application for purchase should be dealt with by an instore Court of Compliance The quorum for the Court must be at least two and up to a maximum of three officials. The quorum must include either the Manager or Deputy Manager of the store. Heads of Department should sit as appropriate. For example if the item in dispute is a toaster then we suggest the head of soft furnishings is co opted In order to minimise the burden on stores, Courts of Compliance will only be required to sit… Read more »
Unbelievable, thanks for posting. Just heard that a call has been put out on Twitter for medical students to assist in Cardiff ITU departments. They need to know how to prone a patient with respiratory trouble.
PS mine is for real😌
You may mock Cecil B but worn out equipment can be a real hazard.
For many years the Fire Brigade were plagued by frequent fire alarms from the University to which they were obliged to send two tenders and the ladder, the vast majority turned out to be false alarms.
Following in-depth research the problem was resolved by forbidding students from having toasters in their Uni rooms.
In view of this would the First Minister consider allowing students to self-certify the wornoutness of their electrical equipment during this cataclysmic pandemic ?
Ok, I promise to be mockless for the remainder of the day
Insane. This has nothing to do with the virus.
None of it has anything to do with the virus. Lighten up!
And so the game in the MSM, of ‘save the NHS’ and it’s all the fault of ‘Teh Torees’ goes on. We read that the NHS lacks 80,000 staff. Cue: outcry.
We don’t known if this is all frontline staff (one is permitted to have one’s doubts) but the number has been bandied about for some time.
One also wonders if and when the NHS top administrators will realise that the ongoing isolation scheme (isolate and get tested because one of your contacts might have ‘the virus’) is in any way to blame.
Yesterday we read that the Armed forces using the fats, laminar flow test to get the truckers moving through Dover four only four (!) positive covid cases in the 1,600 they’d tested that far.
But of course – “We” can’t trust those tests, can we – we must trust only the holy PCR tests …
Yesterday the BBC website was reporting 24 positives from a total of 10,000 tests at Dover.
Another LS reader worked out that statistically every one of those 24 was likely to be a false positive.
At its peak the RAF had over 1 million personnel and was consider the biggest employer of all time, the NHS has now exceeded that with somewhere around 1.5 million staff, which I understand is the biggest workforce of any organisation in Western Europe. There are around 21 thousand covid patients stated to be in hospital, so by my rough calculation this equates to 70 NHS staff for every covid patient. If that overwhelms the NHS then it is not fit for purpose and needs a radical review and reform.
They’re not all nurses and doctors though! Subtract HR, payroll, audit, procurement, cleaning, estates, finance, recruitment, RTT validators, coding, general management, etc etc and the actual number of patient facing staff is much less, with many off forcibly isolating. In my hosp, we were running with a staff nurse vacancy rate of about 60, and now another 60+ are isolating at any one time due to “the rules”.
At the start of lockdown the entire office /management workforce happily went off to WFH leaving the front line staff to their fate.
Judging by the car park of nearby County Hall I expect that many still are. I have no idea if WFH staff are included as ‘absent’.
My daughter works for a city council, so I have a few anecdotes as to what they are up to.
She’s WFH, with a real emphasis on working – her team, in the information governance dept, are snowed under with work and can hardly cope. She’d love to be back in the office, if only because her heating bills have grown so much, but the building design prohibits more than about 1/3 of previous number of workers. They were hot desking before March. Now the lack of lift capacity in a 10 storey building severely limits numbers in the office.
Lots of employees were reallocated during the first lockdown – parks and gardens staff were all involved in distributing essential supplies to those who needed them, others were drafted in to help with bereavement, etc etc. Things have pretty much gone back to normal now, but my daughter does not know what has happened to those who are classified as vulnerable, and who can’t WFH, nor what proportion of the work force they are. Having stood watching staff flood out of the building in happier times, I suspect quite a few are vulnerable, just from their size….
Interesting isn’t it? With all the jobs in admin and management that are worthless jobs, non clinical and completely unnecessary, that not one NHS has been furloughed.
How many diversity officers and supporting staff?
Posting this from a standpoint of virtual ignorance but isn’t it the case that the nursing profession was made all graduate in recent times? Surely such an arbitrary rule limits the number of potential applicants? If I’m right wouldn’t it make sense to abandon this and offer apprenticeships instead, requiring minimal entry requirements? I suspect that a great deal of fetching and carrying goes on in a hospital ward, for medicines, meals, equipment, cleaning materials, moving patients in wheelchairs and on trolleys etc, for which graduates are over qualified. Let young apprentices do this while learning on the job.
I may be way out on a limb here, but something tells me there are going to be a lot of people, young and not so young, looking for work next year.
It might also help if there was rule limiting the number of non-medical staff e.g. so many administrators per front line staff member so that we had a sensible ratio of chiefs to indians.
Yes I was told by a nurse at a high end hospital the dates when the non-medial staff outnumbered the medically qualified and the managers outnumbered the nurses. It was something like 1984 and 1987 and has certainly got worse
If the health service cannot cope with a “second wave” of an epidemic, for which it had 9 months to plan, having had at least a decade to plan for a putative epidemic in the first place, without completely subjugating the population and removing all of the citizenry’s freedoms, the health service is not fit for purpose.
If the PCR test was banned and the LFT used the whole crisis would be over.
I suspect France, Spain and Belgium switched to LFT in the last couple of months. All have <300 per 100k positives. Previously it was closer to 1000 per 100k.
But that apparently throws up too many false negatives. Cant win.
Except that the proof of that assertion is based on the PCR being gold-standard.
According to PCR. As the crimson pirate said, France, Spain and Belgium appear to have moved over to LFT and the crisis has gone.
I’m normally fully supportive of everybody who contributes to the lockdown cause. But you have to ask why the gent who submitted TWO tests taken from the same person has been featured. We all know the ‘test‘ is fatally flawed, but if he had no symptoms why did he submit to being tested? He’s manufactured his own problem, if it’s a struggle to test his son he should have said so, not just blundered on. We’re going nowhere fast if we keep this up, and we wonder why thousands are still being ‘tested’.
I thought from the article that he and his son had to be tested so that his son could go back to his special school. A lot of the pressure for testing seems to be coming from schools, colleges, institutions and workplaces who are insisting that in order to attend people and their relatives, carers and associates must all have a negative test result. It has grown into a monstrous self perpetuating cycle of testing and pointless restrictions.
Yes, my two year old grandson had to be PCR tested along with his parents after he returned from nursery school with a (predictable) sniffle at th end of the first lockdown. All negative thank God. He took it in his stride, just one more crazy thing that grownups subject you to.
Because he had to do it to get his disabled child back into care. My daughter had to be tested to be admitted to hospital. It looks like kids are going to have to take a test to go back to school.
But, what sort of moronic system totally forgets that vulnerable people have issues. You are supposed to CARE for the sick not fucking put them through hell. Where is your common sense? He clearly states his son won’t even let him put a toothbrush in his mouth. What is the matter with these people.
Anyway, the important general point is that ONE AND THE SAME SAMPLE TESTED BOTH POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE.
Witchcraft!
But, what sort of moronic system totally forgets that vulnerable people have issues.
The sort of hideously callous and cruel setup that’s in place at the moment, instigated by a bunch of psychopaths who don’t care about the harmful consequences of their politically-driven edicts.
“The remarkable divergence between the number of “cases” and those reporting symptoms provides yet more evidence that the vast majority of those testing positive do not have the virus.”
http://probabilityandlaw.blogspot.com/2020/12/covid-19-in-uk-remarkable-divergence.html
My dearest friend, from our university days together, has been taken in by all of this. Her husband had a few symptoms and as they had downloaded the Zoe app, got a PCR test. He tested positive but wasn’t ill at all. She tested negative and thinks that either she has had the virus and didn’t know it, or is immune from it.
This is someone who has relatives working high up in the NHS.
Which is why the press are now reduced to reporting
‘deaths where Covid was mentioned on the death certificate’
And using misleading headlines
’14 deaths were recorded in the countys hospitals on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day’
Reading further on we find those deaths occured 17th to 25th December, ie a full week, and that just one person sadlidied at the main hospital on Xmas day.
Yep, here we go again. Death porn. Let’s see if we can get back to the top of the European death list. Come on, you people are not trying hard enough. Do you remember when Carl Hennighan took the figures and proved they were over counting the covid deaths. Now apparently they don’t release the details. Terminal cancer, covid, heart attack, covid, fell off ladder, covid. Can you imagine the sick bastard who goes around terminally ill patients sticking swabs up their nose or down their throat.
They exist. An example was reported on this site a few weeks back. Sticking a swab up the nose of a dying man. We have bred a race of monsters.
…. an emerging minority race of mutant monsters.
I’ve said this before. The actual numbers are irrelevant: you only need to look at the data sets they’re reporting to know that they’re lying, or at best, making it easy to lie if they want to.
From South Africa
Apparently the Irish Government have had to admit that they have no evidence the virus exists.
“AS PART OF OUR LEGAL ACTION we had been demanding the evidence that this virus actually exists [as well as] evidence that lockdowns actually have any impact on the spread of viruses; that face-masks are safe, and do deter the spread of viruses – They don’t. No such studies exist; that social distancing is based in science – It isn’t. it’s made up; that contact tracing has any bearing on the spread of a virus – of course it doesn’t. This organisation here – is making it up as they go along.” – Gemma O’Doherty
https://principia-scientific.com/irish-government-admits-covid-19-does-not-exist/
Interesting isn’t it. As it hasnt been isolated it’s quite right to question its existence.
The response is “Are you saying the virus isn’t real?” and the answer is of course “Well no, the government is”
“So who are all these people in hospital?”
I find people’s questions stop at that point. They sort of reach their limit. To go any further would either be too much work or they know it would be risking the months of effort they’ve put into justifying all the pain to themselves.
I just wish they would try and find out the answers themselves instead of expecting someone to be there and hand it to them on a plate
“So who are all these people in hospital?
What do you mean?
I had an interesting chat on the phone with a distant family member who is a part retired virologist. He is certainly on board with the narrative that the government have got it badly wrong, with the skills set in SAGE being poorly matched to the needs. However, he is more optimistic than I am about the vaccine.
Very few here are outright anti-vaxxers but many dispute that such a rushed untested vaccine can be guaranteed to be ‘safe’ as is claimed.
Or that one is necessary for the vast majority, when our own immune systems can do a better job. By all means vaccinate the vulnerable, just give the rest of us the choice.
Erm, everyone who has capacity must have a choice regarding an invasive medical procedure. Vulnerable or not.
Agreed. ‘Vulnerable’ are like to be vulnerable to the vaccine.
Absolutely. No one should be vaccinated with these vaccines unless the person has been made aware of the risks and have consented.
These risks cannot be quantified or extrapolated to any risk factor.
But you are completely missing the awareness of what benefits are likely or expected or wished for and whether crossing fingers behind your back actually magnifies the benefits.
Of course that is what I meant, though very poorly worded.
🙂 Good to know, Wolver. Have an ovine uptick.
Look up the top down advices and training relative to the informing of the patient as to any kind of choice. (pre covid).
There is no intention or trust in the information as being something that if all was out front would be willingly chosen.
Its the same with eugenics. People just don’t seem to want to do their part for humanity, so we have nudge units and behavioural insights teams etc.
Fear breeds and feeds control breeds and feeds fear.
I am surprised how regularly the term anti-vaxxer is thrown around on this site, it seems somewhat of a contradiction to use such a term when most of us oppose being considered tin foil hat weirdos because of the views we hold. What is the definition of an anti- vaxxer as so many claim not to be one – surely there is no set definition but is open to interpretation (and that’s the point) and as such is not a useful or fair term. If I had children, I would vaccinate them for measles, mumps and rubella as separate injections, but never a combined MMR, the assault on a young immune system seems excessive and why would a government make it difficult to access separate vaccines. Does that make me an anti-vaxer ( not sure why 2 x in vaxxer, maybe makes it look more sinister) or someone who has enough sense to question.
I feel starting a sentence with ‘I am not anti-vaccine’ is an apology for the statement about to be made and undermines the argument, similar to those who feel they have to state I am not racist, before presenting a well supported argument on illegal migration.
I’m not anti-vaccine but
despite being very pleased to have been vaccinated against Polio, TB and the rest I would agree that my own immune system (boosted by multiple exposure to all and sundry over the past nine months) is likely to afford much more protection than Pfizer.
Having been vaccinated against TB Polio Smallpox Diphtheria and Measles I consider I’ve had all the important vaccinations so I will not be having the Covid vaccine or flu vaccines either. I’ve never had the flu despite commuting to London for over 30 years, my immune system must be doing something right.
It is worth wondering if this Pfizer vaccine can defeat the protection that you were given with your previous one. Could they clash?
Those who have to openly kneel to the narrative seek to ward off attack thereby.
What have you met regarding the knowing contamination via polio vaccines with SV40 over (if I recall) 25 years. The spreading of polio via polio vaccines and the shenanigans around polio’s definitions, media blitz, vaccine funding drive, and the shifting of diagnostic and testing procedures to make problems ‘go away’ – as in under the carpet?
If you researched Polio you would never have took the covid bait. Or HIV AIDS for that matter.
Cures for polio were ignored, blindsided. The issue was toxic exposure not contagion.
http://www.whale.to/v/polio2.htm
While I take your point, to me an anti-vaxxer is somebody who will not have ANY vaccination, for ethical, religious or personal reasons.
The government takes anti-vaxxer to mean anti Covid vax. Those of us who begin a sentence with “I’m not anti-vax but” are reinforcing the former meaning above, not the latter.
I’ve had lots of vaccinations, but won’t touch any of the Covid ones until the safety cards are available, together with the various data to prove them as safe as is practicably possible. I fail to understand why taking precautions is considered anti-vax.
It’s government psychops, labelling us as trouble makers, it was the same with voting to Leave the EU being labelled as racists and isolationists, exactly the same M. O.
I agree.
I suppose I could be labelled anti because I will never have another vaccine in my life. Other people can have as many as they want. I previously didn’t travel to countries that required a vaccine (but agreed with the requirement – it just put me off going.) I had a small number of vaccines as a child but am old enough to have had the diseases of measles and mumps. I first refused a vaccine at age 14 (Rubella) because I didn’t think I needed it, as didn’t want children. I refused Hep B when I went to work at Broadmoor. I didn’t think the risk was sufficient, and had recently heard a very good programme on Radio 4 which discussed the small but potentially very severe risks of that vaccine, talking to several people who had been injured by it. Those were the days, when they had balanced and intelligent reporting on the BBC. It was another world, for sure.
Panic and mass hysteria from the politicians are not good traits are they?
Or is necessary for a disease that has killed 377 people under 60 without significant comorbidities.
Numbers eh!.
As the Virus has killed 377 Brits with no known preconditions in the past 11 months, how many have been killed on 737’s?
I’m not anti-chemicals, but it doesn’t mean I play “catch” with nitro-glycerine.
Brilliant!
For me, above all it is because of the coercion lurking on the horizon. We allow that now and we enter into a new era of state surveillance
Exactly. We should be highly suspicious of a rushed and untested vaccine but also be wary of its red-herring properties.
if i was such a entity – i wouldn’t be! For i require the vaxxer to provide evidence to support such a by passing of immunity for toxic injections of unproven benefit but inevitable undermining of what they claim to boost.
It is not enough for authority figures and celebrities to SAY things to make them true.
So likewise I don’t use ANY weaponised speech that frames life and freedom to ask real questions as some kind of ‘terrorism’ – including the redefinition of terrorism.
The precautionary principle as I value it is not to implement something new if there is reasonable doubt as to its safety or worth until it can be tested.
Vaccines are not allowed to be tested.
They use the term placebo but it means an existing vaccine.
If you are too frightened to investigate the so called anti vax views is that not exactly WHY to take of the masking blinkers and look?
RFK jrs CHD site is balanced. He never says anything he isn’t willing to be sued for.
Maybe the issue isn’t the vaccines but the mindset of sacrifice to idols.
there is a fundamental difference between tried and tested vaccines against diseases that can be really harmful and / or cause life changing illnesses and those that are untested and intended to cure a disease which in most cases is not life changing.
Like most people i had all the jabs as a kid, as did my kids. .. . However i only had the flu jab once – a few years ago… and never bothered since as it was pointless. As is covid vaccine for most people .
I’ll certainly be keeping my head down until there is a lot more data available concerning these “vaccines”. Maybe next year (ie 2022), or the one after.
Apart from the obvious concerns about it being rushed and political, my fundamental problem with the vaccine is as follows.
Let’s say it works really well and “saves lives” – we will move on and people will think the vaccine saved the planet from eternal lockdown, and that the next “pandemic” we should take the same approach.
In reality it will be hard to tell how well it works, given that the way countries count covid “cases” and “covid deaths” is so unclear and generally political, and we’ve already seen scientists talking about how lots of people need to be vaccinated to reduce “infections” (dubious positive PCR tests) – surely the point of a vaccine is to stop people getting ill
I agree. The problem with the vaccine is that it will encourage people to believe that “locking down until we have a vaccine” is a rational approach to the next epidemic. I’m already reading articles explaining how the moderna approach might mean that we can produce a vaccine almost instantly when a new virus is identified. This distracts from the disaster and shouldn’t be let lie.
I refuse to accept a medical procedure the primary purpose of which is to enable the regime to save face politically. The regime should be humiliated, and it is in the national interest that it is. If the regime – by which I mean more than just Johnson and Starmer – comes out of this smelling of roses, I think we have a dark future ahead of us.
The phrase in vogue is ‘systemic failure,’ but in this case the better description is ‘constitutional failure.’
Excellent comment.
The inadequacy of the ‘constitution’ has been evident for a long time. Unfortunately, there never has been, even now, any majority impetus for reform.
Well said. We should not legitimise their nonsense and their failure, if anything they should be punished when all of this is over as to avoid a repeat of this whole shit show.
And its not just the government and MPs who should pay but each and every institution that aided and abetted this nonsense.
The flu vaccine has never been about saving your life. As far as I can see, it’s always been a public health measure to ‘save the NHS’ during ‘winter pressures’ on the clearly inadequate system (on international comparisons). The ease with which flu deaths have become covid deaths shows how little tested flu there has actually been, with flu on death certs clearly a catch-all for ‘some untested for nasty seasonal virus death in a frail elderly patient’
The stats for ‘flu deaths’ are no more real than covid deaths.
Yes there are deaths associated with respiratory disease complications but viral testing is not required (at least not for end of life deaths with co mordibities etc) and the vaccination agenda owns the PR machinery in public and private spheres.
There is very little independent science on the flu or any other vaccination in terms outside the minimum required to claim effectiveness.
So death by all causes can be used to ensure that for example flu vax doesn’t simply drive recipients to other respiratory vectors such as corona.
I have seen evidence that the strain vaccinated can be worse the following year.
I have no basis to trust the people and corporations pushing the biological and pharmaceutical agenda, excepting the pursuit of profit and the means to capture and protect revenue streams.
A lot of pressure coming for those over 70 to be vaccinated as they are elderly. Well both the husband and I are in our early 70’s. Neither of us have any underlying health problems or are on any medication. We are fit and healthy and lead an active life and do not consider ourselves elderly. There are very many like us and who have the same mindset.
We are refusing to have what is called “the vaccination” because we consider it to not be one, it is yet to be proved whether it will make any difference or not to a virus which is now endemic throughout the world and for which over 99% survive. We would prefer to have an antibody test to see whether we already have immunity. Have talked to a number of Doctor friends who whilst not saying so many seem to question the efficacy of the vaccine.
Despite the continuous exhortations from the offspring, at the current time we will not be having “the vaccination”. We prefer to take our chances, we are not selfish and will not be hoodwinked by the politicalisation of the virus.
My father in law is in his 80s and very active – mentally and physically. Unfortunately he bowed to pressure, had the vaccine and is now suffering from bad flu symptoms and taken to his bed.
Which is one reason a very large proportion of health professionals refuse the normal winter flu vaccine.
My great aunt lived till 103. She lived in a care home, was compos mentis until the last 18 months of her life and always refused the flu jab. Meanwhile all those around her who did have the jab, succumbed despite having it.
Well done you! My partner is in his seventies and no medications at all. Apart from ex builders arthritis he’s fit and healthy and also refuses to have the vaccine or the flu vaccine! We are lone sceptics here in our village!
It is only a ‘vaccine’ down Alice’s looking hole where a word can mean anything they want it to mean.
An antibody test does not prove immunity, particularly if you have prior immunity, eg T-cell immunity. Unless you are in very regular contact with your doctor, I’d just keep your heads down and burn the letters.
I don’t want an antibody test either. In fact I’m staying clear of the NHS. I trust my immune system I do not trust the government nor the NHS. They’ve killed any trust I had this year.
Me too…
Add me to the list of over 70s who will refuse it…
Well – I’m in the over-70 category that definitely doesn’t want Covid.
But I would prefer to make my own risk assessment and act accordingly, rather than listen to anything that this bunch of snake-oil salesmen tell me about the incidence of SARS-2, or trust to a patently undertested concoction that is driven by financial gain.
These so called vaccines will almost certainly be intentionally harmful and should be resisted at all costs.
I should say that the DM is apart from the Sun the most read weekly paper and the MOS, I would say is the most popular Sunday one ( I welcome any corrections).
What mystifies me is for quite a while now there has been countless sceptical articles by journalists,scientists, medical people, lawyers and a retired high court judge in these two papers but still the majority of our people refuse to countenance any other ways to deal with Covid other than the complete and utter destruction of our country as dictated by our politicians and so called experts
Any ideas why this is so?
Look at the response to the Labour guy who pointed out a factual statement about the 377 deaths from Covid – seems people can’t tolerate the truth.
The SS – 77th Brigade – is always lurking to try to destroy sceptics, but never add anything to the discussion.
There is an underlying ‘narrative’ that has to be protected because its premise is that it either protects you or is in the protecting the Earth from human environmental evil, or is providing the gravy train that others pay in sickness, poverty and early death, for the ‘eaters’ to ride over the ‘meat’.
Unless the DM/MOS commentariat are some strange self selected minority of Sceptics I feel inclined to the opposite view.
MSM is the consistent. — whilst sceptical articles and opinions are regularly shown (they cannot really shut up their columnists), the editorial narrative is still total propaganda. So looking at my papers this morning headlines are both re vaccines are going to save us all.
I’m not convinced the majority ARE in favour of the regressive and repressive measures imposed by governments. But the majority are prevented from meeting to discuss these issues and only get the MSM to keep them company.
I agree that has been the intention all along to stifle debate by any means possible. These people are evil.
The thing is that the Fear factor dominates everything.
Although they do indeed include such articles they are usually accompanied with the words ‘controversial view’ or ‘personal opinion’ which implies the official government rhetoric is right and the contributions of such people like Lord Sumption, John Lee and even Peter Hitchens are there just to placate the ‘doubters’. The Daily Mail has been quite underhand in a lot of its coverage, seeming to have a foot in both camps at times trying to guage how the wind blows. Overall, I would say it is a pro-lockdown publication and just pretends on occasions to question the government but its heart isn’t really in it and is quite enjoying the situation as it is.
Unprecedented relentless global propaganda and censorship from almost every world government, TV station, newspaper, celebrity, social media platform, public health body, institution – people simply cannot process the fact that so many people and organisations across the world could simultaneously get things so terribly wrong
If you listen to what comes back at you from someone who has swallowed the narrative, this is a massively important factor.
They haven’t,they are being paid to lie.The Government were the biggest spenders in advertising for the first 5 months of this crisis
I was about to make the same observation.
In April the Chancellor announced that the country faced it’s biggest economic crisis in 300 years
He has since doubled down twice on his great furlough delusion
He might have spared a moment to look at what occurred 300 years previously
What he would have discovered was the great South Sea Bubble fraud
In an exercise in mass hysteria the whole economic future of the country and individuals was invested in worthless joint stock companies
Financial ruin was visited upon the land
My favourite tale of the time is people investing in a joint stock company titled
‘For carrying out an undertaking of great advantage; but nobody to know what it is’
The Chancellor has invested the future of this country in a joint stock company titled pandemic
Suspect the outcome will be the same
At least it wasn’t bloody tulips.
Mark Carney gave the Reith lectures two weeks ago. Discussing Isaac Newton being taken for a ride with the South Sea Bubble.
“Quite often things occur that seem to make no sense. This is because they do not make any sense. If you see something that seems to make no sense, don’t invest – run away”. MC
Lockdown as a response to Covid makes no sense.
He could just as well be talking about himself, the Global Action Plan and Climate Change. It makes no sense, run away. Do not invest.
Unless you are the prison staff.
Ferguson’s statement must be one of the chilling so far since this debacle began. If people still can’t see this virus response was an act of experimental control of populations after this, then they are beyond stupid, or rsther mindless . As an applied linguist I am particularly interested in his comment that they didn’t think they could get away with it, but then found they could Now when did you ‘get away’ with doing something good, benign, beneficial etc. – this phrase has only negative and usually law breaking connotations. So, now we have complied with this evil, we have emboldened the power structure of governments. So what next, as they are now so enthused by China’s model – political prisoners, torture, executions, forced sterilisation – they must all be salivating at the prospect.
I am convinced he lacks the basic social skills (suspect he is on the autistic spectrum somewhere) to understand the gravitas of his thoughts and decisions. He thinks in graphs and models.
Worse, he thinks in graphs and models that are wrong, based on incorrect assumptions.
Worse than that, I don’t think he really thinks, he reacts reflexively and then defends his position
I think he reacts to his paymaster.
He is, in fact, a very stupid individual, and the stupid are dangerous if given power.
I think Camus says that good intentions can be as dangerous as bad deeds if ill-informed (or similar). He goes on to say, for this reason, that ignorance is the biggest vice.
Belief that you know is active ignorance
Ferguson is doing the bidding of Bill Gates, who is a generous benefactor of Imperial. No doubt he is also saying what the government wants to hear as well.
Been saying that since April, they were amazed at what the public would put up with and had to speed up the introduced of further inanities just to keep up.
And don’t forget the organ harvesting.
I’ve already declined giving my organs to the NHS. Their assumption that my organs belonged to them was a step too far.
Same. Ironic, as I had been coming round to the idea of donation, but the only way to protest against the state claiming ownership of my body is to opt out.
I studied the death penalty as part of an MA in Criminology. Amnesty collect figures world wide on the numbers of all countries’ citizens put to death by their heads of state, and the only country they could not collect figures from was China. And they were not even able to make a rough estimate.
My biggest problem is how can this dick keep saying this shit and nobody challenges his. One interview on the BBC with him and any of the proper scientists like Mike Yeardon, or Dr Lee or Prof Gupta and his whole bullshit world would come crashing down. But why has this not happened? There has been zero debate just junk politicians and advisors spouting bullshit and not one dissenting voice.
There are plenty of dissenting voices but the British Bullshitting Service isn’t going to let them be heard.
https://www.aier.org/article/who-deletes-naturally-acquired-immunity-from-its-website/
For anyone who missed the WHO removing mention of natural immunities from its website this article by Jeffrey A Tucker provides the screenshots from June 9th and November 13.
”It is thoroughly unscientific – shilling for the vaccine industry in exactly the way the conspiracy theorists say that the WHO has been doing since the beginning of the pandemic”
“ What’s even more strange is the claim that a vaccine protects people from a virus rather than exposing them to it. What’s amazing about this claim is that a vaccine works precisely by firing up the immune system through exposure. …….This has been known for centuries. There is simply no way for medical science completely to replace the human immune system. It can only game it via what used to be called inoculation. “
An amazing example to use to persuade anyone who cannot see how the political industry and Big Pharma are intwined
Until all this nonsense big Pharma we’re having a hard time and lo and behold the virus gifted them opportunities beyond their wildest dreams.
The other thing to note is that he same strategy was used to ramp up swine ‘flu.
Which led to the seed companies gaining yet more control over our food supply ….
https://www.itv.com/news/border/2020-12-26/concerns-grow-fo-new-strain-of-covid-19-in-dumfries-and-galloway
‘Concerns grow for new strain of Covid-19 in Dumfries and Galloway’
Just as the vaccine bandwagon grinds on, suddenly a new sales pitch.
“It’s now more important than ever that everyone follows the national directions, including the FACTS guidance around wearing face coverings, hand hygiene, physical distancing and social interaction, and crucially around immediately self-isolating and arranging for a COVID test if we experience symptoms of the coronavirus, however mild.”
It’s at least something that they don’t mention the salvation elixir. But they will.
‘ however mild’ shows the level of desperation. A sniffle? In winter too how uncommon.
I usually have a bout of cold or the flu in the autumn, probably caused by the change in temperatures. Sometimes there is a repeat in spring. This year, nothing like that so far. Maybe lockdowns have prevented it but at what cost? I have certainly been psychologically worse this year than usual.
same here. Noticed that strepsils and lemsip were on special offer for the first time ever.
Buy pine tar gum. Or, go to the country, tear off the sap from pine trees and chew it.
Refuse, refuse, refuse. Let the testing meatgrinder fall silent and still.
The new strain … Why do people not question how on earth they know it is the new strain when the the PCR merely gives a negative or positive, no test determines the ‘strain’. 10 days ago Covid 19 was rampant, now old Covid appears to have disappeared.
The flu season has been hijacked by Covid, no one catches the flu anymore, the pity is most of the general public don’t seem to realise what is happening. I think something has been put in the water supply that fogs their brains.
I think Wancock stated something about Porton Down Lab working on this. Now, as soon as I heard Porton Down I knew it was a load of rubbish just to keep Tier 4. They were heavily involved in the Skripal pack of lies – which is a lot like this now – lie, on lie on lie and ridiculous ones at that.
Is this another version of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Virus that Wancock is trying to scare us with?
Are they getting desperate or what?
Similarly to when someone has been arrested but not yet faced trial and their crime has to legally be described as ‘alleged’ in media the mutant strain should have to be described as ‘allegedly more contagious’ until someone can provide actual data that can be verifiued to prove that it is.
That Nicola Huh. Always has to have from for herself.
“According to a Daily Mail poll, 85% of Britons complied with the rules.”
Have you complied with the latest lockdown rules?
Yes. After a fashion. I mean, I have a vague awareness that there ARE rules and I was careful not to damage them as I drove around them. |_|
No, I want puppies and kittens and babies to die. |_|
I ignore all polls just as I do any government announcements.
It’s hard not to-you can’t shop in closed shops or drink in closed pubs.
plenty of traffic round here on Christmas day-hardly a sign of compliance
Christmas morning traffic on the M25 and M40 pretty normal for a Christmas morning… as I escaped the tier 4 gulag to illegally visit my parents and sister sans the credulous fool to whom I am married, and who has started recently whining on about how he is in the ‘high risk’ category, being a little over 50!! And slightly overweight…
Tell them to go in a bloody diet.
God help you if he gets a slight sniffle!
Do you think 1. Anybody knows all the rules and 2. Anyone is going to admit they broke the rules. Personally I broke most of them, but do people trust if the confess the old bill might be knocking at your door after your confession?
Darling there is someone at the door……..
I note the fear porn is being ramped up again, based on “cases”. These bastards need lining up against a wall and shooting. I was originally inclined to restrict the total to eight (Johnson, Gove, Hancock, Sturgeon, Drakeford, Whitty, Vallance, Dick), but we may as well shoot the lot while we’re at it.
Either they are all unbelievable stupid and short sighted or they have been sucked into some megalomaniac power trip that this virus hoo-haa has given them a taste for and they are now addicted and like any addict cannot give it up.
If you see a beginner steering a boat it lurches from port to starboard and back as they overcorrect on the tiller, an experienced boatman knows how much of a gently nudge on the tiller will keep the boat on line. The clowns we have in charge of UK Public Health policy and action are like putting a toddler in charge of steering the Isle of Wight ferry and ending up swamped in the bay of Biscay.
To my mind the only factor that can ever justify real dramatic Public Health action is the total registered death figure, this did have an unprecedented leap in April/May and fair enough, we took unprecedented action but when it went down the powers that be had become addicted and could not give up and we have suffered pointless damage ever since as they try and control the uncontrollable.
Megalomaniacs boosting their own egos were always going to float to surface like turds once Public Health came to trump my health or your health.
The most radical stage of the French Revolution came under
The Committee Of Public Safety.
They have only ever been trying to control the populace – and it’s worked for an alarming percentage.
Def would add the Chris Hopson of NHS Providers to your list
Gimme a gun. Gimme.
Or, as Gimli would put it, ‘Give me an axe and a row of Welsh Coronastalinist necks and all weariness will fall from me.’
Oh prof pantsdown is top of my list, ALL of sage, and that moronic Devi bitch in Scotland, a special death from a thousand cuts for dem bastard.
https://mobile.twitter.com/MichaelYeadon3/status/1342926294523248641
This is an updated twitterthread about LFR and testing the truckers.According to Yeadon the rate of pos is in the range of FP for LFT which is quite low.
Yesterday I posted a comment that even if these were true positives this did not indicate a pandemic virus spreading but a low frequecy endemic virus with mild symptoms and not any asymptomatic carriage.
The house of cards of mass testing with PCR must fall. LFR must replace it as it seems to catch the infectious virus (those less than Ct 25).
Sorry LFT
Like everything else with this hoo-haa the powers that be will never admit a mistake or acknowledge the need for a change. The House of Lords and the Parliamentary Health committee have proved totally ineffective at challenging Gruppenfuhrer Hancocks wild and maniacal Dr Strangelove approach to Public Health policy.
So much of this hoo-haa has exposed the shortcomings in our National Life but will we learn or do anything about it?
But the political rationale is to persist with PCR.
Two experiences yesterday that demonstrates how far the brainwashing is really going: Mr Bart and I went for a Boxing Day walk round Hampstead. There was a fair number of people about especially as the cafes were open for takeaway. We have to shake our head at the number of people muzzled up in the Great Outdoors!! There must be really something about this that even supposedly well educated people can fall for this. That said, won’t be surprised if Hampstead is Lockdowinsta central given the population that are fairly affluent and have not really been affected by this shit show. Evening – watched the Royal Opera House Christmas concert which was an enjoyable hour and a half of performances from their singers and chorus. The only thing that ruined it for us were the musicians in the string and percussion sectors (save for 1-2 who I suspect are exempt) all muzzled up with one even wearing 2 muzzles (or has sellotaped his nose)!!! As Mr Bart has said it made the whole concert depressing and he was relieved when the camera was focusing on the performers or the wind musicians, even the conductor. We’re reaching the conclusion that if… Read more »
The Covid makes an exemption for woodwind players ? How sweet.
It’s a very intelligent virus 😉
Just a look, though, not a rational argument in response.
Glad you’ve been busy!
Sounds as if the cameraman felt like you!
Felt the need for some light relief: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-5zEb1oS9A
Yes, minister – always good for that.
They reckon the Oxford vaccine will be approved next week;
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/13579656/covid-vaccine-oxford-approval-next-week/?utm_medium=browser_notifications&utm_source=pushly
I cannot say I am personally very keen but I guess on the plus side it could lead to pressure to relax some of the restrictions. From what I hear there will be a good number of people queing up to get it, hopefully so many that they will not notice I am missing from the queue.
Nothing says Happy New Year more than Pathogenic Priming.
Me too.
Why would they relax any of the restrictions given the supine surrender of most people thus far ?
I guess in the coming months we’ll find out whether the government have any interest at all in an exit strategy
It is clear all of this will not end with a vaccine; they have said as much. This is societal-level restructuring towards a more ‘inclusive’ system.
Hopefully that will wake more people given many are pining their hopes on a vaccine to end all restrictions. Once they realise that it ain’t gonna happen that way plus with a trashed economy, I think that could be where the shit hits the fan.
I am less optimistic. People will believe whatever they are told to.
Sadly I think you are right, because the majority of people simply cannot think.
I’m reminded of the smaller chocolate bars, propagandised as being bigger in Orwell’s 1984.
Agree with this and I’ve long given up trying to wake them up.
I can imagine that more redundancies and bankruptcies and coming in January. Mr Bart doesn’t think that many of the shops and restaurants forced to close in December will survive into the New Year.
Inclusive=Totalitarian.
The vaccine is not the end but the beginning.Tied to digital / health passport it is the end of freedom.The government will know where you are and what you are doing at all times.
They have already said it won’t be the end of social distancing,masks etc.
This is the new normal they promised us.
There was a thread of comments on my Nextdoor feed of people complaining they were not included in the first batch of vaccine dished out by a local surgery.
I considered posting something warning of the dangers but then I thought let them. They are gone.
A higher than usual number of attacks on Sussex police over Christmas. I seem to recall Peter Hitchens warning that the government is creating widespread disrespect and disregard for the laws, a situation which is in many ways as bad as totalitarianism. https://www.rt.com/uk/510822-sussex-police-16-assaulted-christmas/
That’s good to hear, I’m fully in favour of people taking their lives back from these b’stards by whatever means necessary.
I suspect that there are many people who will never co-operate with the police again after their disgusting behaviour this year. And rightly so.
I’m one of them, for starters.They aren’t police hereabout, they’re Stalinist thugs.
Not just the police. Any form of authority in fact. Any at all.
I avoid them like the plague now. Especially if they’re wearing masks, I cross the street to avoid them and don’t respond to any police officer who says hello to me.I’ve become suspicious of them being “friendly” and think they have an ulterior motive.
I am going to make a plea for police officers.
I know some have behaved appallingly, and many have not behaved well. But I know of others who refuse to wear a mask, and have views on the Rona Reaction that are the same as opinions you might read here. I can believe the rumours aired here that off-duty officers were among those arrested at the last big march in London. Certainly there must be many who are in sympathy with the protesters.
We are going to have to live together as a society after this, and the Police do vital work. Not all officers have failed in their duty, even if some have. I will continue to smile and say good morning.
If the police were playing busybody, they have none of my sympathy whatsoever. They could have chosen to sit in their cars eating doughnuts, like the good old-normal days.
Weird. 12 in W Sussex, 4 in Brighton & Hove.
Which means we in sunny E Sussex are good boys & girls. 🙂
Oh for fuck’s sake!: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-55456795 ‘Covid: EU launches mass vaccination in ‘touching moment of unity’’ ‘The EU has so far reported more than 335,000 Covid-related deaths.’ The key word as always is ‘related’. A weasel word which could mean anything really. Can’t wait to see the Left version of this. No doubt it will be something about how humanity can always pull together when a real crisis arrives. Especially now that Covid Max has arrived. Ursula von der Leyen, president of the EU commission tweets, ‘Vaccination is the lasting way out of the pandemic.’ Such is the cheery riff for the moment. Personally I think this calls for a re-shoot of that old Coke commercial about teaching the world to sing (Coke after all being the perfect face for Covid since it always tests positive.) And as if to confirm that message of jubilation: ‘German Health Minister Jens Spahn said on Saturday: “This really is a happy Christmas message. At this moment, lorries with the first vaccines are on the road all over Europe, all over Germany, in all federal states. Further deliveries will follow the day after tomorrow. This vaccine is the crucial key for defeating the pandemic. It’s… Read more »
and so everyone can have nice clean carpets and upholstery
Matt must be so proud to have got ‘Our Vaccine’ out first.
It’s the Real Thing.
Morning all. Although Christmas was always going to be rubbish this year for me it was nice just to have one day without propaganda.
Isn’t that the truth. I don’t watch televised news or read newspapers so am spared quite a lot of it fortunately. I’m better for it too.
Just to say regarding the piece on Neil Ferguson and his admiration for China, please note that at Imperial at least one of his research groups he is a member of one into Arboviruses is sponsored by Bill and Melinda Gates. Huge advocates of Lockdown and enforced vaccintions and tracking of the individual. I haven’t investigated any further yet but I suspect much of Mr Fergusons financing for his”work” is from other Lockdown fanatics with lots of money
The fact he was never sacked proves the government is fully on board!
Lockdowns, they’ll only win when its raining