Black Lives Matter Protests Haven’t Caused “Second Spike”
In my Spectator column last week, I expressed my gratitude for Black Lives Matters protestors for exposing the hypocrisy of politicians and public health panjandrums who enthusiastically embraced the protests in spite of warning us a few weeks earlier that we had to remain in our homes at all costs to flatten the curve. After this, who would take seriously their prognostications of doom? They clearly didn’t believe their own propaganda.
This was my conclusion:
At bottom, insisting that the little people remain in their homes unless they had a “reasonable excuse” to be outside was an opportunity for holier-than-thou elites to remind us of their role as custodians of our welfare. So, of course, that “scientific” advice has now been trumped by another even bossier, even more self-righteous form of virtue-signalling — namely, anti-racist sermonising. The fact that the two are completely at odds with each other doesn’t bother them in the slightest. Just so long as they can wag their fingers in our faces as they turn puce with rage, they’re happy.
Today brings news of another reason to be grateful to the protestors. I’m thinking of the fact that the daily number of Covid infections is continuing to fall. According to the latest COVID Symptom Study app figures, there are now fewer than 5,000 daily new cases of Covid across the UK, 47% less than last week. According to the Covid Symptom Study:
In England, the number of daily new cases fell in all the regions, including 49% in the North West (820 from 1608), a drop of 46% in the South East (365 from 674) and a drop of 43% in the South West (162 from 284). The North East and Yorkshire is still the area of the country with the highest incidence rates, but the number fell from 1,965 to 1,275 a reduction of 35%, suggesting that the situation is improving.
The reason this is significant is that if mass gatherings of the kind we’ve seen over the last two weeks were going to cause a rise in infections we would have seen some evidence of that by now. More than 300,000 people have turned out to protest, all happily ignoring the two-metre social distancing rule, and yet infections continue to fall. That’s even true in London, where the protests have attracted the most people. According to the Covid Symptom Study, the number of daily new infections in London fell by 27% this week.
No doubt some lockdown zealots are still crouched over their laptops, desperately hoping for evidence of a second spike in the next few days. But given that the average incubation period for COVID-19 is between five and six days, we would have seen some evidence by now.
Face it, folks. The “second spike” is a myth.
Or, as Ron Paul puts it, a “hoax”.
Tony Robbins: Lockdown Sceptic
Yesterday we welcomed William Hague to the sceptical fold; today, it’s the turn of Tony Robbins. The American motivational speaker, with over 900,000 YouTube subscribers, is a lockdown sceptic.
In a new video called “Unmasking the Science You Aren’t Hearing on TV“, he interviews seven sceptical experts, including our friend Professor Michael Levitt, joint winner of the 2013 Nobel Prize for Chemistry. Levitt says he thinks the total excess deaths in 2020 will be about one-and-a-half times the total in the seasonal flu season of 2017-18, i.e. about half as many again.
Not exactly the apocalypse predicted by the WHO.
Remember, Michael Levitt predicted in February that the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in China would end up around 80,000, something health officials and public health scientists at the time thought was hopelessly naive. In fact, according to Worldometers, the total number of cases in China to date is 83,265. Almost bang on.
Snitch.com
One of the downsides of being a professional journalist is that you get spammed every day by public relations companies hoping you’ll write something about their clients. But I got a press release this afternoon that I’m almost tempted to frame in the downstairs loo.
It begins:
I wanted to draw your attention to an article published by CNN today that highlights calls from a number of Adidas employees on June 15th for the company’s supervisory board to examine whether Adidas HR chief Karen Parkin has appropriately responded to racial issues within the company.
That made my ears prick up because I’m compiling a Twitter thread for the Free Speech Union of people who’ve faced calls to resign, or worse, in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests. So far I’m up to 31, although to be fair these aren’t all human beings. Among the growing ranks of the cancelled are various Lego action figures deemed to be symbols of white supremacy – such as Duke Detain, a one-inch police officer.
But the most common victims are senior managers who’ve being mobbed by their co-workers after issuing statements expressing their support for Black Lives Matters that have been judged insufficiently pious. And the mobbing of Adidas’s HR chief seems to fit that pattern.
On June 9th, the Adidas Board, of which Karen Parkin is a member, issued a statement in which it promised “to confront the cultural and systemic forces that sustain racism”. To achieve this, the Board said it would invest $20 million in black communities and pledged that “a minimum of 30% of all new positions in the US at adidas and Reebok will be filled with Black and Latinx people”.
Apparently, this last pledge, which seems to have originated with Karen Parkin in her capacity as head of HR, was deemed hopelessly inadequate. Just 30%? How dare you? In a letter to executives, 83 employees from five of the company’s offices in Germany, the United States, Australia, and Panama have asked the company’s supervisory board to “investigate whether we have the right approach and behavior from our (chief human resources officer) to tackle this issue within Adidas.”
On its face, then, a textbook workplace mobbing.
The press release from the PR company continued:
A key element of this letter is the call for the creation of an anonymous platform where employees can report instances of racism and discrimination, and for protection against retaliation.
I groaned when I read that. A platform to enable employees to make career-destroying allegations about their co-workers anonymously? As if the atmosphere in contemporary American isn’t quite McCarthyite enough. But I was also intrigued. Was the PR company’s client someone who had a plan to combat the transformation of globe-spanning American corporations into outposts of the German Democratic Republic? An anti-Communist, perhaps, with direct experience of living in some totalitarian dystopia offering to coach CEOs and board members about how to avoid the excesses of the Cultural Revolution? I read on, my curiosity piqued:
This platform does in fact already exist with exactly this mission in mind. Vault Platform is a mobile reporting app that seeks to bridge the trust gap between employers and their employees. The platform gives employees a safe and secure way to report workplace misconduct including bias, harassment, and discrimination both anonymously and otherwise.
Ah, not what I was expecting, then. On the contrary, the PR company’s client is a company which, judging from its product, might as well be called Stasi.com. Or, if Vault wants to maintain the “locked in” theme, Gulag.com. You couldn’t make it up. But here goes anyway:
Thinking of setting up an anonymous hot-line so employees can snitch on their co-workers for not conforming to ever jot and tittle of woke dogma? Don’t trouble yourself. We’ll do it for you! At Stasi.com, we know exactly how to weed out those pesky non-conformists at your company. Say goodbye to free thinking. Say hello to kowtowing to herd opinion. Just call 1-800-666-WOKE today.
Stasi.com is a subsidiary of Witchfinder-General.org
Trust in Media Falls to All-Time Low
According to the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, trust in the news media is lower than it’s ever been before, thanks to its hopeless coverage of the coronavirus crisis. The report says overall levels of trust in the news globally (across 40 countries) is at the lowest point since it began tracking the data, with just 38% saying they trust news overall. In the UK, that figure has sunk to 28%.
Interestingly, people who identify as being on the left have less trust in the media than people on the right. Splitting the UK sample of more than 2,000 adults by political leaning, only 15% of those on the left agreed with the statement: “I think you can trust most news most of the time,” compared with 36% for the right. Odd, considering the left-wing bias of the BBC.
This isn’t just a problem for the mainstream media. Trust in news obtained from social media globally stands at a pathetically low 22%.
Perhaps that’s not surprising, given Google’s pandering to the WHO and other public health organisations during the crisis, pulling content from YouTube if it dares to challenge Covid orthodoxy even though the official line on things like face masks changes from day to day.
The latest example of Google’s pro-Establishment, liberal bias is its decision to demonetise Zero Hedge and put the Federalist on notice. Placing the Federalist on double-secret probation is in fact a climb down, since Google earlier announced that it would demonetised that publication, too. It was prompted to do this by a report on NBC that said the two publications had been flagged by a British outfit calling itself the Centre For Countering Digital Hate. On Twitter, it calls itself Stop Funding Fake News and targets online news sources that challenge woke dogma.
After the Centre for Countering Digital Hate succeeded in getting Zero Hedge and the Federalist kicked off Google’s advertising platform, at least initially, it sent a fund-raising email to supporters, bragging about its censorious victory:
Google Ads will no longer help fund the racist fake news sites Zero Hedge and the Federalist.
This is huge win for our campaign and the hundreds of people who have backed it. But we want go further [sic] and we need your help.
Can you chip in to help us get Google ads removed from another six of our target hate sites?
Hang on a second. As Google has now done a reverse ferret, isn’t the claim that Google Ads will no longer fund the Federalist fake news? I hope these holier-than-thou Social Justice Warriors sent a follow-up email, clarifying that their earlier one was wrong.
One of the reasons Google has backed down is because Senator Ted Cruze wrote a stiff letter to Google CEO Sundar Pichai objecting to the decision – in his capacity as Chairman of the Constitution Subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The letter begins:
The recent actions of Google to “demonetize” a conservative media publisher, the Federalist, raise serious concerns that Google is abusing its monopoly power in an effort to censor political speech with which it disagrees.
This is part of a bigger problem. The culture of free speech in this country is under attack, and Google is helping lead the charge. Whereas Americans once understood that the best response to speech was more speech, some Americans, with the help of some of the most powerful companies on the planet, are now pressing to silence and punish those expressing views that do not align with the prevailing and ever-shifting progressive orthodoxy. These individuals demand that people with different views lose their livelihoods if they step out of line. Employers must fire dissenters. Companies like Google must—to use a most Orwellian term— “demonetize” them.
The letter concludes with a punchy list of demands that should make the Google CEO think twice before blithely doing the bidding of a left-wing lobby group again. Worth reading in full.
Blackouts and Lockdowns
A reader has sent me a quote from Theodore Dalrymple’s book Mass Listeria: The Meaning of Health Scares (1998). It includes a tidbit about the blackouts introduced during the Blitz:
That panic can easily be sown and result in harmful policies was pointed out by the surgeon Wilfred Trotter in the early days of the second WW. He wrote: “A total black out was enforced without compromise or graduation or provision for the devoted pedestrian. The consequences may well become a classical example of the staggering paradoxes that result from mixing good intentions with panic. Deaths by violence on the roads rose in the first month of the war from 500 to 1100. Thus by sitting quietly at home Hitler’s air force was able to kill 600 British citizens at a cost to itself of exactly nothing.”
The Caged Welsh Dragon
I promised to make stories about the wanton destruction of the Welsh tourism industry – and the general ineptitude of the Welsh Government – a regular feature if I got enough messages from readers. Well, they’ve been coming in thick and fast.
Here’s one from a reader in Brecon that’s typical:
Delighted you are taking up the Welsh tourism cause and lockdown in general in the Principality. The really stupid thing is that if you live in Hay you can shop in one shop because it is open in England, cross the street and the shops are closed being in Wales.
You can drive from Wales to England (one mile from Hay) and then drive yourself all over the continent but in theory you can’t drive more than five miles from your Welsh home.
Why oh why can’t I go to my Welsh home which I have owned since 1947. Not exactly a second home.
Drakeford is the most inept leader of the Labour Party in Wales ever. He is pathetic and afraid of his own shadow.
If you high ight our anxiety, distress and the total stupidity of the Welsh decisions I would be hugely grateful.
Happy to oblige, Sir.
And here’s another, this one about the lunacy of trying to buy a new house in Wales at the moment:
Our house hunting was interrupted by the lockdown.
We have begun to resume the search. We have a viewing near Wrexham tomorrow. The estate agent is based in Chester – about 13 miles away. So the estate agent will be driving across the border to open up the house for us. We have to wear gloves, but no muzzles, thank God! (She seemed perplexed when she asked me if I had gloves, and I answered, “Only gardening gloves.”) We are not allowed to touch anything in the house – though how the agent can enforce this I don’t know as she has to stay outside the house while we look around.
Anyway, I have tried to arrange a viewing at another house, near Ruthin. The estate agent for that property is in Buckley, Wales. The distance between Buckley and Ruthin is about 13 miles. I have been told by that estate agent that due to the Welsh Government’s policies, they are unable to provide us with a physical viewing.
So an English-based estate agent is able to enter Wales and drive 13 miles to allow us a viewing of a Welsh property that they are responsible for.
A Welsh-based agent is not allowed to do this.
So what will happen when vendors in Wales near the border realise this? They’ll start using English estate agents, Welsh businesses will lose out from much needed custom, and the Welsh Government will lose revenue across the border.
Drakeford and his lackeys down in Cardiff are not fit for purpose.
Those concerned about these excessive restrictions in Wales have an ally in the form of Sarah Atherton, the Conservative MP for Wrexham. You can read her letter to the First Minister complaining about this here.
And don’t forget the Welsh sceptical website, We The People.
Don’t Flush Out the Virus
Flushing the loo can propel the virus 3ft into the air according to Chinese scientists. So if you’re worried about catching Covid, and you’re in a public lavatory that someone has left in an ugly condition, make sure you close the lid before flushing.
Actually, hang on. Maybe you should do it after you’ve done a number two yourself. Why hasn’t anyone told me about this before? Have I been breathing in tiny fragments of my own poo for 56 years?
Round-Up
And on to the round-up of all the stories I’ve noticed, or which have been been brought to my attention, in the last 24 hours:
- ‘Is dexamethasone a major Covid breakthrough?‘ – Ross Clark in the Spectator is impressed
- ‘Is this the real reason Sweden didn’t lockdown?‘ – Ross Clark again, this time on the constitutional protections that may have prevented Sweden locking down
- ‘De Blasio Tells Covid Contract Tracers Not to Ask Positive Cases If They’ve Attended BLM Protests‘ – One from the “you couldn’t make it up” department
- ‘Foreshadowing a Coronavirus Royal Commission‘ – Professor Ramesh Thakur on fine form
- ‘Operation Free Churchill begins‘ – The Mail reports on the daring operation by a group of SAS-style council workers to remove the hoarding surrounding the statue of Winston Churchill before President Macron’s state visit
- ‘Are summer holidays back on? Hancock says ministers will reveal list of countries with low coronavirus levels within two weeks that Brits will be free to visit WITHOUT quarantine‘ – The climbdown continues
- ‘The ugly rise of left-wing racism‘ – Good piece by Rakib Ehsan in Spiked about the mobbing of Boris’s policy chief Munira Mirza in the Guardian and elsewhere for being the wrong kind of black person, i.e. not woke
- ‘Broadcasters like the BBC are alienating their audience with “woke” pandering‘ – Nigel Farage socks it to the Beeb in the Telegraph
- ‘The Price of Lies‘ – Good piece in the American Spectator by Harry Crocker
- ‘The woke have no vision of the future‘ – Excellent essay by Oxford political philosopher John Gray in UnHerd. My favourite line: “Universities have become seminaries of woke religion, while newspapers are turning into sermonising agitprop sheets.”
- ‘The new rules for days out at theme parks and museums‘ – The BBC reports on the joys of visiting theme pars and the like in the “new normal”. If any of my children insist on me taking them to Thorpe Park I will hurl myself off Stealth, the UK’s fastest rollercoaster
- ‘Greggs emerges from retail lockdown‘ – A chink of light in the gloom
Theme Tune Suggestions From Readers
Four songs today, all by the same band: Lock Down. The tracks, which you can find here, are:
- Hellbound
- Destruction of Society
- In the Blink of an Eye
- Swing Back
I’m going to book them to play at by post-lockdown party – in 2025.
Small Businesses That Have Reopened
A few weeks ago, Lockdown Sceptics launched a searchable directory of open businesses across the UK. The idea is to celebrate those retail and hospitality businesses that have reopened, as well as help people find out what has opened in their area. But we need your help to build it, so we’ve created a form you can fill out to tell us about those businesses that have opened near you. Now that non-essential shops have reopened – or most of them, anyway – we’re now focusing on pubs, bars, clubs and restaurants, as well as other social venues. Please visit the page and let us know about those brave folk who are doing their bit to get our country back on its feet.
Shameless Begging Bit
Thanks as always to those of you who made a donation in the last 24 hours to pay for the upkeep of this site. It takes me many hours every day, which doesn’t leave much time for other work. If you feel like donating, however small the amount, please click here. Alternatively, you can donate to the Free Speech Union’s litigation fund by clicking here or join the Free Speech Union here. And if you want to flag up any stories or links I should include in future updates, email me here.
And Finally…
James Delingpole and I discuss the current Cultural Revolution in our latest London Calling podcast and speculate about what role the lockdowns have played in fomenting this febrile moment. My theory is that a lot of under-employed graduates have been spending too much time festering at home, glued to their social media feeds.
In the course of the podcast, James and I joke about how the mob will have us both swinging from lampposts by the end of the year if the Cultural Revolution continues at its current pace. We were joking – sort of – but I’ve just seen this video of Peter Hitchens being following by a mob through the streets of Oxford chanting, “I don’t know what you’ve been told/Peter Hitchens has to go.” Genuinely alarming.
Discussion
Comments
This week across the site:
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Hi Toby, I’m totally in support of what you’re doing with Lockdown Sceptics. But the photograph of the road being reclaimed by the desert in Dubai: my friend who lives there is sure it’s photoshopped. According to her, the roads are completely busy, not deserted like that. She also says that “no roads go to Burj Khalifa like that”. Just thought you should know.
Someone here dig out the legislation that the council are responsible for paying compensation if they close down a business to stop a spread of a disease.
https://dailysceptic.org/2020/06/17/latest-news-58/#comment-30670
If enough business do this ASAP it will cause an utter shit storm.
I would have suggested he shake it
You couldn’t make this up, your kids will be going to school in a tent next winter?
Can’t wait to ask the question, ‘how are you going to heat the flammable classroom safely?’ – yet another reason for the scrapping of social distancing. If 300k protestors have not caused a 2nd spike then kids in a classroom won’t.
https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1297773/schools-reopening-uk-school-open-socially-distanced
Wouldn’t get away with tents in Sweden – far too cold!
Left South Wales on Sunday for Liverpool to do a final sort and clear-out of the wife’s late sister’s effects as her house has been sold. Drove up through the borders, expecting to be challenged at some point – but nothing. Wednesday morning, a couple of Poles in a van showed up and loaded up. No anti-social distancing. We got back to our house 10 minutes before them (not a police car in sight on the way back). After unloading, we all shook hands. Like normal! Great!
Here in my Thames Valley town, several shops haven’t bothered to re-open. Those that have don’t seem to be doing roaring trade. I got the impression a few of these were prepared for bigger crowds that, frankly, never came. This doesn’t bode well but does fit the pattern I expected of people having a limited tolerance threshold for these social distancing measures. I noticed in Oxford some cafes putting up Max Number of Patrons notices, most of which are down in single digits even for large-ish establishments… This will be an economic calamity!
An amusing anecdote from a trip down the Thames path – a young child insisted her mother stop and give me a 2m berth. The mother was a 30 something Scandinavian lady who actually apologised and said ‘They fill her head with this social distance rubbish in nursery’!
Too many people in positions of authority clearly have no understanding of basic concepts such as productivity and profitability.
“The mother was a 30 something Scandinavian lady who actually apologised and said ‘They fill her head with this social distance rubbish in nursery’!”
Encouraging.
Not encouraging. What the hell are we doing to our children? We’re teaching them not to be human.
Matt Hancock at press conference. If I understand correctly, those of us over 50 are first phase guinea pigs for the AstraZaneca/Oxford University vaccine. Can’t wait!
Just Say No.
Oh, don’t worry. I won’t be having it through choice. I have no doubt, however, it will be aligned to insurance cover and all manner of other things as per Lord Hague/Tony Blair comments the other day. This surely is the only reason for lockdown still in place. Makes you wonder who else is getting a cut from this.
Yes, the only question for me is how much harassment I’m going to have to experience as a result of refusing this unwarranted, disgraceful imposition.
Missed it today. Went to meet the dad of one of my little one’s friends in a local park with the boys (Wylam brewery jakehead- highly recommended). Something just close enough to remind me what normality used to be like.
What was said?
You get those types that will be too willing to get the vaccine (no question about ingredients or side effects) as it will safe them BUT if you tell them about vitamin D they will tell you how dangerous it is. Ah well!
There have been ‘outbreaks’ of infections in two food processing plants in North Wales, causing much hysteria here. It got me thinking – aren’t face masks worn routinely in food processing plants, even before covid 19? Anyone know? If they are then doesn’t it support the argument that face masks are pointless?
Certainly makes the case for handwashing instead!
Do they really mean ‘outbreaks’ or do they mean cases discovered through testing? BTW, back in my tender years a ‘case’ meant someone who was treated by medics not someone who tested positive for something but had no symptoms. Still, bad luck Wales, Comrade Drakeford has an ‘outbreak’ and therefore reason to keep the Celts in the Dark Ages for considerably longer.
In most factories before all this you would have needed to wear face covering for beards and moustaches and always hairnets/protective outerwear but not every face covered. working in ‘high risk’ areas may require more and these days it’s the full PPE and visors I believe (I’ve not been in a processing plant for a while).
I originally hail from the area of at least one of these plants, which I have to say did not have a stellar reputation as an employer or the quality of the operation! There has been a theme internationally of outbreaks in these environments, possibly something to do with the average temperatures and humidity.
I’ve been limiting access to news/blogs/media for mental health reasons. I’m afraid that I’m not resilient enough to cope with the level of insanity around Covid and BLM/race hysteria. Keeps going round and round in my mind like I’m loosing it. Instead I’m trying to deal with more pressing matters such as family and job issues. Perhaps others feel/do the same?
Son did a painting at pre-school today and was really pleased with it. Been struggling for a long time to get him in to crafts. Sadly I am not allowed to see it until the end of term. It was confiscated from him on his way out, because of the risk that the paper may be carrying Covid. This is a bit odd to say the least, given he is in a “social bubble”, and all crafts activities have to be done alone. However there is no use complaining about any Covid related rules (eg masks etc…) it seems everyone is swalling government rules without question.
I have emerged briefly from my self-ban to see whether anything had been said about masks. I was forced to wear one taking son for a medical appointment the other day, and… Read more »
Masks on trains are legal requirements unless you have a reasonable excuse – asthma might be easier to sell than “anxiety”
I am not aware of any law on masks in doctors surgeries, though they would probably give you a hard time if you refused. I don’t know about hospitals, they may be able to refuse to treat you.
Avoiding news, social media etc sounds like a good idea.
Good luck.
Raab’s has been the ballsiest response to this nonsense so far.
That pic of Starmer and Rayner makes me want to vomit!
And as for the police grovelling in front of a crowd of youngsters. WTF!
Raab would have done better if he’d not dropped the Game of Thrones clanger. He should have used that as a simile and put it all into perspective.
Yes, the GOT thing was silly and of course the BBC made that the headline.
But sadly he backpedalled anyway, said he respected BLM. As I posted elsewhere, that’s a shocking statement whether he knows what the policies are or not. BLM have been clever – basically they’ve manipulated people into thinking that if you say you don’t support BLM it means you hate black people. I find that very depressing indeed.
“BLM have been clever“
Not clever – no need to give these scumbags any more credit that is required by the real fact.
It’s not hard to achieve what they have when you have the ground so thoroughly prepared for you and the media, political class and institutions so thoroughly penetrated by cowards and fellow travellers. It wasn’t the BLM scum who did that. They just reap the benefits.
“[Dominic Raab] said he respected BLM“
If we had honest news media they would immediately and confrontationally question any supposedly conservative figure who said such a thing on exactly which parts of “dismantling capitalism and ‘patriarchy’, defunding the police, and disrupting ‘the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure’” he approves of, and also why he “respects” a movement that is based on a lie about supposed systematic racist police killings that is not supported by the evidence.
But we do not live in a country with an honest news media.
stay strong. I also have to limit my time online..it`s all too depressing.
Useful data for excess death from BBC:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-53073046
I had a generic “No Mask, No Ride” email from Uber before the latest round of madness. So I wrote to them via my account telling them that I would no longer use them as long as they insisted on muzzle-wearing. Didn’t expect a reply so surprised to receive this today. Looks like if you make it clear in the notes when booking that you cannot wear one as it would cause “severe distress” you can ignore it. Not a fan of the policy but it does look like they’re being pragmatic – text below . 3 observations on my walk today – Sutton Coldfield. Town centre once again dead as a doornail. No queues anywhere – looked like Xmas Day. I assume now the novelty has worn off and the “new normal” is in place most people can’t be arsed. Passed by 4 buses – sum total of passengers 6. Only 1 muzzle wearer. 1 refusenik sat on the bus right under the “Mandatory Muzzle sign”. 2 local pubs now unboarded and unshuttered – first time since April. Assume the landlords and breweries have been tipped the wink by someone.
Hi ,
We apologise for any frustration caused.
The requirement… Read more »
This is really useful to know. Thanks for sharing.
“…mitigating circumstances such as their age, medical condition and/or disability.”
It does seem like a fairly high bar, but at the same time I guess no one is yet requiring any proof or evidence of such medical conditions?
Good that they leave it up to the driver. Might get more questions when traveling in a shared space like buses and trains
Interesting. I am not a fan of mask wearing but think it should be up to the driver. Perhaps they could incorporate that into the app – drivers who are happy to accept maskless passengers can offer their services to passengers who signal they prefer not to wear a mask.
Court case initiated in the USA by the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons against the FDA over Hydroxchloroquine:
https://aapsonline.org/hcqsuit/
Then on the same website this one:
https://aapsonline.org/covid-19-and-the-universal-health-scare/
The medical system is finally waking up maybe?!
Just searched for the term “social distancing” on the archive pages and filtered to 2009 and this article came up about the swine flu epidemic of 2009…
https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20180620162646/https://www.nhs.uk/news/heart-and-lungs/dirty-brits-are-worlds-worst-flu-spreaders/
This paragraph stood out!
In conclusion, it is not possible to say why the UK tended to report lower uptake of the various hygienic behaviours. However, it is possible that differences in the media portrayal of the threat of swine flu between the UK and other countries may have contributed to blasé (or perhaps stoical) British attitudes. Much of the UK reporting of the swine flu pandemic was excellent, being both measured and responsible. However, after the initial shock of the swine flu outbreak, attention moved on to other stories, such as whether the NHS was wasting money buying stocks of the antiviral drug Tamiflu.
Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive, But to be young was very heaven!
Town centres in Swale; Faversham, Sheerness and Sittingbourne are to be closed to traffic for ‘social distancing’. The dobbers-in, crab-scuttlers and hedge-jumpers don’t feel safe apparently despite the absence of evidence of transmission in the open air. The businesses bravely trying to survive are now forbidden deliveries. The Town Clerk tells me this is happening all over which I doubt. Any news from elsewhere?
I believe Ross-on-Wye has come up with a similar plan to close some roads to traffic and remove free parking bays (including most of the disabled bays) in order that pedestrians can keep apart where the pavements are too narrow. This is on top of the pedestrian one-way system plan that is already in place i.e. you walk up the high street on one side all in the same direction and cross over to walk the opposite way down the other side. Madness as reports are that there is hardly anyone out shopping anyway.
There’s one road part-closed in our town centre, otherwise normal. But we have limited access anyway, and the roads remaining are needed for residents to access certain parts of town, so closing them would be very difficult.
We have a similar ridiculous scheme along the main road by our local shops (which no one in their right mind would queue up to get inside). Parking bays blocked off with orange roadworks barriers (and reducing the width of the road significantly), and a literal forest of yellow social distancing signs. Most of the shops are still closed anyway, and at least half of the barriers have been removed by someone enterprising and people are parked up as usual!
I was thinking about the SAGE minutes (oh what an exciting life I currently lead) and it occurred to me that they seem fairly sparse in detail (none of the minutes appear to be longer than 5 pages in total).
The SAGE minutes from the Swine Flu epidemic in 2009 seem a lot more detailed (see link below) and that epidemic did not lead us into lockdown…..
https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20120907150455/http://www.dh.gov.uk/ab/SPI/DH_120535
Have the recent SAGE minutes been redacted?
Christ on a bike!!!
It’s already been three fecking months so why send another one of these patronising emails:
Dear XXXXX,
We’re committed to keeping you and our Partners safe when you shop with us. So we wanted to remind you of the ways that you can help protect yourself and others.
Please shop alone if you can, unless you need a helper or have young children with you. We’re limiting the number of customers in our stores, so this will help everyone do their shopping more quickly.
Keep two metres apart from other people – that’s about the length of two trollies. Look out for the floor stickers to help you. As a myWaitrose member, you can use Quick Check to scan and pack your items as you shop – all of our handsets are thoroughly cleaned after every use. Then just pay at one of our self-service tills.
Thank you for following these measures, and helping to keep us all safe.
Take good care,
BÉRANGÈRE MICHEL
Partner & Executive Director, Customer Service
John Lewis Partnership
I can feel another urge to write a strongly worded reply to tell them to stick… Read more »
Yes I had one too, just hit delete.
I’ve just come back from my local (but not within 5 miles here in Wales – slap my naughty wrist) Waitrose. Have to say throughout this farce this particular branch have been pretty relaxed and pragmatic about the ‘rules’ they have to follow from HQ. The vast majority of the staff have opted for no PPE and no one shouts or has a break down if you walk past someone else not at a 2 metre distance. They do limit the numbers in the shop but it’s a branch that is always pretty quiet so you rarely have to queue to get in (unlike Asda round the corner). There’s no one way systems in the shop and you don’t feel like a pariah if you pick up things and put them down again.
As for my fellow shoppers – face muzzle count today was zero, as it was last week from a max count of 3 the prior week. Mind you there was one old gent in a full face visor and gloves which I’ve not seen before.
I went to Waitrose thrice before my self-imposed boycott and I’ve noticed the same, no staff in PPE, everyone ignoring the arrows and no-one giving a rat’s ass about the 2 metre rule.
They have been relaxed more or less and its really bizarre why they send this email which I take it as insulting my intelligence.
Delete.
I no longer shop at John Lewis online since they introduced fees to pick up a package from Waitrose. Much easier to shop at Amazon despite the fact that i do not like to support them.
At this rate I feel that Amazon treat me more like a human being than the high street stores.
God’s way of punishing ‘myWaitrose’ members. 🙂
How dare they tell people they should shop alone!
According to the London Calling podcast referenced at the end of this update James Dellingpole cites ‘a friend, of a friend, of a friend who knows someone in government’ (I’m not quoting verbatim) who says that there has already been planned a new lockdown in October. Not because of the virus, but to save the government’s blushes.from having got it wrong in the first place. (It’s about the 20-25′ mark if you want to listen to it.) If there is any element of truth in this then the government is committing wilful murder for the sake of salvaging their reputation. And if it has been planned already this is deceit of the first order. It may be rumour, it maybe scaremongering, but if true I would suggest that is a capital crime and a firing squad should be commissioned. I really cannot believe what I heard. Dellingpole says it’s depressing. It’s not depressing, it’s government sponsored violence and murder. (Weird, before lockdown I would never have listened to a podcast with those political leanings.)
If true, casus belli to me.
Delingpole, regarding the Woke/BLM/Antifa: “I think what they want is civil war.”
Keep going you little sh1ts, and you’ll get one.
I’ve suspected the 2nd wave mantra was leading to a fabricated event. Also explains the prevarication on the 2m rule, which bears no scrutiny but would save on new stickers.
It’s beyond just about any emotion I can come up with, besides frustration and disempowerment – which will ultimately lead someone with nothing to lose to feel somewhat murderous!
If the video of the mob menacing Hitchens is anything to go by, we might not be so far off.
Yes, that mob could do with meeting a group wielding baseball bats some time really soon.
That is appalling if true! I’m not surprised in the slightest – though doesn’t Johnson keep going on about not wanting to risk a second wave and a further lockdown? Isn’t he going to look pretty stupid anyway if there is one, having said that many times? That said, I haven’t really been paying attention any more to what he says, so I could be wrong on that and it may be something else he’s done a U turn over recently.
They’ll struggle to justify it if no one’s actually got the disease….
To be fair I cant believe many people would accept a second lockdown it wont happen.
I’ve no doubt that will happen. The MIT published an article about “the new normal” back in March and it clearly outlined everything we’ve seen take place so far. It included a wave graph showing lockdowns happening every two months or so until a “vaccine is found”.
All we have to do is ignore them. If we do this en masse, there’s absolutely sfa the so-called “authorities” in this country can do.
They can arrest us, or take away sale of alcohol licences (and arrest the licensee). Would a landlord or restaurant owner risk that, or even a large fine? Perhaps. But taxes/fines are ultimately collected by men with guns – if you refuse to pay up (or in any way refuse to do as you are told) and if you keep refusing and refusing, then the men with guns will come for you. I know the police in this country aren’t armed, generally, but if you put up sustained disobedience the guns do come out. Many people on this site, and others I read, comment that we should all just ignore their stupid, malicious rules, but…there is only so much we can do unless we really want to put our livelihoods and even our lives – or a least our freedom from prison – on the line.
Don’t despair Marion. There will always be people able and willing to do stuff like this. Everyone just needs to do what they can.
I wouldn’t mind going to prison for resisting this coup. But I would want it to be meaningful/worthwhile in some way, not just a statement.
Yes, but if there is no evidence of a resurgence of the virus (and I believe there won’t be, it’s all but gone anyway) what is their excuse going to be? Marion (below) says people won’t rise up because they won’t want to be sent to prison. But if you have nothing because the lockdown(s) has destroyed everything you had what’s there to lose? The French Revolution started that way and then the ‘men with guns’ (again Marion below) turned on the king.
I would be ok going to prison because of my beliefs
Who controls the data? Government run organisations like the NHS. Very easy to suddenly report spikes and new cases and misdiagnose a pneumonia case. Hasn’t that already been the MO?
And back in lockdown we go.
I think it would now be hard to get away with regular lockdowns, even if that was the original plan – because too many other countries have realised that they need not have locked down. I do think though, that there is a plan to release a new virus – Amazing Polly on youtube had some information on this, and I believe a second virus was part of the event 201 pandemic simulation held in October 2019..
No words for this stupidity anymore. Given that at least two European countries have stated that they won’t bring in another lockdown even if there is a second wave, Johnson would look even more of an idiot to impose another one here.
I think there will be trouble as by then the furlough scheme will have ended so there will be potentially loads of people unemployed with nothing to do and an anger for what the government has done.
Time will tell I guess.
I guess that at least portions of the civil service will be doing ‘war games’ on such scenarios, like they do for many national emergencies. It does seem to go against the ‘mood music’ of the government – I thought the reason we were edging out of lockdown so slowly was to prevent Bojo’s mystical second wave – and as others have pointed out it could be catastrophic for the Tories as they have staked ‘no second lockdown’ on their testing systems. I’m not sure a second lockdown would actually be obeyed – there will be many, who, like me, have ‘obeyed’ these restrictions through gritted teeth who will move into active resistance if they try it again… With any luck Tory backbenchers would stage some kind of move..
A nice visit this morning – in spite of heavy rain – to our local farm feed merchants shop. The maim entrance door had been divided in half to give an “in” and an “out” and there was a sign about distancing and respecting each other . . . and that was it. Other than that, it was the usual friendly, jolly place with a helpful family serving of all ages. None of them were bothered about keeping their distance from me, not a muzzle in sight on either staff or customers, and there were no perspex screens around the checkout. I picked over the fruit and vegetables without feeling like a leper, ordered my animal feed which was put into my car for me, and asked if I could pay in cash. “Of course” came the surprised reply “We like cash!” The moral is – if you want to enjoy your shopping, go to a farm shop or agricultural suppliers. We all live amongst bacteria, dirt and poo, experience birth and death every day through our animals, and the little matter of a virus isn’t going to bring us down and make us fearful!
Totally agree with this, having spent all my life around ponies and worked on a farm as a teenager exposed to heaven knows what diseases and germs. Going to shows with ponies and eating sandwiches with grubby hands.
I’m sure that’s why none of my immediate family are ever seriously ill.
We have always been a ‘play in the dirt family’. If the kids wanted to play in the dog water bowl, we let them (possibly not drink it though). Sure they have been ill and it tends to be a knock for 6 when it happens but they have always bounced back quickly. Climb that tree and if they fall, they learn. My brother is a cotton wooller and his kids have always had snotty noses and succumb to every bug there is and were afraid to do the things that kids should do. I am not saying there is a right or wrong but life is risky and you have to live it.
My philosophy has always been “little boys bounce”
Fantastically sane people. Glad you can support them!
Got bored watching the rain so sent this to my local Council’s Chief Executive.
I may tweak it a bit and send it to the local town councils and the surrounding county councils as well:
Sirs,
I have been reading some of the stories on your NewsNBC website and have found misleading information on it that needs corrected.
The story is titled “The countdown to reopening the town centres begins” and it states in the main body of the text (2 quotes):
“All businesses in XXXXXXX have been sent a letter by the Borough Council, as part of the ‘countdown’ to borough-wide retail reopening on June 15 in a move to support their safe return.
The communication includes a checklist detailing some of the control measures needed in order for businesses to be COVID-19 Secure.
The guidance includes self-distancing, cashless payments, safe deliveries, risk-assessment, hygiene and cleaning regimes and details of further advice that is available online.”
and
“In preparation for this Council Officers have arranged for signage and pavement marking to be installed where appropriate to emphasise the need for social distancing.
Cllr. XXXX Added: “It is important that as people return to the shops they… Read more »
Nice one!
Well done. More people should do that
Everyone out there is sceptic land feel free to copy and plagarise it to suit your needs.
Wow that’s awesome. Do let us know the response!
Superb. Congratulations. I shake your wholly non-socially-distanced hand..
I think you hit on a corker there.
The legislation is here. If all businesses closed down wrote to their council to demand compensation this would start a shitstorm of epic proportions
1)With a view to preventing the spread of—
(a)a notifiable disease, or
(b)a disease to which subsection (1) of section 23 of the [1955 c. 16 (4 & 5 Eliz. 2).] Food and Drugs Act 1955 applies,
the proper officer of the local authority for any district may by notice in writing request any person to discontinue Ms work.
(2)The local authority shall compensate a person who has suffered any loss in complying with a request under this section, and section 57(2), (3) and (4) below shall apply to any dispute arising under this subsection.
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1984/22/section/20/enacted
Any lawyers here can confirm?
Maybe send it to Francis Hoar? (contact details on his Twitter account)
Great letter! Show it to Simon Dolan 😉
I included a lot of this in the reply to Wedlake Bell when they sent out that e-maila asking for how it has affected us.
I also asked about the dates and timings as none of it makes sense.
Just had a quick look at the Keswick High Street webcam. The street market is back. This is usually heaving with people. Usually.
https://www.visitcumbria.com/webcams/keswick/
You may have to copy and paste the link, sorry.
Have you just been posting/replying on Guido?
Poor traders! At least those out and about seem to be behaving normally – and I only spotted one muzzle.
Thanks Nick. I saw 3 people and a crow.
There’s literally nobody there
NHS finally ditched the in- house centralised tracing app and gone for the Apple/Google off the shelf option.
https://order-order.com/2020/06/18/nhs-switches-to-apple-google-model-for-contact-tracing-app/
So a health authority thought it was better at tech than the biggest tech companies in the world. I mean who decides this in the first place?
Official line is that the apple/google version didn’t allow the integration into NHS records. Sounds like a credible reason, but it’s that centralised integration that causes the concern around privacy.
This causes concern over data privacy with regards to giving data to apple and google – but since they’ve already got all the data about you that they could ever need anyway, probably not worth losing sleep over.
I trust Apple with my data far more than I trust the NHS. I suspect Apple know a teeniest bit more about software than the NHS do. 😄
There aren’t many apps that integrate easily with well thumbed manila folders.
STOP the tracing app
Oh I wouldn’t install it. I’m just amused that the NHS thought they could do better than Apple or Google 😂
How much has that cost us all?
My local HCS (National Covid Service) trust can’t even manage to communicate between its own departments.
The prospect of the NHS being able to produce a tracing app of any description, let alone world-beating, was frankly an expensive joke.
This was inevitable. Has the NHS ever created, either directly or via a sub-contractor, a national computer system that actually worked?
They have, however, spent millions of our money on failure.
Give them all a clap tonight!
https://www.taxpayersalliance.com/_system_failure_11_billion_nhs_it_system_finally_abandoned_but_not_before_slamming_a_high_bill_on_taxpayers
The very epitome of intolerance
Racial slur councillor suspended from Cheltenham Lib Dems
Tolerance is much abused as a concept these days. People have forgotten that in order to tolerate something it is necessary first to disapprove of it, and to continue to disapprove of it. What people mean these days by tolerance is usually coerced approval, and that applies in pretty much all the “political correctness” areas.
The profound intolerance, to the level of absurdity, for the use of what we must now (again, absurdly) call “the n word” is a fine example of the extreme intolerance that characterises modern British society (and most of the societies in the US sphere, generally).
The lengths to which this intolerance goes are highlighted by cases such as this, where the term is used without any intention of expressing any “offensive” political opinion or personal abuse, but is nevertheless harshly punished. The people who insist on such punishment are intolerant people, by definition.
The argument that it is an inherently “offensive” term that we should refrain from using in order not to offend people is simply encouraging intolerance. People can choose whether to dwell on being offended… Read more »
Just tracked about 400 comments on the bbc website about the snp / scottish approach to the virus – just a pathetic two week delay to what the uk government is doing. 5 to 1 supporting the following:
“What this forum is “riddled with” are comments from Scots who are thoroughly sick of being told what to do by a second rate politician. I remember when I lived in a free country. If those who are afraid to leave their homes or walk alongside others on a pavement, fine, but let the rest of us get on with our lives.”
Once the scottish population is able to mix again in person to confirm the greater cost of lockdown than any benefit including the care home and schooling shambles, nicola will be crying into her porridge over the winter just in time for next scottish elections in may.
The Welsh Assembly (I refuse to call it a “government”, no matter what those in Cardiff are ego-tripping on) is about to get the same wake up call. I cannot even recall the name of our non-entity allegedly in charge.
They wont vote her out, the Scottish people has shown that nationalism is more important than anything else.
The SNP are the largest and most vocal minority in Scotland. However, they are still a minority and certainly do not represent the views of the majority of Scots.
Unfortunately, the SNP benefit from a fragmented opposition and an uncritical media. Some of you may recall the FM saying ‘Judge me on education’. What education might that be, exactly? Could it be the part-time ‘blended’ learning that may resume in September, if the Dear Leader deems the levels of risk acceptable? Yet her own CMO (before she disgraced herself) effectively conceded as long ago as March that children were not at risk:
https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/scotland/1234237/scotlands-youngest-people-not-being-seriously-affected-by-coronavirus-says-chief-medical-officer/
So, schools remain closed, parents can’t return to work and the Scottish Government, which now presides over the highest unemployment rate in the U.K., wants the furlough scheme extended… it’s infuriating, to say the least.
Just want to check with the covid cognoscienti: Is the document published on this website purporting to show the collusion between the govt and the MSM to whip up fear in the population valid? https://www.ukcolumn.org/article/covid-coercion-boris-johnsons-psychological-attack-uk-public?fbclid=IwAR0SZg3HuyehTwX4VeP1h5HME55EYVc3wigUZdssLIDQRDXpE5rpDhjjXn0
I’d really appreciate a response before I have egg on my face!
It is official document and the wording certainly indicates that:
Persuasion
2. Perceived threat: A substantial number of people still do not feel sufficiently personally threatened; it could be that they are reassured by the low death rate in their demographic group (8), although levels of concern may be rising (9). Having a good understanding of the risk has been found to be positively associated with adoption of COVID-19 social distancing measures in Hong Kong (10). The perceived level of personal threat needs to be increased among those who are complacent, using hard-hitting emotional messaging. To be effective this must also empower people by making clear the actions they can take to reduce the threat (11).
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/882722/25-options-for-increasing-adherence-to-social-distancing-measures-22032020.pdf
Thank you Offlands – I hope as many people as possible read this. From the very start I knew there had to be collusion between the government and the MSM. At first I thought maybe the media were using scare tactics for click-bait, but this confirms that there is way more to it than that.
What I would love to see here is an FAQ page. Over the last weeks I have copied and pasted the most informative points made both by Toby and commenters into a document with a view to educating/de-conditioning the coronaphobic. But it would be so much easier if we had a page with subject headings for masks, 2m rule, cases and death statistics etc etc (obviously needing regular updating) that could be readily to hand. I would willingly chip in some money to anyone willing to create this.
Me too.
An excellent piece here
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-pitfalls-of-wrongthink
Well written.
Yes, he has stuck to his guns.
How I imagined day-to-day life for a member of the Fox dynasty in the 1960s and 70s:
Divide your time between your large country house and a flash pad in London; when in town, drive your Bristol to your gentleman’s club; cigars, brandy, roaring fires, witty conversations with refined rogues; often invited for the weekend by aristocrats for a spot of hunting; frequent parties attended by the likes of Richard Burton, Mick Jagger and Princess Margaret; fall about at a joke Peter Sellers tells you; earn a crust during the week doing a bit of the old acting – Roller provided to drive you back to your London pad each night; occasionally go to Eton where your kid is boarding and watch him play a spot of rugger; St. Moritz for the ski-ing every year…
Laurence’s experiences are shattering my illusions…
Great article Laurence Fox is so right to say “Every single human life is precious. The End.” and then he gets villified for that. Shocking!
Fox has been remarkably courageous on this. Sticking to your guns in the face of aggressive intolerance by powerful and influential groups is inherently admirable.
“No human being could fail to be appalled by what happened to George Floyd. We were united in our outrage.”
I disagree with this. Floyd was a thug who lived the life of a thug, a big man who was a criminal and a drug abuser, and physically aggressive. A policeman in a foreign country tried to control him using standard control techniques that he would have been trained to use. Floyd died, either as a result of particular personal vulnerabilities or a misapplication of the technique.
Until someone produces any evidence of malice or intent on the part of the policeman, for me this is just another unfortunate mishap that occurs when you have policing of the US kind and behaviour of Floyd’s kind. Unfortunate, but a consequence of Floyd’s own choices of lifestyle and behaviour and a foreign country’s choice of policing style. It’s not “appalling” to me, it’s just unfortunate.
But I feel no need to signal my goodness by devaluing terms like “appalling” by over-use.
Mishap is exactly the correct term if there was no intent, and if the technique was an approved one.
You can apply other descriptive terms as well according to how seriously you choose to regard the issue, but that doesn’t change the underlying applicability of that term.
Looks like we need to give Sadiq Khan a lesson in Biology 101 – the Respiratory System:
https://twitter.com/MayorofLondon/status/1273528082981363712
Maybe he cares deeply/believes all this stuff but it seems to me more like attention-seeking, felt he’d been out of the limelight too long.
That’s the trouble with Khan – if its knife crime or any other real problem he’s nowhere to be found. But if its some bandwagon or something “easy” he’s there giving his 2p worth.
Sadiq Khunt needs teaching a lesson full stop!
“There is an increasing body of evidence that the use of non-medical face coverings by the public can help reduce the spread of coronavirus.”
The “evidence” he cites is not empirical at all but hypotheses backed by some number-crunchers.
I would say that, given the virus had run its course, being virtually
non-existent in London, before the introduction of compulsory muzzles,
there is no empirical evidence whatsoever.
Isn’t it time some actual medically-qualified people spoke up about this nonsense, so the academics should be told to shove their computers somewhere that would yield an empirical result?
Yesterday, I wanted to superglue a muzzle to Khan’s face. Today I would happily use a nailgun!
I don’t know why medically qualified people haven’t spoken up about all this, unless I have missed something. Is there anyone currently working for the nhs publicly protesting about any of this nonsense? Are they all scared for their jobs?
At least Ken was awful but entertaining. Khan is a self-publicising sanctimonious, inactive prick. Even under Johnson the posters just said “mayor of London” now every single one of them says “mayor of London, Sadiq Khan”
I think the weeee Kranky, peace be upon her, has just said antisocial distance may be reduced to 1.25meters on monday – presubanly thats what we’ll be getting on Monday too – they could just make it 1meter. (I wasnt watching! I accidently overheard it in the background)
In the evenings theres some old fellas who congregate in our town in a seating area near the monument, some with mobility scooters, some slirping from cans of larger (drink scootering?) – just jibber jabbering away enjoying life – I have noticed they are using more of a 75cm distancing rule – seems to work for them
If they do keep that 25cm, it just proves further – not that we need it – that we are having the piss taken out of us
They’re not ‘taking it’ most are giving it away!
ifthey think we don’t understand what one metre is why the hell are we tasked with working out what 1.25 metres is? Insane.
1,25 metres is almost exactly 4 feet . for most of us that still think in real measurements that is easy to imagine
Yes, it puts anarchy/antifa protesters just outside punching range.
just thought. 4 feet is imperial measurement. am i still allowed to mention the word imperial or anything related to this ? should i now prostrate myself and seek penance and denounce my colonial whiteness?
Please do use imperial! I cannot visualise 1.25 metres but I can visualise 4 feet. In fact if anyone tells me to move back 2 metres i deliberately look puzzled and move 2 feet 😜
She’s only saying that because she thinks England will go for 1m and she wants to look bigger and better.
1.25m is not brilliant but it’s a start and would hopefully put Boris on the backfoot and maybe galvanise some sensible action further south.
It’s a very pedantic number, isn’t it? Probably so it doesn’t look as if they’ve given in to public pressure!
just seen on news that Greene King are apologising because one of their founders had a plantation and Lloyds Insurance are apologising because they used to insure ships that carried slaves.
Also Oriel college has decided to take down the Rhodes statue (although subject to planning etc).
In the words of the great Victor Meldew, i dont believe it.
I have just read up on Rhodes to refresh my memory.. and it seems that his ethos and his actions in Africa were normal for Victorian times. However, they are totally reflected in the Chinese ethos and actions in Africa today. Where is the protest there?
Much easier and safer to go along with the zealots and hope they leave you alone and go string up someone else (preferably a business or political rival).
In the short run.
Indeed. That’s not really working out for us though.
Well it’s a large part of how we got were we are. It’s just becoming more and more open and obvious.
And as you say it is hard to see it ending well.
I can’t see any way in which this ends well
I suppose you could say the bubonic plague ended well…there was, after all, a significant rise in real wages.
People who think this will end well: BBC staff, Senior Police Officers, MPs, callow youths on a vegan diet, the Guardian, Church of England Bishops, people who think they will get some personal advancement out of this without having to put any effort in, academics in non-scientific subjects, American tech billionaires, MCB, SWP and George Soros (a representative list).
People who don’t think will end well: Sensible people just about everywhere.
Because it’s not about slavery, it’s about deconstructed our history, cultural identity and our stories and replace them with a global generic herd identity.
In the same way that the lockdown has never been about the virus.
…. and there is a Rhodes Scholarship. Following information copied from Wikipedia (not a good source of reference as information can be changed by about anybody) but quickest for now.
The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford. It was established in 1902, and soon became the most famous of numerous international scholarship programs. The founder diamond magnate Cecil John Rhodes wanted to promote unity between English-speaking nations and instill a sense of civic-minded leadership and moral fortitude in future leaders irrespective of their chosen career paths.[1] Although initially restricted to male applicants from countries that are today within the British Commonwealth, as well as Germany and the United States, today the scholarship is open to applicants from all backgrounds and from across the globe.[2] Since its creation, controversy has surrounded its former exclusion of women (thus leading to the establishment of the co-educational Marshall Scholarship).
Many Rhodes recipients have achieved fame as politicians, academics, scientists, authors, and entrepreneurs. Notable American political recipients include president of the United States Bill Clinton, the United States Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice,[3] Governor of Louisiana Bobby Jindal, United States Senator from Louisiana John Neely Kennedy,[4] Congresswoman Heather Wilson, and United States Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Matthews Burwell. President of Pakistan Wasim… Read more »
Another of my posts ‘awaiting approval’
…. and there is a Rhodes Scholarship. See Wikipedia (not a good source of reference as information can be changed by about anybody) but quickest for now
I think there’s a limit on the number of links you can have in a post before it requires manual approval.
I am so much looking forward to all those Rhodes Scholars giving the scholarship money back – Bill Clinton, Cory Booker, Mayor Pete (Buttigieg), Devi Sridhar, to name a few – with an accompanying plea for forgiveness from the BLM movement with the ‘I had a momentary lapse of virtue when that money hit my bank account and I will match whatever Greene King and Lloyds make as a donation from my own funds’.
Just sent this to my surgery.
I received a text the other day stating that I must wear a face covering if attending the surgery. Let me state now that I will not wear one. You must be aware that the need for face masks are only applicable in a medical setting when the patient has Covid 19 & these have to be of the specific type approved by the clinical authorities. The wearing of paper mask, scarf or any other covering will not decrease the risk of the virus being transmitted. If I have symptoms of Covid 19 I would be self isolating at home, just like I would with Influenza or a bad cold. If I do not have symptoms a mask is even less use. I could be asymptomatic? But as I’m sure you’re aware the chances of such a person transmitting the virus are very low. The virus is over as a major threat, if it ever was, 80% of the population has been in contact with it. Herd immunity has already been reached. 98% of people affected recover with no ill effects. This virus particularly attacks the elderly & especially those with comorbidity’s. These are… Read more »
I wrote something similar to my GP yesterday. We should all do the same if we disagree. I doubt it will do any good but it might help the message get out there.
Wear this. If questioned say the guidance wasn’t clear.
Excellent. I endorse every word and I will NOT WEAR A MASK. Let them jail me, what difference would it make to my life now?
I’m a lady of a certain age, retired, and if they want to jail me too that’s fine. The Daily Mail would have a field day!