Design Your Own Face Mask
You can design your own face mask here. My suggestion above, courtesy of my daughter Sasha who came up with the prototype. We were using it in our merch store but I’ve now closed that because I actually lost money in the first month of trading.
If you cannot bear the thought of wearing a face covering of any kind, even one you’ve designed yourself, here’s a handy solution:
These lanyards are available from Amazon for the very reasonable price of £4.95. Purchase here. According to this piece in Edinburgh Live, you can also get “Hidden Disability” lanyards from eBay. One seller has already clocked up £300.
Get them now while stocks last.
Lidl Won’t Enforce Mask Compliance in Wales (and Neither Will the Police)
Encouraging email from a reader in Wales;
I’ve double checked by ringing Lidl and they confirm that, though they have to recommend masks, they will not be stopping entry or accosting anyone. Our local branch staff are always very laid back and cheerful and have been throughout The Madness. Claps all round for them! Incidentally, to my knowledge not one of them has been ill since early March.
My stepson is a sergeant in the local police and they say they’re not getting involved in the mask business – there aren’t enough of them and they have a considerable increase in mental health problems and domestic abuse calls to deal with.
Why No-One Can Ever Recover From COVID-19 in England
There’s an excellent post on the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine blog by Yoon K Loke and Carl Heneghan pointing out that, due to the way statistics are recorded by Public Health England (PHE), it’s impossible for a patient to recover from COVID-19. Here’s the key passage:
It seems that PHE regularly looks for people on the NHS database who have ever tested positive, and simply checks to see if they are still alive or not. PHE does not appear to consider how long ago the Covid test result was, nor whether the person has been successfully treated in hospital and discharged to the community. Anyone who has tested Covid positive but subsequently died at a later date of any cause will be included on the PHE Covid death figures.
By this PHE definition, no one with Covid in England is allowed to ever recover from their illness. A patient who has tested positive, but successfully treated and discharged from hospital, will still be counted as a Covid death even if they had a heart attack or were run over by a bus three months later.
This is one reason the daily PHE Covid death tolls include so many people who died weeks, sometimes months, ago – they include people who had COVID-19, made a complete recovery, then died of a completely unrelated illness.
Loke and Heneghan conclude:
It’s time to fix this statistical flaw that leads to an over-exaggeration of Covid-associated deaths. One reasonable approach would be to define community Covid-related deaths as those that occurred within 21 days of a Covid positive test result.
In summary, PHE’s definition of the daily death figures means that everyone who has ever had Covid at any time must die with Covid too. So, the Covid death toll in Britain up to July 2020 will eventually exceed 290k, if the follow-up of every test-positive patient is of long enough duration.
Worth reading in full.
Mask-Up, Granny Killer
Laura Dodsworth, the artist who’s started an ‘Art Under Lockdown‘ project, has written an excellent squib for Lockdown Sceptics about the absurdity of the mask edict. Here’s a taster:
According to Michael Gove, wearing masks is good manners. Nicola Sturgeon says they are a sign of ‘solidarity’. Matt Hancock has admitted they are to ‘give people more confidence to shop safely’. The emotionally manipulative and coercive language around masks focuses on what they represent – showing you care. Who wants to be impolite? Who wants to be derided for not caring? While very few people are wearing masks on the high street, online mask shaming is in your face. Covidiot. Selfish. Get over it. Mask up. Granny killer.
Worth reading in full.
No Cost-Benefit Analysis
The FT published a long investigation yesterday into the mistakes the Government has made in its handling of the coronavirus crisis, focusing on the week leading up to lockdown. Unfortunately, the crack investigative team simply take it for granted that we should have locked down earlier – a week earlier, to be precise – and concentrate their fire on exposing the series of blunders and missteps that meant we didn’t lock down until March 23rd.
This trope is now so firmly embedded in the mainstream media, it’s going to take a lot to dislodge it. And it received more support yesterday from Sir Patrick Vallance who told the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee that SAGE urged the Cabinet to lock down a week earlier. He said he couldn’t remember whether it was at the meeting on March 16th or 18th, but whichever it was the advice was that “the remainder of the [lockdown] measures should be introduced as soon as possible”.
One small problem with that claim, Sir Patrick: it isn’t in the minutes of the SAGE meetings for March 16th and 18th – at least, not those released so far. As readers will recall, I parsed those minutes and found no evidence that any of the Government’s scientific advisors were arguing for a full lockdown before March 23rd, let alone the Chief Scientific Advisor. Here’s what I wrote on June 11th:
At no point did SAGE discuss anything resembling a full lockdown. Indeed, SAGE noted at a meeting on March 10th that banning public gatherings would have little effect since most viral transmission occurred in confined spaces, such as within households.
The last SAGE meeting before the lockdown was on March 18th where it was noted that the impact of the social distancing measures introduced thus far would not be known for two or three weeks. The attendees did not at that stage know whether those measures would be sufficient to prevent the NHS’s critical care capacity being overwhelmed and in the absence of more data could not offer any advice on whether additional measures – such as closing bars, restaurants and entertainment centres, and limiting use of indoor workplaces – would be necessary. The only further measure SAGE recommended at that meeting was closing schools.
“SAGE advises that the measures already announced should have a significant effect, provided compliance rates are good and in line with the assumptions. Additional measures will be needed if compliance rates are low.” – Minutes of the 17th SAGE meeting on COVID-19, March 18th 2020
Is this really what we’ve got to look forward to in the forthcoming public inquiry? A forensic investigation of why the Government didn’t lock down a week earlier, with all the protagonists in the drama frantically trying to dodge the blame for the delay, rather than questioning whether we should have locked down at all?
Wake me up when it’s over.
But there is one hidden gem in the FT’s investigation. It’s in the section focusing on March 23rd, when the decision to lockdown was “finally” taken.
Later that day, a plan to lockdown the UK simultaneously finally took shape, an approach backed by leaders in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
On that fateful Friday, Cobra was chaired by Michael Gove, cabinet office minister, not Johnson. Khan says: “I went to that meeting expecting it to be London only.” Gove proposed that the pubs should close on Saturday lunchtime, but Khan and Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, argued that this was a disastrous idea and that Friday night would see mayhem. “There would have been an end of days party,” says one participant.
Gove agreed — Cummings had also come to the same conclusion — and a message was hastily relayed to Johnson, preparing for the 5pm press conference, that Cobra had agreed that the closure of pubs and restaurants should take immediate effect on Friday night. Only Jesse Norman, a Treasury minister, raised any doubts, asking whether there had been any cost-benefit analysis of the economic and health impacts of lockdown or consideration of less onerous alternatives. Around the room there were blank looks: the decision had been taken.
So there you have it folks. Only one person at that critical meeting on March 23rd asked whether any cost-benefit analysis of the impact of the lockdown had been done – Jesse Norman MP. And his question was answered with blank looks. Clearly, no such analysis had been done. When the Government took the decision to lock down the country, it was flying blind.
I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised, but I have to confess to a moment of shock when I read that. My position has always been that if the state is going to curtail our liberty, it needs a very good reason for doing so. My understanding was that when the decision was taken to place the entire population under virtual house arrest, the Government had calculated that it would do more good than harm – that it would have a net public health benefit. I was always sceptical about the claim that it would, but at least the Government had an arguable case – or so I thought. Turns out, they didn’t. They hadn’t made any calculations. They literally had no idea whether such a draconian act would do more good than harm. From the sound of it, it didn’t even occur to anyone in the Cabinet to ask the question. They just went ahead and removed our liberty anyway.
Unforgivable.
Graham Brady MP: No Fan of Masks
A reader has passed on the reply of her local MP – Sir Graham Brady – after she wrote to him setting out her objections to face masks. It makes for interesting reading:
Thank you for your email.
A number of constituents have written to me with their concerns of this new regulation, with reasonable questions regarding how long we may have this in place and whether this will again be extended to office and work spaces. I am pleased at least that the Government has made it clear that this requirement will not extend to offices.
Other countries such as Germany, Italy and Spain have taken a similar step to try to halt the spread of COVID-19 as their economies begin to open up. The evidence in relation to the efficacy of face masks outside a clinical setting is however, finely balanced, one local specialist said to me that if there is a benefit, it is more likely because a mask makes it less likely that the wearer will touch his face than because of any effect in preventing airborne transmission. I do not think that a compelling case has been made for something of such uncertain value to be made compulsory, but this decision has been made under emergency powers and was not debated or voted on in the House of Commons.
It is important that this regulation, along with other emergency COVID-19 legislation, should only be temporary. My biggest concern is that the government has not set out the criteria on which the decision to introduce compulsion was made, and that we remain therefore in the dark as to when it will end.
These laws sit very uncomfortably with our traditions of liberty and I shall be working to ensure that they do not continue for any longer than is strictly necessary.
Best wishes.
Yours sincerely,
Sir Graham Brady
Sad News From Ireland
A reader called Clive Buckley has been in touch to tell me about the news from Ireland. It was good. Now it’s bad.
I’m fortunate enough to have a second home in Waterford County in the Republic of Ireland where I also have an ongoing project. Converting a cowshed in to an events venue. When lockdown started I was in the UK. Managed to return to Ireland end of May and was expecting strict protocols. However, to my delight I found a healthy disregard to the regs as only the Irish know how. No queues at supermarkets, no face nappies. No pubs open, but people meeting on beaches and in each others gardens for beer and company and using their common sense. At one of these BBQs I was informed by a member of the emergency services that the total number of cases in the whole of Waterford County was 166, no deaths and I had more chance of being killed by a cow. The Government were accelerating easing of restrictions. Hotels and gastro pubs, hair salons, beauty parlours would all reopen on July 10th with full reopening of all pubs on July 20th. Happy days. They even came up with a brilliant new slogan: “Take Responsibility, Use Your Common Sense.” Why hadn’t Mr Johnson thought that one up?
Went back to the UK and returned to Ireland yesterday to continue my project now three months behind schedule, looking forward to the re-opening on July 20th and that pint of proper Draught Guinness as only the Irish know how. Then the news arrived.
Listening to Matt Cooper on Today fm it was announced the Irish Government were putting the breaks on re-opening and were going back to plan A due to an increase in infections. A massive rise in infections amongst the young taking the R number above 1. The usual rhetoric about it being cruel and indiscriminate. Numbers? Fourteen new cases and two deaths. I haven’t crunched the numbers but that looks like the virus has all but disappeared. They then wheeled out Professor Gerard Killean from the School of Biological, Earth and Environmental science to justify the new stance. Again the usual rhetoric, but when asked why is it OK for gastro pubs, hair salons, etc. to be open he agreed with the question and stated that they should never have been opened. Nothing should have opened. Not until the infection rate hits zero like New Zealand. What is it with these scientists?
So to get that pint of Guinness I have to book a table in a Gastro Pub, order a substantial order of food to a minimum of €9 (who thought that one up?) and leave after 90 mins. Back to Draught in cans.
Sue Denim Weighs in on Academy of Medical Sciences Report
Longtime Lockdown Sceptics contributor “Sue Denim” – the pseudonymous ex-Google engineer who drew attention to the shortcomings of the code underpinning Imperial’s notorious Report No. 9 – has taken a look at the Academy of Medical Sciences report that predicts 119,000 people will die in hospitals this winter if we don’t wear face coverings, etc. I wrote about it for the Telegraph on Monday (and the Times, rather oddly, wrote about it yesterday). As you’ll recall, the 37 “experts” who compiled that report relied on Imperial’s shonky computer model to come up with the apocalyptic scenario.
I took a look and noticed the following.
Why is a “researcher in atmosphere, oceans and climate” credited as a source of “additional expertise”? Why is one of the contributors from the Met Office? The only parts of the report that address the weather speak in generalities anyone could have said, things like respiratory viruses spread better in winter, or air pollution may exacerbate Covid. You don’t need to be a weather expert to know that people catch such viruses in winter.
Especially odd because the report states transmission is “dominated by indoor pathways”. So why care so much about conditions outside?
Annex 1 is bizarrely out of place for what purports to be a medical document. It’s titled “People’s Perspective” but defines people to mean patients with long-term illnesses, and BAME minorities. What about the people who don’t have long term illness? What about white people? Their perspectives don’t matter and they aren’t “involved in the decisions made about our lives”, as they put it.
It has “not been subject to formal peer review” and they “accept no legal liability for decisions made based on this evidence”.
They say that their IFR estimate is “at the time of writing” estimated to be 1.1%. As you already noted, this is far too high when compared with actual measurements. Why does their number differ so much from current information?
They provide three citations for this value, citations 37-39. Each citation is problematic.
Citation 37 dates from June 11th and is a letter that comes from Professor Ferguson’s team. It argues that herd immunity isn’t reached because number of recorded deaths varies significantly by country, so that means only different lockdowns can explain the inter-country differences.
Citation 38 is a website showing the output of a continuously updated Cambridge model. It estimates IFR at 1.3%. It’s unclear why they conclude such a different IFR from others, but one issue might be that their only sero-survey is based exclusively on NHS blood transfusion donors. Are blood donors really statistically representative of the entire UK population? How have people been donating blood in recent weeks given the lockdowns? Given Ioannidis et al were criticised quite heavily for recruiting people via Facebook, on the grounds that this may have led to an unrepresentative sample, it would appear this methodology may have far worse biases.
Citation 39 is again a paper from Neil Ferguson’s team (credited as Verity et al), which beyond being another model based analysis, dates from March 30th and it thus hopelessly out of date.
There are over 300 citations in this 78 page report. “At the time of writing” isn’t defined anywhere, but it seems likely they’ve been writing it for so long that their conclusions were based on obsolete sources by the time of publication but they didn’t want to revisit and rewrite their conclusions.
At any rate, to support their core figure they give what look like multiple citations, but in reality they’re citing the same people saying the same things in different forums. It looks more robust than it really is.
They now accept that exposure to sunlight is good for stopping Covid and prolonged indoor contact spreads it – so why did they previously recommend everyone be locked indoors and why has this prior failure not reduced their self confidence?
Interestingly, they say 10% of all excess winter deaths are caused by fuel poverty, not influenza. Attributing all excess winter deaths to influenza is a pretty typical way to guesstimate how many people it kills.
“Removing the many practical and financial disincentives/barriers to infection control measures (e.g. loss of income/employment) would improve adherence and mitigate wider health effects” 😂
They mention remdesivir and dexamethasone as potential treatments, but not hydroxychloroquine. What a shock.
Although they observe that lockdown hurts mental health in the first section, by the time they’re discussing what to do this winter they’re only interested in protecting the mental health of NHS workers.
The survey in Annex 3 is interesting.
Oddly, it appears awareness of the NHS backlog is zero amongst the general public (section 3.3, “there did not appear to be an awareness of the backlog among participants in our public dialogue sessions”).
“Participants were aware that many regular health check-ups and appointments have been cancelled… however this combination of local experiences did not translate in the group into a picture of a national backlog”.
Perhaps a way to create more lockdown skepticism is by pointing out that the NHS is now hopelessly overloaded and with no obvious way to ever catch up except by people who need treatment dying (as it’s at max capacity in normal conditions). They estimate the backlog will reach 10 million by the end of the year.
Also, people who know more about the pandemic trust scientists less:
“There was a common perception that a single scientific truth exists around the pandemic and that scientists are the ones promoting and defending it, while politicians are more focussed on protecting the economy.
“But those who were more interested in the pandemic and knew more about it were also more likely to question the mortality and infection figures, wondering whether they are being massaged or underreported. Among this group, those who distrusted the government transferred this distrust to the scientists leading the response, whose position was seen to be politicised.”
The UK May Have Achieved Herd Immunity Already, Say Oxford Scientists
I was ridiculed for making this argument in the Telegraph last Saturday, so it’s nice to get some back up from a team of distinguished Oxford scientists. Sunetra Gupta, Professor of Epidemiology at Oxford and long-standing rival of Neil Ferguson, has a preprint out in which she and her team argue that “sufficient herd-immunity may already be in place to substantially mitigate a potential second wave”. How come? T cell mediated immunity.
The Herd Immunity Threshold… may be greatly reduced if a fraction of the population is unable to transmit the virus due to innate resistance or cross-protection from exposure to seasonal coronaviruses.
Worth reading in full (although it’s quite technical).
Care Home Death Mystery
A probate lawyer has emailed me to tell me about a care home death that strikes him as suspicious.
I recently dealt with an Estate where the person died in a nursing home in April and where the Death Certificate, which was issued two days after death, gives the sole cause of death as “COVID-19 (confirmed)”. The speed with which the Death Certificate was issued is, in itself, suspicious, as I know from other clients whose relatives died around that time that it was taking at least a couple of weeks to get the Death Certificate as Registrars had cancelled all face-to-face meetings.
However, apart from the fact that the deceased was nearly 94 and could therefore quite easily have died at any time just from old age, I have a friend who works in that nursing home and who tells me that the staff there have not been made aware of even a single case of COVID-19 amongst the residents, let alone any deaths.
This suggests to me that either the doctor deliberately falsified the Death Certificate (which surely must be a criminal offence), or that the management of the home has not given the staff information which is crucial for them to protect themselves and the other residents (which is likely to be a serious breach of Health & Safety legislation).
Sadly there is no way of knowing, because the funeral has taken place and even if the family were to challenge the cause of death, no doubt they would be told that the test samples (if there were any, which I doubt) have been lost or destroyed.
I no longer believe anything this Government tells me about COVID-19 and it never ceases to amaze me how many people do seem to trust them (over things such as face masks), when those same people would normally not believe anything the Government (especially Boris) tells them!
He makes a very good point and it reminded me of the late David Crowe’s analysis for Lockdown Sceptics of why Sweden has suffered so many deaths in care homes. Could it be that the real reason for the high death toll in care homes during the lockdown is not that COVID-19 ripped through them, killing elderly residents, but because, for a variety reasons, those residents were badly neglected? Managers were distracted by the need to obtain PPE and put social distancing protocols in place, staff went off sick, relatives weren’t able to visit to make sure their loved ones were okay, and as a result tens of thousands of people died. However, rather than admit it was due to negligence, the care home managers simply told the doctors that the residents in question had died of coronavirus and the doctors were happy to put that on the death certificate.
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:
- ‘The Government has lost control‘ – Good piece in Spiked by Ben Pile
- ‘With all these confusing mask messages, I’ve forgotten how to be human‘ – Strong piece by Judith Woods in the Telegraph
- ‘Wales BANS public transport users from talking on mobile phones, reading newspapers, eating food or running for the bus in new Covid rules‘ – I wonder how many train services in Wales will still be running in a year’s time?
- ‘The lost boys: the white working class is being left behind‘ – Excellent cover story by Christopher Snowdon in this week’s Spectator
- ‘Millionaires for Humanity‘ – No, it’s not the Onion or the Bablyon Bee, although it might as well be
- ‘The COVID-19 Panic Shows Us Why Science Needs Skeptics‘ – Good piece by Peter St. Onge for the Mises Institute blog
- ‘Back to School? “No Thanks” Say Millions of New Homeschooling Parents‘ – That’s the response of millions of Americans after the closure of schools. Will millions of British parents react the same way?
- ‘Why Sweden Succeeded in “Flattening the Curve” and New York Failed‘ – Good analysis for the Foundation for Economic Education blog. Tl;dr: New York did less to protect its elderly and vulnerable population. Lots of graph porn
- ‘If this is the best argument Matt Hancock’s got, the public inquiry will be a horrorshow‘ – Michael Deacon, the Telegraph‘s Parliamentary sketch writer, on a bad day at the office for Matt Hancock
- ‘The Royal Society of Medicine in conversation with Lord Sumption‘ – Lord Gumption interviewed by the Royal Society of Medicine. You tell em, m’lud
- ‘Pizza Express to close dozens of restaurants‘ – Too sad. A Young family favourite. Mrs Young worked as a waitress in Pizza Express aged 20 and I’m partial to the Quattro Formaggi with extra ham
- ‘Corona: The Simple Truth in Six Minutes‘ – Excellent video summing up all the myths about coronavirus and everything we now know to be true. Show it to your mask-wearing, Covid Nazi children
Theme Tune Suggestions By Readers
Only one today: “The Masquerade” by George Benson.
Small Businesses That Have Re-Opened
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 re-opened, 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 re-opened – or most of them, anyway – we’re now focusing on pubs, bars, clubs and restaurants, as well as other social venues. As of July 4th, many of them have re-opened too, but not all. 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 – particularly if they’re not insisting on face masks! Don’t worry if your entries don’t show up immediately – we need to approve them once you’ve entered the data.
Note to the Good Folks Below the Line
I enjoy reading all your comments and I’m glad I’ve created a “safe space” for lockdown sceptics to share their frustrations and keep each other’s spirits up. But please don’t copy and paste whole articles from papers that are behind paywalls in the comments. I work for some of those papers and if they don’t charge for premium content they won’t survive.
I know it becomes difficult to navigate the comment threads after 24 hours. One alternative to continuing to post below my updates is to move to our new Lockdown Sceptics Forums, which webmaster Ian Rons has just created. You’ll need to verify your email address before you can start posting, but they should be relatively easy to navigate. Apologies for not creating them sooner. Any problems, email Ian here. Or just email him to thank him for creating such a great website.
Shameless Begging Bit
Thanks as always to those of you who made a donation in the last 48 hours to pay for the upkeep of this site. It usually takes me several hours to do these updates, which doesn’t leave much time for other work. If you feel like donating, however small the amount, please click here. And if you want to flag up any stories or links I should include in future updates, email me here.
Gone Fishing
I’m off to Italy today, back next Friday. Hoping to do my bit for the Italian economy, which is facing a “disaster” due to the lack of tourism, according to the Telegraph. I’m heading to Venice with the family for three nights, followed by four nights in the Dolomites. I will try and get at least one update done from the mountains, but cannot promise it will be very long as I need a bit of a break. Hopefully, the new Lockdown Sceptics Forums will sustain you all until my return.
Spectator Column
In this week’s Spectator I’ve written about the misfortunate of having my name included in Jeffrey Epstein’s “little black book”.
The column begins:
Every time Jeffrey Epstein is in the news, I start getting calls from strangers wanting to scream abuse at me. This happened a lot when the billionaire financier was found dead in his jail cell last year after being arrested on sex trafficking charges, and it has started again following the arrest of his ex-girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell a couple of weeks ago. The reason is that my contact details were in Epstein’s “little black book”, and whenever his name pops up some kindly soul takes it upon themselves to post a picture of the relevant page, which shows my mobile phone number, on Twitter. I may have to change my number, so frequent have the calls become.
I then make a protestation of innocence that won’t convince the peado-hunters:
I can honestly say, hand on heart, I’ve no idea how I ended up in Epstein’s address book. I never met him and never set foot in any of his houses, let alone on his private island. Not that anyone believes me when I say this. Ever since the contents of the book were published on a gossip website in 2015, the people in it have been frantically protesting their innocence. Charles Finch, the film producer, told the New York Times he had no idea why his name was there, as did Vanessa von Bismarck, the founder of a PR company. Joan Juliet Buck, the former editor of French Vogue, said: “As far as I know, I never met Epstein. I never went to any of those famous parties at the biggest house in New York City.” To the conspiracy theorists piecing together the web-like connections between the dramatis personae, these denials might as well be admissions of guilt.
My theory is that, in reality, the address book belonged to Ghislaine Maxwell (and I’m 99.9% sure I’m right):
My best guess is that, in reality, the address book belonged to Ghislaine, whom I do know slightly. When I lived in New York between 1995 and 2000, I bumped into her occasionally at parties and the London address listed as mine dates back to that period. (I sometimes worry about a mob of enraged paedo-hunters turning up outside my old Shepherd’s Bush bedsit and demanding justice.) Rather unhelpfully, the Daily Mail recently ran a picture spread showing Ghislaine out and about “in society” and including a photo of me saying something funny to her in a nightclub, making her howl with laughter. Ever since, that picture has been posted dozens of times on Twitter, alongside the relevant page in the “little black book”, as if it were proof that I was a member of Epstein’s inner circle. It’s guilt by association, although as I point out to the screamers on the other end of the phone, Ghislaine hasn’t actually been found guilty of anything. Needless to say, the concept of “innocent until proven guilty” doesn’t cut much ice with them.
Worth reading in full.
Salem 2.0
I thought I’d give my readers something to chew on while I’m on a break: Salem 2.0: The Return of the Religious Police to the Public Square. This is a book about cancel culture that I’ve been working on for a while now, but which took a back seat during the coronavirus crisis. Hoping to get back to it as the crisis recess – although that’s happening more slowly than I hoped. It’s a work in progress, so don’t expect too much. The shape of it should be pretty clear, however.
Discussion
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[…] makers are beginning to think about a cost-benefit analysis. Long-time readers may recall the COBR meeting of March 23rd, when Michael Gove, who was chairing, surprised those present by announcing the Government was […]
We don’t have a tv set, nor radio or newspaper, so we only learned yesterday that France too will make facemasks compulsory…sigh…may I make a themesong suggestion? How about “Spirit got lost” by Mental as Anything? “Economy’s down and your mind isn’t sound, and your body’s an empty shell” seems to be appropriate…
In the beginning I used to wake up each morning with a few moments of the sense it was all a bad dream and then soon after consciously realise it wasn’t and this was my reality, our reality.
That no longer happens.
Now, at some time after I wake up, not immediately, some times hours later, I remember that we are pretending there is a real threat to everyone of us, unseen and unexperienced. It is a giant pretence I am obliged to take part in.
These two comparible psychological states are both involuntary.
Just remarking.
I am obliged to wear a paper mask at work for fear of being denounced. The footfall in the surgery has decreased but unlike some surgeries we are not hiding in the wardrobe . We still see quite a few face to face after telephone triage. I can deal with quite a few problems by video or telephone consults. I had three of the 15 I saw face to face yesterday sympathising with me because I had to wear a mask all day. I have to be careful in my reply. One of my patients volunteered that they wouldn’t be shopping from next Friday and had instead registered for click and collect.
Went to the local cafe for lunch. Request for my name and number . Quite easy to think up a name , I went for Piers Morgan this time . The young waiting staff pulling their masks up and down faster than a French tarts knickers
Briefly flicked through the death certificate book . Several indicated Covid19 from April. All from the same dementia home. None since then . Why are we still locked down ?
“Why are we still locked down ?”
Because like a Friday the 13th film, there’s always the threat that somebody will make a sequel.
Although Boris’s “Prepare for the worst, hope for the best” suggests, to me at least, that he’s considering other lines of thought on how the virus will progress.
Great question
They need modelling to show the effects of quarantining all visitors?
How New Zealand could keep eliminating coronavirus at its border for months to come, even as the global pandemic worsens
https://theconversation.com/how-new-zealand-could-keep-eliminating-coronavirus-at-its-border-for-months-to-come-even-as-the-global-pandemic-worsens-142368
Each week, about 12 people have arrived carrying the virus. Provided people are well separated at quarantine facilities and have regular symptom checks, our modelling suggests the risk of an infectious person being released into the community is around 0.1% — which means for every 1000 infected people who arrive at the border, one person will be released from quarantine while still infectious.
And now opening up borders could be dependant on giving up some freedoms:
The dilemma New Zealand now faces is whether to continue to enjoy Level 1 freedoms within closed borders or to open borders with more restrictions on what we can do. We could, for instance, allow quarantine-free travel from certain countries. But this might require us to implement Level 2 restrictions (including limits on the size of gatherings) to reduce the risk of superspreading events.
Frank Furedi in The Sun says:
It’s no use letting fear ruin the rest of our lives
and indeed this, I think, is where we’re at. There was an article by Joel-somebody in the Guardian the other day that was basically saying “Please wear a small piece of cloth on your face so we can stop get back to normal as soon as possible”, but that’s not how it works. The lockdown and the continual hyping of the disease is producing a self-reinforcing, existential threat. Those who opposed the lockdown and are opposing mask wearing are aware of this. Those who embrace lockdown culture are not.
I think that hits the nail firmly on the head! If only those who embrace lockdown could somehow be persuaded to see things that way, we’d be back to normal in no time.
“ that’s not how it works.”
Exactly. Simply avoiding sources of anxiety *never* cures the basic problem. It’s that simple.
But, of course – keep people primed with the lingering anxiety (i.e willing to wear face masks), and you have a powerful psychological weapon.
Morning All!
I found this research paper. May well have been posted before so apologies if so. I will now pop it up on the Forum (once I’ve worked out how I get in!). It’s a randomised trial of cloth masks v medical masks in Healthcare settings, upshot is they cause more harm than good. No surprise there.
My experience in Scotland over last couple of days is everyone is wearing one in shops. You just have to be brave. No one questioned me yesterday when I walked in without one.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4420971/
I think the Forums are not quite letting folk in as yet? Not certain where they are up to. They are a new addition.
Im in and several others too. You should just be able to log in using your password and username for this site. It’s pretty quiet in there at the moment (except for a load of spam overnight), but if Toby’s on holiday for a while and not updating, we probably need to get used to the fora because the main page is going to become completely unusable any second now.
Felt better after going to my favourite pub last night, first visit since January. Antisocial distancing, hand gel, sign in and one way system encouraged but not enforced. Less tables inside but no plastic screens or tape. Staff were friendly and seemed very happy to be serving again- none wore visors. Everyone was behaving normally, such a refreshingly relaxed atmosphere. Not quite normal, but close enough and I’ll coming back regularly to get away from it all.
Can anyone suggest how one can avoid being forced to use hand sanitizers on entering a shop? There aren’t many decent delis in gwlag Wales but I went into the only one good one near me yesterday, ignored the notice to slather chemicals all over myself and got snapped at by the owner. I told her sweetly but firmly that “I’m allergic” and marched in, only to be glared at the whole time. I usually don’t have to give any explanations but it’s a tiny shop and I was the only customer at the time so my rebelliousness stood out. Does a shopkeeper have a right to refuse service to someone not willing to strew the goo? I ask partly because I would like to let my equally sceptical friends and neighbours know.
Ask to see the risk assessment performed before dousing with chemicals. Bet there are big warning labels all over the bottle
Your response is “haven’t you heard? Hand sanitizer causes cancer. It said so on the BBC last night. More than 50 applications and you’re a goner.”
Fight fear with fear.
(And actually, I bet if you looked up all the petrochemical derivatives in hand sanitizer, you’d probably find most are known carcinogens and excessive use will definitely increase your risk.)
Re. The wearing of masks which I cannot believe everyone really wants to do, obviously nobody on here! I don’t know why the government doesn’t just have a time that they are exempt, maybe until 12 each day to let the people that know it’s pointless to shop without this farce. Then everyone that believes the government bullsh#t can wonder around masked up all afternoon in “safety”.
Would be better in my view than destroying millions of people’s mental health. Also give retail a hope of improving.
Would be better if the government stopped acting like halfwits, but too far down the road for that to happen.
It would certainly be less impractial than what we have now. Peter Hitchens suggested something similar for trains.
The trouble is, the masks are not for health reasons, nor are they to reassure the fearful (they will have the opposite effect). They are to perpetuate the atmosphere of fear and cover up the overreaction. If we get back to normal and the sky doesn’t fall in, people will ask what it was all for. The government cannot afford to stop now. They are in too deep.
I’ve been thinking along the same lines. If everything got back to normal and the number of people dying from the virus continued to fall it wouldn’t look good for those people who backed the lockdown. Better to make mask wearing compulsory and then if things go well it can be said it is all down to the mask wearing! I’m sure subconsciously that’s why they are so keen to back the policy.
But the twist with masks is that you don’t wear them for your own safety, meaning that the freedom of the individual is not even an argument. They’ve got that covered. The person who doesn’t wear a mask is just selfish, if not a murderer of grannies.
Simply wearing two masks ought to stop that idea of its to save others not yourself. I mean reality and logic are not a factor any longer. If a mask doesnt stop inbound virus simply turn it inside out, for outboundwear a second the right way round. The same applies to cotton sog masks and winter snoods equally. The law of basics.
Simply if there was an unmasking happy hour it’s popularity would demonstrate masks are not popular.
Secondly, policing the happy stsrt and end of hour would be imoossible with social shaming incidents getting more confused.
Both are reasons for the draconian blanket.
If you read news reports about a surge of infections in this town, or a spike at a factory in that town, or R having drifted over 1, it is very quickly apparent that the ‘second wave’ is now taken to be a fact. You and I may query whether it is an artefact of increased testing or false positives, and we may try to argue that the seriousness of ‘cases’ is reducing over time etc. but no one will be listening.
You could try to engage your friends and family in a discussion, but you will come across as a tinfoil hat-wearing conspiracy theorist. A scientifically-literate friend of mine who nevertheless believes that Covid is incredibly dangerous and is very pro-mask, said she was ‘worried’ about me. It’s a very strange, frustrating position we’re in.
I saw a film about a dystopian future yesterday called ‘The White King’, and it really did resonate with me. It occurs to me that if the film was in cinemas now, most of the audience would claim to understand it, but would happily be wearing a badge of compliance (a mask) as they watched it…
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-53444700
I’d love to go back to my local chippie or pizza takeaway and pay cash…but not if they enforce mask-wearing on the premises.
Maybe we could agree a quid pro quo:- we will come and spend cash in your shop if we can do it without wearing a mask.
Not yet had opportunity to use this idea as i am getting about without a mask happliy at present, but up my sleeve is to call from a door way for goods to be briught to me. Cash in my pocket ready to pay. If tgey wont let me in I am prepared to make a happy fuss to show the shop their absurdity. But at present only Aldi have acted usd a bouncer in an intimidating fashion towards me – no future custom ever will occur as a result. That is Aldi. The odd shop out in my experience.
We do the bulk of our weekly shop at Aldi, plus I call in regularly for booze and bits. Checkout guy told me the other day, that staff will have to wear muzzles on the shop floor, but not at tills or in warehouse.
If the “severe distress” defence doesn’t work, they will lose our custom. But, I fear there are too many sheep for it to make a difference.
Good luck to you. I rated Aldi prior to this. They employed a retired thug to stand in the way of each customer and vet them on entry. Germany has a history of that, not in Britain. Happily Lidl and many many other places don’t care in the least what I do. Aldi lost a customer.
You see loads of folk doing just what we do – get all you can at Aldi, then nip round to Asda for the other bits. Aldi has massively reduced our shopping bill, but they will lose us if they do this. Fortunately, Lidl is just a few mins away, and it’s on the way to Home Bargains, who have been very good so far. Got my best voting feet on.
I’ve done the phone call ahead thing a few times now and it’s worked every time, we’ll see if that chances come next weekend 😐
Otherwise I’m willing to go and walk away once challenged. In the event I can’t help it (getting an eye test) I’m gonna make multiple appointments and take the piss until someone allows me to take mask off for a hassle free appointment. (I will mutter so I am inaudible so they will have to make me take it off).
YORKSHIRE HEALTH NEWS
Been aht an abaht on mi travels today.
1. Talking to a lady – she tells me that her granddaughter works at the LGI [Leeds General Infirmary] and they have no-one in the Covid ward.
2. Talking to a nurse from the Huddersfield Royal Infirmary ICU ward – not had a single Covid-19 patient for 4 weeks.
Notes.
Huddersfield is in Kirklees, the area with the second highest spike in positive test results. So clearly those that are testing positive aren’t poorly enough to need hospital treatment.
So what are all those NHS bods on the dedicated Covid wards doing?
Why aren’t we being told this by the govmnt or the MSM?
And what is this all about? What is the big aim?
Just reportin’ what i’s been told.
I hear an ambulance siren at least once a day around here. In pre-covid times it was maybe once a week. (I too am in yorkshire).
Considering what we all know is true about lack of covid cases and empty hospitals, I think what the ‘Surrey doctor’ said about empty am ambulances driving around with sirens on is probably true.
Short report from Heathrow Terminal 5. I am not wearing a mask but I have a disability Horizons badge and lanyard saying Mask Exempt. So far no trouble at all. Everyone has been friendly and courteous and nobody has questioned my right not to wear a mask. I have dropped my baggage and gone through security. Let’s see what it’s like boarding the plane. Off to Iceland for some riding, by the way.
I’m now on the plane and still maskless. The attendant at the entrance handed me a mask and asked me politely to put it on and I showed him the badge and said I was exempt and was waved through. I seem to be the only person without a mask, and that was true in the terminal too.
“However, apart from the fact that the deceased was nearly 94 and could therefore quite easily have died at any time just from old age,”
Toby, Toby . . . no one dies of “just old age.” This is not a cause of death. This is not allowed as a cause of death on the American Blue Form. No matter how old a person is when she dies, there is a physiological cause and it is not “old age”: heart failure, respiratory failure—something. Since you are now a quasi-medical writer, it is important for you to understand WHY allwowing “old age” as a cause of death is a very bad idea, rife with potential for abuse of the elderly, namely, offing them for a number of reasons, such as “need to get mitts on the money now,” rejecting an autopsy, and an obliging coroner writes “old age.”
Do you see what I mean? I hope it is obvious.
Allowing people who die of heart attack, cancer etc to be listed as died of the mystery Covid allows potential for abuse as well
In Britain it is allowed:
‘Old age’ should only be given as the sole cause of death in very limited circumstances. These are where there’s no reason that the death should be reported to the coroner and the certifying doctor:
https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/info/50056/birmingham_and_solihull_coroner_service/907/advice_for_doctors_issuing_death_certificates/2
If ‘natural causes’ is a cause of death, then ‘old age’ is too.
I hope that Toby while on holiday will have time to take stock about where we are and where we are going…and what needs to be done.
My political memory stretches back (just about) to the JFK asssassination and my judgement is that this is the worst national crisis ever in my time – not just for this country but for the wider “natural alliance” of democratic states on the planet.
The response of Johnson and the Conservatives has been so woeful as to make me think the times call for a more coherent, more populist and more rational party. Can anyone still vote Conservative with confidence about what they’re getting? I doubt it.
I’ve never been enthusiastic about any of the parties I have voted for and it has always been on the basis of choosing the least bad, out of a sense of duty
Peter Hitchens has for years advocated not voting, for small-c conservatives, in order to destroy the Conservative party and allow the emergence of a new force that represents conservative views
I used to think he was wrong, but this government has changed my mind
Labour would have been worse, but the PM is not fit for office and at least a properly conservative party would have provided better opposition, which has been sorely lacking
A new party is needed
Probably easier to start and sustain a single issue party like UKIP. But even starting that must have been a struggle. Would be interesting to know the history.
A series of defections by existing MPs would help, but there’s not been much sign of life from them recently.
Peter Hitchens was too early with this, but probably spoke at the right time to plant the idea in people’s heads. This past few months have hopefully seen the seed germinate. We could also do with replacing the Labour Party with something that speaks for the people of this country, instead of every other country, too.
Good point about Labour – if I were a bit more that way inclined I’d be pretty disgusted with them too – I might lean more towards the SDP.
Voters turned their back on Labour, because they were going to wreck the country, and their ‘free everything’ policies were laughable.
Look what happened…
Popped into my local ASDA for a few bits today. Mask wearers still a small minority but some notable things:
When I walked in the wrong direction down one of the ‘one way’ aisles, a masked woman literally froze in fear as I walked towards her! Sad and amusing in equal measure.
Unfortunately, I saw a mother with a masked child, the boy can’t have been older than 7 or 8, very sad, and this really annoyed both me and my wife.
Things we do know:
1. No country in the Far East ever imposed a total national lockdown. Such lockdowns seem to have begun in Europe at the behest of Macron and WHO.
2. The UK government was initially anti-lockdown.
3. Belgium, the country with the worst Covid 19 death rate in the world had an early lockdown.
4. Other countries in the top ten death rate league with lockdown include the UK, France, Italy and Spain.
Anyone wish to continue with things we can be sure of?
Singapore managed to get nosocomial infection in hospitals down to statistical zero for staff by being rabid on soap and water handwashing and ignoring facemasks in hospitals.
Basically they now treat it as a contact transfered infection not aerosol.
…and masks, with the apparently inevitable associated fingering, can only increase contact – with everything the muzzled person touches.
Sweden didn’t have a lockdown, just a few fairly light touch measures and mainly voluntary distancing, and their mortality is not excessive, plus they seem to now be out of the woods. They seem to me to be the clearest argument that what was done and is being done here is wrong and not necessary.
You only need look at the bucketloads of slime poured over Sweden and the endless propaganda that they somehow “called it wrong” to understand that they got something right.
The first week of Covid, 75% of the 30 odd deaths were Somali BAME.
Th ethnic status was very carefully NOT collected.after that.
Of course if 75% of Swedens deaths are down to insufficient Vit D and hygeine in people who cover up in the sun, it really knocks the Sweden got it wrong propaganda.
This is an excellent summary of the whole debacle
When you have ‘professors’ coming out NOW saying that severe lockdowns should be reimposed to ‘crush the curve’, we can confirm beyond all doubt that this isn’t about combating a virus pandemic. Watch and weep, bit lengthy but worth it. Covers the excess death issue too…..figures being fiddled.
https://www.youtube.com/wat…
I don’t actually want a public enquiry any time soon- not while the group think mania is still in overdrive. I want it when the dust has settled, when data Is indisputable of actual excess deaths OF CoVid as opposed to those caused by the LD such that it’s clear what an absolute overreaction and cruel farce this whole LD charade has been and the full impact of the LD’s negative consequences- economic, social and medical are known . Once the hysteria has dissipated, the cold hard facts will be unavoidable. That’s my hope anyway and it’s clear that rational analysis at this point in time just isn’t possible anyway. As a lawyer what I would like NOW is for judicial review to be granted leave – as I have serious doubts that the ad hoc regulations have been applied properly or with due proportionality. I would urge everyone contributing comments To this site to donate tov S Dolan’s appeal. He’s engaged serious lawyers.
Modern public inquiries are like the trials that used to take place in England in the 18th century of generals who failed to win battles. They weren’t real trials. And the modern inquiry is anything but a real inquiry. The purpose of a modern inquiry, similar to the trials of the 18th century, is to assign guilt to a predetermined person or organisation
Good point about waiting until the dust settles and the hysteria is over
The problem is will the hysteria ever be over ?
Still supporting Dolan here.
The whitewash tanker trucks are already on readiness though.
It’s getting late, and the Rioja is taking its toll – Annie, can you tturn this into something dear worthwhile please:
BORIS’S “BABY STEPS” – TO PERDITION
March 2020
You must not leave your homes for three weeks, while we ensure the NHS can cope with the looming crisis
It’s your civic duty, as a responsible citizen
April 2020
You must continue to stay at home, not visit friends or family, not go to school
It’s your civic duty, as a responsible citizen
July 2020
You must wear a mask when in a public place
It’s your civic duty, as a responsible citizen
October 2021
“Masks are compulsory in all places until March – it’s the flu season”
It’s your civic duty, as a responsible citizen
March 2022
“I know the Covid vaccine hasn’t been fully tested, but the Science says it’s safe – of course, it’s only effective if everybody takes it.“
It’s your civic duty, as a responsible citizen
March 2023
“Congratulations, dear, on the birth of your 2nd child – now here’s your infertility pill, to save the planet from overcrowding.”
It’s your civic duty, as a responsible citizen
March 2024
“Sorry dear, your Mum is 85,… Read more »
@BTLnewbie
I listened back to podcasts from early/mid March and you are right at that point it was going to be a few weeks of lockup to allow The NHS to cope with the peak.
Now we are slowly loosing our freedoms, small steps, but people are say well you got to do it to protect everyone.
The steps will get larger.
We need to wake people, before it is too late.
3 weeks to flatten the curve. Never lose sight of that.
I don’t think I could put it any better!
F**k how scary is that!!!
A possible song-title suggestion which would include both visage and and arse-covering scenarios:
Sit on my face (and tell me that you love me) by M. Python
Karl Denniger has maintained and laid out reasons for the primary transfer vector being contact contamination
It explains why Covid is still spreading in summer in the US unlike all other corona viruses.
https://market-ticker.org/cgi-mt/akcs-www?post=239747
Why do you believe the common cold isn’t spread by contact – we’re always told in UK that the virus can survive well on cold hard surfaces like white goods, worktops, so clean them? People get summer colds, if less frequently and with less unpleasant symptoms.
Relaying what the evidence says, not my belief.
Primary vector for common cold is aerosol.
The virus can survive on surfaces, be transferred by contact etc, that is a secondary transfer vector.
The verification for thise assumptions is that aerosol vectored coronavirus/ flu / rhinovirus decline in summer with the increase in humidity i.e. they are inversely proportional to humidity.
If the common cold was not primarily aerosol transferred it would not decline with an increase in humidity.
Again look at the posted link, it has chapter and verse.
https://market-ticker.org/cgi-mt/akcs-www?post=239747
The politicians are being coerced into a collective madness, to enforce masks outdoors is totally utterly crazy. Since decent medical care began patients with respiratory illness were wheeled outdoors, windows opened for fresh air.
Where is this?
There is a difference between something being mandated and something being enforced.
It won’t be practical to enforce a mask wearing mandate outdoors in many settings.
They’ve done so in Spain.
They’ve gone completely mad there.
I know it’s mandated there, but as I say, there will be settings where it will be difficult if not impossible to enforce.
I think this thing about enforcement is a red herring. Just the prospect of constant conflict when leaving your house without your face nappy will have sufficient chilling effect to stop people from wanting to do the things they used to.
This is how it working in Scotland. The nudge unit asked for social shaming yo get compliance, the politicians and media programmdd the public and there you are. You now live with an atmosphere of unpleasantness. All the nore motivation to reject everrything. Carry on as normal.
Fresh, clean air was the only effective cure for TB prior to modern drug treatments.
This is funny if it’s true. Another nail in the coffin for epidemiological modelling?
“The Minnesota covid model projected that every single hospital bed in the entire state would be filled with covid patients in the midst of a dire situation this week. Thankfully, the $1.5 million peer-reviewed model was well off the mark.”
According to Derren Brown, the belief that masks and lockdowns work is due to superstition. He didn’t say this specifically but watch this episode to see what I mean:
https://www.channel4.com/programmes/derren-brown-trick-or-treat/on-demand/44642-006
If you’re unable to watch it you can find a synopsis here at the bottom of the link “Programme Six Series Finale”:
https://www.derrenbrown.org.uk/tv_series_trick_or_treat_2.php
All of the participants in the series meet to celebrate the end of the series, but DB explains they are to participate in a “sociological experiment designed to unlock the irrational mindset behind superstitious thinking”. They are told they have to earn 100 points within 30 minutes to open the door and win the named bundles of 500 appear outside the door. The room contains a variety of objects. The participants start moving things around and a display shows their points increasing. DB explains that the experiment is based on B F Skinner’s experiments into behaviour in the 1960s. He shows footage of Skinner’s experiment with pigeons in which they are rewarded with food during the course of the experiment. The pigeons believed that the food was delivered in response to them repeating certain actions when the food was, in fact, delivered at random. This led to… Read more »
Face nappies certainly are superstition.Magic, actually. Wear one and you won’t get Covid,
No reason, it just is.
We are like adults at a kiddies’ party, who know that the conjurer didn’t really and actually take a large egg out of Maisie’s ear, or produce a rabbit from a hat. But if we say so, the kiddies, particularly Little Bojo and Baby Matt, scream with rage and throw their toys at us.
Thought – can we somehow replace the mask wearing superstition with another one? we have a powerful tool at hand – social media. We simply play the same game back at them.
It’s because people believe in cause and effect. In order to get a result there has to be an action.
Hence why lockdowns apparently saved lives based on modelling but Sweden couldn’t have saved lives because they didn’t take the same action.
Action saves lives and non-action causes death even if the end result is the same.
Many of us have probably seen the Social Media posts of someone saying they’re not buying into the hysteria of COVID, social distancing or mask wearing and then they died. This is then used as an example of what could happen to you if you don’t take action.
Yet many more people have died who have supposedly taken action. The clear lesson here should be that more people died who were cautious than those that weren’t. But that’s not how people think.
The ‘superstition’ angle is correct. Another damming piece from Ivor et al….
https://www.youtube.com/wat…
Thing is, is everyone, everywhere said enough is enough, no masks, it would end. The gullible will be the downfall of the free world
Johnson’s reckoning approaches. Mask Friday will be his nemesis. Either there will be mass resistance or there will be a huge decline in the High Street footfall. Either way his credibility will be shot.
He never had much credibility with me to begin with !
I would agree though, he has been haemorrhaging support of late.
Sadly, I think the majority of the population quite likes the idea of the mask: a brand new fashion accessory; the sense of being all in it together; the tantalising prospect of finding a non-conformer to torment.
Not my experience. I’d say the Mask community is a mere 10-20% of shoppers. In smaller shops hardly anyone seems to be wearing a mask.
I agree. 10% in larger shops in ne wales. Much fewer outside. I find I’m becoming quite the anthropologist these days.
I’ll be on the side of the resistance, going into as many shops as I can without a mask.
That’s the spirit!
Remember Badger, Rat, Mole and Toad. We need to go whack ’em and whack ’em and whack ’em.
Here’s a thought. It’s interesting how, in countries that are referred to as “regimes”, we call those who speak out against the accepted orthodoxies as “dissidents.” In our own country, and other supposed liberal democracies, such individuals are ridiculed as gullible conspiracy theorists and/or contrarians. Or swivel-eyed nutcases.
The calumny is getting progressively worse, everywhere. In a supposedly satirical piece, Private Eye spitefully referred to “…this stupid virus that’s actually no more dangerous than the flu, according to mate’s cousin on Facebook.” If I hadn’t already cancelled my subscription due to its disgraceful, unquestioning stance on lockdown, this would have been the final straw.
It’s surprising how many respectable people and institutions have bought the COVID story.
The best explanation I can think of is that most people understand the world through stories and narratives and don’t really get numbers, especially large numbers.
If you make sense of the world through stories, you are more likely to believe that COVID is terrifying,
If you are able to make sense of the world through numbers you are more likely to be sceptical.,
And then there are self-serving scientists and politicians who are a bit sociopathic who just care about themselves and what is best for them.
When you’ve got Yorkshire Tea coming out in support of the mad Marxist-racist anti-British BLM movement nothing else can surprise.
I’m boycotting it !
So am I. A lot of people must be because last time I looked it was still on sale with a 40% reduction on the normal price. I’ll never buy it again.
Ever.
Ever ever ever.
Saw that as well. I have a pack that I’m finishing but after that never again.
Oh what have they done?
In essence they said that anyone who didn’t support BLM was a racist and shouldn’t buy their tea. Effing outrageous!!
Common Purpose is one all pervasive network that connects disparate elements of what they call (I refuse to) civil society. Certain personality characteristics similar to the ones you mention and advantageous professional positions are selected to be trained by the charity. The NHS has many cp graduates. How and if that is something that has been put to work during these past few months I do not know. It’s one possible way the lead has been followed.
Yes, language is important. Government and media will often choose words to support a particular narrative. It’s sometimes called propaganda.
Labels such as “conspiracy theorist” are often used as slurs.
If a journalist in the pay or influence of government can successfully attach this label to someone recognised as an opponent of the “official” narrative then people will avoid that individual and what they are saying.
I’ll give you an example. Professor Piers Robinson is a British academic specialising in propaganda. He (and others) consider the White Helmets in Syria to be a jihadi propaganda construct. This may well be true, but Syria is viewed by the British government as an enemy state.
The Times fairly regularly publishes pieces smearing Robinson in order to discredit him. Discredited, many people will then avoid reading what he has to say and will not then be receptive to the narrative which goes against the government and it’s position.
We recently have seen the MSM publishing stories claiming that Russia wants to steal “our” vaccine. It is likely that this is simply part of a campaign to vilify Russia, which some senior officers the security services still regard as Britain’s main enemy. Even though… Read more »
Same with vaccines. Reasoned discussion of the pros and cons of vaccination has effectively been outlawed.
In the latter decades of the Soviet Union the official line was that dissidents were mentally ill since they didn’t appreciate the objective superiority of the Soviet system (meaning they must be psychologically aberrant). We aren’t so far off that approach in the UK now.
Not just in the UK. At the beginning of the ‘lockdown’ the German ‘Land’ of Sachsen actually emptied 22 beds in mental hospitals in order to free up space for individuals who refused to comply with the ‘lockdown’. Following negative publicity the plan was reluctantly abandoned, with the Premier of Sachsen implying that they were simply offering accommodation, not treatment!
Bei Widerstand in die Psychiatrie?
https://www.focus.de/politik/deutschland/der-maechtige-paragraf-28-demos-aufgeloest-polizei-vor-dem-haus-in-der-corona-krise-schmelzen-grundrechte_id_11906814.html
Teutonic thoroughness at its best!
I believe the professors, after doing this for months have become dangerously obsessed and need some counselling, its not normal behaviour for anyone. The facts are that working age people are not dying and yet they cannot process that fact.
I think there is something in that. You get too close to something for too long, you work on it night and day, you very quickly can’t let go/see the wood for the trees. Needs a fresh look with other scientific input (Gupta, Heneghan, Spiegelhalter etc).
They need to do it asap, they are starting to look pretty manic, as is Hancock, shuffle needed there too.
Won’t happen. Too sensible
One thing I noticed watching some of the Lords committee earlier – Patrick Vallance seems to have a cold sore on his upper right lip. Sign of stress? I also think there is some evidence of a widening gulf between Vallance and Whitty. Hancock is a berk, and ‘nervy’ – the inquiry into PHE stats might send him over the edge!
Just a cold sore, oh well its a start. Mr Whippy always looks a bit odd, or mad
Idk, Vallance and Whitty both seem pretty committed to the “we-re all going to die” narrative as far as I can see. Social distancing forever, second wave almost guaranteed, blah blah blah.
My threshold reached I couldn’t stomach the lords session. But that is a valued comment TT. Thanks. 40mil Whitty and glaxo door revolver have plenty of reason to keep ‘their science’ on their narrative.
Both Whitty and Vallance have substantial financial links to Bill Gates – also I believe Whitty has a job lined up at the WHO imminently..
I believe whitty joined who back in may, it was known he was getting a position at who. I havent heard confirmation that he has – its not something I wasted time to confirm.
What are they working on all these hours? Epidemiology as practised seems a doddle, something that could be picked up by any averagely intelligent person. It seems to be a combination of some simple maths, a bit of cod behavioural science, a dash of medicine and a lot of unsupported speculation.
Haven’t they both crossed the line into politics and strategy, I woukd guess tgat soaks up some time being briefed on the direction to set. Not science.
Picked up – like a disease. They ought to be wearing brain masks.
The professors are seeing exactly what the government wants them to see. That’s how their thick crusty tasty bread gets ever so well buttered.
Anybody want a nice badge? They measure 30mm in diameter, cost £4.00 each with free postage and packaging and get cheaper the more you buy.
email me if you would like one. [email protected]