Love in the Time of Covid
Well, that set the cat among the pigeons. Yesterday, I launched a dating section in the Forums called “Love in a Covid Climate” and within hours it had been invaded by trolls posting satirical comments. Some of them were quite funny, although they took it for granted that lockdown sceptics are all Brexit-backing Tories. (Evidently haven’t read “The Left-Wing Case Against Lockdown“.) The National – the SNP-supporting online newspaper that never misses a chance to have a pop at me – published a selection of them within hours of the forum going live. Here are a couple of my favourites.
After a demoralising divorce I was, like many, reinvigorated by the Brexit movement only to be let down by Boris in this mask debacle. Looking for Albion-loving lady 35-50 who would be open to dressing up as Winston Churchill and spanking me with a cricket bat while I sing ‘Land of Hope and Glory’. No snowflakes need apply.
Hi my name is Miles.
I live in North London and I’m looking for a patriotic lady for lasting friendship and to settle down with.
I am financially stable with my own house, car and am mortgage free.
I am 47 years old and my interests are politics, Brexit, cars, holidays in the English countryside. My musical and film tastes are very wide so there should be something we have in common.
I am totally against all the masks/muzzle nonsense and feel that it is unnecessary scaremongering.
I also like watching animals make love (mainly dogs, foxes and wolves) but other animals as well. If that is not a thing you can get into it is a deal breaker I’m afraid.
There were plenty more in that vein – and wags on Twitter came up with some amusing alternative names for the site, including “Two Meeters”, “Spreadr” and “Hydroxychloroquindr”.
After I was contacted by the Evening Standard asking me to comment on the “adverse reaction online”, I had a chat with the Forum moderators. Should we abandon the whole idea? Would it be too much work to constantly weed out the pranksters, particularly if “Love in a Covid Climate” attracts a bit of publicity? They heroically concluded it would not and set to work tidying it up. I can’t promise that no hoaxers will get through from now on, but we should be able to spot them fairly quickly.
Since we cleaned it up “Love in a Covid Climate” appears to have taken off, with plenty of legitimate users now posting messages. And I’m happy to weather the Twitter storm if readers think it’s a useful service. The most common barbs revolve around the fact that lockdown sceptics are more likely to have the virus than other people, making them extremely unappealing as potential romantic partners. I even got an email from a reporter at the Guardian asking me to respond to the charge that the forum could spread coronavirus and harm the individuals involved. In fact, almost no one has the virus any more, including those who refuse to wear face nappies. (0.05% of the population, according the latest ONS infection survey and many of them may be false positives.) If the idea of going out on a date with a sceptic scares the living daylights out of you because you’re incapable of assessing risk, fine, don’t use the service. Indeed, the rationale for setting it up is so sceptical singles can avoid inadvertently going out with a bedwetter. As I said in my reply to the Guardian reporter:
Most people wildly exaggerate the risk posed by the virus. For instance, a poll published a couple of weeks ago found that British women think that 10% of the UK population has already died of COVID-19. That’s about 6.7 million people. In fact, the real figure is less than 1% of that – about 45,000. According to John Ioannidis, the Stanford Professor of Medicine, you’re more likely to die in a road traffic accident if you’re under-65. I’ve created “Love in a Covid Climate” for people who are properly informed about the risk, realise how small it is and want to meet other scientifically literate people who haven’t succumbed to what Bernard Henri-Levy calls “psychotic delirium”.
No doubt the forum will evolve, as most things do on this site. For the time being, the experiment continues.
Cases Increasing, Hospitalisations Falling
Yesterday, 1,062 people tested positive for COVID-19, up from 758 cases in the previous 24 hours. Anything to worry about? No. According to yesterday’s Sunday Times, the number of people in hospital with Covid-19 has fallen by 94% since the peak of the pandemic. Hospital staff are treating about 1,067 coronavirus patients a day in England, compared with about 17,000 a day in the middle of April, says NHS England. The Times has more.
Ron Daniels, an intensive care consultant in Birmingham, one of the worst-hit areas, told the Sunday Times there had been a big fall in admissions.
Last Thursday, across three hospitals that serve more than 50 per cent of Birmingham’s population, there were three critically ill COVID-19 patients.
“Compare that to where we were a couple of months ago, when we had almost 200 patients ventilated at any one given time, and this is a huge downturn,” Dr Daniels said.
He said the figures showed there was cause to be optimistic, even with the recent rise in cases in some areas such as Aberdeen and Preston.
He added that he didn’t expect an increase in hospital admissions. “I think that’s highly unlikely, because the pubs have been open for over a month [and] people have been socially interacting heavily during that time and the natural history of this disease is that if you contract the virus and you’re going to end up in hospital, you’re pretty much in hospital within 15 days,” he said.
Gobal Lockdowns Will Plunge 100 Million into Extreme Poverty
Today sees the publication of a disturbing report by the Associated Press’s Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. It purports to be an investigation into the devastating impact of “the virus” on the developing world, but, of course, what it’s really talking about is “the lockdowns”. Here’s an extract:
With the virus and its restrictions, up to 100 million more people globally could fall into the bitter existence of living on just $1.90 a day, according to the World Bank. That’s “well below any reasonable conception of a life with dignity,” the United Nations special rapporteur on extreme poverty wrote this year. And it comes on top of the 736 million people already there, half of them in just five countries: Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Congo and Bangladesh.
India is struggling with one of the world’s largest virus caseloads and the effects of a lockdown so abrupt and punishing that Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked the poor to forgive him. Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, has surpassed India with the most people in extreme poverty — roughly half its citizens. And Congo remains one of the world’s most crisis-ridden countries, with outbreaks of Ebola and measles smoldering.
Even China, Indonesia and South Africa are expected to have more than 1 million people each fall into extreme poverty, the World Bank says.
“It’s a huge, huge setback for the entire world,” Gayle Smith, president of the ONE Campaign to end extreme poverty, told The Associated Press. Smith, a former administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development, called the global response to the crisis “stunningly meager.”
Most of the millions newly at risk are in sub-Saharan Africa, a region that against countless odds had some of the world’s fastest growing economies in recent years.
It’s a timely reminder that the the main cost of the lockdowns favoured by liberal policy-makers across the world will not be people in the West, but those hovering just above the poverty line in the developing world. Thanks to the misguided enthusiasm of Western governments for imprisoning entire populations in their homes, thereby triggering a global recession, tens of millions of people will die of starvation in low-income countries. Worth reading in full.
Postcard Request
Are there any readers in the West Yorkshire village of Menston Park? If so, could we have a “Postcard From Menston Park” please? According to the Telegraph, the village is split between the Bradford half, with villagers occupying an area governed by Bradford City Council, and the Leeds half, which falls within Leeds City Council. The Telegraph has more.
Historically, it is not a division that causes serious problems, but since the Government’s partial lockdown of the Bradford council area, however, Menston has effectively been cut in two.
The Leeds half has the same liberties most of the country enjoys, while the Bradford half is living under tight restrictions.
“It’s crazy, Menston’s been split down the middle,” villager Michael Rhodes, 66, told the Telegraph.
“My house is right on the border. I can literally walk out, go 20 metres across the road into the park, and that apparently gives me different freedoms. So which do we abide by?”
Philip Davies, the local MP, is not happy about this state of affairs.
Mr Davies has had a “very robust conversation” with both the Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, and the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, about the matter. The Prime Minister, he says, “listened, and said I made a very strong case”.
Matt Hancock told him the line had to be drawn somewhere.
If you’re a Menston Park resident and fancy writing something for Lockdown Sceptics, whether a full postcard or just a paragraph or two, please email me here.
Recommended Holiday Destination: Vallon Pont D’Arc, Southern France
A reader has been in touch to say he’s very happy with his choice of holiday destination: Vallon Pont D’Arc.
After ‘surviving’ the flight to Nice on a well known low-cost carrier, our first full day in the Ardeche has been wonderful. The French (please note we are the only Brits in the entire campsite or indeed possibly in the whole town) here on holiday are clearly up for a good time and whilst mask wearing was observed in the local supermarket it’s pretty much ignored or paid lip service to elsewhere. There’s zero social distancing in the streets, bars, restaurants, Ice-cream parlours – there’s even a funfair where the kids don’t have to wear masks on rides. It’s obvious to us that the French leave their snowflakes where they belong, on the ski slopes. Vive la France 🇫🇷 We’re super glad we made the effort and are happily keeping the French economy going.
Recommended Holiday Destination 2: The Brecon Beacons
I’m just back from a lovely three-day family holiday in the Brecon Beacons. We went hiking in the Black Mountains, did the four waterfalls walk and visited Carreg Cennen Castle. No one seemed bothered about social distancing, we didn’t encounter a single leaper and – best of all – the Welsh Government hasn’t made face nappies mandatory in shops. Almost normal, save for the fact that there were very few tourists around.
Best bit about it was the wonderful bed and breakfast we stayed in – Ty Newydd in Llangadog, Carmarthenshire. Run by a lovely couple called Lesley and Derick, it’s just one mile outside the Brecon Beacons National Park and about two miles off the A40. Dogs welcome. In addition to bed and breakfast, it also has a caravan site and ample parking space. Worked out at £36 per person per night, which included a full English every morning. For couples who’ve just met on “Love in a Covid Climate”, this is perfect for a weekend getaway. Booking website is here.
Postcard From Latvia
I’ve published a new Postcard today, this one from Latvia. Our correspondent’s trip did not start well.
My trip got off to an inauspicious start when the person next to me on the plane was a young female who sat down and immediately requested I made sure my mask was covering my nose. I readjusted it and uttered words along the lines of, “Of course. I’ll make myself feel unwell just to please you.” (I have lung scarring from an illness 19 years ago). Perhaps I should have been nicer. But she was a mask militant. After the flight I saw her in the airport’s outside car park, still fully masked up, getting picked up by her (what I presumed to be) dad, who was also fully masked up. Neuroticism must run in the family.
Happily, it got better after that. Worth reading in full.
Round-Up
- ‘Deathly Lockdowns Compound Australia’s Covid Fiasco‘ – Dr Guy Campbell argues the Australian lockdowns are causing more harm than good
- ‘Almost half of teachers say it’s still unsafe to reopen schools‘ – Scottish teachers are still skittish about re-opening schools
- ‘Lockdown supporters cannot bear the thought that Sweden has got it right‘ – Excellent piece by Ross Clark in the Telegraph
- ‘The Myth That Lockdowns Stop Pandemics‘ – Good article by Stacey Rudin in RealClear Politics
- ‘We need a principled anti-lockdown movement‘ – Jeffrey A. Tucker, Editorial Director of the American Institute for Economic Research, sets out what an effective anti-lockdown movement would look like
- ‘Quarter of a million over-50s “will never work again” after coronavirus‘ – According to the Telegraph, one in four workers aged 50 or over has been furloughed and 377,000 of them could lose their jobs
- ‘UK poised to suffer the biggest Covid blow of any major economy‘ – The Telegraph reports that the UK economy has shrunk by 23% over the first half of 2020 due to drop in consumer spending during lockdown
- ‘“Politicized” Hydroxychloroquine Being “Discarded Prematurely” Warns Oxford Professor‘ – Hydroxychloroquine is being “discarded prematurely” and could still be effective against COVID-19, according to researchers from University of Oxford. They’re about to undertake a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study of the antiviral medication
- ‘UK heading into full lockdown next month if Boris Johnson doesn’t fix “disastrous” test and trace, says ex-government scientist‘ – The ex-scientist in question is Sir David King, head of “shadow SAGE” and longtime Labour supporter
- ‘How to choose between the virus camps‘ – Nice piece for Conservative Woman by Rowina Seidler, a regular Lockdown Sceptics reader
- ‘What we can learn from the Swedish paradox‘ – UnHerd editor Freddie Sayers writes about the lessons we can learn from his home country
- ‘My fellow teachers need to get a grip‘ – Outstanding piece in the Spectator by a teacher arguing all schools need to re-open in full next month
Theme Tunes Suggested by Readers
Just one today: “The Teachers Are Afraid of the Pupils” by Morrissey.
Small Businesses That Have Re-Opened
A couple of months 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 (and some of them are at risk of having to close again). 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.
Forums Up and Running
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.
We have created some Lockdown Sceptics Forums that are now open. Initially, they became a spam magnet so we temporarily closed them. However, we’ve found a team of people wiling to serve as moderators so the Forums are back up and running. And we’ve added a new dating section – “Love in a Covid Climate” (see above). Any problems, email the Lockdown Sceptics webmaster Ian Rons here.
“Mask Exempt” Lanyards
I thought I’d create a new permanent slot down here for people who want to buy (or make) a “Mask Exempt” lanyard/card. You can print out and laminate a fairly standard one for free here and it has the advantage of not explicitly claiming you have a disability. But if you have no qualms about that (or you are disabled), you can buy a lanyard from Amazon saying you do have a disability/medical exemption here (now showing it will arrive between Sept 24th to Oct 3rd). The Government has instructions on how to download an official “Mask Exempt” notice to put on your phone here. You can get a “Hidden Disability” tag from eBay here and an “exempt” card that looks like as if it’s been issued by the NHS for just £2.79 from Etsy here.
Don’t forget to sign the petition on the UK Government’s petitions website calling for an end to mandatory face nappies in shops here (now over 27,500).
A reader has started a website that contains some useful guidance about how you can claim legal exemption.
But what if you’re travelling on public transport without a lanyard and you’re stopped by the British Transport Police? According to today’s Times, 28,964 people without a face covering were questioned by the Transport Police between July 13th and 25th. However, just 1,605 were told to leave the network and only 33 penalty notices were issued.
Shameless Begging Bit
Thanks as always to those of you who made a donation in the past 24 hours to pay for the upkeep of this site. If you feel like donating, however small the sum, please click here. And if you want to flag up any stories or links I should include in future updates, email me here.
And Finally…
A Cambridge professor sent me this advertisement for a new book called Is Free Speech Racist? by Gavan Titley. We’ve been puzzling over it, but have decided it’s not a parody. We could be wrong, of course, but it’s on sale on Amazon here and Titley has written at least one other book – although, that, too, could be a parody. According to the Guardian, where Titley was a contributor until 2014, he is a lecturer in media studies at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth.
IS FREE SPEECH RACIST?
by Gavan TitleyFollowing the killing of George Floyd, thousands have taken to the streets across the world under the banner of a simple message: Black Lives Matter.
Almost instantaneously came calls to declare that ‘All Lives Matter’ – an undeniably important message, but not the one that needs airspace following the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Rayshard Brooks, to name too few. When those who ‘cannot breathe’, literally or figuratively, finally raise their voices to be heard, they are immediately challenged, their speech closely regulated and their demands measured against the pre-existing values of the status quo. Witness Boris Johnson underlining law, order and democratic process as he condemned those who toppled Edward Colston’s statue in Bristol.
At the same time, out come the right-wing ‘counter-protestors’ touting either overt racism or else the sacred cow of ‘free speech’, increasingly used as a cover for the former. But we must not let the free speech defence immediately close down anti-racist activism. We must look more closely at the hypocritical use to which it is being put and ask: is free speech just another tool of racism today?
“This is an excellent and urgently needed book that offers a key contribution to both academic and public debate on free speech. In a clear, succinct style, Gavan Titley persuasively argues that free speech is often defended in a superficial way, which focuses on speech as a mere channel of ideas and neglects structural inequalities between different speakers.”
MATTEO BONOTTI, MONASH UNIVERSITY
Stop Press: There’s an amusing story in the Babylon Bee headlined “Riotous BLM Protesters Suddenly Realize They’re All White People”.
Discussion
Comments
This week across the site:
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We’re on holiday (yay!), in the South of France. It’s sunny and hot (over 33°C) and life here is surprisingly normal and enjoyable, despite the stories about Macron’s Police State lockdown a few months ago. The Covid situation is as follows:
• Elaborate plastic screening in hotel receptions, checkouts in shops
• Sanitiser dispensers provided everywhere in hotels, shops and service stations
• No queues at all to get into anywhere, no bouncers or ‘security’ at supermarket entrances, no sanitising of handles of trolleys
• Absolutely everyone wearing mask inside all shops. Being a bolshy bastard, I’ve tried to get served without a mask but been told to wear one or leave. I’ve had to comply to avoid starvation or worse, not getting any booze
• Some people wear a mask walking around outside, but not many, most carry on as if there is not and never has been a virus
• In bars, everyone walks in with a mask on, then removes it when sat down at a table
• All serving staff sort of ‘wear’ a mask, but sometimes round their chin, mostly over the mouth but not over the nose (proving that everyone knows this mask rule… Read more »
“Being a bolshy bastard, I’ve tried to get served without a mask but been told to wear one or leave. I’ve had to comply to avoid starvation or worse, not getting any booze”
That doesn’t sound ‘better’! I guess you may be suffering holiday euphoria.
Has Matt Hancock breached people’s Article 2 ECHR Rights?
http://opiniojuris.org/2020/04/01/covid-19-symposium-article-2-echrs-positive-obligations-how-
can-human-rights-law-inform-the-protection-of-health-care-personnel-and-vulnerable-patients-in-
the-covid-19-pandemic/
**Tuesday edition is up**
The thing that saddens me most is the way lockdowns in the comfortable West are creating disaster in other countries.
You’re absolutely right – but the disaster here (of a different kind) isn’t doing badly.
Below in the thread Ozzie linked to an important article in the Telegraph suggesting that the Goverment’s mad assumption that mask wearing will increase consumer confidence and so footfall is being disproved comprehensively. But as always this gormless government has painted itself into a corner and has no way out. It can hardly come out now and say “Sorry, all that mask wearing was a load of bollocks.”
They should because it is
Is an uptick a new strain of insect?
When will THEY get it? Covid-19 cannot be eradicated. Lockdowns and masks are useless. Good immune systems are critical to fight any virus, bacteria and pathogens. Anyone noticed that ‘improve you immune system’ is missing from the Government / NHS messages?
Infections are low and only increase with increased testing using a very unreliable PCR test. Many false positives.
Asymptomatic Covid-19 – there is no such a thing. It is as a result of using the unreliable PCR test that picks of viral debris from previous viral (any) infections still in the cell.
Increased infections is a meaningless concept, we need to know the daily hospitalisation rate and death rate for Covid-19.
They have got it. It’s got nothing to do with a virus and some people are waking up to this (I hope) and realise all these ridiculous measures are just a cover-up.
I’ve just read that we all contain an estimated 380 trillion viruses. Is that true?
Doesn’t the PCR test have to amplify a sample up to 37 times to produce enough replicas of a fragment of virus so that it can be examined?
My brain just can not comprehend the infinitesimally small sizes we are dealing with here.
Am I barking up the wrong tree (or just barking) ?
From memory; we have approx. 10 times more bacteria cells than our own cells. 10 times more viruses than bacteria.
About the size of a clenched fist apparently
I think John Lee said in an interview with James Dellingpole that it was 50 million viruses. Still a lot. It’s a good listen if you’ve not heard it. June 1st. Seems like a million years away. Cripes. https://delingpole.podbean.com/e/dr-john-lee/
Less to do with the number of viruses, but an interesting bit about the human microbiome.
https://depts.washington.edu/ceeh/downloads/FF_Microbiome.pdf
DavidC
No – you’re not barking at all 🙂
Yes, in a nutshell, how many are being hospitalised and how many are dying? I think the answer is ‘very few’.
Absolutely right on all counts.
A further point might be made – Why would you even want to try to eradicate it, when it’s generally mild and is doing a pretty good job of extinguishing itself through the process of population immunity?
The only explanation that makes sense is an attempt to make money out of the scare. Quod erat ….
Equally disturbing is the atmosphere which prevents you from asking about the situation. True oppression lies within that atmosphere.
Lockdown causes a new digital newspaper into being.
https://manchestermill.co.uk/p/the-story-behind-the-mill
The Mill was born during the lockdown, and aims to publish thoughtful, trustworthy journalism about Manchester and the region.
Thanks for that. Much appreciated! I’ll check them out.
Looks interesting. I will keep my eye on it. Thank you.
It’s opened a whole new hell hole looking into this shit…
https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/coronavirus-masks.html
“Some toddlers and young children may feel uneasy about masks. They may need extra support and comfort from parents. Parents also can help kids understand why they might need to wear a mask, and make them more comfortable and even fun to wear.”
FFS! We must rebel
sickening.
indeed this needs to end now
Cacatopian, demonic, and insane.
Just done a quick survey of the Groan (‘MI6 House Journal’ as one commentator calls it) to see if the CEBM report on international Case Fatality Rates (yesterday) had a mention.
Now – you have to have two attributes to appreciate the significance of this paper that effectively blows apart any credibility about Covid-19 mortality figures, so often quoted in a Shock! Horror! lack of context. Any investigative journalist/outlet would have been straight on to it.
However, you require two attributes in order to see the significance :
Of course, The Groan possesses neither, having ditched many decent journalists over a decade ago – and (Suprise! Surprise!) I can find no mention amongst the usual welter of Scary Fairy chickenfeed and irrelevance.
Has anyone found any coverage elsewhere in the MSM?
“Healthy scepticism regarding official narratives” That paper, the BBC and other papers have plenty of healthy scepticism when it suits them – that is, when the official narrative is something they don’t like or is coming from someone they don’t like. The media are going along with the government on the big issues currently because it suits their agenda to do so, not I think because they have any great admiration or trust in them.
I’m not sure, Julian, that even when scepticism shows, that it is ‘healthy’. It tends to be very selective.
Whatever your political preferences, the fictionalised attacks on Corbyn prior to the election were a case study in how the media is now a propaganda arm of establishment interests. The same techniques of exclusion and fabrication of a narrative are in use now.
Feel free to let them now what you think:
https://schoolmaskpack.com/pages/contact-us
https://schoolmaskpack.com/
Child abuse.
Exactly.
Where are the NSPCC? They are very quiet.
Have many of you ‘lost’ friends as a result of Lockdown & government / media propaganda and regulations nonsense? That is for reasons like they think you are a conspiracy nut, gone off your rocker for not believing every word of the propaganda, or refusing to kneel down in reverence to our wonderful government from saving us all from certain death, or you are a selfish potential killer for not wearing a mask (even when you explain you are genuinely exempt for medical reasons), or you are being deliberately awkward and obstructive for refusing to give personal data to any Tom Dick and Harry who have never heard of the GDPR when they ask for it for track and trace? If “yes” how have you dealt with it to avoid becoming either suicidal or developing high blood pressure?
Yes, there are people we now avoid/don’t see. It’s sad in some cases, not in all. It’s not a cure-all, but I focus on the friends and relatives who are like-minded and try to forget about the rest. It helps that my wife is 100% sceptic and angry like me. Maybe it would be better to try and preserve those friendships, in the hope that they come out of their madness, but it’s too draining at present.
As for being suicidal, not wanting to let the bastards win is our main motivation for keeping going. That and our kids.
evaded suicide so far
mental health has definitely been adversely affected. high bp wouldn’t surprise me either.
oh and I’ve been drinking way way more than normal
just to escape this hell basically.
Please do look after yourself and ask for support here. We need each other right now. Suicides are up and I am sure everyone here will join me in holding out a hand to you x
thank you
Thanks Wendy. Now concentrating on caring for my pets, bird watching, gardening, going for lovely countryside walks, and just meeting up with or communicating with a few friends who are also sceptics. These actions are helping – as is being a member of this site of course.
A long time friend (50 years!) and his wife have been totally taken in by the corona nonsense. For the past few years they have being going all over the world on cruise ships and enjoying themselves. Now they have hardly been out of the house since March apart from strictly one walk a day – late in the evening to avoid meeting anybody. Being both radio amateurs we keep touch that way but even that is getting rarer. He knows my views but refuses to get into any arguments as he knows his wife is taking care of him by following all the rules. Saw them through the window last night, both masked up. Sad for someone who used to take all sorts of risks in the past.
I haven’t exactly lost friends but I am avoiding some. Most of my friends are sceptics, much of hugging and hand shaking amongst at least 10 different households in the pub last night, even though meeting different households is a banned activity in the northern plague zones.
A few I won’t see again until this is over, or perhaps never. I don’t want to be in the company of so called friends advocating further restrictions when we know people are dying because they are reluctant to go to hospitals and the continued fear is causing further losses, sadness and isolation.
I’ve had to agree to differ, just as I did with my Leave vote, but some family members now seem to view me as an embarassment, and only one communicates regularly and openly.
The others confine themselves to the occasional fairly bland emails.
Recent birthday last week-too old to care really- but noticeably fewer cards.
wendyk,
For what it’s worth, a belated Happy Birthday from a fellow sceptic!
DavidC
That is sad. I have had several friends (who are Lockdown Zeolots and believe every word the government and BBC promote) be uncharacteristically unpleasant towards me. One hesitates to use the word unkind, but their comments and behaviour have had that effect, in spite of being fully aware of a) my regular battles with depression and b) my qualifications and experience as a scientific researcher – thus know I have done my research thoroughly. A few are no longer friends, sadly and regrettably. 3 others have now said they will either resume a relationship in the future once this is all over (could be never in that case) or we have agreed to only liaise occasionally and only communicate on so called safe i.e. uncontroversial topics. Relatives are ignoring my existence after I challenged some of their scaremongering FB posts full of false and misleading information by providing accurate data or links to credible sources and credible, experienced, reputable scientists.
Hope you had a reasonably decent birthday in the circumstances, Wendyk.
Friend of ours came over, insisted on sitting in the garden even though it was a cold day. Ostentatiously sat on the opposite side of the table to us, hugs were off the menu. Next time she suggested a meet up, I said I told her I had no desire to spend an evening with someone who treats me like a leper. She hasn’t been in touch since.
Hurrah for you. Not real friends methinks.
Meditation. Seriously. I used to have BP issues but choosing to meditate at least once a day (maybe more) since this crap started in March has seen my BP back to normal.
Very long-winded (skip the first ten minutes) but excellent explanation as to how face masks are mostly hazardous and CANNOT filter out viruses as small as this pesky publicity seeking one, even a specialist N95 respirator mask cannot do that. Useful material for the pedant (like me) who want to sock it to the zealots.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=181&v=8pr7nirqOzA&feature=emb_logo
New residents in my (hotel) watering hole all wearing face nappies, mostly from up t’north. Is there something about the air up there? (Caveat for all those friends on here who live north of Watford: this is me being facetious. I know really it’s just their fear and stupidity.)
Thanks for that, I’ll send it to a couple of people. It may make them think, we live in hope.
That’s a great video Bella. Thanks.
DavidC
Mixed bag this morning. Just been “up town” for the first time since face nappies introduced.
Intu (yes Intu, not into) shopping centre-mask policewoman at door asked me to put a mask on. Pointed to my badge. She did apologise most profusely and said it was because her glasses had steamed up. Ironic or what?
A number of smaller shops not opening until 10am, some look as if they are closed for good. Big Debenhams store on three floors. At 9.40 we were the only two customers on the entire floor. There were three on the next floor. It is unlikely to survive in the next round of Debenhams cuts, I fear. Spoke to lady behind counter who was wearing a paper mask. Asked her if Debenhams had done a health and safety risk assessment into wearing masks all day. It is always incredibly hot in there and the air-con doesn’t work properly. She didn’t know, but said that she had felt light headed the previous day. Mask policeman standing nearby said it had all been done when the store reopened, which was later than the rest of the shops. I pointed out that masks weren’t mandatory then. Oops.
Spotted… Read more »
Some victories. Well done!
I’ve never liked shopping malls. Sound even less attractive nowadays!
It is all very very sad. When are businesses going to speak up. I am sure suspending mask wearing would improve things so much. So many people must be avoiding shopping because of masks as they make it a terrible experience or because of unnecessary fear. No one picks up an infection passing a stranger briefly in a shop!!
lol at cattle grids. perhaps you might like to suggest cattle prods too!
Yes, in preparation for branding if the vaccine ever arrives.
Last year during the Greta Thunberg hysteria thousands of people, encouraged by municipalities and national governments, filled the streets. Today, encouraged by municipalities and national governments, the streets have been declared danger zones. We’re being jerked around.
Ya don’t say!
Truly shocking video of police tackling a non-mask wearer in Australia.
https://twitter.com/idc1953/status/1292951682628882432
Ain’t Ozzie fuzz wonderful?! Some of Alex’s droogs moved to Down Under?
That’s hard to watch! As one commenter pointed out, it’s coming to the Northern Hemisphere anytime soon.
scary. But then it was a white girl – so the MSM here wont be interested..
Several days ago I watched a series of Dr Vernon Coleman’s videos. One video was about climate change and how it would affect our lives. Just a few minutes I was thinking that one day we might see a Greta Thunberg Cookbook displayed in a book shop window and it got me thinking that a parody of this book would be a lot of fun to write. Any takers out there?
You mean this video? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkvbAypFS0g
Vernon Coleman is a climate change sceptic, so I’m not sure what your point is.
Another day, another psy-op. Yawn.
Scots warned not to open mystery seeds from China that could ‘harbour disease’
The ‘supicious’ seeds have been sent to thousands of households across the world, sparking urgent warnings from the Scottish Government.
https://www.edinburghlive.co.uk/news/edinburgh-news/scots-warned-not-open-mystery-18749450
I lump china in with britain – both are a vicious as each other toward my existence – I care not for who’s the psy-op belongs to. It’s becoming tedious to listen to their noise. The rate of nonsense put forth will eventually drown itself out. People, even the feared, cannot keep pace with the assault.
As said below, prolonging death is not life. How easy it is to switch to living life!
Observations from my weekly unmasked shopping trip
Aldi. Quiet . All the other customers were masked except one guy with a mask round his neck whilst wired up to his phone. Staff on the floor masked as per Aldi rules. New till opened so i said to the now unmasked assistant ” i bet youre glad to remove that” . He agreed and pointed to the bad face rash he now has on his cheeks which he said the mask causes. I said he should report it.
Then went into B&M- Again customers masked. Staff not masked.
Then went to local chemist (part of a chain) Was chatting for ages. They were wearing masks under chin. Said that it was company rules. But no challenge to me, I explained about my exemption ( distress ) and they werent aware of this. They were very cynical about the whole covid issue. The pharmacist did tell me that he was aware that a lot of his customers were avoiding doctors and suffering medical issues because of it . Basically through fear. Whilst i was there i overhead a conversation with a lady whose husband was having physical problems due to… Read more »
I see Jacinta Canute is locking everyone down again…
1 case was it? In 100 odd days.
Baffled as to how they can survive without foreign tourism – 20% of exports apparently (surprised it’s not higher) UK about 5% for comparison.
Has that person been retested twice to make sure? Does anyone actually know who it is?
She justified it as (paraphrasing) “the most economically appropriate course of action, in the long term”
Apologies if this had already been posted
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/08/11/masks-shops-have-killed-impulse-buy-retail-sales-improve/
Article suggests:
“Nick Carroll, an analyst at Mintel, said that current times are “far from normal trading”. He said consumers still appeared uncomfortable “dwelling” in stores for too long which was hitting spending on discretionary goods.“
which sounds reasonable, but then there is also this reference:
“Richard Lim, of analysts Retail Economics, said that the mandatory face mask rules had accelerated this trend as people who would otherwise have popped into a shop while on a day out may be unable to if they did not have their mask.”
No where in the article is the blindingly obvious statement of how unpleasant wearing a face mask is and the suggestion that most would not want to endure this for longer than is necessary.
Hoist with their own petard:-
— https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2020-07-14/debates/93B43A96-E240-4E02-994D-1E6ED3A405DC/CoronavirusUpdate
Oh dear! How dim-witted.
I think that we are not untypical.
We’re not people who see shopping as a recreation and indulge in it for amusement, but we have saved a considerable amount of our fairly average joint household income over the past six months – without thinking about it.
Now – translate that one minor unexceptional example into a situation across the nation of resources not going into the general churn of the economy, then the conclusions are pretty obvious.
London Calling Back to School this week is funny at around minute seven when Toby Young brings up a very good point after his experience in a Greta Thunberg-themed pub.
Dr Paul Marsden, a chartered psychologist specialising in consumer behaviour, explains the role that “mask psychology” could be having. “Enclothed cognition means the physical sensation of wearing a mask is likely to act as a constant reminder to shoppers that they are living through a pandemic and that their health is under threat.”
Indeed – Let’s translate : “It’s a visible con to make the gullible think they’re in danger.”
And, dread phrase, ‘giving them agency’ over it.
The ultimate nudge for the gullible:
‘If you repeat a lie often enough it becomes accepted as truth.’
Goebbels
As we keep predicting: A total of 8,946 deaths were registered in England and Wales in the last week of July, according to the ONS – 90 fewer than the five-year average of 9,036. This is the seventh week in a row that deaths have been below the five-year average.
Of the deaths registered in the week to 31 July, 193 mentioned Covid-19 on the death certificate – the lowest number of deaths involving Covid-19 since the week ending March 20 (103 deaths).
So the coronavirus-mentioned figures (not necessarily the actual cause of death) were just 2.15% of all deaths that week!
How long can this madness continue?
11th week in London which the press should have picked up on but still haven’t.
They.must know, surely ?
How could they not?
Unfortunately, even the ones who display a smidgeon of scepticism don’t seem able to point out that there is no longer any deadly virus left to fear.
Maslow’s first step in operation I’m afraid – roof first, ethics later.
I’ve been mapping all-cause mortality since the beginning of this.It’s not difficult stuff – and any half-competent real journalist should be looking at something similar.
The trend is absolutely clear – and we’ve had nothing unusual happening since mid-June, following the March-April spike. Two months!
This coincides exactly with the CEBM mapping of hospital deaths, ACU occupancy and admissions.
Anyone with an unhypnotized brain should be asking :
“What the f***?” at every idiocy coming out from the vaudeville duo of Handcock and Whitless.
Perhaps I’m being paranoid but at the moment everything makes me suspicious.
For the past hour or a so a small twin-engined aircraft has being making circuits around the perimeter of my town in Lincolnshire at a constant height and speed.A look on an aircraft tracking site shows it to be a Piper Navajo registration G-BEZL.A bit of online digging shows it to belong to a company called 2Excel Aviation at Doncaster airport.This company does a lot of work for the government (and could even be a front for some sort of government operation in my opinion), doing surveillance and monitoring and border patrolling etc.
You probably think I need my tinfoil hat on,but with the madness of the past months you never know what is going on.Is there anyone with aviation connections on here that knows what this plane is doing ?.
https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/g-bezl#252f133e
out of interest followed this link .. today it has still not landed
yesterday it flew to Grantham then went round in circles for 2 hours
Last thursday flew around Gainsborough for an hour each in the morning and after lunch
Wednesday – same again – Gainsborough twice
Tuesday to Lasham airfield and back.. Lasham is where 2Excel are based
I flew a glider out to Lasham and back home once upon a time.
It would be good to get a good zoomed in picture of it, to see if there is anything going on with it. Anything attached to it or any holes in the floor or hatches open…
what are they up to?!
That is an interesting flight pattern for sure. It looks like a orbit for surveillance. I can’t think of what else it would be especially as its a circular flight path. It’s not a hold or a procedural turn. It did about 10 orbits….yes quite strange.
Small twin engined aircraft like that and the Islander are used by intelligence services. The islander is supposed to be used to scoop up mobile telephone comms. They were used extensively during the hunt for the British Jihadi beheader Jihadi John. Trying to match up voice traces with the ransom message.
The weather here today has been foggy and has now lifted to haze with complete cloud cover at around 2000 feet I would say,so I can hear it but not see it.I have a passing interest in aviation and I have never seen any plane,civilian or military flying in such a way over this town before.It’s still going round and round !.
which town do you mind my asking? (no worries if you don’t want to say)
Grantham
yip sry thanks. struggling with comments loading slowly. I think it says Grantham above already!
ignore me.
tried to edit and delete above comment but failed
(question is out-of-date)
You can see its recent history in FlightRadar24. From IMoz’s link, scroll down and you will see the most recent 7 days. Yesterday and today it has been flying around Grantham, 5th and 6th August it was doing a similar flight pattern around Gainsborough. For some flights there is no “To” entry in the log.
see below .. just beat me to it …..
note the Lasham airfield link to 2Excel
Brace yourself for a shock. Swedish doctor hasn’t seen a single Covid patient in weeks.
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/how-dangerous-is-covid-a-swedish-doctor-s-perspective
A very useful article! A pity no comments allowed. Wxnkers!
You can comment if you’re a subscriber (I did). I think they do free trials?
I’m currently on a 3-month trial at £1 per month. That offer may have expired on Sunday though. Have a look.
Dear Lord, keep me out of a care home and an NHS hospital. May I never come under the care of the social services. amen
I wouldn’t visit our local hospital even if fit and healthy.
quite wise. only in an emergency – usually not bad at all in this scenario
Some hospitals require you to book for A&E
yeah I’m confident you could just turn up
I have had a couple of instances with my mother after she had two falls – first due to tripping over the edge of a pot hole in the street that should have been repaired. She ended up in A&E in both cases, then eventually in an intermediate care home. Both hospital visits and care home stay prompted me being on the phone to one or other medical professionals. Subsequent email correspondence with the consultant in charge of her Parkinson’s diagnosis. Unfortunately the only way to get any form of a half-decent ‘service’ is to threaten and hassle as much as possible. It is a zero sum game – they simply back down to those that can, and do, fight and argue the most as they want an easy life. This is sadly at the expense of those who are either on their own, with no immediate family to hand, or where their own socio-economic and educational status is poor. The NHS is a national disgrace. There are some great doctors and nurses, many are doing their jobs perfectly well – no more, no less – and many are not very good at all. They are, though, swimming in a… Read more »
“ There are some great doctors and nurses, many are doing their jobs perfectly well”
It is important to keep this perspective. I have been a frequent flyer over the past six years, and am alive because of excellent treatment. My constant experience is that the vast majority of staff – at all levels – are good – and often better.
That they are bound into a command and control system that has perverted the NHS should be blamed on those responsible – the current Tory government and their satraps. This is entirely of their making.
Prior to my experiences with my mother, I also had to intervene with both the nursing team and consultant when my father was battling terminal bowel cancer. Actually, had to remind the consultant about the NICE guidelines. Before then, I had my own brush with death in the late 1990s, and also had to do a lot of my own digging, pushing and various other things. Fortunately my consultant was superb, and she also questioned some of the protocols as I later came to discover. I stick by what I said in the prior post, but I would say it has nothing to do with the government in charge per se (Tory or Labour), nor indeed with austerity. It is an out of control bureaucracy that no government of any colour will take on. In my view it would likely, and counter-intuitively, do better from having less money (to waste). Sir Gerry Robinson (ex Grand Met, Compass, Granada) pointed much of this out when he did the TV series in the mid-2000s.
Heavenly Father save me from the meddlesome attention of epidemiologists, behavioural scientists and respected think tanks.