Rishi Moves into Poll Position
In the race to succeed Boris, Rishi Sunak moved into poll position yesterday with a cash giveaway that was widely welcomed in the press. The Telegraph‘s Camilla Tominey is in no doubt whose star is rising, and whose is falling.
“Where’s Boris?” is a refrain that has dogged the Prime Minister throughout the coronavirus crisis.
It even featured on the front of last week’s Spectator, as the magazine he once edited asked: “Where is the man we thought we voted for?”
Never has Mr Johnson been more conspicuous by his absence than at Thursday’s hugely significant Commons statement by Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor.
As Mr Sunak introduced his winter economy plan, which will replace the furlough scheme with a new Job Support Scheme, the Prime Minister (and First Lord of the Treasury) was nowhere to be seen on the front bench.
He later emerged at a police station in Northamptonshire (as seen in the video below), where he busied himself meeting new recruits, sitting in a police car with flashing lights and watching a first aid demonstration involving plastic dummies.
Worth reading in full, although, according to Christopher Snowdon in the Spectator, Rishi is driving the nation to ruin.
Meanwhile, some members of Team Rishi are no longer bothering to conceal which horse they’re backing.
Toby contributed to a Michael Crick report for Mail+ yesterday about Boris’s future in which Crick concluded that Boris would probably cling on for a few years before being ousted in a bloody coup.
Prime Ministers aren’t like ordinary people. To get the job requires a persistence, a stamina, a tenacity, that the rest of us don’t have and therefore they’re not very inclined to give up the job either. And if I look back at the seven Prime Ministers of my adult lifetime, from Jim Callaghan to Theresa May, people forecast way ahead of time that they hadn’t got much longer in the job and yet they held on. And I suspect that Boris Johnson will hold on for a few years yet.
I wonder…
Government’s Graph of Doom “Wrong”, says Oxford Epidemiologist
“Wrong” – that’s the verdict of Oxford professor of theoretical epidemiology Sunetra Gupta on the infamous graph presented on Monday by Chief Scientist Sir Patrick Vallance and Chief Medical Officer for England Professor Chris Whitty as part of the Government’s justification for ramping up restrictions. The Telegraph reports.
Speaking to Allison Pearson on the Telegraph‘s Planet Normal podcast, she said: “I think it is wrong. I was quite surprised that such a graph would be presented to the public. It was qualified even by them as being not even a prediction, so it’s very hard to understand the logic of that. Why would you present something that’s not even a prediction?
“Personally, I don’t think it’s possible to predict with any accuracy exactly what’s going to happen. I don’t think mathematical models are very good at that. But this is not even a prediction. It was just following a line of thinking in which the doubling time would remain what it has appeared to be over the last week for an extended period of time.”
On Tuesday, Boris Johnson admitted that the virus may actually be doubling between seven and 20 days.
If the latter was the case, it would mean around 8,000 cases by mid-October, although the latest figures show the UK has already reached more than 6,000 cases per day, described as “near record” figures.
Record reported, yes. But as James Naismith, Professor of Structural Biology at Oxford, points out: “The sudden jump is likely to reflect issues in the testing system reporting.”
In fact, if we look at the graph of cases by date of sample there is little sign of growth over the past week. Of course, recent days will be revised upwards as more swabs are processed and the backlog clears. But even so, the lack of growth is noteworthy – particularly when the recent increase in the number of tests (the immediate cause of the backlog) is taken into account.
And still the Government fails to show on its dashboard a graph of the positive rate, which as Our World in Data notes, is a “crucial metric for understanding the pandemic”.
What possible excuse could there be for not including such important data in the UK Government’s coronavirus dashboard? Is it because it doesn’t look nearly so scary, and so is no good for inducing fear and compliance?
As it happens the positive rate has increased a bit during September, from 0.6% on August 26th to 1.2% on September 8th and 1.7% on September 22nd (the latest date for which we have data). That means it doubled in 13 days to begin with and since then, 14 days later, only increased by a further 42% (100% would be doubling again). So it initially doubled at around half the rate of the Government’s “every seven days” and then slowed down, though did pick up again a bit in the past week (growing 30% between September 15th and September 22nd, a doubling time of around two and a half weeks if it continues). This suggests the current level of growth is not exactly “exponential” and may already be beginning to peak. Of course, we will have to wait and see what comes of the latest rise. But the question at this point is why the Government is making a show of dubious projections of exponential growth from raw case data and not setting out the much less troubling reality.
Sunetra Gupta is clear about where things are headed.
Prof Gupta, who has argued that a large number of people could have already been exposed to the virus, said: “The fate of this virus is going to be principally determined by what fraction of the population is either immune or already has some form of resistance to it.
“The proof is in the pudding. It’s a question of whether when infection rates rise, death rates will rise. We’ve seen a summer with very low infection rates despite quite a lot of mixing. So that indicates that there is a level of herd immunity in place.”
Sick Children Turned Away by Covid-Only NHS
There was a scandalous story in the Evening Standard yesterday – sick children are being turned away from two London hospitals because they’re preparing for an anticipated surge of Covid patients over the winter.
Sick children will be turned away from A&E at two major London hospitals throughout the winter to enable them to focus on treating adults with Covid.
The paediatric A&E at the Royal Free, in Hampstead, will close at the end of the month. The children’s casualty unit at University College London Hospital, in Bloomsbury, will remain closed, having initially shut to under 18s in March.
It is not known when they will reopen but the closures are said to be “temporary”. The Royal Free and UCLH have been designated as “surge sites” for the feared second wave of Covid patients.
So let me get this straight. An actual child in need of emergency medical care will be turned away by an NHS hospital just in case a notional person in their 80s with a serious underlying illness catches coronavirus and needs a bed? Even though the risk of the hospital’s critical care capacity being overwhelmed if the NHS returns to normal is very low?
This is absolute madness.
As Cases Rise in Belgium, Restrictions are EASED
In what is being hailed as the first move of its kind in Europe, the Belgian government is responding to rising cases by easing restriction rather than tightening them. Ross Clark in the Spectator has more.
If there is one country which has influenced the Government’s toughening of Covid restrictions over the past fortnight it is Belgium. It was Sophie Wilmes’ government which, faced with a resurgence of Covid cases in late July, came up with the idea of placing a limit on the size of social gatherings – five rather than the six which Boris Johnson went on to impose in England six weeks later. It was the Belgian government, too, which came up with the idea of setting a curfew for pubs – 11pm rather than the 10pm which will come into effect in England, Scotland and Wales today. At the same time, Belgium extended the compulsion to wear a mask to most public places.
So did those measures do the trick in Belgium? Not quite. Daily confirmed cases rose from around 600 a day at the end of July to peak at just over 900 a day in the middle of August. They then fell back to around 400 a day at the beginning of September – before a further resurgence. On Wednesday, there were 1834 new infections.
But here’s the thing. In spite of rising cases, Belgium is now relaxing its restrictions rather than tightening them. This week it has announced that people will now be able to meet up in groups of 10 rather than five. The quarantine period for people self-isolating will be reduced to seven from 14 days and masks will no longer have to be worn everywhere in public – though they will still be required on public transport, shops, cinemas and on some crowded streets.
This is still a highly restrictive regime, so in that sense nothing to write home about. Belgium hasn’t been transformed into Sweden or Tanzania. But it indicates a shift in outlook and strategy, away from suppression at all costs to something more nuanced. It appears the idea is to make the restrictions more bearable and sustainable. But perhaps the inner logic of the shift will mean it turns into more before long.
Stop Press: The UAE’s National newspaper has run a report headed “Sweden’s ‘herd immunity’ model gains momentum in Europe“, citing as evidence the recent soliciting of advice from Sweden’s epidemiologists by British and Irish governments. And also Professor Carl Heneghan’s remarks to the BBC that he detects a “shift in policy” and a “move towards Sweden,” with more focus on personal responsibility and acceptance that cases will rise. And also the comments of a leading virologist in Denmark, Kim Sneppen, professor of biocomplexity at the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen, this week: “There is some evidence that the Swedes have built up a degree of immunity to the virus which, along with what else they are doing to stop the spread, is enough to control the disease… They may now be finished with the epidemic.”
Stop Press 2: Belgium has moved away from the PCR test as the main measure of the epidemic, presumably over reliability concerns. From now on, decisions about whether to tighten or relax restrictions will be mainly based on hospitalisations.
Scottish Students Banned From Going to the Pub
Our heart goes out to students at Scottish universities. Nic Sturge-On has banned all students in North Korea Scotland from going to the pub. The BBC has more.
Universities Scotland said the new guidance that had been agreed with the Scottish government was a “necessary step at this crucial moment of managing the virus in the student population, to protect students and the wider community”.
The new rules state that all universities will “make absolutely clear to students that there must be no parties, and no socialising outside their households”.
They go on to say: “This weekend, the first of the new tighter Scottish government guidance, we will require students to avoid all socialising outside of their households and outside of their accommodation.
“We will ask them not to go to bars or other hospitality venues.”
Extra staff will be brought into student accommodation to watch for any breaches of the guidance and to support students who are self-isolating.
Stop Press: Students at the University of Edinburgh have told of the ‘prison-like’ conditions they are having to live in:
First-year students living in the university’s catered accommodation Pollock Halls have endured being surveilled by staff as they eat alone at single desks at the JMCC cafeteria. …
First year student Florence Carr-Jones added that the dining hall feels like “exam invigilators patrolling the space”.
She added that outside of dining times, “security guards roam the halls in the evenings knocking on noisy doors, threatening fines and suspensions”.
Liberty added: “There are huge queues to get into the dining hall and staff lead students to tables so you don’t even choose who you sit next to.”
Plus: Watch this threatening video from Principal of University of Glasgow Anton Muscatelli
NHS Track-and-Trace App Doesn’t Work on iPhone 6
After today’s news that the NHS’s cutting-edge app doesn’t work on the iPhone 6, we asked our track-and-trace app correspondent to give us an update.
The latest version of the NHS COVID-19 app was available from yesterday, getting the prestigious home screen position in the Apple App Store. It has already done something amazing for me. It has made me feel a twinge of sympathy for Matt Hancock. One of the reasons this app is four months late is because it had to be changed to use the much vaunted “Apple and Google approach”. More specifically, it uses the ExposureNotification feature which respects your privacy by not sharing your data with the app’s authors, the Government. The problem is that Apple only provide that feature in iOS 13.5 or later and iOS 13.5 is only available on iPhone models 6s or newer. So the app cannot do its exposure notification thing if you have the plain iPhone 6 or older. If you try to install the app from the app store it won’t let you and there is nothing that Matt Hancock and team can do about it. It is true that less than 3% of iPhone owners still use the five year-old model 6, but from a PR point of view it is unfortunate that they are more likely to be older or less well-off. As Mr Hancock must surely be getting used to by now, even small percentages of large numbers, such as the number of iPhone owners in the UK, mean headline grabbing statistics: around 750,000 people could be excluded.
So Matt finds himself on BBC Breakfast trying to encourage us all to download and use the app but having to tell Charlie Stayt: “Only a very small proportion of people have phones that don’t have the latest iOS software. The best thing that they could do if they want to get the app, of course, is to upgrade.” Oops. Upgrading in this case means not just downloading the latest software – those phones won’t do that – it means buying a newer phone, as Charlie well knows: “What, buy a new phone? In terms of reaching those most at risk, for example, those who have the least money are the least likely to have newer phones and […] older people will have less sophisticated phones, maybe don’t have phones at all. Surely those are some of the people you would most like to reach?”
Yes indeed Charlie, but you and everyone else in the media were not making that point back in June when you were pressuring the Government to use the Apple solution which we knew back then would have this problem. To be fair, I also said on this site that if you must build an app then use the Apple/Google technology, but I also made the case that track and trace apps are not the panacea that politicians and the media make them out to be. They will always be problematic. The evidence from many countries this year has borne that out but the Government and the media have largely ignored it. Even with the latest phone the Times is reporting that one in three alerts from the new app will be false positives. This is just another data point for us sceptics to say, “We told you so!” But is anyone listening?
Less Than a FIFTH Adhere to Self-Isolation and Quarantine Rules
A new preprint study finds that in the UK just 18% of persons with Covid symptoms adhere to self-isolation, and only 11% adhere to quarantine if contacted by NHS Track and Trace (Hat tip Adam Kucharski). And this is what the Government is spending hundreds of billions of pounds on and thinks is the way out of lockdown?
Postcard From Zanzibar
A reader has sent us a postcard from Zanzibar. Sounds lovely. How do we get there?
Salamu (Swahili for Greetings) from Zanzibar, an island off the coast of Tanzania best known as the birthplace of Freddie Mercury, where we are bathed blissfully in sunshine, trade winds and, best of all, mask free.
While many countries in Africa locked down, Tanzania realised very quickly that with a median age of 20, half that of Europe, the cure being worse than the disease would be an inevitable consequence of shutting down the economy. They kept their economy open.
It was a wise decision. In a country of 56 million people, only 516 cases of CV19 have been registered and 21 deaths. Given that there is no formal healthcare reporting system, it is inevitable that these numbers are under-reported. However, as 2.5 million people die every year in Africa from another infectious disease (Tuberculosis), the Tanzanian Government and healthcare community thankfully enjoy a sense of context about risk management sadly lacking among the bureaucrats and government advisors our taxes pay for.
Alas, the local economy has still be shell-shocked. As global supply chains breakdown, tourism falls off a cliff, foreign aid and non-governmental agencies shut down, the most poor and vulnerable are back to what they know best. Subsistence living and seeking aid from ‘developed countries’. Ironically, these are the same so called ‘developed’ countries whose lockdowns have caused the very economic catastrophe ‘developing‘ countries are now suffering from.
Not content with presiding over a historic economic collapse at home; the same ‘experts’ whose gold plated salaries, pensions and healthcare benefits our taxes pay for, have also been the architects of a lockdown syndrome that will condemn another 100 million people to living below the global poverty level of $1.90 a day, while causing an additional five million global deaths from illnesses ranging from malaria and tuberculosis to heart disease and cancer.
Yet, as always, the locals here laugh, sing and see the bright side of life. Freedom from an entitlement mentality and the hysteria of main stream media has its upsides!
Tanzanians understand that the only way we are going to dig ourselves out of this catastrophe is if ordinary people insist the governments we elect make balanced and transparent decisions based on integrated health and economic data… and not just the ‘do no harm’ mantra of doctors.
Wish you were here? Flights and hotels are cheap. Planes and airports empty. The local people will welcome you with nothing more infectious than open arms, gracious hospitality and a healthy appreciation that life is all about living, not obsessing about the avoidance of dying.
Hakuna matata!
Starvation in Madagascar Exposes Selfishness of Lockdowns
The argument that I hear perhaps most often from lockdown zealots is that lockdown is the compassionate course of action because it protects the vulnerable and doesn’t sacrifice them for the sake of the economy. People before profits. Yet as I try to point out to these well-meaning but misguided souls (rarely with much success), the truth is that lockdowns themselves kill vulnerable people, and very likely a great deal more than they’re saving. The point of herd immunity is not to be indifferent to the vulnerable but to protect them by building up a community immunity quickly while they shield, and not doing lots of other damage at the same time.
In the Spectator this week, Jo Deacon reminds us why this is true, with an account of life in Madagascar.
Like many countries, Madagascar has gone into lockdown. People rush to make it home before curfew, their face masks dangling around their chins. Children play together in the dust outside the locked school gates. The hotels and restaurants are empty, swimming pools drained. Health checkpoints have been set up by the side of the road and people jostle each other as they wait in line for their temperature to be taken before entering town. In the developing world, a cut in income quickly translates into increased malnutrition, inability to pay for basic medicine, and death from starvation or entirely treatable illness. So far, just over 200 people have died from Covid in Madagascar, a country with a population of 27 million. The lives lost due to the indirect impacts of Covid from famine, decreased vaccinations and medical care are likely to be orders of magnitude greater. I was recently telling my youngest son the story of Hansel and Gretel and the wicked stepmother who led them away to die in the forest as they could not afford to feed them any more. There is nothing allegorical about this tale to a Madagascan: it is something we see daily.
The United Nations expects in the region of 71 million people to be pushed back into extreme poverty in 2020 because of the global response to COVID-19. Meanwhile, the official death toll with the disease is yet to reach a million.
In the UK we have had just over 53,000 excess deaths so far in 2020. In 2014-15 the excess winter deaths were 44,000. Nobody even noticed the 2015 epidemic, yet in 2020 with only around 9,000 more deaths – a 20% increase – the public has been terrorised into surrendering their liberty and sanity. Countries like Sweden, Tanzania and Belarus show that the death toll probably wouldn’t be any higher without lockdown.
However well-intentioned, there is nothing compassionate about lockdowns.
Glasgow Nightingale Hospital To Be Dismantled – As Restrictions Increase
A reader has written to say that a family member who is part of a Scottish engineering firm noticed yesterday on the website for Public Contracts Scotland that a tender had gone out and contractors found for the dismantling of Glasgow’s Nightingale Hospital. Is there any clearer sign of the incoherence, if not outright mendacity, of the Government’s strategy, that it will increase restrictions while clearly having no expectation of hospitals being overwhelmed. The bubble must burst soon, surely.
The Government’s Internet Censorship Bill
In his latest Spectator column, Toby has written about the case of Kristie Higgs, the 44 year-old Christian administrator who was fired by a secondary school for posting a message on her private Facebook account criticising the sex and relationship education curriculum at another school.
There are two free speech issues at stake here. The first is whether an employer’s social media policy, limiting what employees are allowed to say on Facebook and other platforms, can legitimately be extended to private conversations, particularly when the employee has taken steps to disguise her identity. On the face of it, that looks like a breach of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects the right to privacy. The second is whether Kristie’s comments constituted “illegal discrimination” as defined in the UK’s Equality Act 2010. Did they create an ‘”intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment” for LGBT colleagues, even though they wouldn’t have known about them if they hadn’t been circulated by someone trying to get her into trouble? Or is she permitted to express such views by Article 10 of the ECHR, which protects the right to freedom of expression?
Kristie’s legal team can also appeal to the Equality Act, which makes it illegal to discriminate against employees for their possessions of various “protected characteristics”, including religion and belief. Her lawyers will argue she lost her job because she expressed her belief about the immutability of natal sex. However, when Maya Forstater’s lawyers made that argument in an employment tribunal last year – she was sacked for refusing to use trans women’s preferred pronouns – the judge said her gender critical beliefs weren’t “worthy of respect in a democratic society”.
Kristie’s treatment is obviously deeply concerning for believers in free speech, but there’s another aspect of her case that worries me. According to a recent white paper, a Bill will soon be brought before Parliament empowering Ofcom to regulate the internet. Under the proposals, Ofcom will be able to impose punitive fines on Facebook for not removing content that political activists find “offensive”, even if it doesn’t fall foul of any existing speech laws.
Twitter already bans users for misgendering trans people, so it won’t take much of a push for all the social media companies to ban people for criticising trans ideology.
The Free Speech Union recently published a briefing paper about the Government’s proposed new internet censorship law that you can read here. The fact that Ofcom will soon be regulating social media is one of the reasons the Free Speech Union is taking Ofcom to court over its censorious “coronavirus guidance”, published on the same day as the country was placed under full lockdown, which cautions broadcasters against challenging the advice being issued by “public health authorities”, i.e. the state. If you’re concerned about the erosion of free speech, please donate to the Free Speech Union’s “Litigation Fund” here.
Round-Up
- “More than 40 Tory backbenchers back rebel bid to force vote on future lockdown measures” – Graham Brady’s rebellion appears to have the votes it needs to bring the Government to heel
- “Under cover of coronavirus, the Tory government is bulldozing basic liberties” – The Guardian‘s John Harris asks why the left has been silent until now on the Government’s assault on our civil liberties
- “Hydroxychloroquine And The Burden of Proof” – A thorough new examination by the Economic Standard of the evidence supporting the efficacy of HCQ in treating COVID-19
- “No, 90% Of Coronavirus Tests Are Not ‘False Positives’ And This Is Why” – The Huffington Post attempts a refutation of Lockdown Sceptics in a weird article that starts by conceding Toby and Carl Heneghan are right and finishes by asking its reader if they’re still “not convinced”. Main point: most being tested are symptomatic. Hmm, on what basis? And there are a lot of colds going round…
- “Boris has no plan, no credibility and yet he dares blame the VOTERS for the mess we’re in. Thank goodness most people will decide for themselves where we go from here – and sod his police state” – Janet Street-Porter goes full sceptic in the Mail
- “Who in their right mind would download Matt Hancock’s Covid app?” – Ross Clark in the Telegraph hits the nail on the head: “I don’t see what is in it for me to volunteer to be fined £10,000.” Er, quite
- “Questions to the government CV 19 advisers” – John Redwood MP with characteristically understated scepticism
- “Now the Government wants to cancel Christmas for students – what crackpot policy will we have next?” – Judith Woods in the Telegraph bewails what has become of the Conservative Party with its miserly, crazy ideas
- “I was right about Bonkers Boris, right about Covid, right about the lockdown” – Laura Perrins is feeling justly vindicated on Conservative Woman. Also, in their poll 87% say Whitty and Vallance should be sacked
- “Local lockdowns could soon be triggered by a ‘traffic light’ system based on coronavirus infection rate” – More barmy ideas, and still the fixation with the raw case numbers continues
- “Covid must be handled with effective risk management, not erratic risk avoidance” – Labour MP John Spellar joins the ranks of sceptics
- “COVID-19: open, reasoned, detailed, discussion of the options is overdue and welcome” – Thoughtful piece in the BMJ by Raj Bhopal, Emeritus Professor of Public Health at
HMP PrisonEdinburgh - “The Moral Case for Reopening Schools – Without Masks” – Excellent piece by John Tierney in City Journal. By “schools” he means universities and by “reopening” he means ending Covid restrictions
- “Britons face virtual worldwide quarantine as four more countries are added to UK Covid travel ban list” – Uh oh. Boris and Hancock have got the travel darts out again
- “The Spectator, the Co-op and cancel culture – a cautionary tale” – Fraser Nelson reveals what happened when the person who controlled Co-op’s Twitter account over-reacted to a few people telling the Co-op not to advertise in the Spectator
Theme Tunes Suggested by Readers
Just one today: “Instant Aura” by Rishi.
Love in the Time of Covid
We have created some Lockdown Sceptics Forums, including a dating forum called “Love in a Covid Climate” that has attracted a bit of attention. We have a team of moderators in place to remove spam and deal with the trolls, but sometimes it takes a little while so please bear with us. You have to register to use the Forums, but that should just be a one-time thing. Any problems, email the Lockdown Sceptics webmaster Ian Rons here.
Woke Gobbledegook
We’ve decided to create a permanent slot down here for woke gobbledegook. Today is the turn of Harry and Meghan – or “Woko Ono”, as she’s known to Harry’s exasperated friends. On Tuesday, the couple formerly known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex urged US voters to reject Trump hate in the forthcoming US Presidential election. The BBC has more.
“As we approach this November, it’s vital that we reject hate speech, misinformation and online negativity,” the Duke said as he sat on a bench alongside Meghan.
He also reminded Americans to be discerning in the content they consumed online.
“When the bad outweighs the good, for many, whether we realise it or not, it erodes our ability to have compassion and our ability to put ourself in someone else’s shoes,” he said.
“Because when one person buys into negativity online, the effects are felt exponentially. It’s time to not only reflect, but act.”
100%, copper-bottomed gobbledegook.
“Mask Exempt” Lanyards
We’ve created a one-stop shop down here for people who want to buy (or make) a “Mask Exempt” lanyard/card. You can print out and laminate a fairly standard one for free here and it has the advantage of not explicitly claiming you have a disability. But if you have no qualms about that (or you are disabled), you can buy a lanyard from Amazon saying you do have a disability/medical exemption here (takes a while to arrive). The Government has instructions on how to download an official “Mask Exempt” notice to put on your phone here. You can get a “Hidden Disability” tag from ebay here and an “exempt” card with lanyard for just £1.99 from Etsy here. And, finally, if you feel obliged to wear a mask but want to signal your disapproval of having to do so, you can get a “sexy world” mask with the Swedish flag on it here.
Don’t forget to sign the petition on the UK Government’s petitions website calling for an end to mandatory face nappies in shops here.
A reader has started a website that contains some useful guidance about how you can claim legal exemption.
And here’s a round-up of the scientific evidence on the effectiveness of mask (threadbare at best).
The Care Home Scandal – A Call For Evidence
Lockdown Sceptics has asked an award-winning investigative journalist, David Rose, to investigate the high death toll in Britain’s care homes. Did 20,000+ elderly people really die of COVID-19 between March and July or were many of them just collateral lockdown damage? With lots of care homes short-staffed because employees were self-isolating at home, and with relatives and partners unable to visit to check up on their loved ones because of restrictions, how many elderly residents died of neglect, not Covid? How many succumbed to other conditions, untreated because they weren’t able to access hospitals or their local GP? After doctors were told by care home managers that the cause of death of a deceased resident was “novel coronavirus”, how many bothered to check before signing the death certificate? The risk of doctors misdiagnosing the cause of death is particularly high, given that various safeguards to minimise the risk of that happening were suspended in March.
David Rose would like Lockdown Sceptics readers to share any information they have that could help in this investigation. Here is his request:
We are receiving reports that some residents of care homes who died from causes other than Covid may have had their deaths ascribed to it – even though they never had the disease at all, and never tested positive. Readers will already be familiar with the pioneering work by Carl Heneghan and his colleagues at the Oxford Centre for Evidence Based Medicine, which forced the Government to change its death toll counting method. Previously, it will be recalled, people who died of, say, a road accident, were being counted as Covid deaths if they had tested positive at any time, perhaps months earlier. But here we are talking of something different – Covid “deaths” among people who never had the virus at all.
In one case, where a family is deciding whether to grant permission for Lockdown Sceptics to publicise it, an elderly lady in reasonable health was locked in her room for many hours each day in a care home on the south coast, refused all visitors, deprived of contact with other residents, and eventually went on hunger strike, refusing even to drink water. She died in the most wretched circumstances which were only indirectly a product of the virus – and yet, her death certificate reportedly claims she had Covid.
I’m looking for further examples of 1) elderly people who died as a result of the lockdown and associated measures, but whose deaths were wrongly attributed to “novel coronavirus”, and 2) those elderly people who clearly died from other causes but whose deaths were still formally ascribed to Covid because they once tested positive for it, even after the counting method change.
If you have relevant information, please email Lockdown Sceptics or David directly on david@davidroseuk.com.
Samaritans
If you are struggling to cope, please call Samaritans for free on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@samaritans.org or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch. Samaritans is available round the clock, every single day of the year, providing a safe place for anyone struggling to cope, whoever they are, however they feel, whatever life has done to them.
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. Doing these daily updates is hard work (although we have help from lots of people, mainly in the form of readers sending us stories and links). If you feel like donating, please click here. And if you want to flag up any stories or links we should include in future updates, email us here.
And Finally…
One of the few bright spots in the last six months has been the comic videos of Andrew Lawrence. Not only is Andrew scathingly sceptical and heretically un-woke, he’s also very funny. This is his take on the news that Sir Patrick Vallance has a £600,000 shareholding in GlaxoSmithKline. Conspiracy theorists will love it…
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Lets just recognise that among healthy under 80s this stupid virus has killed a mere 1900 or so people in the UK across the whole multi-month period since it began. The damage this govrnment have done in the name of “saving” people is beyond belief. And now this masks rubbish, what could be more of a step backwards towards re-legitimising the ioditic fears which 24/7 BBC propaganda has drummed in to the population. Furthermore, bloody Boris has politicised the mask situation utterly. If they’d kept it as “advice” then people could have done it without “losing face”. But making it mandatory, what a way to make the population split, and split hard, in to “whingeing mask wearing coronanist zealot left-wingers” and “heartless granny killing right-wingers”, in the words of the opponents against each side.
Someone suggesting on BBC or MSM, I read it today but can’t find it again to quote here, that mask wearing should be compulsory until daily positive tests fall to 1 per million of population, this they low level they said can be classed as viral elimination! But will the economy be wiped out too by then?
Dear Lord, if that happens I will definitely just give up.
I wonder when people will realise they need to
STOP
GETTING
TESTED
False positives alone amount to 14.000 for 1 million tests at the PCR test’s admitted 1.4% failure rate even if the virus was completely eradicated.
Unless the herd can be made to think again, they have all the tools and will lock us in for good through them.
What alpha level have you selected for your analysis, Jay, and why? Michael Gove insists that a knowledge of inferential statistics is a pre-requisite of making any valid statement these days.
Yes, I’m surprised too, given that he has previously disdained expertise, but I’m glad he’s seen the light at last!
What’s a slight worry is that he has rejected frequentist statistics in his recent Ditchley Lecture; these were devised in the 1930s by the eugenicists Fisher and Pearson who leftist academics are currently disparaging, and doing so could be construed as political correctness. I’ve written to him on this matter, so let’s see what he says.
A “positive test” is mostly someone who doesn’t even know they have it!
The official figure for Covid deaths is way overstated too. Two dozen in hospitals, over 100 in the community, none of the latter with a proper post-mortem. These may not even be dying with Covid, simply having tested positive some time previously. Why is no- one actually asking questions?
One has to wonder if the masks thing is deliberately to undo all the progress towards economic restoration we’ve made during the easing. When one wishes to show people that it is safe, among the non-frail you are much more likely to die in a car crash on the way to town than from covid (even if you catch it), you don’t add restrictions. What a way to ramp fear back up for the sheeple. I’m starting to be unsure if something more sinister than government incompetence is to blame, if extending the chaos forever is Boris’s goal.
I said it in April but it bears repeating: Boris is merely following international orders. The only question being who’s issuing them. As always: follow the money.
China look at his decision regarding Huawei
About compulsory face masks:
Seems to me that if face masks are compulsory in shops, then maybe they should be provided for free.
About apocalyptic warnings:
As i have been predicting for a while now, whether the virus actually returns or not, the government will lock us down again. I expect a lockdown starting from September-November, lasting until at least April. The pieces coming out now (as is the piece quoted here) are meant to place the population in a state of panic that will make them eager to accept any and all restrictions dictated by the government. But more importantly, due to this general panic, the population will do the dirty work of silencing dissent from within. A video from a few months ago comes to mind, of a woman working on a farm proudly recalling how she verbally abused someone walking their dog on a public footpath running through the middle of a deserted, open field. She motivated this by citing her fear for her life. So be prepared for: “How dare you say that when millions have died!?”
About Twitter spats:
It’s fascinating how people think that writing an emotional response laced with pop science “factoids” constitutes a legitimate and reasoned rebuttal. This alarmist movement formed around this virus is very, very similar to climate change activists. I wouldn’t be surprised if the same playbook is being used.
Free masks… But if you don’t provide one yourself how can you ensure it has “Defend Freedom, Follow Sweden” written on the front?
Masks should most definitely be free now, they should also most definitely not be doing this.
I can’t even comprehend the sheer waste of resources this is. All these years I’ve been happily recycling away and trying to be economical with things and here they are mandating we plough through 68,000,000 non reusable masks a day now, for no good reason.
For those who’ve been claiming this is some sort of green coup up to now, if it wasn’t obvious enough before, it should be now: this is no ‘green agenda’ plot. The green agenda has gone fully out the window now, I can’t be taking anything they say on the environment seriously at all after these various mask laws being made around the world.
The government can force us to pay for masks via taxation, the government cannot make masks free.
Simon Dolan said on Twitter that the gov had ordered 28 Billion items of PPE.
For which I have one word: landfill….
The government have never been intrested in the green agenda.it was just a vehicle to exercise control and provide cover for extra taxation.They have found a much better one now.
That much is now very clear indeed
In France free masks were distributed by the government. Yet it’s up to shopowners to impose wearing them in the shop or not. They are only mandatory in public transport…I just hope they won’t be following the british example…
Nothing is free, the French already paid for these items through taxation.
Yes, and add in all the extra diesel from the home delivery vans, not just Amazon
The same play book IS being used.
Please everyone let me know if you are interested in making a donation for my initial pre-launch expenses for my case. If enough are then I’ll set up a fundraiser. Thanks
The exact same playbook is being used for both Green and Lockdown. Green has nothing to do with the planet and lockdown has nothing to do with covid19 – they are both excuses for tyranny.
Here is a simple explanation of how greenhouse gases cannot heat the planet https://www.beautyandthebeastlytruth.com/
and here is the background, to see what it’s really about
https://www.beautyandthebeastlytruth.com/the-conflict-of-ideas
https://www.beautyandthebeastlytruth.com/transfer-of-wealth
which is the transfer of wealth from the grass roots to the super-wealthy, precisely the effect that buying everything through Amazon has.
To the last point, deliberate agenda or accidental side effect, I no longer care. Online now has my custom and as that inevitably means Amazon will be the largest beneficiary of my spending, so be it.
We can’t take responsibility for everything, Matt, but I think we should at least try to use local businesses. Many do delivery and are using local WhatsApp and other ways to advertise what they do.
And I will make an effort to continue to use local and smaller businesses where sensible, but the honest truth is that Amazon is always going to end up being the fall back. The reason that it’s such an efficient vehicle for channelling money to Jeff Bezos is that it works.
THEY are all in this together.
Try not to use Amazon – there are many really good local businesses that deliver and have excellent websites – or you can order over the phone & pick up a box from their shop. No mask needed.
I’m going to do a mahoosive dry goods shop before the 24th July and then use the local market and small grocers for everything else. It’s not wholly practical, but it’s how my mum did it in the 70s – everyone did.
I will be buying no clothes, shoes, books, stuff for a long, long time. Recycle, reuse, pass on.
That will be good for our souls….
See my comment to Matt: I’m combining regular visits to my local zero waste shop for dry goods and refills, and the local green grocer’s with Amazon orders, but I’ll need my exemption badge for the latter 2 if attitudes harden here.
And it’s made really hard if you now have no job – like me – and mouths to feed.
The luxury of farm veg boxes & the like is way out of my budget but the local market is pretty good – and hey, what else would I be doing with this new found idleness (after 3 decades of being employed) except budget cooking experiments!
If you have a zero waste shop nearby ,you could make some real savings.
Ours sells everything from cereals to nuts, sugar, herbs, vinegar,seeds , lentils, soup mix and more.
it’s possible to buy just one small scoop at a time-I do this regularly-and paper bags are used.
I do hope you’ll be able to find one.
Hope this doesn’t sound trite, but my income is small and veg boxes are beyond my budget as well.
I guess it depends on local business rates. my Zero Waste store is far more expensive than the local health food shop and various wholefoods online. Bread flour is hideously more expensive
That’s a shame Bella; makes zero waste a bit pointless doesn’t it? Another council clobbering small concerns with hefty business rates.
Ours is still very good value for dried stuff and refills, but I’ll keep an eye on prices.
Zero is a very popular word these days. Zero road accidents, Zero deficit (that’ll be the day), Zero cancer deaths, Zero sugar, etc. When I was in the U.S. Army in 1968 the styrofoam cups that we drank from had the phrase ‘Zero Defects’ printed on them.
It will soon be Zero Thinking if this carries on, and Zero Freedom
Zero defects sounds awfully eugenicist!
When feeding growing family on a limited budget I found that mince and chicken wings/thighs made some brilliant food cheaply – some good cheap cookbooks (and internet recipes) out there.
I will admit buying the sauces and spices seemed a bit pricey at the start but once bought they lasted for ages so per meal were reasonable.
Fed my lot for years when I was struggling.
Wendy, I believe you’re in Scotland (as am I) – there’s no (current) requirement to wear an ‘exemption badge’. So, unless such time as it’s mandated by law, just don’t do it. And part of me is wondering if a compulsory ‘exemption badge’ will be in the form of a yellow Star of David…
Food for thought. Thank you;
Same here; Amazon Prime is a life line in these crazy dysfunctional times.
Yes. Saves me a fortune a year – for half the price of a tv licence!
Try not to use any of the tech platforms if you want to support your local businesses – they take a big chunk of your money leaving the local business barely able to cover its costs. Pick up the phone instead – you’ll get to talk to a human being and 100% of your money will go to them.
I would donate.
Yeah, will probably donate.
I’ll donate.
I’ll be glad to donate.
“Despite this evidence, a group called “masks4all”, which was founded by a “young leader” of the World Economic Forum (WEF) Davos, is advocating worldwide mask requirements. Several governments and the WHO appear to be responding to this campaign”
And it’s British counterpart masks4all.org.uk.
Take a look at makeup and aims of each group and , it ain’t about masks…..
What a creepy website that is!
It is weird, yes! Though the Czech Republic, where it started has largely lost interest.
Free? Free? You want companies to make masks and give them away for free? And for DHL to deliver them for free? Big ask.
I think we may see some more local lockdowns, to remind people it can be done, but I don’t think we will see another long-term national lockdown, because even our unspeakable government will eventually want to be re-elected and will want to have some money to spray around – a national lockdown will cost them too much.
No, I think they are already angling for it with their threats of second waves worse than the first one. I predict October as that’s what they have already stated.
The more they try lockdowns with less and less justification the more people will find ways of flouting them. Anger is palpable in Melbourne and I’m noticing people just about every day doing what I’m pretty sure are against the rules, whereas before it was perhaps once a week at best. There were 88 fines issued in just 24 hours, though where they think unemployed depressed people will be getting money from to pay unjust fines I have no idea. I can honestly see class actions being brought against governments in some places. People do have a breaking point, and I think it is being reached, though not as quickly as I’d like.
Half a million deaths in several months from a minor virus when in a typical year close to 60 million die globally from all causes. Perhaps pointing that out might make the hysterics think.
JD Sports will provide one for customers who are without – but staff aren’t mandated to enforce their use. Sounds like a win-win setup.
I never visit that shop anyway.
One other point, 5.3K cases in the UK right now (assumed). For a individual that shwos just how pathetically small the risk of meeting an infectious person is, let alone the risk of actually catching it from such a person. For the country as a whole though the situation, were it not for political mismanagement and disastrous lockdowns would be even stronger. That cases have reduced to 530 (known) infections per day, and are continuing to drop, shows that something is stopping this virus. And as similar things are happeneing in every country which the virus took widespread hold in at about the same time as it entered Britain, it is pretty clear that what is stopping the virus is not a result of national policies. Somehow, against all predictions this virus is wiping itself out, whether it is early herd immunity, immunological “dark matter”, or something else, the disease is dying. All the zealots had better say their tender goodbyes and start writing eulogies for that packet of enveloepd RNA which did so much to further their foul authoritarian causes.
Why is it that when a flock of geese panic over a plastic bag blowing in the wind which looks a little like a predator they snap out of it in 4 seconds, but mankind, for all our supposed sophistication, takes 4 months and still hasn’t regained sanity.
And what a way to scare the sheep away from “eat out to help out” too. this government clearly wants to go backwards in to lockdown again, and are trying to build up the fear so they can do so.
P.S. terrifying warning about threats to our right to spend cash, the arm of G4S which deals with refilling cash machines and handling boxes for banks is planning mass sackings
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/jul/13/g4s-planning-more-than-1000-job-losses-in-cash-handling-services
though I’m sure the hired thuggery arm of the company will do just fine in a sinister “new normal” world
“It’s as if the Government is determined to destroy the high street.”
That’s exactly what they want to do. Wipe out small businesses and force all shopping online. There are no accidents -they know exactly what they are doing.
Well, it may be true that they wish to wipe out small businesses (to help their friends/donors, of course), BUT, I seriously questionw whether they know exactly (or even approximately) what they are doing!
Well they voted to change the IR35 rules next April, instead of abolishing them as idiotic socialist envy. It affects lots of people including those in the media, pharmicists, vets, in fact anyone who sells their expertise as time and materials.
They are not Conservative. They are Consolidationists. Everything will be wrapped up in big business, which itself will be over-regulated. Except banks of course.
This muzzling by force of the law is only bettered in the terror stakes by the fact that millions of people have actively been clamouring for it.
Their number may include people who you love or your colleagues, neighbours and acquaintances. Regardless, they have all been singing from the same hymn sheet.
“Dehumanise us, Boris” they plead. “Take away our freedoms, agency and dignity. Point us towards the blessed, risk-free pastures of safety, where society can be robustly micro-managed even when facing the perfectly natural, inevitable phenomenon of novel viruses.”
As the contents of Pandora’s box spill over into society, it can’t be stressed enough how damaging this decision will be for community spirit and the wider mental health of the nation. An army of feral muzzealots will patrol every supermarket, high street shop and department store.
Hostility and rancour will greet every non-comformist to the New Abnormal – not being a part of the muzzled flock will become the new parking in a disabled bay without a blue badge, or smoking while pregnant. The epitome of selfishness. Store managers will be badgered by hectoring members of this new cult, “there’s a man in the loo roll aisle not wearing a mask. What are YOU doing to do about it? He’s killing us all!”
It’s not too had to imagine a scenario where police are barging past the new legion of muzzled shoplifters (who have just had all of their Christmases rolled into one by this announcement) to forcibly eject and fine those not wearing masks without a good reason to do so.
This is the England that Boris has created for us now. Remember that when you’re next at the ballot box.
Looks like it needs to be Shelf Stripping Thursday next week.
Yes. Next time, let’s all vote for that other party that wouldn’t have done any of this stuff.
Exactly. As I observed yesterday when I was back at work confirmed what I’ve thought all along – that many people have been brainwashed by the relentless government and MSM propaganda and don’t seem to mind that they have lost their civil liberties and don’t see anything wrong with the likes of test and trace.
And yet there are people cheering Boris on, praising his handling of the scamdemic, its sickening that so many cannot see what is happening under their moses. I’ll be shopping less from now on, far from encouraging me to go out and spend spend spend I’ll be doing the opposite. Boris and his band of fascists have totally fxxxed the country.
Bella D, they don’t care what’s happening under their noses, that’s what’s sickening. They really don’t. People are wilfully stupid and are too idle to be any other way. This forum is a safe haven, out there (say on Twitter) I would get massacred. The current crop of vox populi wouldn’t have massed forces against Hitler, they would have joined him
Unfortunately the opposition backs this so the next ballot box (if indeed we ever have one) is irrelevant. But also if, as you say, the majority of this country are ‘feral muzzealots’ then they’ll vote for more of the same. I’d suggest an uprising, but we’d probably lose. Most care not a jot about freedom. Still it’d be a cleansing of sorts.
Excellent Scotty87 – except for the last paragraph. Focusing on the next election <> useful. Fixing things now more important.
I wouldn’t wait for the next ballot box if I were you, the damage done might be irreversible by then.
Ballot box? What makes you think there is ever going to be an election again?
Otherwise agree with every word.
If we don’t rise up somehow we condemn our children to a lifetime of absolute misery.. I don’t have kids but we owe it to the young ‘uns.
Do not wait until the next ballot box. It will be too late.
“It’s as if the Government is determined to destroy the high street.”
Good grief !
Toby Young finally gets it ?
MG
But why?
There are two possible answers, Annie.
One that it’s chaos and stupidity – the other that it’s planned and deliberate and part of an agenda to destroy private enterprise and basic western civilization. It’s very difficult to find another possibility. The concept that it is planned and deliberate is very difficult to get one’s head around, because it’s against everything we ever understood about the society that we live in.
The former.
Couldn’t disagree more. The latter. No-one’s that stupid. Remember The Cultural Revolution?
You obviously have a higher opinion of Joe Bloggs than I do Bella. There are many people who are indeed just that stupid. A great many go into politics.
It’s important to remember that it is not just the UK either, but that means the idea of some global conspiracy, that some assert, is on very shaky grounds as by no means every country is doing the same things.
The muzzle directive is a simple way to explain how the second wave failed to kill the 120,000 and how clever the GOV was. Simple smokescreen for failure. Yet millions think this is great. I now hate almost everyone I once liked. Will (un) happily starve to death. Can no longer frequent the independent shops I support and will not be forced to shop at the big chains that deliver. Begging for food on the street seems my only option.
open air markets find one use it,
Bro, go to Asda they won’t say a word about you not wearing a mask. If challenged by some government stooge in a uniform just lie to them that you’re medically exempt. I know it’s shit to lie but fuck it.
I live in the Scotland Highlands and yesterday went to Lidl and didn’t bother with a mask. Admittedly it was very quiet and but the staff were really friendly and didn’t give me a hard time or even comment that I wasn’t wearing a mask. Depressingly, however, I was the only customer choosing not to wear one. They’ll get all my custom from now on.
Speaking to someone the other day, she said that she tried wearing a mask but ended up having a panic attack. She’s now also extremely anxious about being verbally attacked/abused if she doesn’t wear one.
You don’t even have to lie. Print off this tfl card, carry it with you and say wearing a mass causes you sever anxiety. It does, doesn’t it? I know it causes me distress. http://content.tfl.gov.uk/face-covering-exemption-card.pdf
Markets around here are all undercover! So starving it is.
You can support small independents who do online. My friend in North Yorks discovered a wonderful farm in Wales and gets her meat delivered from them now. Lovely meat, very reasonably priced (it’s pastured organic).
My freezer isn’t big enough to take a month’s meat but I get weekly delivery of fabulous Guernsey milk and butter from Abel and Cole, supporting another small farm.
My local farm shop now does an online pickup or delivery service. I haven’t tried it yet but will see how the mask situation works out.
Yes they want you to use the likes of Amazon but the alternatives are many. One of our veg shops not only delivers fruit and veg but will collect from the butcher and supermarket to deliver to the old folks. Some of the farm shops too, and for years I have had a weekly fish delivery.
So that all spending is by card and can be tracked and correlated.
Then they can say “you have spent more than you declared to the tax man, you’re nicked” or it will become rationing “you have had too much alcohol/fatty food/takeaways etc no more, card stopped”.
Or if you really get on the shit list your account cancelled for good – how do you prove you had “money” in the account if the computer records show it never existed?
Part of the Agenda 2030 new green zero carbon green utopia.
You need to read what it means, not what it says.
https://unsdg.un.org/2030-agenda
It started a this then a sit was running behind schedule and missed the 2021 target it became agenda 2030:
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/outcomedocuments/agenda21
Yes!
I keep telling people to use cash whenever possible. I spotted early on that online shopping reduces the need for cash. They’ve been pushing for a cashless society for decades now.
Now, I refuse to use shops and cafes that want card payments only. Online, unfortunately there’s no choice.
I started using my card in the local shops where I previously used cash, because they asked us to and I like them.
As a result my card was blocked for “suspected fraud”. I explained what I was doing and why (and obviously thousands all over the country must be doing the same). They blocked the card AGAIN. You can be Disappeared on their whim.
Annie, part of the mission statement of masks4all.org.uk.
“Stay at home! Wearing masks shouldn’t make you go outside of your house more than necessary. All the official guidelines still apply.”
One of the founders is a ‘digital activist using her background in digital marketing to campaign for real societal and political change’
Again, nothing to do with masks.
Very much agree with you. I like a tin box full of cash…essence of a free society! Though I dont think I would do that if I still lived in my old Manchester city. Burglary capital of the UK!
I saw an XR slogan on the back of a sign recently which said, ‘ We refuse to go back to normal. Normal was the problem.’
My thought was fine get left behind when everyone currently on the corona band wagon gets bored or fed up or whatever and just goes back to normal whether authorities want it or not – and it will happen, I’m seeing signs of it already.
I think that’s the best we can hope for, that there is mass civil disobedience, but it really worries me how many people are seemingly happy to go along with whatever the Government tells them to do. Once your freedoms have been taken away, it’s very difficult to get them back again.
One of the odd things I’ve noticed amongst proponents of masks and lockdown, both with ordinary members of public and scientists/medical types like the guy challenging Toby, is they tend to not apply scientific challenge equally.
Scenario A: A study shows we _might_ have more deaths if virus turns out to be airborne on aerosols. Virus _might_ be just that.
These people: ‘See!! Look how dangerous this is! Masks are needed!’
Scenario B: Study (and overwhelming real world experience) shows virus not as lethal as first predicted. Schools not a source.
These people: We don’t know that with 100% certainty, keep everything shut, and would someone shut up the journalists reporting this study it might kill people.
I honestly don’t know how they can look themselves in the mirror, they’re getting a kick out of preaching safety safety whilst hysterically clamouring to attach themselves to all the doomsday scenario predictions as a matter of pride.
And they cause copious pain suffering and death in the process.
Yep, I can only assume they genuinely have no idea what they’re doing to many many peoples mental state as well.
I’ve never been a depressed or angry person, never been in a fight in my life in fact, but honestly for the last couple of months I can barely go a few minutes without wondering either what the fucking point is anymore or why isn’t there a mass protest where we’re all defending ourselves?
Yeah I really hope the British people pull themselves together and start resisting what is now so obviously tyranny.
because most of the British people have suffered a state education are stupid as fuck. It’s down to you to make a stand. I don’t wear the mask, never will and welcome any fucker to challenge me. None do though because not only are they dumb all over they’re also cowards.
Where is our equivalent of BLM protests outside whitehall? these removal of basic civil liberties impact all free thinking self sufficient human beings and yet there is no mass organisation of rebellion, there is apathy and acceptance
I’m with you on that one… was so depressed last night hearing the news…it just seems one car crash after another and no way out. Masks will be here to stay and will be normalised. What have we become…
We have become a flock of mindless sheep, bleating “Keep us saaaafe! Keep us saaaafe! Take away all our freedom and our dignity but keep us saaafe!”
Not here to stay. Will not be normalised. Doing one tiny tiny thing to fix it is better than grumbling / being pessimistic.
(They make these announcements late at night just to catch people when they are tired, and less confident and positive.). More SPI-B shit.
Good point!
I know how you feel. Your comment mirrored my state of mind exactly. I even had my mother telling me today that I am in the wrong for disagreeing with this. Dad was saying how he went to a pub where they took your temperature and some poor girl was turned away for being too high. My response, ‘how terrible’ mum’s ‘that’s how it should be’. Apparently girl walked up and down street for ten minutes before her temperature had dropped and she was allowed in. What are we coming to.
I get angry more than depressed….especially at the BBC’s relentless propaganda about the so called black death.
I’ve started pointing out that it’s actually genocide.
Yes Pol Pot Johnson.
Well said. I’ve observed two types of lockdownistas:
I’ve realised that its like General Custer’s last stand when trying to reason with these lot. The only thing I think will make these people wake up is when they’re hit in the pocket and stomach – the millenials by losing their jobs and having to sign up to go on the dole as it will get harder and harder to find new jobs and the upper MC and MC Karens and Kevins by being hit with tax raids on their pensions.
Being hit in the throat or the balls might wake them up too.
Indeed.
A lot of number 1 are living with parents from number 2 and don’t wanna work. They get extra spending money from Uncle Sam in my country and are ignorant enough to think this can last forever.
And they yell at hairdressers on FB worried about feeding kids and homelessness telling them to “cancel the yacht payments.” Seriously. They love trolling I notice.
They think they can go back to their barista jobs and hipster lifestyles after a nice, long 2 year “staycation.” No sympathy from me when they can’t.
Well said. And they think too that they can be cushioned by the bank of mum and dad (plus bank of grandparents) so they lack sympathy with people who have been hit badly by this. Its repulsive and grotesque.
I very much agree with your categories and can think of people I know in each. I think its the end of any links with these people. They now hate me anyway so f___ to them.
They were based from my very unscientific observation of people I know and its been illuminating how daylight has seeped into magic with them (apologies to Walter Bagheot)
The issue is also that they read a paper and say a study shows. No it doesn’t. It puts forward only a suggestion within the bounds/assumptions of its arguments. That is a long way from doing anything.
And it’s a very long very from being something that can be applied to the real world.
I did my PhD in Physics. In the field I was in we’d often see papers where someone would do an experiment and claim certain things. Even with real data, you’d still be sceptical unless it could be repeated. When it came to “studies” – you’d shake your head and laugh.
But you see in the soft sciences, studies and associations are all you have. It can work when the source data is robust and has low noise, but in observational fields this rarely happens.
And now with Post-Normal science and agendas, this hypothetical mishmash is taken to be fact and “evidence”
Climate science has been doing this bait-and-switch for many years, also using the “peer reviewed means that it is correct” horseshit.
Repeatibility, testing something and always trying to break it and seeing it still work, being conservative in your estimates of precision and applicabilty. Basically good engineering. These are what make things correct and true. Experience and common sense.
Not abstract ideas.
What we have in government are sycophants of Theoretical Science. The ivory tower stuff that never has to get itself dirty in the real world, and hence then becomes the controller of the real world without seeing the contradiction.
SAGE needs to be disbanded, Ferguson and like need to be asset stripped for breaches of ethics in science.
Thanks for this insight from someone more informed on processes, reassuring to know some scientist types are a bit despairing too
Dietary “science” especially. Several competent doctors like Michael Eades and Richard Bernstein were trained engineers. Many “scientists” not so much
“The bridge fell down!”
“Build another one exactly the same, it’ll stay up next time!”
never happens
I see Trish Greenhalgh proudly declares her support for BLM…
Her ? I thought he was a bloke ?
Yes they do not have clue one about important things like the Farr curve, whcih the virus has basically followed.
There have been days with zero deaths in Scotland and Wales and as Toby pointed out Egland will soon follow suit
https://www.cebm.net/covid-19/covid-19-death-data-in-england-daily-update/
nearly there, look at all the hospital trusts reporting no deaths. Not part of the Agenda so not in the MSM.
Since hardly anyone has it who are you going to catch it from?
Despite knowing for months how bad this situation is and that we now live in tyranny it still deeply hurts to see each step play out. Feeling really depressed today. My children still sleeping so sweet and innocent do not deserve the evil world these tyrants and all those complicit fools are creating.
Every day the situation looks worse. I’m in tears for our children.
Regarding the comparison between the Green Agenda and this, they are the same thing, because Green was always a cover for tyranny and never about its apparent aims.
Regarding facemasks, is this 100% or are people with anxiety conditions or asthma or lung disease exempt?
They are still thankfully. I have an exemption badge which I use for public transport and will use it to go to the supermarket. I have been boycotting the High Street since 4 July and this won’t alter my stance.
Bart, there’s no legal requirement to wear an ‘exemption badge’, at least not here in Scotland, and not yet. Making it a statutory requirement would be a bit too akin to yellow Stars of David in 1930s Germany, and I think the PTB are wary of the optics of that. For the moment anyway. So, don’t wear your badge, simply state that you are exempt – you’ve no legal obligation to prove it, again for the moment,
Thanks for that. Will carry it with me but thankfully I’ve not been challenged yet and have not been confronted by transport staff or police.
One very tiny ray of hope – my Mum was officially told at the doctors this morning that she didn’t have to wear her mask as it was a danger to her health! She has pulmonary hypertension.
The downside is my Mum still doesn’t want to go out, as she thinks people will question her not wearing a mask. I have to test the water – so to speak – on the grounds of my hearing loss. We’ll see – first trip to the Co-op is tomorrow.
Your mum would benefit from an exemption badge.
The Green Terror was always about tyranny. Dr Parick Moore one of the founders of Greenpeace saw the way the wind was blowing four decades ago and left the organisation. See any of his videos on you tube or read J Delingpole ‘Watermelons’.
It is. It’s evil.
We must resist. At the very least, start a campaign – make badges, make posters, even spray graffiti if that’s your thing.
As for the police rushing round imposing fines – they haven’t the manpower, fir starters.
I shall not be going into any shops at all unless it’s that or starve. I shall click and collect if it’s humanly possible, buy from roadside booths, buy online, anything.
Oh God, how did we become such miserable slaves? What’s WRONG with people who were normal five months ago?
PS. Amazon do groceries. I used to think that was bad, now it may be a life-saver.
I’ve just ordered some groceries from Amazon Annie. Next day delivery.
don’t buy from Amazon these people hate you, treat their workers like slaves and you buying from them is equally as disgusting as they are. I would rather starve and buy from fucking Amazon. Get down the shops without mask and stop hiding. Time to stand up for freedom. Don’t just leave it to folk like me
You’re right, Biker, and yet the sheer horror of it overcomes me … I must try to be as strong as you are.
Like James Brown sang “i feel good” when i go out without my mask. You could too.
I’m using 2 local shops as well;see above.
Also learned that Deliveroo also do grocery deliveries too.
There are many shades of normal. Some are more vulnerable to attack than others, some more robust and impenetrable than others. Fifty shades of Normal.
Lots of civil disobedience is the answer. If they try another lockdown where I live I know that will happen. Few of us wear masks anywhere but medical settings. And I’ve heard nurses and doctors grumbling about them.
People were probably always like this. Most people have a herd mentality and pretend they are individuals. They are nothing of the sort. There are a small minority of independent thinkers who do not have the herd mentality gene. I have always known I was one of the latter but sadly no one else I know in my circle is. I am increasingly viewed with hostility and suspicion. People like us will be first in the queue for the Gulags.
You are not alone, STD. I’ve just brought a daughter into this crazy world, and have two kids under 5. My 4 year old lad draws “germs,” he builds “germs” with his Lego, he’s been separated from his school friends for 3 months and still talks about them incessantly.
It’s heartbreaking but he is fortunately in a household full of love for him and his siblings. I can only dread to think of the mental and physical harm coming to those children who aren’t so lucky.
Get him out on as many play dates as you can, Scotty. He’ll benefit from it and apart from anything else, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the number of other parents whose tend towards the sceptical, or are at least open to having the fear narrative challenged.
No like-minded parents whose kids he could play with, Scotty ?
I’m so glad we don’t have any young children I don’t know what I’d do! What kind of dystopian future is in store for them. I fkin hate Boris Johnson and Matt Hancock, I’m also in including Dominic Cummings because I think he has had a detrimental effect on the ‘ science’ we hear so much about.
Stick to what you know and blame only the people in charge.
Cummings is a convenient fall guy for Boris. Don’t let Boris off.
Is he your mate John ? Else he’s Johnson.
Actually I’m feeling a bit more cheerful now after the initial shock last night that they’d actually gone and done it. We now know who the enemy is. The battle lines are clear.
I hope to see these tyrants and traitors on trial for their lives when this is all over. They need to be told now that “I was only obeying orders” will be be no more acceptable than it was at Nuremberg.
Lawful rebellion rears its head. A tyranny is being cemented in place over us and it is every freeborn Englishman’s duty to do everything he can to frustrate it.
So one silver lining here. Does this mean senior members of government may be starting to disagree with policy? (After Gove on marr) Surely any proper conservatives in gov would be shocked at what their party is becoming?
It’s hard to credit that anybody with an ounce of ‘Conservative’ blood would want this. Are they all so utterly rotten, so entirely corrupt? Was the foulness always there, just kept in check by the weight of a thousand years of painful progress towards freedom?
The foulness has always been there in Conservative politicians yes, in many ways. There’s often a huge difference in what Conservative voting friends stand for and think they’re voting for and what gets delivered and what the MPs stand for – usually just themselves and maybe their mates, and their continued hold on power.
I fear that the answers are all Yes.
What did Gove say on Marr, please)
He said masks should not be mandatory and that we should trust people’s judgement. Apparently, it took 24 hours for his view to be dismissed
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/video/2020/jul/12/face-masks-should-not-be-mandatory-in-shops-says-michael-gove-video
(Guardian, sorry, but the first link I found)
So who is in charge here, do you think? Who is making the actual decisions? How do you understand this?
Well, I’m having one of those days where I’m struggling to cling to the belief that this is about incompetent government rather than an agenda, but as I’m just about holding o at this point, I’ll say the government is being led by the ring through its nose by the media.
Understood. It hurts one’s brains to force it to accept that the government not the media is running the show. But what the relative power is of Boris, Cummings, Gove or Neil Ferguson (ie of his financial backer, Bill Gates) is hard to make out. My guess is that Bill Gates is effectively in charge, fwiw
Gates is a puppet figurehead, for big pharma and the USA alphabets.
He’s the nutjob with the dosh!
The media and especially social media and twitter. Twitter basically has swallowed the media whole, and it’s a platform full to the rim with psychopaths.
BORIS JOHNSON
THE PRIME MINISTER
Gove is (or was) apparently quite pally with James Delingpole who is a sceptic and friend of Tobys.
I get the impression that Gove was signalling dissent from government policy.
If and when the shit really hits the fan he can say he was against it and maybe mount a leadership challenge.
Gove is a very slippery character. He never gives a straight answer to a question. He’s intelligent and a real snake. I wouldn’t trust him as far as I could throw him.
No paywall, no problem.Thanks.
Depends how far down this rabbit hole they’re prepared to let things go before they stick the knife in.
Tyranny.
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2006372. Note the second paragraph.
This will soon resemble the Salem Witch Trials: mob behaviour will increasingly focus on dissenters and whip up accusatory pile ons and ostracism.
We’ve already watched, with alarm, as the cancel culture takes hold; just wait now for people like us to be silenced.
Online shopping for me now, so one customer less in our impoverished high street- already struggling and increasingly run down.
The exemption badge which I ordered a week ago, will not be delivered until the weekend: increasing demand has caused a back log.
What does this tell us?
Since the diktats issued by the Holyrood Headbangers are replete with exclusions and inconsistencies, including the exemption criteria, what will the consequences be?
This , to me, reflects the managerialism and lock of conviction resorted to by administrations run by arrogant technocrats obsessed with dodging the responsibility bullet and running scared of the MSM’s denunciations.
So, we voted to leave the EU’s hegemony, only to find ourselves reduced to panicky, compliant mask mannikins with basic freedoms steadily curtailed.
I’m beginning to dread going out now, and shall rely on very early walks to maintain a semblance of sanity in this Stepford world.
It’s awful and I see no resumption of normal life for the foreseeable future.
As to plastic reduction and recycling; what a farce.
Before the covoid derangement took over, Zero Waste Scotland decreed that recycling rates must increase, hence the decision to reduce household rubbish collections-now every 3 weeks- and supply a whole new range of recycling bins.
Each dwelling now has 4 bins instead of the previous 2; many homes do not have the requisite storage space, so pavements and public areas are now cluttered with unsightly bins which rapidly attract fly tipping and casual dumping by passers by.
Now we have an endless supply of discarded masks and gloves to add to our litter problem.
How did we come to this?
Should read -lack of conviction-para 7 in my jeremiad
We spent a lot of time laughing at ‘conspiracy theorists’.
Meaning?
Come on Wendy, it’s the afternoon already.
Last line of your post, I answered.
All through this insanity I have been going for a five or six mile walk with our dog at dawn everyday,it’s the only thing that has held me together.We go to the river in a beautiful peaceful valley south of our town,we never see anyone just wildlife.When I went this morning I was angry and upset about the masks issue my mind was in turmoil,when I got to the river I discovered that it seems work is about to start on a new road they are going to put across the valley and destroy it,I wasn’t expecting work to start until 2022.So it seems that I am about to have my one piece of quiet sanity taken from me now aswell.
I feel I am heading to despair now.
Yet another dispiriting example of the damage being done Paul.
So many comments now reflect people’s anger, frustration and alienation.
When I lived in Cornwall, a lovely old orchard, a refuge for many birds and rare creatures like slow worms was put up for sale.
Shortly after I moved away, a friend told me that despite concerted opposition, the sale had gone through, permission was granted for a large house to be built, and the whole orchard was dug up and destroyed .
Only one house. That’s very sad!
They;ll need the road for all the Amazon delivery vans.
Sympathies, so far we are lucky here to have plenty of places to walk and see wildlife. There was going to be a Big Meeting about the Town Plan but it was kyboshed by the lockdown so they may well start buiklding stuff without consultation.
We came to this by not hitting back at Public Health zealots telling us how to live. They are running the show now. It’s all about Health and collective rights. Another word for conformity in my opinion. Individual rights be damned.
Even with this ridiculous law, nobody needs to wear a mask who doesn’t want to. I’m guessing the exceptions will be exactly the same as for public transport. So any physical or mental illness covered under the 2010 equality act (which is a very broad spectrum) or if it causes you severe distress (very vague and can’t be proved)
I don’t believe any of the supermarkets or independent shops will care what you’re not wearing. It’s not down to them to enforce it. If you ever were challenged by the police just use the exceptions above. I don’t think they’ll be any law that says to have to prove it.
There are fines for loads of things littering, fly tipping, breaking the speed limit etc etc, it doesn’t stop them happening every day.
Bottom line to the government is. Fuck your face masks and fuck all your bullshit rules you inept bunch of tossers.
You restore my courage, bless you! Fuck ’em!
Nicely put.
In a nutshell!
I agree, except the zealots, the voluntary government enforcers, the snitchers, will be out to get you/us.
Thank god for this forum for turning me into the arch-sceptic I am today. Saw this obscene bit of fear porn on the BBC just now. It’s part of a report requested by Sir Patrick Vallance:
“The UK could see about 120,000 new coronavirus deaths in a second wave of infections this winter, scientists say.
Asked to model a “reasonable” worst-case scenario, they suggest a range between 24,500 and 251,000 of virus-related deaths in hospitals alone, peaking in January and February.”
The article itself is full of the usual coulds and maybes, but the really interesting question is, who is providing the report’s modelling? I downloaded all of the 80 page report by the Academy of Medical Sciences, and found the following in the acknowledgements:
“Dr Lilith Whittles, Research Associate, Imperial College London; Dr Marc Baguelin, Lecturer in Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Imperial College London and Associate
Professor, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine; Dr Edward Knock,
Research Associate, Imperial College London; Dr John Lees, MRC Centre GIDA
Research Fellow, Imperial College London; Dr Katy Gaythorpe, Research Fellow,
Imperial College London; Dr Robert Verity, MRC Research Fellow, Imperial College
London; Dr Lucy Okell, Lecturer/Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Research Fellow,
Imperial College London; and the kicker:
Professor Neil Ferguson OBE FMedSci, Vice-Dean
(Academic Development), Imperial College London, for their assistance with the COVID-
19 modelling.
That’s right. Professor Shag-a-Round’s dirty fingerprints are all over this thing. He never went away – he just backed into the shadows and continued his campaign of terrifying the government into making our lives even more insufferable!
Excellent research. HOW do we get Professor Ferguson’s involvement in this into the mainstream media? His lockdown-breaking for nooky purposes is widely known.
Toby: with your contacts, PLEASE could you get Ferguson’s fingerprints on another numbers scare-mongering report into the mainstream press?
God help up. Ferguson will be PRAYING for a quarter of a million dead over the winter to save his credibility. The man should be indicted for crimes against humanity.
We could get that out during my case.
Please everyone let me know if you are interested in making a donation for my initial pre-launch expenses for my case. If enough are then I’ll set up a fundraiser. Thanks
I would definitely donate to an action relating to compulsory masking, even though I’m in Scotland and a judgement would only relate to England. Scottish judiciary are so corrupt and in the pockets of the SNP that a case here would be a waste of time.
Time to put our money where our mouths are. I’ll donate and also spread news. Have you a brief message for us to copy and post out to our contacts please.
It would have a knock-on effect though.
Yes I definitely am – how do I register this?
https://www.lockdowntruth.org/post/face-mask-legal-action
I’ll certainly donate and I’m signed up at the Lockdown Truth site. Just let us know when the crowdfunding begins.
Me!
Unfortunately Gillian, there is a vicious cycle at play here which is very difficult to break.
The likes of the BBC will always give disproportionate exposure to doom-mongers like Ferguson as it fits the media narrative perfectly. They are desperate to keep us living in fear as the mass hysteria keeps people buying papers, watching the news and clicking links, all generating income for these mendacious scoundrels.
And of course, vile egomaniacs like Ferguson get their names and faces plastered all over the place, giving them levels of attention and power over the public that they could have never previously thought possible.
They’re all in it for personal gain. That’s why they want this nightmare to drag on for as long as possible.
Yup, and when another quarter million people DON’T die Boris will take the credit.
Start with the comments sections at least.
Good grief! Well researched and useful to know. Thanks!
Face masks. How have we got to this?
Another day and normal normal recedes further into the distance. What is going on in this looking-glass world? Hardly anybody is dying, infections are reducing, and now we’re going to have to wear face masks?! I don’t need to say to anybody here ‘the science is not proven’. We all agree this is madness, right? But what to do? My MP (Conservative) is a nurse who apparently has worked on Covid wards during the crisis and found the experience harrowing. Is it even worth my time to write to her and complain about the way in which Boris and the government have just utterly lost the plot? Are there protests happening? There must be so many of us sensible, pragmatic people who don’t want to go along with this sh*t (nonsense is too benign a word) and yet we are not seen or heard. Yes articles and ideas from here make their way into mainstream media a few days later. There are comments from scientists, even on The World at One, but they’re not gaining any traction. Instead they are ‘balanced out’ with opinion that agrees with the government’s line.
Final point. Once they’ve got us all in face masks how are people supposed to develop confidence that the virus is on its way out and life can go back to normal? It will appear as if people aren’t catching the virus because everybody’s been wearing masks.
I’m not going to wear a mask and I’m going to take my fine on the chin (is there a pun there?) but for many possibly getting landed with a hundred pound fine every time they go to the shops is not an option so they’ll just comply and dissent remains invisible.
When oh when will we ever get back to normal. I’m beginning to feel as if no level of control is beyond the government. Perhaps we should be grateful for all the gleeful, gloomy coverage of how antibodies don’t last, or we’d be landed with ‘Covid immunity passports’ and then police would be asking us for our papers in the street!
You’ve got it. From now on, any improvement un the situation will be attributed to face nappies.
Diabolical. I mean that quite literally.
Good. Don’t wear your mask, and don’t pay any fines they levy against you. Claim a medical / health exemption, which, by the way, you don’t have to prove. The presumption of innocence still applies in this country so Plod must *prove* you’ve committed an offence. And, for most criminal charges, you still have the right to remain silent. These legal protections may yet be swept away, but while they exist make use of them.
Good advice!
I’ve barely slept.
I’m so miserable. I can’t see how we are going to get out of this mess. The virtue signalling is already out in force on social media. There is zero acknowledgement that when we weren’t wearing masks, nothing happened and now nobody even has it anymore…
This is going to make primary schools a deeply unpleasant place to be. The hospital is already awful, even though the staff in my department are the only other dissenters I know.
I’ve had fleeting suicidal thoughts this morning, which have scared me. It’s the runaway political train that’s done it.
Just woke up and remembered it all….
Please everyone let me know if you are interested in making a donation for my initial pre-launch expenses for my case. If enough are then I’ll set up a fundraiser. Thanks
I totally hear you. It’s hard not to get extremely depressed by what’s going on. I suffer from anxiety and so throughout the whole of this madness I’ve been battling to keep myself on an even keel.
It’s possible to be pragmatic and ‘get things in perspective’ but in a way I wonder whether we should. This stuff is scary, it’s wrong, it’s unnecessary.
It gets us down because there doesn’t seem to be a way out of the madness. The government have thrown themselves into this bizarre fantasy hook, line, and sinker. I can only think at this point it’s an extreme case of ‘ass-covering’. The government scared the sh*t out of everybody, screwed the economy, and now they just can’t admit, or allow it to become obvious, that the whole panic was over a severe form of flu.
If you suffer from anxiety, you don’t need to wear a mask.
Your naked face will be a beacon to prove to others than masks are pointless. Win, win!
I’d love to be able to give you a morale-boosting reply, but it does look utterly hopeless
Do one small thing against it, rather than posting negative sentiments. The mechanics of success are/should be well known.
Aldous Huxley spoke about the insidious development of mind control. Some of his talks can be found online.
Matt, do not lose hope. I, too, was in the depths of despair recently, but it’s lifted. Do not go gentle into that good night – resist, in any way you can. You only have to tell them “no” one more time than they demand “yes!” and you win. Every day you tell them “no” is a victory. Savour that, and be of good heart
Chanel your anger into supporting Lockdown Truth’s case. Let’s support something that’s useful.
Be strong. This will pass. It’s awful, it’s hideous, it may go on fir a ling time, but it will pass.
We are here for one another. BE STRONG.
I admire your optimism, but I don’t see this passing
Already they are putting out scare stories for winter
They already are planting messages relentlessly of accepting masks as ‘new normal’ and saying, as if we should be aspiring to this, ‘hey look, China and Korea are on board with masks’, they have their blueprints for the way they wish to run this country now, and it’s authoritarian role models that are guiding them.
Yes I agree. Now we are able to see just what a bunch of f. kin fascists they really are. Not one of the miserable parasites will stand up for our Rights! Vote for them? No freakin way!
One tentatively suggest they have always been recognisable as fucking fascists …
But they will lose. No sense of humour, no sense of common sense, and no higher spiritual capacity.
Why the fuck are you listening to their scare stories ?
In the time taken to make your post, you could have printed and laminated a poster, emailed someone, or somesuch.
Hey you are not alone. I’ve had some real dark thoughts myself. I found thumping the hell out of a pillow helped, seriously it does help. I swear quite a bit too F. O. has become my mantra. So chin up go punch a pillow and swear like a trooper! It’ll be good for you!
.
Never give up. Truth and virtue will eventually triumph, it just might take some time. There will be so much resentment built up by even the most passive of people that something will cause a spark that will invite this. Your job is to carry on spreading the word, helping to build the supply of tinder for that time.
I am a nurse in ITU, and just keep plugging away at my colleagues. It’s a thankless task and most are just not interested, but each convert can be the start of a chain. Our R number needs to be >1, you need to be exceptionally virulent with your ideas.
We’ll win.
We’re going to get out of this mess, Dr, as other posters have said, by telling the government to “Fuck off !”. Loudly, repeatedly, in all situations, to anyone who will listen.
Listen and heed the words of this late 60s rap song from The Last Poets: Hold Fast.
There is a stupid ad that precedes it for four seconds. It’s worth the annoyance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5znjNGR9lkM
Concerned Dr. you have my sympathy.
I have 2 questions for you. In your opinion, how many of your fellow professionals are actively promoting this scare? And why?
Please don’t despair. We need help from doctors like you who will speak the Truth.
This whole thing is crazy making. It feels like we’re all being gas lighted.
I spent 25 years in an abusive cult. This whole situation is giving me de ja vu.
Off the topic…. have I seen you Mad in America? Someone who looks very much like you has made some amazing posts on Mad in America.
Of all the straws, I feel that the face mask wearing edict must be nearing the final one.
I need a least cost way of protesting this. I cannot afford £100 each time I go out. Neither can I not shop as I have to fetch provisions for an 86 year old man. I also don’t want to go down the lying about having a medical condition route as that would remove the element of protest and indicate that I would comply if only I could.
So, I’m thinking maybe something written on the outside of the mask. A message indicating that it is only duress ensuring compliance. I’ve discounted obscenities, tempting as they are. The best I have come up with so far is something along the lines of “Shop at Lidl” for when I am in Sainsbury’s and vice versa.
SLAVE across the mask would indicate the way the population is going, despite the protests about all of that, we are now becoming more like slaves every day, freedoms stripped away on a whim.
Please everyone let me know if you are interested in making a donation for my initial pre-launch expenses for my case. If enough are then I’ll set up a fundraiser. Thanks
I’m in, LT
Me too.
I’ve thought about exactly the same thing and nearly posted about it a few days ago. I was going to ask if it was worth all of us who have to wear a mask (totally get your point about the building cost of fines) drawing the same thing on them. I’ve considered ‘F**k off Boris’ but thought that was a bit provocative (or maybe not!) ‘science not proven’ (figured I’d be verbally abused for being a ‘Karen’) so finally settled for the eye-roll emoji, which is the one at the top of my favourites since this whole sh*t show started!
The problem with the F**k off Boris sort of line is that many ardent mask wearers would agree with that!
Something simple requiring no artistic skills so just a word, no profanities so you can’t be kicked out a shop. Just capital letters
‘OBEY’
or even take a leaf from BLM and opt for
‘I CAN’T BREATHE’
How about a red V on a black muzzle?
Good !
Nice, but I doubt the majority of sheeple would get the joke.
I suspect “666” in a circle may become common (Number of the Beast). Or for extra spice, a yellow star with “For your safety” written on top.
People won’t understand that. I don’t understand that.
Or a yellow star with 666 in it.
A finger to the lips (Shush) ?
How about something as basic and factual as “WORN UNDER DURESS”?
I like it. To the point. If I was going to use a mask, which I’m not intending to right now (but totally get that some people will have to) then that’s what I’d put on it.
Perfect Tim, I’m amending that to MASK WORN UNDER DURESS on badges for my family. That way I can avoid the fine but let everyone know that I think it is all bollocks! Thanks for the simplicity of this.
I heard news say it’s reduced to £50 if fine paid in 14 days. Will shop less & less.
Noticed it said fine up to £100.
Perhaps Toby could organise a competition poll for the best mask message? I would like some ideas. My best suggestion so far is ‘Guided by the science?’ but I think it’s a bit too long.
How about this printed on masks?This website could fund-raise by selling them:
Compulsory masks do not control viruses. But they do control people.
This avoids being specific about which virus, as any bug in the future will be used to justify compulsory masks. And it uses the government’s own word “control”.
Good sentiment, but a tad long ?!
I agree with your comment about my comment! it IS too long. Verbosity is a problem for me. Anyone come up with an improvement?
The trouble is, anyone showing dissent from the believers in mask-wearing is likely to get, at best, dirty looks and, at worst, physical assaults. This for me is the scariest aspect: the government has sown so much fear that the majority of the public will now police the rules via shaming the dissenters. Real 1984 stuff.
Another suggestion:
“Controlled by Boris”
Let’s make it personal: he won’t like being named by dissenters.
Compulsory masks control people not viruses.
?
Masks control people not viruses
Julian, would be forced to wear a face nappy on the basis of nothing more substantial than illogical government diktat cause you severe distress or anxiety? If so then you can claim medical exemption with a clear conscience, and you don’t have to prove it. To anyone. If anyone asks simply tell them you have a health condition that makes wearing a mask inappropriate and leave it at that. If they demand the details, or try to prevent you from accessing a premises, they’re probably committing an offence under the Equalities Act 2010 and you should point that out to them.
Do whatever stops you from feeling hopeless.
There’s a lot can be achieved passive-agressively!
Those who disagree with the forced use of face coverings need more loud voices. There must be people with influence, people in Government who dont agree with all of this. How did we happen to elect a Dictator, was the jovial Boris demeanor always a lying sham. Where can we find the people to fight against the lies. People are not dying en masse, we know they aren’t, some councils even told their residents that there would be refrigerated lorries at cemeteries for mass graves, the lies and fake news has been a total shock to the system.
Maybe the jovial Boris was replaced by a double and the old Boris was tossed into the Thames? Or perhaps he went under hynotic suggestion while convalescing? He does not appear to be the same Boris as pre-pandemic Boris. Who is whispering in his ear?
Bottomless stupidity. An idiocracy.
Happy Bastille Day everyone.
Very mixed feelings so far this morning.
Woke up to the expected news that face nappies are to be compulsory in shops from ten days’ time (why ten days?). I’m exempt of course, and happy in the knowledge that it will hasten the demise of the Johnson administration.
And, I must admit, part of me finds it all fascinatingly hilarious – really very funny.
Nevertheless, immediately drafted off a eviscerating email to my MP (will send before breakfast), concluding with the recommendation that he read today’s Lockdown Sceptic’s post, and that he gets through to the end, to the section titled ‘A Death in the family’, and that he thinks on that.
And of course I now feel a bit of guilt – in finding something funny that for a lot of people really isn’t funny at all. At all – as today’s posting lays bare.
My heartfelt condolences to whomever on here has lost their relative, and to their wider family.
Don’t feel guilt TJN. A clusterfuck of this magnitude has to be dealt with somehow, and laughter is very beneficial and healing. We should all do it too.
Just spotted this on Twitter, a march in London on 19th July against face masks. In case anyone is interested.
https://twitter.com/LeahButlerSmith/status/1282823786165940224?s=20
Personally I’d rather support Lockdown Truths case and boycott shops but some people may have an interest.
I don’t think that boycotting shops is the answer. Better to write to the major supermarkets and tell them you don’t support it and expect them to oppose it with the government.
Trying to write to them is like trying to get blood out a stone. I wrote to Waterstones in the run up to their 4 July reopening and got fobbed off with a condescending reply about safety and that Rishi Sunak had visited them. Hence why I’m not buying from them even online and if they go under they can’t blame Amazon for their demise.
Fantastic, what we need now is action, peaceful of course. But we need to stand up for ourselves and our basic hum rights and freedoms, I will be at the march on the 19th. I will also travel down to the march by train without a face mask attached! Let’s actually do something about this people, rather than just moan online!
Check out the comments on that Twitter thread. At least half seem to be pro mask – an interesting insight into their weird mindset. These are typical:
‘A march about wanting to breath deadly viruses over people in shops’ more like.
“For heavens sake, we’re asked to wear them for a couple of hours for the safety of others! Why are people hell bent on rejecting this? Doesn’t make sense to me, science has changed so we have to comply to save lives
Not much to ask is it??”
“surely even if there is only the slightest chance a facemask offers some protection however small it is worth doing for the protection of yourself and others…. in it together”
It’s amazing. These people would do anything they’re told, without complaint. They believe everything the government and media has told them.
This mindset doesn’t seem to be that much different from that of many people writing in the mainstream media; it’s not just Twitter. There was a short article in the Independent a few days ago which said the same thing as the lower 2 quotes, almost verbatim.
It’s not just the fear, but the whole “do your bit, in it together, save lives” message which has really got deeply ingrained in many people’s minds. It’s probably rooted in good intentions, rather than shallow virtue-signalling, in at least some cases, but in either case it’s completely devoid of any sense of proportion or understanding of the wider context.
The “science has changed” bit is what really depresses me. It’s like the only “science” which gets through to people is that which promotes fear, panic and the acceptance of restrictions!
This occurred to me earlier – this attitude undermines any argument in favour of freedom of choice and personal ability to assess risk, because it effectively says: we revoke your right to make your own decisions because your decisions will kill others.
Rather like the butterfly flapping its wings in the Caribbean, those of us who do not want to conform because we believe we should exercise our own judgement are causing a hurricane of death and misery elsewhere.
“We’re all in this together” is the slogan for collectivism enforced by law and by social shame.
Well, this all hinges on the notion of the asymptomatic carrier. The greatest manipulation of them all. To weaponise humans for carrying pathogens potentially harmful to others wether they are aware of it or not is the key. Now people believe by simply existing that they present a danger to society and must be controlled. That this has always been the case is irrelevant to them. This is the myth created.
More to the point “the science” hasn’t changed. The masks remain as ineffective as always and their benefit impossible to evaluate. It’s the policy that has changed which is why it can begin in two weeks and not now.
Someone did point out that Leah had attracted the entire 77th Brigade!
Well, numbers count. Join the march if you possibly can.
Can’t see the pro-maskers turning out to counter-protest.
Wearing masks isn’t to stop the virus it’s to stop you from being human. They’ve made laws where they can restrict your breathing. They do this because it won’t be long before they are forcing vaccines on you. You’ve lost the right to refuse medical treatment. Stand up to any pig that tries to fine you, stand up to the sheep who wear them unthinkingly and if you see Boris call him a fat bastard and you won’t be wearing a stupid fucking mask.
I agree with you on the vaccine/medical treatment – it’s the next shoe to drop. The government has ordered a massive amount of flu vaccine for this autumn and plan to roll it out to everyone over 50. This is the pretext to signing up a large portion of the population to the imminent vaccine trial, normalising seasonal vaccination among a subset of the population who would not ordinarily request it. Next stop will be forced vaccination of children to attend school. No, just No!
Just read a bit of an American article that says:
Increasing the number of people who get the flu vaccine is the best tool we have to protect hospitals’ capacity to treat cases of COVID-19 if a surge hits as expected in the fall.
So if you don’t take that vaccine, you’re still killing grannies with Covid.
In it together. Stay safe.
I haven’t had the flu for over fifteen years, and only two colds. I suspect like a lot of local people (and others elsewhere) I had something suspiciously like covid back in December but I survived. Perhaps they should find out how I did that? Hint: I have an immune system, perhaps they should study how that works?
Why has these latest set of developments become a Tory v other argument? I am not a Tory and am appalled by the latest and continual restrictions being forced on us. So would someone explain why this forum has become so entrenched in the “conservative” aspect? Why ruin a forum populated by right minded people by trying to pin polices tags? This is bigger that that.
Maybe I’m reading the posts differently, but I don’t see the “Tory vs the rest” element. Speaking as a lifelong Tory voter (no more), I do think it’s especially appalling that this is being done by an ostensibly Conservative government, but I don’t see any reason to believe that any other lot would have done differently/better if they’d been in power.
Statism, social micromanagement and expanding bureaucracy are normally the opposite of what you ought to be able to associate with a right of centre party. As far as I can see, the only relevance of the colour of the rosette is that it makes it worse, because you should be able to expect different.
There is a US-style left-liberal agenda at play here, through the media and social media, and evidently our current government has swallowed it whole without chewing, but that has nothing to do with party politics and everything to do with culture wars.
And terrifying incompetence – people completely out of their depth
That too.
I agree with you that this is not about Tory vs non Tory. I think the LS issues unites people who voted for different parties because it is about freedom and liberty, as well as society and the economy.
I also think that those who have voted Conservative are likely to be especially angry. Because this government has betrayed principles that such voters believed were core to conservatism. This may explain why those of us who are conservatives are quite vocal about our grevances.
The politicisation of debate and opinion relating to the pandemic/lockdown/regulations is one of the disturbing and weird things about the current state of the world! It seems like a self-reinforcing thing which is heavily influenced, as matt says below, by US politics, so people signal their political allegiance by mask-wearing (or not) for example.
Making the NHS a big part of the government propaganda (can’t really describe it in any other way, at least not printable) during lockdown, also must have played a big part in influencing the many people who otherwise would surely have been sceptical of a Tory government and their pet scientific advisors.
My politics are more or less left-leaning in a non-woke and non-Corbynist way, but since the lockdown I’ve been genuinely disgusted by the attitude of left-leaning media sources (not least the BBC) and am happy to put aside political differences and read articles in the Spectator etc. This catastrophe is a lot bigger than Brexit, nationalisation vs. privatisation – or pretty much anything else since the world wars and Depression – in its economic and social impact.
Ok, the face masks have defeated me. The bedwetters have won….. I’m close to giving up altogether
Insttead, Bazza, make a donation to this legal action and spread the word among your friends. They want you to give up – don’t.
https://www.lockdowntruth.org/post/face-mask-legal-action
its all pointless Rosie. They have won
Who are “they”?
What are you going to do now then?
How have they won?
Most of the day has been spent proving to ourselves that there’s absolutely no need to wear a mask because “they” can’t make you.
Do grow a pair and stand up for yourself – and others.
I have, making my piece today (day off from work), all my preps are made. Taking the dog for one last walk in the country, Tonight I go to sleep for the last time,
TONY. PLEASE SAY YOU ARE KIDDING. YOU HAVE FRIENDS HERE. YOUR DOG NEEDS YOU, TOO.
Thanks all, but I reached this point days ago, only hung around because of Gove’s statement – but as Bazza says they have won – too many morons. This is just the first step – masks will be full time like china.
My dog is 13, and she is provided for – my sister.
I won’t take any more of your time – got the day planned. Keep fighting – just didn’t want my death to go down to COVID – want it to go down to BASTARD BORIS
use your anger better, Tony. See my longer comment above
Tony,
When depressed it’s hard to think and everything is a mental fog. It’s also hard to imagine things ever getting better.
But how you feel isn’t the same as how things are. There is always hope, even if you dont feel it.
Depression requires help. Some people get medication and support via a GP (phone consultation obviously). More effective I think is a combination of talking therapy (counselling), exercise (like dog walking) and friends or family. We are now allowed to see friends and family so that’s progress isn’t it?
Eventually this nonsense will pass.
We are not supposed to be treated like this, we are not supposed to live without social contact. This government has massively damaged the mental health of so many of us and we need to give ourselves time to heal.
Tony, please hang on. All of this madness will pass. Your family, friends and dog need you. We are all here for you. We will get through all of this together.
Please don’t do it Tony. Don’t let them win. Don’t want to sound trite, but is there anyone you can talk to? Are there any therapists here that might be able to help?
Well, I don’t know if you are serious about taking your own life, but you could speak to the Samaritans on 116 123
They won’t try to stop you if you are determined to go down this route, but perhaps you might change your mind if you do.
It won’t solve your problems and will only cause distress to members of your family.
Please hang on in there, please – we will get through this.
Tony, we’re all here for you even as total strangers. I’m reading what you’ve just said with tears running down my face.
Please please please don’t make this the end of your life’s journey. The tyrants doing this to us are not worth it. We will get through this.
Tony,
We all feel bad about this. The more decent and self-respecting human being you are, the worse you will feel.
So you feel bad because you are a fundamentally decent and self-respecting human being. And frankly right now our society needs as many of those sort of people as it can get.
Over the coming days and weeks we will see that masses of other people feel as we do.
So see it through and all will be well.
Mate we are all feeling this from time to time, hang in there. It will get better – it has to!
I hope you don’t mean that, please stay strong we’re all here for you, even though we don’t know each other, believe me we care about you, and you’re dog needs you too.
You are not alone, the tide will turn. Please hang in there.
why you saying this? I think you’re trolling
so the people down voting me seriously think some asshole posts he’s gonna kill himself and we’ve all to believe him. No wonder we’re fucked
Biker, that’s really not helpful. Unless you know Tony personally you’ve no way of knowing how serious he’s being. As someone in whom the current horseshit has engendered thoughts of suicide I’m happy to give him the benefit of the doubt. I now realise that self-destruction is not the answer and I’ve chosen to resist the insanity, to fight for the return of rationality, however difficult that may be. But the Tonys of this world (and I suspect there are many) need our support and compassion, not our scorn. If we’re to win this war we need every warm body we can get. Just my tuppence worth.
Tony, you are a valued member of this community. The silent minority will have their day as they have done several times over the past four years. I know you feel powerless but please don’t give up. xx
Tony, this will pass, and the revenge will be sweet. Keep focused on those things that are important in life – the love and loyalty of your dog and the group of friends on here who want the best for you and all citizens in our country.
Tony, I suffered from very severe depression for many years; it blighted my existence and culminated in an attempt to end it all: unsuccessfully, as you will see.
What about your dog? (I had a much loved cat when I was at the bottom of the pit.)
Is your work utterly without value or compensation for your present distress?
What about staying online and using this site?
There are no easy answers to this awful condition as I know too well.
Tony, please don’t do it. Things will get better. I’ll be honest, I’ve had some pretty dark moments myself where I’ve genuinely considered packing it all in but I couldn’t do that to my family and bf. You have people who love and value you. Things are indeed not great right now but they could be a LOT worse so take solace and comfort in the things you can do – your dog’s walks, the fresh air, a good book or film. I recently bought a Nintendo Switch and I’m having great fun with it. Just little things like that to take your mind off the BS, they don’t have to be big things, because it’s dwelling on the BS that makes you feel worse. You must have a friend or relative whom you can talk to. And remember the silent majority is bigger than you might think.
Tony, I’m crying too. Please don’t. Just get through today.
Please let me explain. There are 3 basic animal responses: fight – flight – freeze. Depression and suicide are the “freeze” response gaining control. It is not easy, but it is possible, to switch one’s basic response into “fight” .
One needs to find one’s anger/rage instead as the base response and latch the mind and emotions together …. this will enable you to fight it instead and we have a route to fight it, via Lockdown Truth’s legal challenge. He’s calling for volunteers to donate and to spread the word.
There are other practical things you can do – we can do together.
Tony, the darkest hour is just before dawn. Things will get back to normal sooner than you think. Keep on keeping on.
Do not do that. Do not give up.Don’t give the bastards the satisfaction.
Tony please don’t end your life because of this ludicrous nonsense. The number of dissenters are increasing daily and eventually we will be too big to be dismissed. There’s help out there and a raft of support on here. Please hang on if only for the sake of your elderly dog who will be bewildered and confused without you and there’s no guarantee people will step in and look after him/her. Huge numbers of elderly pets end up spending their last days in a rescue which is incredibly sad.
That’s the spirit !
Do not give up, resistance is not futile. You only have to say “no” one more time than they demand “yes!” and you win. Every day you say “no” to them is a victory. Savour that.
When are the REAL conservatives going to stand up, there must be some in the government with some courage, is there?
I’m not even go to try understanding the thinking behind mandatory face masks in shops. Almost nothing that the government has done since March has made any sort of sense (other than arguably the stamp duty cut). I have needlessly stressed myself out by asking questions begining with “why”.
Having said that, if we are making this law – what counts as a mask? For example if I get a dish cloth and string it over my face, does that count as a mask? An old sock perhaps?
Or is a mask an EU standard surgical mask?
Does the mask have to be effective against Covid? A lot of masks on sale are not.
Also does it have to be a new mask? If I find a 2 year old mask in a drawer somewhere does that count? How the heck is any of this enforceable anyway?
I should stop trying to make sense of things because basically things dont make any sense.
I think if face coverings are being mandated on such a wide scale for daily activities such as shopping, then they need to be as accessible as possible, meaning that any old rag will likely do. I especially don’t want to spend money buying masks I don’t want and am strongly opposed to, so I will be using scarves/old t-shirts when I am compelled to go into shops. If the government is mandating masks then they should be handed out for free or a small 5p charge at shop entrances but I dread to think the scale of plastic waste this horrendous policy will cause.
(Love the username btw, I’m a big Bond fan!)
Thanks poppy. Enjoy reading your posts.
I loved Bond as a boy, also the number 007 keeps coming into my life in various ways, to boring to explain here…
My father worked for the NHS as a buyer for hospital equipment and supplies. When they computerised, he was hugely amused that 007 was a bedpan.
This resonates a lot, so much frustrating trying to apply sense or logic to what they’re doing when there is none. As you say, masks a case in point, completely unenforceable, most will be completely ineffective and some will literally cause more harm… So so dumb, but hey Boris thinks he’s being seen to do something and it’ll keep the screaming media off his back for 5 minutes… until their next campaign.
Philosophical point, but when laws are passed which are knowingly unenforceable, does it weaken the law in general? Maybe in the extreme it leads to a situation where we only obey those laws which we have a risk of being caught by.
Of course it does. The more stupid and unenforceable laws we are expected to abide by, the more people begin to think about how easy it would be to ignore the sensible ones. Not helped by the spectacle of the police grovelling in front of baying crowds.
Generally over the years governments have done a fantastic job of criminalising large portions of the population, as well as turning them against each other rather than having them direct anger at the government. The more dumb laws you introduce, the more likely it is people will break laws – but then you have more things to fine people for.
Take the laws of the roads… speed limits and the never ending campaign to lower them when the focus should be 100% on teaching people to a higher standard about driving sensible, appropriately and carefully. By forever reducing limits and sticking cameras everywhere, it wears down resistance and critical thinking to dumb laws _and_ introduces a nice revenue stream. At the same time, they’ve made roads (in my opinion at least) a less pleasant experience for almost all road users, from pedestrians, to cyclists (i’m an avid road cyclist and bike racer), to motorcyclists (I was one for 10 years), to car drivers (I am as well) and commercial drivers (I’ve been one)… but instead of getting annoyed that the authorities continue to fuck up every road ‘improvement’ scheme they do, everyone just ends up screaming at each other instead.
I like the cut of your jib, Mark II.
Did you see this interview linked here a few days back? I think you’d like it as much as I did:
Matthew Crawford: the dangers of Safetyism
I’ve picked up his new book on Kindle as well, looking forward to reading it:
Why We Drive: On Freedom, Risk and Taking Back Control
James, stop trying to make sense of the mask issue – it’s not meant to make sense. It’s about control, about compliance. It’s not about public health, or a virus, those are but the pretexts, and dishonest ones at that. This is about following orders, about doing what you’re told. Resist. Say no.
It’s a “face covering”. Anything that covers your nose and mouth.
Tailored j-cloth would work.
When transport masks were first introduced, one DT journalist used an old sock during an internal flight.
I’d be tempted to use a sieve!
Posted this yesterday but have posted again (with a few additions) to show what we’re up against:
I went back to work yesterday for the first time since we shut in March to prepare for our reopening next week. While it was great to see colleagues who I have only seen online for the best part of 3-4 months, yesterday’s session in my eyes quickly degenerated into an example how people have been terrified by the relentless government and MSM propaganda.
The general observation now is how its young people who have overestimated the risk of Covid, I can confirm that with my own experience with the exaggerated swerving around, zealous observation of antisocial distancing and one mentioning that she hasn’t hugged anyone even her parents since this madness began. I couldn’t believe it! However the older ones were no better.
Many colleagues were excessively santising their hands and even seemingly afraid of touching the doors.
It’s terrifying that many were dismissive about people’s concerns about the NHS trace and test and I had to say that these are guidelines and not rules. They also didn’t seem to mind that we are losing our civil liberties and once they’re lost will be hard to get back.
More than half our work now will include cleaning and this will include our staff areas which will make our work even slower and out break times shorter.
What I can predict is that we will go in the way of the shops where antisocial distancing, queuing and excessive sanitising will not attract people into our site and if anything will put them off.
I’m appalled at this knee jerk unevidenced imposition of masks at a time the prevalence is negligible-to-almost zero. And those who refer to being forced to wear a ‘face-nappy’ are not being facetious Trish Greenhalgh has indeed seriously suggested making home-made masks out of a panty-liner!
I just ain’t going to the shops until this nonsense is over.
Very depressing news to wake up to, even if I did see it coming. All the virtue signalling on Twitter is just salt in the wound. A lot of people also attributing the low incidence and virulence of the virus in Asia to the mass wearing of masks over there – really? Correlation does not always equal causation. Given that not many Brits have been wearing masks while out and about up to this point, I sincerely hope that the vast majority just opt for loose face coverings like scarves that they can pull up and down as and when they enter shops, as opposed to the proper surgical masks. They also look a bit more normal. I wonder whether opposition to masks and face coverings may increase once people experience the discomfort of wearing one for daily activities.
As one letter on the Telegraph stated this morning, ‘wearing masks lets the country sink into a pathological frame of mind’, and I couldn’t agree more. We are being conditioned to be wary and suspicious of one another, treat each other like lepers, be in a constant state of panic and stress. It cannot be healthy for us (when we should be getting as healthy as possible to fight off this thing) and it is psychological warfare. We can no longer see someone’s smile, their facial expressions, such key aspects of human interaction and interpersonal relationships.
The rules are also arbitrary and confusing – the fact face coverings must be worn in shops but not offices or restaurants/pubs/cafés is one example of this. They would be impractical in the latter anyway – the mask must be lowered to consume food and drink, and it would be silly to raise it back up to chew each mouthful, back down again to open mouth, and so on – you get the idea. I think this is the clearest evidence that the mandating of face coverings is a political decision rather than one based in science. Then again, nothing the government has done has made any sense at all and Johnson is utterly unfit to be Prime Minister. I suspect the only things stopping him from resigning are the fact that he wants so desperately to cling onto power and have his Churchill moment (despite the fact he is now clearly mentally unwell and has f***ked it up anyway) and that it is the wrong time for a a Conservative leadership campaign and challenge. Probably best to wait until this is all over, but God knows when that will be, seeing as MSM and government scientists seem hell-bent on dragging on this hell as long as they possibly can and keeping people in a permanent state of panic and uncertainty.
I’ve seen a lot of defeated comments on here today – I urge you not to give up. Please keep coming to this website and talking to us, we love hearing from you and this is our little pocket of sanity. We have our regular commenters but there are lots of people who read this site but don’t comment so there are more of us than it seems. Remember that the more our governments push us, the more they lie about the scale of their monstrous fraud, the longer they put off telling the truth and owning up to their colossal mistake, then the further they have to fall when it all finally comes out. History will not be kind to these people and it will dissect the full extent of their cruelty. It may take years, but it will happen. If any good thing comes out of this, let’s hope that our descendents don’t repeat their mistakes and build a better world in the future.
Hear, hear. Much like NEVER AGAIN became the motto to avoid a repeat of the horrors of the Holocuast, we should also shout “NEVER AGAIN” to avoid a repeat of this tyranny.
I wouldn’t rule out that we are heading for a Holocaust. The medically exempt wearing badges? Far too much like a gold star for my liking.
You don’t have to wear it. Just produce it if necessary.
Have to agree with you on that. It makes me scratch my head at how easily people succumbed to this tyranny.
The blitz spirit died long before Dame Vera Lynn.
Classic example is the supposed fact that the drop in the number of pirates on the high seas has led to an increase in global warming. ‘Following the science’.
https://www.reddit.com/r/shittyaskscience/comments/8mks9n/the_demise_of_pirates_has_led_to_increased_global/
This book is excellent, highly recommended. http://tylervigen.com/spurious-correlations
Thanks, that looks good.
Christmas present for my daughter, lots of great ones, ‘Per capita consumption of mozzarella and Civil engineering doctorates awarded’ is good, something to do with all the late-night pizzas no doubt.
Thanks, I’d forgotten the name, excellent indeed!
Boris is about as likely to have a Churchill moment as I am to become US president. Thank you for your post, especially the last paragraph.
“I think this is the clearest evidence that the mandating of face coverings is a political decision rather than one based in science.”
I honestly think that “king” Boris just thinks it’s a good idea and that’s why it is happening.
If Boris is on the verge of a breakdown, he deserves every second of it. He’ll be able to retire in the protection of his wealth.
Unlike a large proportion of the innocent electorate.
Brilliant post Poppy….wish there were more youngsters like you. Its ironic that whilst the young are perhaps worst affected by this nonsense they seem to be some of the biggest bedwetters. Or is it just that they are virtue signalling their woke credentials?
They wear masks because the city air is polluted.
Toby, I appreciate that you are using studies to counteract Rutherford but there’s a simpler point.
You need to have actually measured and characterised a phenomena before you start analysing the secondary effects and applications.
And this hasn’t happened with Covid-19. It’s all vague symptoms and dodgy attributions.
Measuring things according to the assumptions you have made and achieving the correct precision and signal to noise is the Scientific Method at its most basic. Our friend Rutherford appears to have forgotten this or doesn’t know what it is.
Not surprising as it often takes you until you’re doing your PhD to actually GET the Scientific Method. Not because it’s hard to understand; you don’t have to be a scientist to get the logic.
No. It’s because you develop a lot of lazy habits when being trained as a scientist. And often you are wrote learning what people did in the past rather than applying it yourself. Maybe when you get to being completely responsible for your own work do you actually GET it.
The irony is that when I started working as an aerospace engineer it made me a much better scientist.
Ah accountability!
To paraphrase As Good As It Gets:
I was trying to describe Toby’s Twitter conversation with Rutherford to my wife, and all I could say was that Rutherford seems to be quoting the Ladybird Book of epidemiology. I honestly think this is how it is. For him, ‘research’ is taking the ‘findings’ of the government’s favourite scientists and quoting them alongside the most basic beginner-level ideas in epidemiology. And that’s it. He is not aware of the limits of the PCR test, the dubiousness of test and deaths data, the cross-reactive T-Cell stuff, the infected people who never produce measurable antibodies, the ‘immunological dark matter’ idea, the fact that ‘R0’ cannot be properly defined, that immunity is not binary, that the immune system develops resistance even if immunity is not total, that the illness depends on viral load, that all people are not equally susceptible to Covid, the recurring serological studies that don’t go above 25% and so on.
P.S. Technically, I’m a scientist, too – if it’s a question of co-authoring a published paper through a university.
Shops, Pubs, Transport, all ruined. What’s the point of going on holiday in the UK, if you can’t use those? So, holiday trade ruined as well.
We need these these f***ers out – but who could you vote for??
Very worrying message from Tony…
it should be fairly obvious now that business like yours are to be stamped out. Like the smoking ban killed off a huge amount of pubs, the same is to happen with cafe’s and the like. They do this because this is where people meet. We’ve to stay in and not hear each other, it’s easier to lie to the public and it’s easier to make those who don’t believe it unable to convince others. I’ve been saying since the very first day of this site we are in for a civil war, neighbour against neighbour and i still believe it. Who doesn’t think the kind of people that join the IRA and gonna sit back and let their country be taken over and have them forced in to one world government compliance without fighting back? Mark my words this whole thing is gonna get bloody.
The IRA’s political bedfellows – Sinn Fein – are amongst the bedwetters on both sides of the Irish border.
That extra £100 on the cost of the weekly pint of milk gives a new twist to home economics.
Has anyone got a spare cow I could borrow?
Not yours, Scotland.
So just as they are chucking billions they do not have at the economy, they then go out of their way to make shopping such an unpleasant experience millions will not bother apart from essentials. Who wins from this, Amazon, Ebay etc….the high streets were in dire trouble before this, now they have had it. Well done Boris, when we needed a leader we ended up with a light weight desperate for popular support and to keep the fear factor as high as possible.
I cannot even listen to the radio without the constant stream of misinformation Government advertising.
Like many people this whole experience has turned my life from say a nice 8 out of 10 experience to a 3 or 4. I can now go to the pub and presumably sit in there all day with no mask, but cannot nip into Tesco for 5 mins unless I mask up.
The Government seems to have completely lost the plot. Over 500K people die every year in this country, offset by all of the births. They cannot save us all from death. How much evidence do they need that we need to get on with life? We want to get on with life. Now we have to sit at home panicking as we might get covid and flu and 120K might die. Get a grip, this must be the most useless, social pandering bunch of halfwits that have ever been in charge of the country.
Why is the conservative DT publishing this article? If you want to believe the BBC has an agenda then that’s one thing but the DT????Why? Moreover if you read fully this threat ranges from under 2000 deafs to 100k+ and doesn’t include any recent medical advancement. So I ask again why are the DT backing something like this, or does it need to appear to back the Tory leader regardless?
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/07/14/second-covid-wave-could-see-twice-many-deaths-would-require/
Covid is not a left/right issue. The misconception of typical Conservative voters seems to be that this is all being forced by a left wing media. It is not. It is either incompetence on a global scale across all political divides or just gross opportunism from world govs to grab more power and control that they’ve ever had before on the back of an unexpected health scare and unexpectedly compliant populations.
This is being championed relentlessly by all tory backing papers (that’s 8 out of 10 best selling ones here FYI) as well as the supposedly Liberal guardian and left wing mirror. The TV media has been nonstop regardless of which side they usually fall too.
The thing is that the Conservative Party has always been in favour of small government. This attempt to control the minutiae of how we live is profoundly anti-Conservative!
These aren’t Conservatives, that’s the problem. I used to belong to UKIP who were Conservatives, but I also saw how the NEC were being infiltrated and I suddenly realised something big was happening. It started with the Referendum which seemed to be the catalyst for where we are now. The elites are pushing back now this is our punishment fir daring to thwart their Agenda.
The incorrect data that is rendering the result of your analysis flawed here is the idea that either “tory backing papers” or the “Conservative” Party hierarchy themselves are meaningfully not of the “left”. They are precisely that, and I have watched this country drift further left for half a century now (and the drift had started before I was born, powered by the BBC and the famous “long march through the institutions”).
As I have noted here before, I am a moderate who has stood still and watched his country become extreme left over the course of my lifetime, so that my own attitudes and beliefs, which were once pretty mainstream, are now fringe dissent in my own country. Political positions that were regarded generally as outright loony left in the mid- and early C20th are now mainstream.
That said, it’s not necessarily a huge left-wing conspiracy. It’s just that the mistakes that are being made are the kind that leftist, collectivist state-worshippers make – “protect the NHS” “collective safety over personal liberty”, etc.
No true conservative or liberal would ever have considered coercively locking down the country in a radical experiment out of fear of a flu-like bug, because it’s against everything either conservative or liberal principles stand for. Of course, many who claim to be either conservative or liberal are neither.
They have all sold us out. There are only 2 or 3 DT columnists worthwhile reading Sherelle Jacobs and Allison Pearson, most of themare sockpuppets.
They are working off Worst Case Scenario’s and Would Could and ruining our lives with their lies and false prophesies
That Young chap is ok too …
The government are in control of most of the coverage. Keep reading Charles Moore and the few others.
I wonder how much this has to do with Boris’s latest idiotic diktat?
https://covid19.healthdata.org/united-kingdom
I think they revised their predications over the weekend but I have no idea why or how they have come to the conclusions they have. Up until very recently they had it dying out here by September.
BTW this catastrophic model only applies to the UK & US.
(Or at least it did the last time I checked)
What a coincidence!
What the actual fuck?
Have they actually looked at what happened elsewhere in Europe as their lockdowns were eased?
This is the chip, chip, chip of the left and lefty MSM, small steps to further damage our economy and the fabric of our generally sociable society. Very clever, just a little at a time, force a (disgracefully) compliant Government to do their bidding. My prediction, now they have got masks in shops in the bag, the new mantra will be masks in pubs and restaurants (which, trust me- I work in the pub industry- will destroy the very weak recovery that pubs are currently experiencing)
Finally, we’ve had ‘period poverty’, how do we fancy ‘mask poverty’ – Rishi will be paying for the masks by the end of the week…he loves to spunk our cash…
I’m thinking they may have chosen to delay mandatory mask wearing in England until 24th July so it dodges the question of whether or not school kids and teachers should be wearing them. By September, they probably think we’ll all be so indoctrinated into mask wearing that we won’t even question sending our kids to school all masked up.
Scary but credible thought.
Also coincides with Parliamentary summer recess. Not that we’d notice any difference!
I do feel dreadfully for small shop owners like yourself. I hope your business can survive until the madness passes.
My guess is that looming national bankruptcy will bring this to a close much sooner than many people realise
And the closure will be violent Despite the bedwetters out there I won’t be surprised if there’s an angry silent majority who are bidding their time.
The more jobs are lost and businesses go under, the government won’t be able to stop the tsunami of public anger.
And frankly, it serves them right. They deserve everything coming to them.
Sorry should add, the government & every other person who has contributed to the lockdown & subsequent disaster – not the people with businesses (I am one of them). Just wanted to be clear!
It’s been shocking how no business or sector leader has spoken out on these measures that are hastening their demise. Yet they were happy to jump on the BLM bandwagon.
When they’re crying that their business or their museum has shut for good, I would ask them “then why did you not question the government when they forced antisocial distancing, lockdown and muzzle wearing on the populace?”
Thats a very good point. Apart from Luke Johnson I cant think of any business leaders who have spoken out. The contrast with the communist BLM is poignant. I think it shows how the ‘Long March’ has fully penetrated big business as well as all state institutions and quangos,
I agree with you on that. The wave of bankruptcies has already started in the US. Next Quarter Day in the UK is 29 September. There will be a tsunami of bankruptcies here in October in my view, triggering a credit event in the banking sector. This is not going to end well. Boris has already demonstrated his economic – as well as scientific – illiteracy. He will be out by Christmas.
As for you saying he’ll be out by Christmas, no one in government has yet spoken out about the new normal have they? They’re all the bloody same! Chinless wonders!
I hear what you say. I still think Boris will be out by Christmas. History of how he behaves – he runs away when the going gets tough, and he shirks his responsibilities. The government will be out of bullets by October, and he is not going to hang around to pick up the pieces of the mess he has created.
Hi Tigress,
Two astute very posts I think. Credit crunch in the banking sector, as the bad loans materialise; accompanied by the Bank of England pulling the curtain down on QE – the only thing keeping the government afloat right now. Whatever the catalyst, eventually numbers are stubborn things and the mathematics inescapable.
Your second post is absolutely spot on. Johnson is scientifically and economically illiterate, a coward, and a bottler.
Agree. The money tree with run out by October and this enforced muzzle wearing in shops will make the High Street even more a place to avoid. Ergo more shops will close and more staff will be made redundant. Its bizarre that Boris can’t see this but for all his vaunted education, he’s proved himself to be totally useless.
Its BECAUSE of his education (classics) that he cant see it. Educated in bugger all. I have 2 degrees but I increasingly think that people often come out of higher education more stupid than they went in. All instinctive common sense is lost. Billy Connelly used to say…’keep experts away…experts in bugger all!’ How true.
Four days now of facemasks/no facemasks. Once again the government plants the story and feeds it daily to keep the gullible chasing the hare.
The real story doesn’t get a mention………. the manslaughter of 20,000 people in care homes
Yes a diversionary tactic, it’s working because the care home scandal is now old news.
Posted this earlier, but on yesterday’s page by mistake.
Up early this morning. Couldn’t sleep after OH came to bed with the news about masks. (So much for Boris assessing things over the next few days!)
I see this whole mask thing as a massive “arse covering” exercise and believe me there are a load of massive arses in this government. (My language has certainly deteriorated throughout this nonsense.) The fact is none of us on here will be required to wear a mask in shops. We are all on the exempt list as it will cause us distress to put on and take off a mask. It’s a massive get-out clause. We need to be strong of course because the government are relying on “mask shaming” to make this work.
Look at quarantine. It was introduced on the 8th June and ended on the 10th July for a range of countries, so just over a month in total. Hardly time for it to have had any effect before the government did a U turn once they realised it was killing the tourist industry. I predict the same thing will happen with masks. It’s to encourage everyone to go back to work in places like London. In my own city, things are virtually back to normal, no queues, plenty of people in pubs and restaurants and very, very few masks. OK there’s still the problem with schools but they are on holiday now until September.
Courage mes braves!
I was pleased to see only two masks during my shopping trip around town today. Well three if you count the girl serving coffee to the punters sitting on the pavement. She probably had to but none of them were masked and were all chatting amiably.
Next week will probably be different but there still won’t be more cases
URGENT, PLEASE SEE WORRYING MESSAGE FROM TONY LOWER DOWN. PLEASE OFFER ENCOURAGEMENT.
he’s lying or trolling but either way it’s sick
Hope you are right, Biker, but it’s entirely possible someone could be that depressed by all this shit.
Yes – though I doubt (and desperately hope) that he would be putting his announcement here. Let us all hope that it is not so – though there certainly will be increasing numbers taking this route, especially come October.
What a world this is turning into!
My mate killed himself, didn’t tell anyone, didn’t post on line about how he was gonna do it, just did it. I still miss the dude to this day. I highly doubt Tony is gonna kill himself. His post should be ignored. If it’s true then good luck to the fellow he’s gonna need it but it’s none of our concern. I reckon he’s without doubt a lefty scum bag fucking with us.
But if he is genuine, then any negative responses amongst the generally encouraging and concerned ones may just tip the scales. Hopefully we’re all here because we are concerned about other people in society and wouldn’t want to do or say anything that could worsen things for them?
Biker has posted before how anyone who wants to help other people make him sick, so I shouldn’t be surprised tbh.
That’s a complete myth that only people who are serious stay silent. And don’t you wish your mate had said something to you? Maybe your mate didn’t say anything, because of attitudes like this?
He isn’t a troll. He’s one of us, and you are behaving disgusting to be quite frank.
and maybe you shouldn’t make judgments about my attitudes but who the fuck posts on a lockdown site saying their gonna kill themselves? Maybe you can get him to one of your creepy meetings. What’s with that? Are you MI5, who the fuck are you?
Someone who has no one left to talk to, because everyone has become a fucking Covid zealot.
https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/if-youre-worried-about-someone-else/myths-about-suicide/
I’ve had conversations with Tony outside of here. He’s not trolling.
Well said TyLean and I hope you’ll be able to keep in touch with Tony.
your concern is so virtuous. Bro you’re fooling no one mr MI5
What? Bro? MI5? I’m a woman. Are you insane?
The only person trolling here is YOU.
I’m trained as a crisis counsellor. I know when someone is serious. He’s serious. He is not trolling. And “so virtuous”? Fuck right off…. yeah, you know what, if it’s a virtuous thing to offer some compassionate conversation to someone in – quite possibly – their final moments. Yeah. I’ll take that “criticism.”
I’m not trolling i just don’t believe Tony and i don’t believe you Miss Mi5
Well done for reaching out to him.
For the love of god! How can we fight this?
At a minimum we should all email (or write to) our MPs.
Here’s mine :
Sir,
I am a constituent of yours (name and address details must be included here!). I feel impelled to let you know that my wife and I are both utterly disgusted by the latest ruling on mask-wearing – at this ridiculously late stage in the pandemic, when covid is now almost entirely confined to asymptomatic ‘cases’.
So, we are now to be treated like slaves and muzzled at the say-so of a bizarrely out-of-touch ‘government’, which is clearly determined to crush democracy and freedom in what has been the greatest free country in the world – without even a vote in Parliament.
George Orwell clearly had it right, the future is to be ‘a boot stamping on a human face – forever’. What next in our brave new totalitarian world?
I haven’t got a good relationship with my MP at the very least it’s antagonistic so writing to her is a waste of time BUT when I heard the idea being floated of face masks in shops I wrote an email.
It started off stating facts about the virus and ineffectiveness of masks by which time I had worked myself up into a fury and told her they could all go hang themselves and they were dead to me, needless to say I haven’t received a response.
By supporting this legal action with money and time (spread the word) https://www.lockdowntruth.org/post/face-mask-legal-action
The only remedy that I can see is a widespread uptake and usage of exemption badges: The Danes all wore yellow stars in WW2 to protect their Jewish community in a show of solidarity and defiance.
Sadly I don’t think the same solidarity exists in our society.
These ‘exemption badges’ where are they from please? What do they need to say?
I just bought 2 from ebay. Some say “because I have a disability” which I did NOT buy. As far as I’m concerned I am Exempt because I am a sane person who thinks for herself.
Good point. Ipof I do have a disability, but better to do as you suggest.
You don’t need a badge. The law is likely going to be the same as for buses. If challenged, just say you can’t wear face coverings because they cause you severe distress. No medical proof will be necessary, nor should it be asked for.
“Not all disabilities are visible”.
Thanks for the info
https://www.euansguide.com/news/face-mask-exempt-badges/
Mine’s on the way kh; I emailed them yesterday.
Yes it’s another muddle kh; my right eye is affected by retinal damage, so as we discussed in an earlier thread, I am technically entitled to one and have received a promise from them.
I guess the alternative would be to approach an outfit like Cafe Press who make badges on demand;or they used to.
https://www.cafepress.co.uk/+and-pins+buttons
Worth a try; I got a fridge magnet made to my own choice of picture.
As they aren’t required by law there’s no standard format – you can print out any old cockrot. This site has some PDFs you can download and print
https://accessibletravel.scot/face-mask-exemption-not-everyone-can-wear-one/
However, I’ll not be wearing one, nor will my wife. It’s a bit too reminiscent of yellow stars in 1930s Germany, and my medical status is no one’s business but my doctor’s.
Currently says they’re paused.
Amazon do this one: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08BJC61SL/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Health condition could be sky high BP whenever you even think about wearing a face nappy!
I specifically wrote in my request (in the option field) that they are for disabled people and listed the disabilities (both my son and I). In my case, they are for legitimate disability, but I actually intend not to use them unless I have to. It’s pretty obvious for me, because I need a wheelchair for anything like shopping, but my son should not be singled out. This is the opposite of everything we try to do to make him feel included and equal.
Several disability charities have done their own. If in London, TFL has one you can download from their website and the various bus and rail companies have them too.
Several examples are here:
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=face+mask+exemptions+uk&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiV4YmwsMzqAhWhmFwKHX8GDl0Q_AUoAnoECAsQBA
Here are two examples:
https://www.networkwestmidlands.com/media/3407/wmn_facemask_exemption_printathome_v2.pdf
https://hiddendisabilitiesstore.com/hidden-disabilities-face-covering.html
And it’s all very well but why on earth should someone who has a genuine disability be forced to advertise that fact to avoid hostility. What happened to medical confidentiality?
Let’s just force them to sew red virus badges onto their clothes shall we…
I’ve said it earlier, but I will repeat, because it’s worth repeating…. way too yellow star for me!
Yes it is It’s as if the government knows what the virus is thinking and what it will do next. It’s uncanny!
I saw a stack of boxes of masks in my local pharmacy a few weeks back and thought there might be something afoot.
It’s drip drip drip feed all the time now. As soon as they think people will accept that, they encroach even more. Why the hell aren’t we rioting?
Exactly how it works. It’s called ‘nudging’ and the gov has a big department called the Behavioral Insights team. They work around the globe, that’s part of how the same stuff happens everywhere.
https://www.bi.team/about-us/
About us | The Behavioural Insights Team
The Team has grown from a seven-person unit at the heart of the UK government to a global social purpose company with offices around the world. Our work spanned 31 countries in the last year alone. Our mission remains the same. We generate and apply behavioural insights to inform policy, improve public services and deliver results for citizens …
http://www.bi.team
I saw some in the pharmacy. £7.95
It will be masks outside next.
We must all refuse to wear a mask, no matter what.
Like Rick Astley sang back in the 80’s ‘never gonna wear a mask’
Y Fronts for me in that case, probably not with pencils up my nose for now.
that is a cunning plan you’ve got there
What happened to Boris? How did he go from a staunch defender of civil liberties – the defence of Muslim women to cover their faces and “look like letterboxes” if they wish to, to enforced face coverings for all?
This worldwide crazyness is due to social media and especially Twitter. It is as simple as that.
If you want to change anything you have to reach out to fellow humans in real life.
I closed my FB account and have stayed away from Twatter because I have a low tolerance to stupidity. There are too few webpages that I can go to to share similar thoughts this is one of them thank goodness.
Reading Toby’s repose to the twat from the BBC radio 4 science show was great. How come these left wing people always claim it’s exhausting to deal with people who have a different view? How come they always claim what they believe is good and pure and done for the right reasons and anyone who doesn’t believe them is gonna kill people. Why don’t they understand that when someone says things like “it’s exhausting” you know that the level of virtue they are showing clearly demonstrates that behind close doors they are a monster. I’ve yet to meet a virtue signaller that isn’t doing something in private that is a crime. The more they pretend to be good the more evil they are. We all know this and i can only speculate what the tosser from radio 4 does but i know he does something. If only he’d kept his mouth shut but now if i were a reporter i’d be looking into him. Off course we don’t have reporters any more we just have paid up monsters of the virtue club.
It’s just their job. Find an angle and attack. And collect and analyze the replies.
The counterarguments by Toby are prize I am sure they are happy about, because they can analyze them for weaknesses and, given some data mining, for effectiveness or lack thereof. Then they can present a rebuttal on Channel 4 or wherever before Tobys arguments even get to be heard by most of the audience.
I have never been more profoundly disappointed in my life than I have to the state, and possibly social, reaction to Covid. The compulsory facemasks is just the latest development – it surely isn’t for health reasons they are doing it, but because they reckon it might get some more people into the shops. Personal freedoms don’t have much economic value and so it feels as if they are irrelevent: honesty also doesn’t have much price, and so they claim it’s to protect us all from something that 99% of us would recover from anyway.
Like others, I too have had plenty suicidal thoughts in all this – I am thoroughly unimpressed with the world, the people deciding the direction of the country are people who are almost speaking a different language to me. It’s not much fun. So what’s the point? I don’t want to live like this. BTW I’m not looking to be talked down or anything, just stating how much I hate this world that’s being forced on me by what feels like the tyranny of the masses (or the state).
I don’t know how to protest – I have written to my MP multiple times and got the expected sort of responses. I challenge people on social media and get the expected response. None of it seems to make much difference. There’s no one to vote for. So.
All cause deaths have been below the five year average for two consecutive weeks. What’s the betting today’s figures (out later) will show a miraculous upturn?
I need food and drink to survive, so I will have no choice but to comply when going to the supermarket. I don’t have the luxury of taking £100 fines on the chin. Apart from that, I will never set foot in a physical shop again whilst this madness endures.
On the Sturgeon lack of jotter and pen article. Leitch and Calderwood needed to have source data for formulating their thoughts. FOI is Scotland was hit by the covid emergency bill giving a five month turnaround instead of usual one.
I’m over a month into a wait for my own question of leitch and sturgeon to ve replied to. There is no sense that any meaningful correspondence takes place with these rotten people.
One comment I heard about calderwood is that she knew what see was doing and was deliberately out to cause tge issue she did. Seeing how this has played out, I think it’s plausible calderwood wanted out and so abandoned ship.
What about Neil Ferguson too? His story had been sat on for weeks before it was published. For me, it merely confirmed my scepticism. I knew the game was up when he was prepared to “risk” his lover and her family because he knew it was all a load of BS.
I posted this yesterday but it was a bit drowned out with all the Face Masks post. People need making aware of these figures as we are making masks mandatory over the deaths of 4,243 people in three months.
Just been going through the COVID-19 ONS death figures for March, April, & May in England & Wales.
There has only been 4,243 COVID-19 deaths where the person had no underlying illness or pre-existing condition. 2,342 of these deaths were over 80, so this means only 1,901 deaths in people under 80 in England & Wales
Country Sex Age Main pre-existing condition Number of deaths
England and Wales Persons 0-44 No pre-existing condition 98
England and Wales Persons 45-49 No pre-existing condition 89
England and Wales Persons 50-54 No pre-existing condition 117
England and Wales Persons 55-59 No pre-existing condition 210
England and Wales Persons 60-64 No pre-existing condition 222
England and Wales Persons 65-69 No pre-existing condition 279
England and Wales Persons 70-74 No pre-existing condition 390
England and Wales Persons 75-79 No pre-existing condition 496
England and Wales Persons 80-84 No pre-existing condition 672
England and Wales Persons 85-89 No pre-existing condition 761
England and Wales Persons 90+ No pre-existing condition 909
Total 4,243
So we have locked down the country and destroyed the economy for 4,000 deaths, and continue to persist with this farce.
When you consider that the lockdown has caused nearly 20,000 excess non-COVID19 deaths, this does not make any sense whatsoever. What on earth are we doing?
“we’re”not doing anything. The globalist takeover of the world is doing it to us.
I think you are right on this. This definitely has nothing to do with combating a virus now.
even single person wearing the mask is a traitor to our country and will cause their own downfall. It will be too late when these wankers are asking those who stood up what to do.
That can’t be right. Your figures seem to say that almost as many people aged 45-49 died as died aged 0-44.
There is a genuine anomaly:
https://drmalcolmkendrick.org/2020/06/26/covid-the-strange-the-inexplicable-and-the-weird/
Wow. That’s very revealing, thanks!
No knowing how many of them had UNDIAGNOSED pre-existing conditions
or of course how many were lockdown deaths rather than covid deaths
That’s quite funny cause I did a potted estimate of how many genuine covid deaths have happened the other week, going off the revised 12% Italy figure and it was…..
4,000
Simple. Don’t wear a mask. If the police ask for your name and address refuse. They will not be able to issue you with a fixed penalty ticket without a name and address
The police will then be faced with an option of doing nothing or arresting you. Arresting you will take a police officer off the streets for five hours. They cannot charge you with an offence without the say so of the Crown Prosecution Service: and will be forced to release you
If they eventually find the time to submit a file of evidence to the CPS; the CPS will be forced to take no further action, or clog up the courts with facemask cases
There are not enough police officers, cells, CPS lawyers, or courts in the land
The government have only been able to get away with what they have because we let them
Passive non violent resistance
Resist, refuse, say no
You literally just typed exactly what I was going to type – so I’m going to just say I agree with you, D Barton, 100%. Passive non-violent resistance is the key.
and support the legal action https://www.lockdowntruth.org/post/face-mask-legal-action
I’m much calmer now, because it’s completely clear that they are insane, that this is a con and we need have no doubts at all. Regardless of any personal bias that any of us might hold, this government’s actions just don’t make sense.
I am not naturally a confrontational type but mandatory face nappies for me are the limit. I am not sure whether to wear my nuclear and biological warfare gas mask and hazmat suit or buy one of those lovely lanyards to place around my neck to say I have a medical exemption ..
Just for readers an average GP writes daily loads of medical exemptions and Med3 s work certificates which are for ” low mood ” or ” stress ” or ” anxiety ” so all 66 million citizens of this country can claim exemption . The stress of living under the rule of insane Boris Johnson is a valid reason .
Peter
wife phoned GP after first visit to Hairdressers and forced to wear a muzzle. Sufferes from mild asthma Dr was un interested and useless. Just said it would be bad if it happened in thee supermarket.
If I was courageous and reckless I would give out my surgery address and I would register you all as temporary residents and e mail you letters saying wearing masks made you anxious and you were exempt. Unfortunately I would be attacked on all fronts by the BLM/ FBPE cult followers
I am happy to e mail my own patients letters to print off.
This is interesting – so are doctors allowed to issue exemption certificates? I was told by my GP surgery that it was against government regulations.
There is no such thing as an ” exemption certificate .” You can print off cards from any number of websites saying you are exempt for a medical reason. If you want a letter saying you had anxiety etc some surgeries would charge. I never charge .
Just to say, my Mum was finally told at the doctors today that she didn’t have to wear a face mask, due to pulmonary hypertension. I printed off an exemption ‘badge’ for her from their website & they were happy with that.
Mind you, this was the third visit of Mum heaving with a face mask on (as they now have to be worn in the doctors at all times) & only Mum now having made an issue of it, have they said she ‘truly’ is exempt!
One down – however many more million to go …
The government’s decisions to make mask wearing compulsory, both on public transport and in shops, are clearly political. The government’s decision to introduce the lockdown measures was also political. The government’s claim to be making decisions on the basis of “the science” is clearly revealed to be nothing more than a rhetorical device, designed to ensure compliance. As this fiasco unfolds, more and more it becomes clear that the government is lying. The fact that the government has repeatedly lied undermines any confidence that can be placed in its claimed motivation: saving lives. So what is the motivation?
The motivation is (a) transfer of wealth from the grassroots to the superwealthy
(b) destruction
I looked into it here, the immediate subject matter is climate change but that’s irrelevant, it’s all part of the same thing https://www.beautyandthebeastlytruth.com/the-conflict-of-ideas
“Nicola Sturgeon said instead that the scientific advice that she had received had all been orally”, “an absolute cock up.”. Seems like she had something else on her mind at the time
Depressed when I heard the news this morning and clearly I am not alone. I found some exemption cards to print out on the net yesterday and will be giving them a go on a train trip on Thursday. I feel I do meet the exemption rules – hearing aids which tangle with the aids, nasal rhinitis for which I have spray, and add a few things in like steamed up varifocal glasses so don’t think there will be a problem if challenged. Like most here I am strongly against this stupid decision which does nothing to help the virus.
Tony, seen you comments, hope you are not serious but if so please do reconsider. I must admit to have feeling similarly at times over the past few months and sad to see Toby report on someone who did carry it through.
Does the idea of being forced to wear a mask on the basis of political diktat, supported by junk ‘science’ cause you stress and / or anxiety? If you can answer “yes” then you have a medical exemption. And you’re not obliged to inform anyone of the basis of your exemption. Anyone trying to force you to divulge that info is in breach of the Equalities Act 2010. Resist.
Well that’s made my mind up, put your wallets and purses aside and buy nothing but food and fuel. This Government will only see sense when it feels the full financial effect of its idiotic policies. Yet another misstep brought on by the bed wetting Twitteratti, if you can put 140characters together and tweet it to a Minister you to can define policies that will cripple an economy.
Put the money you save into this, Mike https://www.lockdowntruth.org/post/face-mask-legal-action
I’m not wearing a mask anywhere. I will order online or go to outdoor markets for food (will probably attempt local corner shops first), will buy fuel late on weekend evening and pay at the window, and will have medicine delivered.
My fear is that the agenda is to destroy the high streets and hospitality sectors, including arts, and to encourage us to stay home.
During the 1980s, there was a deliberate policy to make us scared to go out. Remember all those dangerous dogs? The Act was passed under very dubious circumstances.
Once we weren’t afraid of being savaged by a stray pit bull, we were effectively convinced there was a dangerous junkie on every corner – or that if we left our flats, they’d be broken into while we were away.
Result, many people stayed home and watched tv (ie the brainwashing machine).
There were no social media or credit cards then. It’s even easier today!
If you refuse to wear a mask but can’t face a full on confrontation or afford a fine you can self certify as medically exempt. Cards can be downloaded from the TFL website and various other public transport providers and from mobility shops. Borrowing an old asthma inhaler from an asthmatic friend to keep in your pocket would also act as back up evidence.
Not necessary. You’re not obliged to prove the reason for your exemption.
That might be theoretically true, but there have been stories of TfL security refusing to allow people onto trains without “proof” of their exemptions.
In which case TfL are in breach of the Equalities Act and folk should complain. (I suspect it’s simply down to poor staff training).
The tentacles of the medico-fascist establishment continue to strangle the life out of this country. People seem to have a high tolerance for garbage, shame they don’t have the spine to stand up and object to this outragein greater numbers…
The BBC this morning is clearly trying to link face-mask usage to the story about 120,000 dying of Covid this winter. They may as well just say “If you do not ware face-masks in shops this summer you will be culpable in the murder of 120,000 people this winter!”.
And people actually seem to believe this shit.
The BBC is quite revolting. I have been using Radio 3 as a wake-up because they have not had news for months. How strange then that on this day, when Tyrannyosaurus Johnson makes this disgusting decision, news has just restarted. What a wake-up for the woke and unwoke alike!
Today, is the first day in years (first when I’ve been in the country, anyway) that I have not watched BBC Breakfast with my morning coffee. I could not face face the inevitable crowing of the smug-faced idiots about this news. I’m done with the BBC and I’m done with the licence fee and I’m done with virtually every aspect of the nasty, intolerant little hell hole this country has become.
Cancel yout licence and stop watching (14 years TV free) you’ll soon feel much better.
Haven’t seen the BBC for years. Personally i blame Blue Peter. Everything they do from news to documentaries is as infantile as Blue Peter. They believe they have to talk to us like we’re children which encourages them to believe they know best. Disgustingly most people are just fucking dandy with that.
Stopping watching tv is a good first step. I reached that stage many years ago and haven’t regretted it.
It’s easy to underestimate the degree of indoctrination you receive with every program you watch or listen to. It’s not a problem until they are trying to indoctrinate you in something that you are not prepared to accept. I reached that stage, as I said many years ago, over the general left-wing, internationalist and political correctness indoctrination. People of a slightly younger age such as yourself grew up with that kind of indoctrination surrounding you anyway, and took it for granted, and it’s only now that they are trying to push something newly obnoxious upon you that it becomes an issue for you.
That’s my impression anyway. Hopefully there will be some renewed support for the ending of state support for the BBC, in particular.
Defund the BBC – much better for your mental health
I used to watch some excellent beeb dramas via iplayer. Also HIGNFY and Mock the Week.
I hadn’t watched any news for many years, but started following the election campaign. I was fascinated by the slippery evasiveness of the Tory candidates and the way the Labour candidates weren’t allowed to talk about anything but their alleged antisemitism.
So, come new year, I continued to watch certain programmes – Victoria Derbyshire and Jo Coburn in particular.
Once covid mania struck the BBC and Victoria Derbyshire was co-opted into the news broadcasts, I watched her struggle to hide her frustration as she delivered the party line. An incisive interviewer, she was obviously muzzled and a programme which used to feature some excellent investigative journalism disappeared – no doubt because, given chance, she would have shredded the covid bolllox.
As for Jo Coburn. An intelligent terrier of an interviewer, where was she shelved? It’s a miracle Deborah Cohen was allowed back out on Friday to allow airtime for some voices of reason.
After lockdown, HIGNFY was completely devoid of satire and MtW vanished altogether.
My licence expired at the end of May and obviously i haven’t renewed it. I haven’t missed the Beeb at all!
I am now firm in my belief that this is now deliberate provocation and a war against the people – not of this country but against the world – as all the politicians are following the same agenda with the same reasoning and all seem to be following a script supplied from someone else.
All those new world order, new deal green utopia dystopian totalitarian conspiracy theories that were slagged off and maligned are all coming together nicely.
My wife today is very despondent and doesn’t see the point of fighting anymore and is on the verge of giving up as alls he reads is the MSM and she watches the TV “news”.
I’ll try and point her in this direction to show her that not everyone is a craven, quivering wreck.
Twitter ruined public discourse, and with it the minds of the crowds. I don’t think there is much of a plan because geopolitically, this makes no sense at all.
What you and your wife, and all of us, can do, is talk with people offline. Make friendships and alliances.
What you should not do is waste your argument power on twitter, because there your arguments will be neutralized by the mad crowd.
Facebook is even worse I think and Instagram gives full flow to their virtue signalling.
My son noticed back in April that all the different countries were using exactly the same vocabulary.
Good spot by your son.
Yes as someone said they are all acting in lockstep – or goosestep
How long O Boris, how long? Has he been asked this question?
By what criteria will he decide it has become safe to come from out behind the mask. When the death rate has fallen to a particular level? When the ‘R’ rate has fallen to a particular level? When there are no reported cases? When we have all been vacinated? Forever? Can he be nailed down on this?
Nailed down? Or, perhaps, nailed up!
They are clearly stalling. Surely they can’t possibly believe (know?!!!) the vaccine will be here soon?
So, what is the pithy and readable message going to be on your custom face mask? Some options I’m thinking about:
BOJO MADE ME WEAR THIS
FUCK THE NEW NORMAL (maybe ‘SCREW THE NEW NORMAL’ when I’m out with the kids?)
I DON’T WANT TO BE SAFE
THIS DOES NOT WORK
I won’t be wearing a mask
I will most likely have to, for work – we’ve already been told it will be mandatory. I’d love to be a conscientious objector, but I have mouths to feed. This is the position which we are in, now.
You have a choice, be guided by your conscience. They have to kill me (literally) before I wear one
This is the evil of misusing the law in this way – it forces decent folk to choose between their duty to family or their conscience, and for most the correct priority must be the duty to family and dependents. But that leaves justified resentment and hatred in its wake.
Slogans for you then!
666 perhaps?
Revelation 13:16-17
16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
1984
Someone has started a petition already
http://chng.it/SDFT5qPQsR
I think we should all write the world
“Mysophobia”
on the front of our masks
https://www.psycom.net/mysophobia-germophobia/
Maybe some of the Stepford people might look it up and see the irrationality of it all.
Why don’t we petition the broadcasters to re run the various OCD bootcamp programmes that were popular a few years ago?
Or re-runs of Adrian Monk.
About the time Boris was embroiled in controversy about the niqab being an affront to freedom and it being a basic liberty to see people’s faces, I found a niqab hanging in the ladies at Cherwell Valley services.
As I sat on the loo looking at it I wondered if a girl had come in wearing it and then slipped into jeans and a t shirt and walked out into a new life of freedom. Something compelled me to stuff it in my handbag and I brought it home, washed it and slung it in a drawer. Today I tried it on. If Bojo insists on muzzling me I may wear my niqab as a protest against his rank hypocrisy. I have to admit the darn thing is nowhere near as hot and sweaty as a face mask!
I think creative satire is the main way forward. I’m trying to think of pithy mottos to stencil on a mask.
Any thoughts?
A white niquab would be great – loads of room for slogans.
What worries me most is that, according to the DT, “The Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984 will be amended to allow police to issue fines of up to £100 to people who fail to wear a face covering in shops and supermarkets”.
Note that they’re not amending the Coronavirus regulations which, I believe, expire in September, but the Act to which they were appended. Does this mean that there will be no expiry date on the face mask rule? Will it be forever on the statute book? Or does this explain the delay in implementation, in that the change will have to go through the House of Commons and the House of Lords? In which case, might there be a very slight chance that it won’t be passed? I have no idea how these things work.
I am beyond depressed at this further infringement of our civil liberties. We had one holiday cancelled in June and we were supposed to be going away on 31st July, just to a campsite. But we now feel we can’t go because we won’t wear masks and so we shan’t be able to go to any shops for food.
I don’t swear, I really don’t like it, but my head right now is filled with every expletive I’ve ever come across and I’m mentally shouting them at this utter cesspit of a government.
Personally, I try to keep swear words for extreme circumstances – we are, and have been, there for months!
What a face-mask looks like to a virus.
Careful with that argument, or they will make you wear some high density shit next.
There’s an interesting Brownian Motion effect that means that particles smaller than 0.3 microns are actually trapped more effectively (wierd science indeed) but the basic point still holds I believe and is proved by many RCTs.
Is that AFTER the mask has gone all soggy?
A famously corrupt US politician’s mantra was “Nothing in writing and everything in cash”. Can’t recall which one, spoiled for choice really.
Don’t wear the mask, get the fine, refuse to pay, go to court, rinse and repeat by tens of thousands of people. Let’s bring this corrupt judiciary down by their own insane dictats
It’s going to be interesting when I go for petrol but won’t be allowed in the shop after filling up as I won’t be wearing a mask. Maybe I should just drop the cash on the floor.
Personally I always Pay-at-Pump with a credit card – so this at least is avoidable!
always use cash, without cash we’re not free. Every transaction you make without cash is destroying our freedom. If cash goes we then have the Chinese social credit system and i don’t think they like me too much and i can foretell they’ll shut me down.
There is a pay at pump option at one local petrol station but like Biker, I’m planning to use cash as much as humanly possible from now on.
Used, for the first time, a nifty App from Shell (Esso and BP also have them) which means you can drive up to the pump, open the App (press a few buttons on the phone), and then fill up and drive away. Also now use another App to pay for parking. All this plus on-line shopping for everything where possible now that this new ruling has tinlidded any of the pleasure experienced from shopping in person.
If you do that – then they`ve won.
Waiting now for Johnson to finally demonstrate that not only is he no conservative, but he is not even a liberal (in the traditional British sense of someone who views state power, state interference, and authoritarianism in general, with suspicion). Rather he is just another collectivist. An authoritarian, libertine hypocrite.
The disastrous response to the coronavirus has already demonstrated this, but if he allows the (questionable) idea that wearing masks might have some slight effect in reducing spread of an (at most) slightly dangerous disease to justify the misuse of the law to compel people who disagree with his assessment to wear masks, then he puts the situation beyond doubt.
And this should be a resigning matter for anybody in the cabinet who wishes to sustain the slightest pretence of being conservative or traditionalist in any meaningful sense. Are there any of those left at all, at the top levels of any of our main political parties? It appears not, at the moment.
This government’s behaviour and that of our media in general (and especially the state-subsidised BBC) has proved that the triumph of the collectivist left over both traditional British liberalism and innate British conservatism is pretty much complete. There is little left to resist it, and it only remains for its adherents to fully realise this and to proceed to wield the power they have accrued, while ordinary Brits stood by and allowed their taxes to fund their own propagandisation into submission, through the BBC propaganda organ and the state “education” indoctrination bodies.
So very well said; thank you.
Sir Christopher Chope MP spoke up in Parliament against mandating masks. He’s the only dissenting voice I have seen. It’s a start, though it’s hard to be at all hopeful.
“the triumph of the collectivist left”
Wishful confirmation bias. This disaster is solidly at the door of the extreme right of the Tory Party who have been increasingly in power for a decade and assented to this government of spivs and chancers.
Although some of Wolfie’s Tooting Front have also lapped up the jackboot stuff, the main charge against the left in this debate has been its total craven absence.
Oh, come on! Which parts of the agenda of the radical left of the late C19th/early C20th have not now become pretty much core dogma for our ruling elites, and find me a single member of the cabinet who would dissent from any of them.
Your idea of “extreme right” would seem to be thoroughly self-serving and inaccurate. You seem to think that feminist, collectivist, anti-nationalist, internationalist, pro-divorce and pro-homosexuality ideals are part of the modern “extreme right” mindset. These “extreme right” politicians have trashed the country out of fear of damage to the inherently socialist national health service and have ensured that the police bend the knee to the US race-baiters of the BLM, who were allowed to carry out mass demonstrations even as anti-lockdown protesters were taken to court. They’ve also presided over the effective continuation of mass immigration and have kowtowed to the leftist teaching unions at every turn.
What no earth would you make of it if you were to encounter an actual conservative, let alone an “extreme rightist”!?
I think your confirmation bias model of the political spectrum is about as accurate as Ferguson’s work on the virus
So no substantive response, then. About what I expected.
Seriously, we clearly are on the same side on the most important immediate issue, but it is clear from your assumptions here that you would benefit from adopting a rather wider perspective on your ideas about right/left. These are issues that have been in play for generations, not just since Margaret Thatcher.
If only there had been an even modest right-leaning controlling influence within the Tory party of the last ten years. Cameron and May were both wishy-washy Liberals. And so it continues!
Credit to Peter Hitchens, he didn’t fall for Cameron’s euro-communism:
The Cameron Delusion: Updated Edition of ‘The Broken Compass’
Someone has already started an anti-mask petition on the Change website if anyone else wants to crack on with signing it
I heard Greenhalgh on the radio at the weekend pushing the pro-mask cause.
She used the phrase ‘deadly pandemic’. Enough said.
Check her twitter. All the signs of a cult member FBPE, BLM . She used to write a very tedious weekly column in the BMJ.
In terms of the ‘Newsnight’ interviewees, it is interesting that both Greenhalgh and Ramakrishnan are certified members of branches of the Order of the Brown Nose, whilst Dingwall and Heneghan aren’t.
I don’t know Greenhalgh from Eve, but Ramakrishnan’s utterances comparing face nappies to seat belts were so spectacularly unhinged from a scientific and statistical point of view that one had to wonder who was working him.
Heneghan’s Centre for Evidence Based Medicine group, on the other hand, has provided a rock of sanity and reality throughout this mass infection by nonsense.
As they say ‘No Contest’.
I would very much like to see the statistics on the number of supermarket workers who were infected at the height of the virus. A lady I know works in our local Sainsbury’s and they have had only one instance of covid infection in 3 months and the one person who had it caught it from his wife who is an NHS cleaner. Surely supermarkets were the perfect test bed for the ability of the virus to spread in shops? That it clearly hasn’t spread through supermarkets ought to tell us something about the pointlessness of masks.
That’s the question I always ask – why aren’t supermarket workers dropping like flies?
The checkout assistant I spoke to said that in his branch no-one has been off sick since this insanity started – oldest worker is in his 60s, youngest is 18.
Agreed. I’ve said this before on here, supermarkets are the very best real life barometer for this. Same staff throughout, loads of customers etc.
Why haven’t they keeled over?
Exactly. And they haven’t been wearing PPE either, many I’ve spoken to have said that they actually stop them from doing their jobs effectively and so don’t use them.
Yep. Incontrovertible, concrete, empirical evidence is staring us all in the face. And yet “waaaahhhhh, virus!!!”
Unfortunately you still get a lot of those hiding behind the sofa out and about.
Agree. Mr Bart and I recently ordered a takeaway and the Just Eat driver who delivered it was very fit – looks like someone who goes to the gym regularly or lifts weights.
Yes I’ve heard this from all over, but Handcock said today they ARE dropping like flies. Is his nose growing longer?
I think it is. It will reach a point that his nose will be so long that it will break
What have Lidl said?
No one is turning anyone away. Once people realise this mask wearing will drop off
I do think the novelty will wear off rapidly. Everyone I know who has to wear them for work detests them. I see a lot of teenagers wearing them which I think is because up to now they have looked a bit rebellious (especially to those who think Antifa are edgy and glamorous) but I’m sure they will stop wearing them as an act of rebellion when all the middle aged and elderly have to adopt them.
My mum also works in a local Sainsbury’s + has continued to do so throughout the whole of lockdown. Aside from a week where she was told to isolate due to possible symptoms (very very mild and short-lived symptoms), neither she nor her colleagues have had any issues. Plus the store itself is a small local as opposed to a supermarket, so the 2m distancing guide was basically impossible…leading me to think it’s either nowhere near as infectious as we’re being told, or that they’ve already had it but had little or no symptoms
200 people work in my store, not a single case. The other big store three miles away has 600 staff, not a single person has had it.
Don’t have any figures, but I certainly see the same staff day in, day out. Fair number of minority ethnicity staff in my stores, too, and they are said to be more susceptible. Guess what? All still there.
they say blacks get it more because blacks are fragile nowadays and need special treatment. I highly doubt they do. It’s just another of those stories that go like white people bad, black people good.
Vitamin D is probably the answer, the darker your skin the less you generate from sun exposure. Also applies to white people who use sunscreen, and statins probably don’t help any.
Police spokesman on radio right now, saying they simply cannot police this. If shop calls police, mask rebel can just walk away etc.. Hurrah.
I’ve been waiting to hear something along those lines. I hoped the police might take the attitude that it’s unenforceable like they did with social distancing. Although social distancing was a guideline not a law (?). I suppose some forces might be prepared to try and enforce it, others not? Hopefully enough people will feel there’s enough uncertainty that if they don’t want to wear one they won’t. Although whether this will give encouragement to those who want to verbally abuse non-wearers, only time will tell (but I suspect it will).
With luck, we’ve got shops saying “We shouldn’t have to” and Police saying “We haven’t got time”. NIce combination.
I suspect that this has just been done on a whim by “King” Boris.
Shop won’t call police. Why would they call the police on an honest customer minding her own business, doing her shopping and breathing God’s good air through her uncovered nose?
You are right and it is welcome news to see police making clear their position surroung this unworkable law.
Two points connected.
The social shaming aspect – other people frowning on you is very unpleasant, don’t under estimate that coercive element
For future pandemics (more are expected/planned and isn’t flu now considered a perpetupandemic now anway) CCTV will be easily employed once ID recognition is widely deployed. This face covering thing needs not only stopping but banning.
Final bonus point. The police are not talking about the increase of crime that such a stupid plan invites. The police were responsible for law and order perhaps the police mission changed to increasing feelings of well-being, etc. We all know this is wrong for society to hide faces.
Why now? when the weekly death toll is not a tenth of what it was? This is my explanation.
The government, and most of the media, have done far too a good a job of scaring people witless. After weeks and weeks of telling people to stay home as it was too dangerous to go outside they now want them do exactly that and start shopping. Masks are intended to conquer the fear they’ve engendered. Personally I think masks will continue to make people feel afraid – very afraid. Why risk your life getting a haircut if waiting customers display their lethality by wearing a mask! Yeiks!
No I think it is far more sinister – forget the virus for a moment. The government’s behavioural unit is nudging us into online shopping where dependence on a few big businesses (i.e. essential) will be far greater. Keep the public in fear and stressed to make them compliant for the vaccine, chip. track and trace, health passports. I believe this is all trying to nudge the herd into the behaviours they need to gain complete obedience and control.
The general population wearing masks will indeed increase the level of fear and anxiety, and the government and their behavioural scientific advisers are well aware of this. The notion that the government thinks that making masks compulsory will reassure people is not credible and is in fact contrary to the government’s campaign (as shown by the SAGE minutes) to increase fear in order to ensure compliance.
You are absolutely right. The measure is meant to perpetuate and exaggerate fear, not ameliorate it. As is the general assault on truth. For what other reason would you want to keep the public from knowing the true picture of a vanishing virus whilst perpetuating a narrative that has been shown to be wrong at every stage?
I agree Steve, there’s a lot in what you say.
But I do think there is an element of gross stupidity in this. Boris is de facto king now under the Coronavirus Act and I suspect that this has been done on a whim.
He just thinks it’s a good idea. So it’s happening.
Because of the algorithm if you talk about masks on social media you will be bombarded with adverts for the damn things. Even the Telegraph has an article on the most stylish masks from £2.99-£99. Clearly there is money to be made from this collective madness.
That’s why I’ve switched on my ad blocker. Many of these ads also come from online shops which I suspect are based in China.
If you go on the firefox browser you should be able to get an adblocker as an “add on”.
They work very well.
Masks have a small benefit in preventing you spreading the virus.
So, if you are wearing a mask, you must think you have the virus.
If you think you have the virus – YOU SHOULDN’T BE IN THE SHOP.
Quite, and, assuming you are asymptomatic, you will not be coughing or sneezing anyway, so you will not be emitting airborne particles!
Just like wearing a condom permanently to prevent from getting an STD.
Doesn’t matter if you’ll be having sex. The science is clear that condoms will help stop the spread.
EXACTLY
You can use this excellently against the stupid seat belt people.
“Wearing a mask is like wearing a seatbelt”
“No, wearing a mask is like wrapping a seatbelt round yourself and expecting it to protect you even when you’ve left the car”
The key question today actually comes at the end of Toby Young’s article :
“The question no one seems to be asking is: Why do we need to worry about interrupting transmission of the virus when almost no one has it any more?”
This is the platform on which the scaffold for the hanging of a free democratic society stands.
Only those deluded to the point of insanity (and I do mean mass ‘insanity’) could seriously accept the basis for the proposed totalitarian measures.
Keep the numbers in your head : up to 5th July, it was estimated (ONS) that you would need to lick the faces of 3,900 people in order to encounter a single case of the vanishing virus.
Today, a week and a half beyond that end date, that is probably around 10,000 people, given the rate of decline.
This puts the whole mask debate into proper perspective – a measure where deleterious effects are known and benefits totally without foundation in a real wold situation such as this. The government is turning proper medical judgment on its head, aided by time-servers pretending to science :
“Do no harm”
This has got to be the most effective stat in our arsenal and it is straight from the ONS. I wonder how feasible it is to get a simple TV add set up. With crowd funding I would dig deep into my pocket. All it would need is static text for a few seconds along with a suitable soundtrack, perhaps the Benny hill music. Of course, it may be hard to get past the censors.
I like this person’s mask. Salad Fingers.
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/local-news/someone-creepy-mask-watching-people-18589554
Love Salad Fingers. We have his head mounted on the house wall
Ha! That’s brilliant!
love it
Re Dr Adam Rutherford, in fairness he was absolutely correct on one point he made:
“I suppose the broader point is that in science we are trained to and predisposed to perpetually identify where we are wrong. Look at your work and ask ‘how am I wrong about this?’
Without that you are an ideologue.“
And the primary exhibit in support of that assertion is Rutherford himself, demonstrating by his criticism of questioning the official truth as “dangerous” that he is precisely an ideologue rather than any kind of scientist or even a scientific journalist.
The fact that men such as him are employed by our state-subsidised propaganda organisation, the BBC, as a supposedly honest reporter and analyst illustrates a large part of how we came to be in the disastrous place we find ourselves today.
You know – and I’ll get my coat after this – you really, really have to admire the ruthless efficiency of Project Fear. Boy, has it worked.
Prof. Sucharit Bhakdi, one of the major infectuous disease experts and lockdown opponents in Germany, says 80-90% have already immunity, thus herdimmunity has been reached already.
And the immunity is from previous coronavirus exposure (t-cells, no antibodies).
If we don’t ALL wear masks, we will all die, look:
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/supermarket-staff-face-covering-rule-george-eustice-a4497426.html?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1594714245
Asked whether their use could be extended to offices, he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme:
“When it comes to workplace environments, because people are in the same company throughout the day, there are not lots of people coming through the venue as you have in a retail environment; the risk of transmission is therefore lower.”
Well he seems to have firmly grasped the wrong end of the stick! Lead on McIdiot!
Carlsberg don’t do websites for freedom loving people, but if they did………….
Can anyone give me a link to a recent iteration of the Sweden vs Imperial graph of reality vs doom?
Try :
https://swprs.org/covid19-lethality-how-not-to-do-it/
http://inproportion2.talkigy.com/nordic_comparison_4jul.html
Thanks very much.
I failed History O level, so you shouldn’t take too much notice of my historical references, but in the light of recent events I cast my mind back to despots whose policy was the mass murder of its own citizens. There are probably a lot more but those I came up with are:
Adolf Hitler
Pol Pot
Mao tse Tung
and now – at a store near you – Boris Johnson.
Masks are murder.
In the summer, people are fitter than in the winter and should be encouraged to catch cv19 right now unless they are very frail and vulnerable. A failure to do this or even worse, an attempt to do the opposite, is genocide. If they catch it now, the resultant immunity will better protect them against cv19 and all other coronaviruses that can potentially affect them in the winter – and that will save the lives of many because although cv19 alone is unlikely to kill you cv 19 + cv ? probably will. Of course the efficacy of masks is much in doubt, but if they are even partially effective they could be responsible for many deaths later.
Of course, that may be exactly what the government wants as it ensures that they remain in power, or should I say absolute power, longer.
Will nobody rid me of this troublesome priest?
As Toby has recently said, we probably already have, or are close to having, herd immunity.
There was also that Stalin geezer …
Returned to my local barber last week, and he was wearing a mask but did not ask me to do so. Spoke about it and he said that he’d been cutting a customer’s hair (he does so in the window of his small shop) without either of them wearing a mask and a passer by (woman in her 60s or so, he thought) came in and demanded in an outraged tone to know “how dare he” not be wearing a mask, and said she’d be reporting him to the local authorities.
He wears a mask now because he has a business to run and can’t afford either to lose mask-obsessive customers or to get drawn into a fight with the local authorities.
The squeaky wheel gets the grease, and there are a lot more busybodies insisting on and snitching for these rules than there are sceptics standing openly against them (though hopefully there will be a few open defiers of the rougher sort).
How do we find and support businesses willing to stand up against this outrage, without drawing them to the attention of the coronasnitches and authorities for special treatment, and how do we ensure the likes of Johnson and the whole parliament of whores pay a proper price for this?
I agree. LDS has the database of reopened businesses but as pretty much all businesses are now open we perhaps should have a new database of businesses that won’t enforce muzzle wearing.
In principle I would like this, but the problem is, would it cost them more by exposing them to special attention from the coronafascists than it would gain them in extra support from us? Certainly I would support any local business that chose to take a stand, but we have to recognise that we seem to be in a minority and facing very highly motivated fanatics.
I know. I’m a positive person but I have never felt so miserable. We British are not the people I though we were. Cucked, cowed, compliant cowards.
And that’s just the government!
Don’t worry. Not all of us.
If I had not happened upon this site, I would be feeling very low, but everyone here keeps me going. Thank you all, you lovely people!
Since the start of this I’ve kept thinking about that last part of Lord of the Rings when the heroes return to find the Shire beneath the iron boot of Saruman and his minions. The hobbits are quietly suffering until the final straw … and then …
I think Tolkien had a keen understanding of the mentality of the British people, and at heart I think nothing has really changed to the British psyche – at the moment, the majority of people are at the ‘quietly suffering’ stage. Also, I have the feeling that there has been a lot more silent, unobserved rule breaking than is at first apparent.
you forgot fat, stupid and drunk.
The problem is that a lot of masked shoppers, I’m sure, will be willing to report transgressors.
And so it begins. We have a slew of family birthdays and anniversaries from 19 July through to mid August. I’d normally pop into the independent card shop on our high street and then trot to the post office to buy stamps but I just downloaded the Moonpig app. A personalised card mailed direct to the recipient for roughly the same cost and no queuing or muzzles or hostility from the sheeple? It’s a no brainer.
Turns out all retail staff are exempt from the mandatory face covering law. So potentially someone not wearing a mask can tell you that you have to wear a mask/covering, how illogical is that?!!
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/supermarket-staff-face-covering-rule-george-eustice-a4497426.html?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1594714245
Well it wouldn’t be very pleasant to do a 7.5 hour shift in a hot shop while muzzeld up. I’m guessing shoppers will be in and out to get what they want without browsing.
Yes but that’s being logical.There’s no logic regarding issues of health being applied to the psy-ops, quite the opposite.
And someone employed by the bus company, to check you are wearing a mask on the bus , doesn’t have to wear a mask, either. But if you don’t wear one, you will kill us all. Got it?
This is a bloody joke, surely! I thought we’d reached peak insanity with compulsory muzzles in shops, but to exclude staff is lunacy beyond belief.
According to this minister most retail staff are already wearing ppe. Obviously he’s not been to many supermarkets recently.
Probably has a hamper delivered from Fortnum’s.
It’s all lunacy beyond belief.
Please don’t inflict any more misery on retail staff!
What do trade unions have to say about that, I wonder?
Saw a piece about that this morning, maybe in the Grad, can’t find it now. However, if I remember correctly, Unison were wanting masks for employees!
Unfortunately there’s already a push against it:
Dr Rachel McCloy, associate professor in applied behavioural science, University of Reading, said:
Where it is most likely to fail is if the changes contain illogical exceptions or continue to promote mixed messages (eg shoppers must wear masks but they are not compulsory for retail staff; the rules apply to retail settings but not to other indoor settings where potential for contact is the same or similar), and where there are failures to consistently model the required behaviour from key public figures (as has happened with previous restrictions), which can promote an attitude of ‘if they can opt out, so can I’.
From the Grad live. Notice her area of expertise!
Another one for the list. At least this one looks like an actual woman.
If masks worked the Japanese would get colds and flu much less than other people
They don’t
So masks don’t work
Asians (and I work with a lot) tend to wear masks against pollution and not against any virus.
A Taiwanese acquaintance told me that everyone knows they’re useless but its all there for show.
Hey Boz/Rish. Totally agree we need to boot the economy, especially hospitality! Ok, I’m going out right now, get the bus to the shops, then the pub.. Oh, hang on…
Never mind I’ll take a UK break from it all – no hang on it will be the same there as well. Still, that won’t matter, cos once I’ve booked, there will be a local lockdown either at home or my destination, so I won’t be going.
Yeah, thanks Boz/Rish.
Compulsory face masks – the final nail in the coffin for high streets. Complete and utter madness. Thanks Lockdown Sceptics for keeping me sane!!!
New slogan for any potential mask/t-shirt/mug:
‘Cover your faces – cover their arses.’
Bang on!
Coronavirus: Why attitudes to masks have changed around the world
Let down by Trump is not really a surprise, and Johnson has revealed himself to be the worst kind of hypocritical, authoritarian libertine, but why did so many Americans fall for the mask nonsense so quickly?
As for Brits, it seems pretty clear we will be rapidly propagandised and “role modeled” into compliance by the coronazealots, with the enthusiastic assistance of our government and its media propaganda organs.
Trump wore a mask to visit a military hospital. MSM chose not to emphasise this rather crucial fact. I also note he wore one to visit a Ford factory, but it’s not clear to me why. To comply with state law, probably. However, I’ll just point out that DJT has more balls than our entire cabinet combined.
I’m no Trump-hater, but I’m under no illusions as to his limitations, either. In fairness, those depressing US figures showing face mask wearers rapidly climbing to well above 50% at the beginning of April probably explain why he couldn’t hold the line on this, in an election year.
In truth, he’s been pretty wishy-washy on masks all along, although characteristically bombastic on the topic at times as well. And that’s a lot of the problem with Trump, he often makes the right noises very loudly, and then fails to live up to those words:
“Trump said that he didn’t believe making masks mandatory across the country was necessary but claimed that he is “all for masks” and that he “thinks masks are good.”
Trump added he would have “no problem” with being seen with a mask on.“
So Boris says it is mandatory to wear face coverings in shops, but not until 24 July; whilst parliament breaks for its summer recess on 22 July, which means we will all be denied what would doubtless have been a wonderful comedy of watching MPs shouting at each other whilst wearing face masks.
By the way, if you think the dates are purely coincidental, I have a bridge you might be interested in.
This is about Bill Gates’ role. https://www.aier.org/article/bill-gates-from-entrepreneur-to-supervillain/
Well worth a read in whole – excerpts:
Gates has taken up the cause of global warming too. He is funding a mad geoengineering scheme at Harvard to partially block sunlight. Imagine setting in motion a “solution” that has the potential to destroy all life on earth. ….
Neil Ferguson of the Imperial College London had inordinate influence “advising national governments on pathogen outbreaks.” Ferguson listens to Gates, as his center receives “tens of millions of dollars in annual funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.”
The model Ferguson used to advise draconian lockdowns in response to COVID-19 has been thoroughly discredited both on theoretical and empirical grounds. To err is to be human, but this was not Ferguson’s first disastrous prediction…..
Heightening potential risks, vaccines are shielded from liability when they turn out to be unsafe. Nobody is held accountable for the consequences of taking shortcuts in the development process.
A COVID-19 vaccine has not even arrived and already some doctors are advocating for compulsory vaccination ….
I will leave it to others to parse Gates’ philanthropic motives. His good intentions don’t matter. What matters is that Gates has access to world leaders who have coercive power. Gates, undisciplined by consumers or business partners, will make errors. Given his character flaws, Gates is likely to ignore and not learn from his mistakes.
Supervillains coerce and harm. Successful entrepreneurs serve and enrich humanity.
Frankly great words in your post thank you. I wish more people would recognised the truth is this phrase:
Successful entrepreneurs serve and enrich humanity.
Place that phrase next to the ‘actors’ we see before us. Make comparisons and consider.
… more people not on this thread i must add.
I remember a simpsons episode where MR Burns blocked out the sun,so everybody would have to buy his Nuclear energy.
We truly have entered the asylum.
“Give it 2 weeks and we will be locked down as the second wave starts”…..so that clearly hasn’t happened post lifting of some Lockdown restrictions, trips to the beach, protests etc – but the government has shifted again again despite the continued clear fall in cases.
But nobody appears to be able to explain why?
“But nobody appears to be able to explain why?” Au contraire, I think we know very well why – to perpetuate the atmosphere of fear, of panic, and to perpetuate the almost absolute control the government has over our lives, indefinitely, and to cover up the massive lie that we had to shut down the country because of the virus.
Cue diabolical laughter …… !
I thought it was a given that plenty of us have explained why. Because it’s social control mandated by fear and once the fear dissipates a bit there will have been measures put in place that have annihilated even your memory of freedom. And we will be serfs forever more. Pretty much explained that from the beginning of April when I also said they will make face masks mandatory.
This from a recent New England Journal of Medicine item re the use of face masks in a hospital setting “We know that wearing a mask outside health care facilities offers little, if any, protection from infection. Public health authorities define a significant exposure to Covid-19 as face-to-face contact within 6 feet with a patient with symptomatic Covid-19 that is sustained for at least a few minutes (and some say more than 10 minutes or even 30 minutes). The chance of catching Covid-19 from a passing interaction in a public space is therefore minimal. In many cases, the desire for widespread masking is a reflexive reaction to anxiety over the pandemic.“
Dear Mr Young,
As a loyal reader of the Spectator, may I politely mention your reference to a Guardian article about the deaths of five young people. The expression ‘commit suicide’ is now outdated; the verb ‘commit’ is associated with crime, and to kill oneself is perceived as a tragic event, not a criminal action.
Huh??
Who says it’s outdated? The woke brigade? It’s normal language. I’m fed up to the back teeth with these attempts to politically correct the English language to further a particular agenda.
With you, Tenchy. Is “take the knee” ok then? It’s actually crap. Where do you take the knee from or to?
Does this sound any better?
five children have killed themselves in three months, council chief reveals
I don’t think so!
Titania, are you OK?
Lady T
The newS story of Brazilian couple wearing a space suit on the beach hopefully is ironic but is the only thing that made me smile this morning
https://indianexpress.com/article/trending/trending-globally/brazil-spacesuit-covid-19-6503532/
I don’t mind admitting that I am close to despair today. Gently simmering away about the mask news.
Me too. I think my husband is worried that I’m going to keel over with a heart attack, I’m so stressed and worried about it.
I’m not worried or despairing but I’m bloody angry!
Ah, yes, forgot to mention that I’m raging about it, too!!
Don’t despair, use the anger to email, damage, protest, communicate, whatever.
ONS All deaths figures are just out.
Latest week (1st wk of July) has slight uptick from previous week, but still below five-year average for same week. That’s three weeks running.
=
All Deaths 1st week of June to 1st week of July 2020 = 48143.
All Deaths 1st week of June to 1st week of July 2019 = 47616.
You can analyse it up, down or sideways, the fact is that NOW, nothing is happening.
The thing is, the vast majority of people wont analyse it any of those ways, they’ll just see ‘X die of covid’ and think every death must be stopped.
I saw someone literally make the argument, ‘if masks save just one live, we should all just comply’, this morning on a twitter thread, I can’t believe that still gets rolled out.
Have pissed off one colleague, who can’t believe i’m not an obedient sheep and ‘just do it, it’s not much to ask’
Aimed at your colleague: It’s everything, you moron. It’s a gross infliction on your basic rights, predicated on a fucking giant lie. How long? What next? Prick.
Ooh, I’ve come over all Biker-like.
It’s having that effect on many of us Sam! Thankfully in the moment I kept calm and left him muttering to himself in disbelief that someone could possibly think for themselves.
You can avail yourself of Toby’s updated links to anti-mask facts.
feels good doesn’t it?
I found my true self in the Church of Biker. Indeed, as the bible says, “the truth will set you free”. I’m free, you fuckers.
R4 pm last night Professor social science kept saying 2 plane loads of people have died today – yes 2. This must stop.
Well if he can stop death happening he must be nearer God than we know. That’s academics for you!
My husband (aircraft engineer) was disdainful – “what planes are we talking here – Cessna or A380? That number is anywhere between 4 or 800 per plane”
You’ll find my analysis of 27 years of ‘all cause mortality’, covering the April ‘spike’ at :
https://hectordrummond.com/2020/07/10/rick-hayward-winter-spring-mortality-all-cause-1993-94-2019-2020-in-relation-to-covid-19/
It was obvious even at that point (Week 20), and including that spike, that the whole narrative of historically extraordinary lethality was a con.
Thanks, I’ll chew that later.
The simple question now would be if we stopped people dying from COVID would that automatically reduce the death rate or would those deaths simply be replaced with another label?
While reading the excellent article by Jeffrey Tucker, I noticed a sidelink to an article about Gates, titled Bill Gates: From Entrepreneur to Supervillain
It’s also an excellent article, and the stuff about Gates’ vaccine plans is very scary. However, here’s what struck me, in light of the recent ruling about face nappies:
Market forces reward businesses that maintain an ongoing “direct and honest connection” to the needs of consumers. Ludwig von Mises explained why consumers are the real “bosses:”
Local councils and retail organisations are going to have to wake up pretty fast, as muzzles deter yet more people from leisure shopping and social drinking.
I already wrote to my local councillors and pointed out that when the town centre is completely dead, due to overenthusiastic enforcement of government “guidelines”, the council are going to find themselves even more strapped for cash because their rent revenues will dry up. (I also suggested they draw up a plan to turn the empty shops into homeless shelters.)
Long time lurker, first time poster. I am not a believer in deep government conspiracy theories or that Bill Gates is a latter day Dr No.
The whole of this debacle is about politics; we are now engaged in a naked and shameless attempt, by the political establishment, to cover up the extent to which the Chinese government, via their useful idiots in the WHO and the useful idiot Ferguson, have managed to make absolute fools of so many democratic leaders.
As soon as Sweden, categorically, proved that Ferguson’s modelling was cat litter (as usual), Johnson has been engaged on a mission to create the illusion that he has “beaten” the disease so he can try and mitigate the catastrophe that has befallen our economy and our health/care system by having his Churchill moment.
The latest edict about face nappies is more of the same nonsense, much like keeping everyone locked down for months longer than was necessary, as soon as it was patently clear the Swedes has been right all along and nature had defeated the virus. When there isn’t a “second wave” it won’t be because we have developed herd immunity it will be because of “your sacrifice”, “the lockdown”, R number, face nappies etc, etc or whatever other nonsense they can dream up. The problem they have is Sweden, which is why there is such a concerted attempt to undermine their strategy.
On the face nappies, has anyone thought of a T shirt saying
“At least now we are all wearing face masks we can stop washing our hands every time we have a piss”
Hi Folks,
I have set up an online petition against the mandatory wearing of face masks in shops. Please can I ask you to click the link and sign? I need an initial 5 signatures (maximum of 21) before it is moved to the next stage of being “approved”. From experience, it takes around five weeks to reach a decision.
Click this link to sign the petition:
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/331472/sponsors/new?token=s2nGAa-lV74VRs4o8B8N
My petition:
Make Wearing of Face Coverings in Shops Voluntary, NOT Mandatory.
I would like the Government to reverse its decision to make the wearing of face masks in shops mandatory in England, from 24th July 2020.
The wearing of face coverings should remain a personal choice, and I believe it is disproportionate to mandate that they be worn in retail outlets or risk being forced to pay a penalty charge. I am concerned this will significantly deter shoppers from visiting their local high street, which could effectively mean the end of the retail sector.
Signed
Wow! That was a fast response folks. Thank you. Already got to 5 signatures, so now we have to wait a long five weeks to see if it gets approved.
Please don’t share this link any further now. The max signatures it can receive is 21 until approval.
Thanks again. Long may we continue this fight against the Police State.
Issued the first wave – let me know when it’s been approved.
I’ll have to wait for it to be approved but shall then sign
Signed
Signed
Signed
Just signed
Good luck, I’ll sign it when it gets clearance.
BBC right now, masks are wonderful, shops want it, police approve. Fuckwit MP comparing to drink-driving, seat belts etc.
Second item was that deaths are down…
Why don’t the police set an example by wearing them then?
I th8nk the police are a bit sceptical themselves.
Operationally, it’s important police communicate clearly.
But there’s a distinct impression I get that the police realise they are stuffed if they try to enforce coverings.
Yes there was a guy from the Met Police on LBC this morning who admitted they won’t be actively enforcing this. He was pretty pissed off that they weren’t consulted. So some good(ish) news for us in London.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.lbc.co.uk/radio/presenters/tom-swarbrick/police-wont-fine-people/
Yay. So does that mean they won’t even attempt to issue a fine?
Unbelievable that they weren’t consulted as well.
They don’t need to be, they weren’t in Scotland -litterally the identical play by boris and sturgeon.
Reasonable to have police risk assess of course. But part of this is about undermining our systems for order – perfect to bring in social shaming for that purpose. Deeply sinister.
Not keen on the “no mask no entry” idea however!
I want my very own wad of cash to flash a la Pretty Woman as I turn on my heel and leave.
“Big mistake. Huge.”
Drink driving was the american equivalent UK was seat belts. This is the same debate, the same reasons both sides of the atlantic.
If I don’t want to wear a seat belt I don’t have to get in a car. I can’t fucking eat without going into a shop since deliveries are as rare as hen’s teeth.
I agree.
My badly made point was that this is an interational campaign. We should see it in that light. Fanciful to think I tried to make that point before – it was certainly on my mind when I was typing!
So I popped down this morning to our local supermarket (the upmarket one) and offered my commiserations to a member of staff that they might have to wear a face mask for hours at a time if they were customer facing. Don’t worry, I was told, we’ll take them on and off all day long and only put them in place if we’re in contact with a customer. Easy enough to slip them off and put them in our pockets. But that’s probably worse than not wearing them, I opined. Just got to play the game I was told. Honestly, we’ve not all been wearing them all this time and not one of us has caught the Covid thingy.
So that’s about it I guess. We’re just playing a game for Boris! I’ll be looking for something like a zombie mask to upset the namely-pambys and express my displeasure.
I just received this from sumofus, titled Anti-vaxxers:
A startling new poll shows almost a third of Brits could refuse a Coronavirus vaccine — thanks to online conspiracy theories!
There’s a new law in the pipeline that could protect us all by forcing social media platforms to clamp down on harmful content. But so far the government’s listening to tech lobbyists and dithering.
Now its own adviser on extremism has called for urgent legal reform — slamming Facebook for failing to act on 90% of hate and lie-filled posts during lockdown. If we get behind her with a massive citizen outcry we could give the government the final push it needs:
Tell the UK government: no more hate and lies, rein in big tech now
The vast anti-vaxxer industry has seized on the pandemic to spread its lies to new victims online, and the twisted thing is Facebook actually profits from this — research shows anti-vaxxer accounts generate $1bn a year for social media firms. It’s not just health disinformation either. Facebook makes money off everything from far-right hate to climate change denial.
Facebook claims it’s taking action but the numbers show it can’t or won’t police itself. And experts say a new “duty of care” for internet companies — with big penalties for those who flout it — would finally force the overhaul we need.
With Facebook on the back foot right now over hate speech, it’s the perfect time to ramp up the pressure to rein the tech giants in. Add your name and let’s say no to anti-vaxxers and other extremists flooding social media:
Tell the UK government: no more hate and lies, rein in big tech now
There’s no doubt online platforms hold big sway in this country. But we’ve shown before that our movement is strong enough to drive change — like when we helped push PayPal to stop facilitating the funding of far-right nationalists. So let’s come together now to counter the scandalous power of big tech.
Sign the petition.
Needless to say, I unsubscribed (again!) and told them I wouldn’t sign a petition that sought to prevent freedom of speech and encourage further removal of personal liberties.
Well done.
I see, so people who oppose vaccines with viable evidence are now extremists because they don’t agree with the mainstream, aka big pharma, point of view. I remember being called an extremist when I became a vegetarian when I was 28. Plus ca change, plus la meme chose.
Blindfold and dart board.
When science meets the BBC:
“Asked to model a “reasonable” worst-case scenario, they suggest a range between 24,500 and 251,000 of virus-related deaths in hospitals alone, peaking in January and February.”
Perhaps time to admit you’ve no idea when you’ve got no idea.
Other examples of a reasonable worst-case scenario welcome….
Exactly. How can you model a second wave when you don’t have any idea whether there’s even going to be one?
Every day the word “science” means less and less.
Not exactly reasonable!
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/14/action-to-stop-winter-covid-19-second-wave-in-uk-must-start-now
Britain must start “intense preparations” for a second wave of coronavirus that has the potential to kill as many as 120,000 hospital patients in a worst case scenario, experts have warned.
Yet again, models. No attention paid to actual data.
Not even that. They are just guesses.
You can see why ‘Nigerians’ begging for money on the internet, and other scams, have persisted – the well of gullibility seems bottomless.
Let’s face it, anybody believing this recent pile of poo after experiencing the dodgy Fergy dossier really does deserve to be had.
… but spare the rest of us from the VMD.
And again: “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety”
Benjamin Franklin.
Patrick Henry: “Give me safety or give me death”.
Or something equally timelessly poignant.
‘Give me liberty of give me death.’ Which is the exact opposite and which I endorse.
He then snuck out of a besieged fort he was commanding under cover of darkness and left his men to it. As one book I once read put it ‘at the beginning of the war, Patrick Henry famously said “give me liberty or give me death!” He chose liberty.’
Peter Hitchens on the side of right and light as is usually the case:
Peter Hitchens: Mandatory mask wearing is more superstition than science
These weekly talks with Mike Graham on talkRadio have been great. Interesting that there seems to be clearly increasing hostility towards the BBC, in this demographic at least.
Watch Alex Belfield on YouTube for a great anti-BBC program. He was a former BBC radio presenter at BBC Radio Leeds, so he knows where the bodies are buried.
And Sean O’Grady in the Independent says that he will wear one at home too! Worryingly dystopian. When tf is this going to end? How many loyal Tory party members have resigned? MPs protested?
Sir Christopher Chope MP spoke up in Parliament, was reported in the Daily Mail
Not heard of anyone else doing so
Probably a lot of Tory party members support it
If these perverts want to wear masks at home that is their choice.
Beyond angry this morning. I had asthma as a kid and still take medication for it, so I’m just going to produce the mask exemption certificate. I urge you all to produce a mask exemption certificate, even if it is for a spurious reason, just to get round this utterly ridiculous mandatory legislation from the government.
Mine’s on its way!
Where do I get one? Is there a government department or doctors?
Wouldn’t be doctors, they’re hardly open. Which website can we order from?
https://hiddendisabilitiesstore.com/hidden-disabilities-face-covering.html
They should not question you if you have this. Just say you have a medical condition or a hidden disability.
Most of us would be eligable as it mentions “mental illness”. The depression (with occasional anxiety) caused by constantly changing, detailed regulation of most aspects of my life, ordered and signed-off by an incompetent and dangerously deranged government, counts!
I liked James Delingpole saying he had a medical exemption; he risks a “pulmonary embolism” every time some tosser tells him to wear a mask!
Exactly, I fear for my blood pressure. I told lovely ladies in a shop this morning I wouldn’t be back until the restrictions were lifted. They were positively revelling in the 2 metres, hand sanitiser bollox “we have to” “the government says”.
I’m going to start hyperventilating if challenged. That’ll make them back away.
Thanks for the address, just ordered some.
I had been hoping the muzzle wearing was just a fad, but I’ve given in – fed up with saying I’m exempt.
Me too
Many thanks – off to order some.
And I have printed out the ones at https://www.keepsafe.org.uk/posters
I suffer nasal rhinitis (with prescribed nasal spray) and wear hearing aids which a mask tangles with when I try and remove it, among others.
Grad live just now:
The government is to issue new guidance for patients and their families on “do not attempt resuscitation orders” (DNARs) after a woman threatened legal action, PA Media reports.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2020/jul/14/uk-coronavirus-live-news-updates-boris-johnson-face-masks
Were we testing for covid back in December?
The number of deaths in England and Wales when Covid-19 was citing on the death certificate has exceeded 50,000, according to the latest weekly statistics from the ONS. A total of 50,548 deaths involving coronavirus were registered in England and Wales between 28 December 2019 and 3 July 2020, it said.
I doubt it
We know that any count of ‘Covid deaths’ is a manufactured fiction.
I don’t know if you can remember the death statistic that appeared in Week 7 (up to 14th Feb). This was in two weeks worth of figures before I contacted them and they removed it. For something as critical as this pandemic where they say all deaths started in March, I cannot see how this mistake would be in the figures for two weeks. Coverup possibly?
That is correct though as Thursday 28th December 2019 was the first days of the 2020 statistics.
Sorry Saturday 28th December 2019
I have the spent the morning planning future projects for my work. I find myself disinclined to spend much time on it because I’m not sure whether I will have a job to go back to. This uncertainty must be widespread, and continual changes of policy only make it worse. Conservative governments are supposed to be business friendly, which is to say, they are supposed to create a stable economic and legal framework within which businesses can operate. How Boris thinks his mind games are likely to ‘kickstart the economy’ is a mystery.
So, it didn’t take the establishment long to do for Boris did it? Take the first event, Covid-19, inflate the situation into a crisis by fiddling the test results and mortality rates, introduce measures to wreck the economy, use media allies to terrify the poulation and turn the force of the law onto Boris’s freedom loving supporters. QED
Eh? Is Boris just a helpless infant then? Funny, because a Prime Minister at the beginning of a Parliament with a solid majority and his party behind him is in governmental terms the next closest thing to God after a general on the field of battle.
Johnson is as much personally responsible for the coronapanic and its disastrous consequences in Britain as any man alive. He might have been able to stop it, before and after his illness, and if he could not then it was his simple duty to go down fighting it He had many powerful tools at his disposal that he simply refused to use, or worse allowed to be used by the coronapanickers.
Instead he enthusiastically pushed it, as he is now gratuitously imposing face nappies on an unenthusiastic but submissive, fear-filled and largely cringingly obedient nation.
If it was “the establishment wot dun it”, then Johnson himself was an enthusiastic member of that establishment.
Never forget. Never forgive.
“Johnson himself was an enthusiastic member of that establishment.”
Of course. The only revision needs to be the substitution of the present tense. He is a classic example of the media/political Westminster establishment dogging circle.
I don’t know how many “freedom loving supporters” the PM ever had, but anyone who loves freedom no longer supports him, and anyone who still supports him doesn’t love freedom.
Johnson is a chameleon who also bends with the wind and has no principles. His ‘libertarian’ stance was another costume he could discard when it became inconvenient. Remember what the old school Tories and people like Max Hastings think of Johnson. Lest we forget they just about all thought him contemptible.
MrMasonMills is very active on twitter of late. https://twitter.com/MrMasonMills
His last:
Watch this space I guess?
What about corrupt government, can he do anything about that?
No, that needs an AK47 or three!
I don’t really look at this Mills person’s Tweets much. I’m aware that people say it’s really Dominic Cummings. If it is, I find it somewhat inappropriate and frankly somewhat childish for someone in such a senior position to Tweet anonymously. If it isn’t Cummings, but it’s someone who purports to have some inside knowledge, why should we believe them. Either way it seems like attention seeking to me, that is probably best ignored.
Frankly I don’t give two hoots about the exact “reasons” for some of these decisions. The reasons for them doesn’t alter the fact that these “decisions” are on the whole bereft of logical justification on any grounds, and are extremely damaging.
The worst government in British history?
Don’t worry, DaveyP and JonG will be along soon to tell us to ignore anonymous sources.
I can hear 77 77 77 lol
“The worst government in British history?”
Looking that way. This abuse of law over face masks would seem to set the seal on it.
And I’ve lived through some doozies as far as bad government goes – Heath, Callaghan, Blair, Cameron….
I always thought Blair was the epitome of awful government until this came along.
Remember ‘cool Britannia’?
Now we’ve Blighted Kingdom
“Remember ‘cool Britannia’?“
[shudders]
Cringe! The Oasis party at no 10 did it for me
For what it’s worth I think the 2016 Brexit referendum result is the root cause of the international COVID-19 “pandemic”.
Plans for the New World Order were seriously undermined by our decision in 2016 which will probably lead to the collapse of the EU and the strengthening of sovereignty and democracy in the former member states. Not what was wanted after 50+ years of sovereignty “pooling” and border opening.
Now the powers that be have created this international lockdown, seemingly in perpetuity, to advance totalitarian control. They’ve had four years to prepare and this time they’re playing for keeps.
Otherwise stay safe and keep cheerful all
A few months ago it was Project Fear for teenagers courtesy of Greta Thunberg, following her indoctrination as a child. Now it’s our turn with Project Fear for adults.
i have some sympathy for this view
I’m beginning to think that too. It could also be why the U.K. is being hit so hard with all of this.
Not just the UK.
Although our ‘relaxation’ was faster, the restrictions are still pretty serious here – and getting worse.
100% agree, the left figure if they can destroy the UK economy by Xmas, Brexit is off
And Christmas has come early – the ‘architects of Brexit’ have fallen for the ‘science’ of lockdown hook, line and sinker. Makes you wonder whether they are in on the act?
I certainly think there is something in that – though I would include the election of Trump – in the same year, no less.
Snap – does telepathy exist?
Don’t forget that ‘the Donald’ was elected in 2016 as well.
A double setback to globalist objectives. Are we now experiencing the revenge?
I believe this too, it’s the Remainers revenge. The main players are the MSM, all the politicians, doctors, scientists, civil servants, and all these experts who were part of Project Fear.
This is Project Fear 2.0, and they are getting everything they desired.
Yes, very good – reminds me of a science fiction short story that I read many years ago, entitled, “I have no mouth and I must scream”.
Yes. Reminds me as well of Herman Munster with the bolts in the back of the neck: is that what awaits us I wonder? Head fixes to render us more obedient and tractable?
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn%3AANd9GcQ4JiFn_lG6YtUdCKPeRbg5nNk-vI813PxY8g&usqp=CAU
Just found the image below; seems appropriate as a protest.
Now that compulsory wearing of face nappies in shops is being introduced, will they qualify as being part of a uniform which one must wear in order to uphold the law? If so, will those who buy them qualify for tax relief on their purchase and if they own a washable mask, will tax relief be given on the washing of said item? After all, it applies to those who have to wear special clothing for their line of work and until now masks for all have never been a necessary item for shopping Just a thought!
More likely is that they will introduce a mask tax!
Only if the uniform includes a nice brown shirt and corona-themed armband!
What a shitshow. Like others, I have had plenty of suicidal thoughts throughout all of this. Not due to fear of covid – I have no fear of the virus at all and am perfectly capable of acting reasonably to mitigate and manage risk – but because of the response. I have never been more profoundly disappointed in my life, and I simply do not want to live in this sort of world or society. It is no fun, and I have not consented.
I protest in the ways open to me – written to my MP multiple times in the last few months – but this feels pointless, as I am steamrolled by the state regardless. The most invasive restrictions on personal freedoms are enacted without even the oversight of parliament – sneaky amendments and statutory instruments by ministers with little or no skin in the game (their jobs are safe; they have families to support them and interact with; they are rich). There is a fundamental failure here.
I don’t know what else there is to do. I don’t have the words to express how monumentally disappointed I am.
Not suicidal here. But I am out of words to describe the bleakness. Your comment is powerful and moving. We will find a way. The future is a fight, not what we thought. But it can be won. The numbers are on our side. They are only few with fear to sow. That is not sustainable. We will win.
History and personages appear twice: first as tragedy and then as farce. One) Boris Johnson Two) Boris Johnson and coronavirus
Greetings from Singapore. This is my first time commenting despite following the site since the start of this nightmare. The mandatory muzzle announcement has compelled me to come out from behind my screen because I just can’t take this anymore
My husband and I have been expats in Singapore for 3 years and are due to move back to the UK next month, we were actually suppose to be leaving last month but then the Covid-project hit and plans went tits up! We’ve endured Singapore for work but haven’t enjoyed our time here (apart from the travel, which is now gone completely). Main reason being is we just can’t abide the pointless arbitrary rules that apply to everything (even pre-covid!) There is no common sense applied to anything and the public quite literally have to be spoon fed by the government. We’ve been counting down to moving home since before all this bollocks and have been so excited to be back in blighty. Well Boris and his band of imbeciles have seen to that. Unsurprisingly, muzzles have been mandatory everywhere here since lockdown started in April. Even outdoors you must comply or risk a fine or even being slung in prison (and they don’t mess around here!) It’s no exaggeration when I say being muzzled is UNBEARABLE especially in mid-thirty degree heat and 90% plus humidity. But worse than the feeling of being suffocated is the down right nonsense of it all. The only time we are allowed to de-muzzle is for exercise. I’m a yoga instructor and the studio I teach in opened a few weeks ago (with greatly reduced capacity). I am forced to wear my muzzle in the studio ‘public space’ but can take it off when I step over the threshold into the ‘practice space’. When I’ve finished teaching the class, I step over back into the ‘public space’ and mask must go straight back on! Seriously who is coming up with this shit?!
My only shred of hope has come from the comfort that when we eventually get back to the UK I can burn the damn thing! However for the past few weeks, the sceptic in me has been saying to my husband, it’s only a matter of time before the UK mandates masks. He has been convinced that the British public would never comply and the government just wouldn’t even try it. Oh how wrong he was! I can’t believe we’re living through this, the time where the British people have so willingly given up their liberty. Why is it that all of us on this site seem to be in the minority? Why can’t people see this for what it really is, the biggest intrusion, sorry abolition, of our rights in modern history? Am I being OTT? If I wanted to live like a brain dead zombie, quite frankly I might as well stay in Asia!
I am sorry for the rant everyone, however you all have been my saviours over that last few months and give me a much needed boost of hope each day. Just wanted to share my perspective and join the uprising!
I am out of tolerance with all of this, and angry beyond despair. As I see it, if face nappies worked C-19 wouldn’t have spread in the first place, nor any of the other pathogens originating in the same area over the past few years.
Like much of the ‘science’ associated with C-19, it appears to be yet more of the same unreliable, exaggerated, unbelievable, and frankly preposterous ‘findings’ and analysis that we have been subjected to ever since this all began – it becomes ever more difficult to determine what might or might not be true as the bounds of credibility have been pushed to beyond breaking point; it’s as though no one had ever seen a virus before.
Now Johnson and his pals have become high priests of the new C-19 religion, and we must all now bow down at the altar of the mask so that we truly understand the inner essence of C-19 as it passes by us at the checkout.
Perhaps Justin Welbey could offer up a prayer or two while he’s down on his knees genuflecting and grovelling about everything else, except C-19.
I have nothing left but utter contempt for our social institutions and our so-called ‘leaders’ are mired in the stench of hypocrisy, and have shown us how easy it is to slip into authoritarianism now that we are governed by diktat. I will not comply. Ever.
And I don’t give a damn about the ‘saving’ the NHS in any form, or if it’s overwhelmed either; why should I when it is not actually providing any kind of health care, unless it’s related to C-19 of course. Rather, it’s the reverse, it is we who need saving from the NHS as it’s not part of the solution, but more part of the problem.
The sooner this virus ripples through us the quicker we can return to normality before we forget what that actually is – the price of any other alternative is more than we can afford to pay any longer.
We all know what happened to the tyrannosaurus; Boris should consider what is the likely fate of the Tyrannysaurus!
Carl Vernon’s views on masks. The embedded traffic lights video tells us all we need to know:
https://youtu.be/PJuNMCunRGk
Funny how the maskers ignore the mask-happy China, which I seem to remember had quite a decent outbreak of this thing, and focus instead on Japan, where mask-wearing is obviously 100% responsible for their low infection and death rate.
Here in France, our beloved (some say) leader Macron – Jupiter reincarnated – has just announced that he wants to make masks compulsory in all (en)closed public spaces “in the next few weeks”.
Amazing coincidence in the timing?
Can’t possibly be a globalist conspiracy, of course.
M was pictured wearing a face nap earlier today, although his – ahem – somewhat more mature wife was barefaced (good choice of word?).
Nothing conspiritorial about it. 3 weeks. flatten curve. Jobs a gudden.
Notice how macron et al will liken seat belts and drunk driving to masks as he sways the public mind.
Eastern Europe has my admiration.
My son is in Poland, he called today and said they are talking about going into full lockdown again.
Not poland.
I remember from my youth a song entitled ‘Lost in France’: sums up Macron for me. [But look who is talking – I have Johnson!]
Like little children are in charge.
Why do you want to do it? ‘Cos Boris did it earlier mummy’
‘why did he do it?’
‘cos the Italians did’
‘and them?’
‘cos the Chinese…’
It’s pathetic.
Also please pay attion for how long the masks will be required. None of the talk in any nation gives an indication of an end date or point. Which is a clue that we are not being scientific.
Too true. My impression is that it will soon apply to all public areas (including outdoors).
Compulsory muzzles for ramblers and mountaineers?
Yes. Outdoors is a fair expectation in my opinion in UK too.
If that happens, I will just have to use the money I save from not going to the shops to pay my fines.
Although, I feel like there has been enough resistance to mandatory masks in shops that outdoors would be pretty much impossible to enforce. And I think only the most zealot-y of zealots would actually want to wear one on their daily run. Maybe I’m just being optimistic though.
One of our (former?) friends is a mad-keen runner – 12 – 18 km a day – who now always wears a home-made face nap.
During the lockdown, if we met her ‘in the exercise yard’ (barefaced back then) she was happy to stop for a chat. Now it’s the leper swerve!
‘Cos it’s so much more dangerous now than it was back then, isn’t it?
I don’t know how anyone could exercise in a mask. I have enough trouble just sitting still and breathing!
Old style enforcement cannot happen now. But with the unleashing of the socially shaming ruse outdoors is possible.
I keep saying though the more of these rules to easier it is for more people to show protest by effortlessly not complying .
Would be downright dangerous rambling and mountaineering wearing a mask.
I want to tell you all a story that just happened to my ex-husband and kids (ages 8 and 4) when they were out for some much needed fresh air.
They were crossing a bridge – quite a wide pedestrianised area – and some “old person” coming towards them put their hand in the air and shouted, “STOP!” Well, my ex didn’t stop, because he felt quite offended. He pulled his amusing trick of pretending to not speak English. The “old person” then coughed on them as they went past and proceeded to shout abuse at him that he’s teaching our children to be rude!
Obviously, none of us are concerned with the coughing, because no one is going to get Covid from that, but – correct me if I’m wrong – isn’t that a crime now?? I mean it’s THEIR safety they want to protect, but they can use (what they believe to be) a biological weapon towards my children?? (Not to mention, my 8-year-old is disabled).
Teaching our children to be rude…. my ex said that if they has asked politely, “please, can you stop for a moment,” he would have stopped, but it was the ordering to comply with their concept of safety that is out of order.
Edit: Just as well it was my ex, because I’d have thrown the bastard off the bridge.
I think the Coughing on someone could well be considered a crime now.
Belly Mujinga was the ticket lady the MSM said was spat on and died of COVID-19, but it was found that she wasn’t spat on and that the person who was alleged to have spat on her didn’t have COVID-19. But this was investigated by the Police and legal action would’ve been instigated if she had been found to have been spat on.
I should’ve said if the coughing is a deliberate act.
Indeed, it was.
It’s a crime. Peoole hsve been found guilty of coughing onto police. Covid related. Not sure if a crime previously.
Breathing is a crime now
The good thing is though, with the defunding of the Police, no one is going to be able to prosecute you anyway in a few months time.
A great example of accurate reporting by the MSM there…
Normal world
By law, and as of 1988, spitting is considered to be battery. Criminal battery basically covers anything that could be considered to be offensive or harmful contact. It covers everything from a kick to the lightest form of physical contact, and a victim does not have to be harmed for battery to have occurred
New Normal (from March)
Anyone using coronavirus to threaten emergency and essential workers faces serious criminal charges, the Director of Public Prosecutions warns today.
The CPS intervention comes after reports in recent days of police, shop workers and vulnerable groups being deliberately coughed at by people claiming to have the disease.
Such behaviour is illegal and assaults specifically against emergency workers are punishable by up to 12 months in prison.
Coughs directed as a threat at other key workers or members of the public could be charged as common assault.
“correct me if I’m wrong – isn’t that a crime now?”
Iirc (but not a lawyer so not giving legal advice) it could easily be considered common assault, since it has always been the case that physical contact is not required for that.
These coronacowards are not, in general, nice people (though obviously that’s a generalisation and not always true). In many cases, they are nasty busybody types who’ve simply found this to be a great new way to exercise power over others, whilst signalling their own supposed virtues.
If supermarket workers don’t need to be muzzled then choose your supermarket ie Tesco make yourself a Tesco name badge call yourself Wally and walk around to your heart’s content in the safe knowledge that Coroni will not infect you as the badge will be like kryptonite to it
The government are undoubtedly terrified of the monster they have unleashed. Conspiracy theories aside (and you have to get them out of your head otherwise you just go around and around and end up with a migraine) here’s a simple take on the latest mask announcement.
The government know they have cocked up with regard to the lock down and the coming destruction of the economy. They cannot possibly own up and suddenly say: ‘Hey, sorry about that, as from today we want everything to go back to normal’—it would be more than their lives would be worth. Johnson and his cohorts see their only escape from this self created dystopia as being to try to ‘normalise’ things in a gradual way for the simple reason that having induced a degree of fear and panic in huge swathes of the population— which has effectively rendered them sheeple, and incapable of rational thought—they have to somehow back track and reduce the fear factor over time.
Fear is preventing people going into shops because they see these places as potential infectious areas. All kinds of shops, both large and small, are experiencing footfalls that cannot sustain their business’s for much longer. Johnson wants to get people spending money again because in his world this will help save the economy. So the rationale must be that to get sheeple to go shopping again they must feel the shopping environment is relatively safe—hence the masks. Also, if you consider the fact that masks are not compulsory in pubs and eating places this chimes in with the logic (if you can call it that!) that pub goers are a whole different breed to those who are scared stiff of shopping.
It seems to me that to make sense of what appears to be a mad decision the mask wearing is aimed at those who are scared shi**less and not at those of us who frequent sites like this because we have not been fooled to start with.
Johnson knows that in the coming months, when the furlough ends and the jobs disappear and companies are failing hand over fist and people are desperate for a livelihood his number will be up. It seems to me that he is intent on doing all his twisted mind can think of to get what will be left of the economy moving again and if that means more masks to allay sheeple’s fears then bring them on.
I’m beginning to agree with Peter Hitchens and his cock up theory. I can’t for the life of me believe that the likes of Michael Gove, Priti Patel, Matt Hancock, Boris Johnson and the rest of the ‘crack’ Tory team can be part of some grand Global, Blofeldt conspiracy. Good grief!–to believe that surely, must stretch the credibility of even the most ardent conspiracy theorist.
The world is a complex place. They may not be the main drivers of a conspiracy, they may be the victims as much as anyone else.
What speaks for a conspiracy is the resistance to facts of certain institutions who really should know better by now.
And the identical behaviour of 140 governments. 140 of them cocked-up identically Harry ? Come on now.
(Wearing my tin-foil hat since the 90s, never a migraine. Maybe they repel migraine-causing-radiation ?!
).
The behaviors are similar yet not identical.
That said, thought worldwide is being synchronized (and empoverished) by twitter. The dialogs on Idiocracy (the movie) are just fucking uncanny to watch in this modern times.
I have had an amazing response to meeting up…. apologies to anyone I haven’t replied to in the last day or so. I decided it’s time to start a website dedicated to IRL, boots on ground organising to resist the “new normal.”
Whether you believe this was planned or the result or morons and corrupt bastards…. if you want to fight back, join us here: https://resistnewnormal.net/
It’s early days and bare bones…. sorry, I work very slow…. but please join if you want to take action.
Meanwhile, lockdowntruth.org has some more legal action that they are organising, so please keep an eye on that for the crowdfunding campaign and ways to help.
Joined. Great idea!
I have signed up but was miffed you have to choose a flag but the UK one is not available. I chose some weird island group I’d never heard of as I couldn’t have the Union Jack.
It should be…. is it under Great Britain rather than UK? I’ll pass my word along to the web master (aka, husband).
I chose the Tanzania flag.
Just joined!
Off the topic of masks a friend of mine who is 50 is being made redundant from Amazon despite being one of their most highly trained and well regarded workers. She has been told off the record by her furious manager that she and others will be replaced by young workers taken on under the governments new training scheme where the government picks up the tab for the trainee for the first few months.
As predicted, Rishi’s cunning plan is resulting not in the creation of new jobs for youngsters but in increasing unemployment among older workers. My friend has mentored and trained many young people and has passed on her excellent work ethic. Where are young workers to pick up good work habits if all the older workers are gone?
I’m sorry to hear about your friend, terrible news. I totally agree that the Kickstarter scheme is not real job creation at all – the gov will pick up the tab for the first few months as you say, but these young workers will just be ditched as soon as the state assistance stops.
Governments don’t create jobs, businesses do.
“Newsnight understands that the World Health Organisation committee that reviewed the evidence for the use of face coverings in public didn’t back them. But after political lobbying, the WHO now recommends them.”
Can anyone direct me to a link or solid evidence of this? It would be really useful for persuasive purposes! I feel like it’s quite a crucial piece of evidence.
Deborah Cohen, a BBC reporter apparently possessed of some balls and integrity, Tweeted this. She is refusing to reveal the source, but says they approached WHO who did not deny it. I don’t know much about her but she’s done some balanced pieces for the BBC, seems to be playing with a straight bat.
Thanks. I’ll have a look.
The official statement from the WHO is below, it says widespread, and as we know there are that few cases at the mo in the UK that it is not widespread:
Non-medical, fabric masks are being used by many people in public areas, but there has been limited evidence on their effectiveness and WHO does not recommend their widespread use among the public for control of COVID-19. However, for areas of widespread transmission, with limited capacity for implementing control measures and especially in settings where physical distancing of at least 1 metre is not possible – such as on public transport, in shops or in other confined or crowded environments – WHO advises governments to encourage the general public to use non-medical fabric masks.
Thanks. Advising governments to encourage is a long way from mandating however.
I’ve just made a post on the Lockdown Truth forum “What will it take to change the media narrative and public perception?” https://www.lockdowntruth.org/forum/general-discussions/what-will-it-take-to-change-the-media-narrative-and-public-perception . Didn’t want to post it all here, as I agree that a permanent forum for discussion is the right way to go (lots of interesting/useful discussions in the comments here, but they effectively get buried after the next blog update)
I’d be interested to hear your thoughts, whether here or on the LT forum, especially on the idea of some kind of advertising campaign.
It is indeed incomprehensible. I can understand apathy and disinterest in politics when things are going along moderately well, or at least within normal parameters, but when your whole life is turned upside down why wouldn’t you look into it yourself, to make sure it was all worth it?
Yet millions don’t. Perhaps people were always this apathetic. I guess one factor is the welfare state – furlough money, then benefits. If millions were on the verge of starving, they would be in Parliament Square with their pitchforks.
There’s a lot of reason in your post. I agree it’s puzzling. One of the many reasons is how difficult life becomes to take on these fights. I know peoole who have fought a battle or three, a few years of their life. The result inconclusive or at least seldom won. Good people sometimes make a choice to ignore this kind of thing and concentrate on feeding and housing their family. As hard as that is for some people – there is huge amounts of direct satisfaction.
All the more reason to stand up now. But if you have fought alone before it isn’t as easy.
I believe pitchforks in the Autumn may be seen. They are over due.
End of Furlough and unemployment, bad weather will certainly make people pay more attention. Doubt it will be enough, but it’s possible.
Agree that good people ignore – it is very tempting, as thinking about this stuff can enrage and depress and is not healthy. It helps that my Mrs shares my views so we keep each other’s spirits up.
The next store rent will be collected around September. I seriously doubt there will be any rent money that will be collected by then.
But yeah, I give it 2-3 months and things can get very ugly indeed.
Customised face mask / lamppost decoration idea…
Went to the supermarket this morning, I was the only person not with a face covering on except a youngish guy on a till. Then went for diesel and to a flower shop, neither woman in the petrol station were wearing one nor the owner of the flower shop. However, quite a few people walking down the street had their faces covered which was sad to see.
I have also been thinking about people wearing visors. If a waiter/waitress or bar person is wearing one and carrying a tray of food, or drinks, every time they breathe out their breath will hit the visor and then gravity will make sure some of the exhalant ends up over the items on the tray… lovely!! I first thought about this while watching the staff in the local butcher, at least most produce from there still has to be cooked.
A second point is maybe there is another reason for wearing masks. People breathing in their own carbon dioxide and exhalants will probably end up compromising their immune system. So when the next “virus” comes along some of them may not be able to fight it and end up dying. That’s one way to help reach the quoted death figures for this winter.
Also, if an employer forces the staff to wear a mask and they become ill or faint while at work, will they be able to sue the company? H&S use to be important for companies, but not if they make their staff wear masks.
I’ve been thinking of a slogan for a mask and came up with “I want to smile at you but Nicola says NO” or “I want to smile at you but Nicola says I’m not allowed to”. I thought this might make people think that the government are dehumanising us.
On the plus side, there is a new noise outside my house just now, local kids playing together at the small play park. It’s been like a graveyard there for the last few months.
If they do reach the quoted death figure this winter, at least it will prove that masks don’t work.
The deaths will be blamed on non-mask wearers, and the regulations will be enforced even more strictly.
You’re right. Masks 24/7, even in bed.
Perish the thought, I can imagine this becoming a fresh category on pornography websites.
Not so far fetched when you consider that over in the USA several state health authorities are now recommending masks during sex and even at all times in the home.
https://www.westernjournal.com/texas-emergency-chief-time-wear-masks-homes-now/
looking forward to the new advert where that smug looking old guy with a beard and no rhythm now removes his mask before he goes dancing round his house having obviously just gotten his leg over
Gotten ?! That’s the first thing worse than the masks bollocks I’ve seen today, mjr !
I don’t know, but would lay good money this already exists, Richard.
Really a hopeful post GYO despite the singular times. I have been thinking similarly about slogans. No Smile. Was the best I came up with, always easier for me to be negative. Its amazing how nice the sound of life is after none – just laughing is a good sound to hear drifting about.
The tray visor combination! Absolutely ugh!
Nicola says “No smiling !”
With 2nd lockdowns beginning to happen, and ridiculous fear porn everywhere, this is the chilling agenda: https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/uncategorized/they-are-deliberately-trying-to-bankrupt-businesses-to-recreate-a-marxist-world/
Not much muzzle wearing around Stokieland this morning.
Apart from the vulnerable (fair enough although I get the feeling that they are just as vulnerable to normal flu and never wore masks for that) the only ones wearing the muzzles were the 50-65 sanctimonious wankers who were trying to make a point including putting them on there grandkids and who were the ones who made a performance of stopping at the shop door and putting them on.
Arseholes.
Strange thing though, most of the time they did not wear them correctly but under the nose, kept fiddling with them, took them down to talk to each other, some of them were filthy and obviously re-used and they would glare at the non-muzzled.
I just smiled at them which seems to annoy them for some reason.
Most depressing thing was very few even looked at you properly but would look away if you tried to initiate a conversation. The few people I did speak to were all mad and getting angrier but didn’t know where to turn to so I pointed them towards sceptics land – my badge helped here. We all agreed from next week we will only go into a shop if we absolutely positively cannot avoid it otherwise it’s online or not buying it.
The smaller shops ignored hand sanitising, social distancing and the one way systems and had no PPE wearing staff and had customers.
The bigger chains who were still enforcing all the carp and customer numbers proportional to how strict they ere – more strict, less or no customers.
Also got a few stall holders in the arts and crafts centre aware of the e-mail from the council stating that they can do a risk assessment and justify any or no precautions to suit themselves and council powerless to do anything bout ti but have my doubts if
This is the last update about mask wearing on the WHO website. The pages were last updated June 4th 2020.
https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/question-and-answers-hub/q-a-detail/q-a-on-covid-19-and-masks
“Masks should be used as part of a comprehensive strategy of measures to suppress transmission and save lives; the use of a mask alone is not sufficient to provide an adequate level of protection against COVID-19. You should also maintain a minimum physical distance of at least 1 metre from others, frequently clean your hands and avoid touching your face and mask.
Medical masks can protect people wearing the mask from getting infected, as well as can prevent those who have symptoms from spreading them. WHO recommends the following groups use medical masks.
Medical masks are also recommended for these at-risk people, when they are in areas of widespread transmission and they cannot guarantee a distance of at least 1 metre from others:
Non-medical, fabric masks are being used by many people in public areas, but there has been limited evidence on their effectiveness and WHO does not recommend their widespread use among the public for control of COVID-19. However, for areas of widespread transmission, with limited capacity for implementing control measures and especially in settings where physical distancing of at least 1 metre is not possible – such as on public transport, in shops or in other confined or crowded environments – WHO advises governments to encourage the general public to use non-medical fabric masks.”
And some good facts on this page:
https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public/myth-busters
includes:
FACT: People should NOT wear masks while exercising
FACT: Most people who get COVID-19 recover from it
FACT: Thermal scanners CANNOT detect COVID-19
and this classic:
FACT: Being able to hold your breath for 10 seconds or more without coughing or feeling discomfort DOES NOT mean you are free from COVID-19
Just a point on the manufacture of all these disposable face masks. Due to the vast number of these face masks required worldwide, you can guarantee that over 90% of the will be made in China due to the cost of the masks. This seems to be yet another way of funding China who we are led to believe is responsible for all this.
I think it’s a fair assumption that if lobbying the WHO has caused this mask decision, then the lobbying has more than likely come from the Chinese.
Interestingly enough a petition called “Make it mandatory to wear a face mask in public during Covid-19 Pandemic” only received 16,115 signatures.
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/304397
The petition was started by a Dr Wei Shi from Bangor Law School who was a former judge in Shandong Province.
https://www.bangor.ac.uk/law/staff/wei-shi/en#overview
For his PHD it states “PhD addresses the multifaceted issues of intellectual property rights enforcement in the world trading system from EU-China perspective”. So this looks like pushing the Face Mask agenda for Chinese trade.
He’s here too….masks4all.co
Amazing digging Skipper and t prince. To find that connection. I suggest he is masks4all who then instigated the petition. Probably not missed by either of you but feel I’m helping by saying so.
The whole thing is getting very surreal. The main reason I’ve never been anywhere in Asia (despite having a lucrative job offer once) is their conformist social structures/collectivist attitudes – reflected in the adoption of mask wearing in everyday life even in times of no ‘danger’. And of course, the biggies often have dictatorial gvts but even in the democracies the social elements still pervade (Japan for example- lovely people and wonderful culture- but ultimately conformist and for me, repressive).
Now this madness has come over here. It’s the biggest part of why I no longer feel able to function in my own country (the second biggest are the fake lefty wankstains running all our
institutions- that too plays strongly into the conformist crap coming our way).
Ironically it seems like the only European safe ports are Scandinavia (notably – and
). Lol.
genuinely- ‘leftist’) and Eastern Europe (notably- and genuinely- *not* ‘leftist’
I come from that part of the world and can vouch for your observations. That’s also one reason why many people from Asia tend to be socially maladjusted and lack critical thinking, because they’re so used to doing what they’re told and never question why.
Corrpution is also rife. As I mentioned to a fellow sceptic here yesterday, if you’re from that part of the world and want to survive, you need to develop a BS radar early on and try to get the hell out. I’m glad I managed both.
China is importing itself in more ways than one I see.
quick summary of his PhD.. it is impossible (and probably racist) to enforce any intellectual property rights against china ).
So that’s me down for an exploding prawn ball next time i get a chinese takeaway
Tedros of the WHO is believed to be ‘financed’ by China.
Not only the disposable ones but even those “cutesy” cloth types as well.
Stress about this mask business happens because we are being continually rolled into new outrages that makes us forget where it all started and struggle impotently with something that no longer makes any sense. Many of us found our way here and joined the discussion by saying that this was cover for something else, possibly a financial crash.
Nothing about the science of Cov.19 makes any sense to anyone with an IQ above blood temperature. There is no supporting evidence for any of it. There is masses of information about the impact of the government measures. A rolling, ever more unreal narrative stops you from remembering the lucid thoughts you had at the start. It is called gas lighting.
Many of us started our sceptical journey on exactly this correct assumption: a cover up for a financial collapse. That remains the case, but in our distress we have forgotten that. In 2008 they kicked the can and it is a fact that it stopped rolling in September 2019. It is a fact that central banks did everything they could to stop what was turning into a deflationary bloodbath by flooding the banks and big corporations with cash (liquidity) from then. By Feb 2020 stock markets, fuelled by this, reached all time highs even as corporate profits reached 10 year lows.
The spectacular financial collapse, the one that they failed to deal with in 2008, bigger and more global than the 1929 crash, started in mid Feb 2020. This time, to stop a revolt, they have not bailed the banks out – money going in at the top – they have done what they discussed last time which is to let the system reboot and put money in at the bottom.
It does not feel like a pandemic, because it isn’t one. This is a bail-out and it feels like one. Every person on furlough, loans, etc, all the unemployed would have lost everything in that crash but are instead receiving re-injections of cash from behind an ALMIGHTY smokescreen called Covid19. If they had not done this, every single one of us that has been stuck in limbo, or has lost a year’s income, or is struggling to keep bread on the table would be absolutely broke and unemployed by now if they had done as per 2008 and re-funded the banks only, such is the size of the collapse.
If Laura Ashley is going bust, it would have gone bust in the depression anyway. So would many, many more. As it is, thankfully this time, they are pumping the money into average Jo’s pocket (and rich people on furlough are, extraordinarily, still buying), they are saving the Uni’s and the arts, they are trying to refund employers to get going again.
This is the only way in which this makes any sense at all, and it is the only empirical explanation. The masks thing is a diversion. So long as people are looking at this, at each other, being locked in their houses when there would be no demand anyway, and thinking about it and being outraged by it, they are not aware that the government has just bailed out the country mostly from the bottom up because of yet another systemic failure of an abused, ineffective, over-leveraged financial system.
I have accepted that the Covid science is horsecrap. I am not even looking at that any longer, nor should you stress out about it. We started saying this was a cover up / being used by everyone to their own ends, and that is what this is. It is not some spooky long term subversion of our freedoms but a suspension of them and a distraction that has let an excess of coffee shops go bust (they were going anyway – Jamie Oliver restaurant chain went bust last year) and allowed the government to re-boot and re-tool the economy without anyone even talking about it. I am much more inclined to think the conspiracy is a economic cover-up than a desire to subjugate the free world, which is just too James Bond.
Tell me what this much money pumped into the economy is, if not a financial response to a financial collapse? The masks shit will keep going until the economy has be sufficiently injected that no-one will notice. It is harsh, but not as harsh as it would have been. There is nothing as constraining to freedom as an actual depression and actual poverty that led, last time, to unbelievable suffering and then a major war. Let us hope the re-tooling plus Brexit settles some of the grotesque imbalances.
This is what I think today.
Wow! An explanation that finally makes sense. Do you mind if I post to my Facebook with credit to you?
Just post. No credit necessary..!
Really interesting and another way of looking at this . Is your background in finance or economics?
Are you suggesting that it’s a kind of New Deal done under Covid cover?
Thank you for this.
My back ground is neither – these are the thoughts / words of my very astute brother (a sculptor) as part of a ‘family forum of thoughts’.
As sceptics, we are searching for truth and this idea from him has more than a ring of truth about it, so I thought I would share it.
That’s a really interesting take on everything. And (seems to me) that the virtual shutdown of all things NHS (with some sort of fundamental re-set in mind) would sit very nicely with it.
I prefer this theory to the worldwide taking over the world by the global elites theory.
And if this is the case then why why why couldn’t the government just said so, told the truth for once. I admit it would be the first time ever but I’d have alot more faith in them than I do now.
The recession / financial crash is global – it’s HUGE.
It is an absolute scandal – again – but we may just have the type of Govt who didn’t like the way the 2008 shitstorm was managed and have opted for a different approach. Maybe.
On a greener note – we will meet our targets re. Paris Accord & climate change bollox because we are not using our cars, etc and pollution is much reduced. This should shut up the Green lobby for a bit….
Until they notice all the diiscarded gloves…
Not only the litter but also the resurgence of illegal poaching in Africa.
Nope – don’t believe that.
Okay, reasonable analysis, but then why introduce the whole face mask issue? If you are suggesting that the ‘sleight of hand’ is that they want us to believe there is a control agenda here as they, oh so not so subtly, rescue the economy and that the face mask issue is a distraction fair enough, but you’re not taking into account the Gates/WHO/Big Pharma/vaccine(s) axis which I think is cherry picking your evidence.
It is possibly a HUGE smokescreen.
All kinds of things happen behind smokescreens – some good, some damnable.
The mandating of masks – IN 11 DAYS TIME – is a good example.
We are led towards the date, snarling or delighted, take your pick, and we are again led away from the reality.
And, if you are like me and a refusnik when it comes to face-nappies, you will be doing what I saw dozens doing, early-doors in town today and that is doing a massive family shop and stocking up so you can avoid going back as much as possible when the silliness starts on the 24th.
This is another boost to the economy and it keeps us busy and oblivious.
At this rate, we will all be dashing out to the shops and buying things frantically before the new regulation comes into being . . . and then the night before they will suddenly think “oh look, that worked, everybody is back out now!” and water the whole idea down. Just like they did with international traveller quarantine. It has Dominic Cummings written all over it if that is so.
Except your timeline is up the creek. There was no massive financial crash looming at end Dec 2019:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/31/the-stock-market-boomed-in-2019-heres-how-it-happened.html
And the downturn in Feb 2020 was the result of the looming Covid disaster, already evident in China by then. The money printing is a response to that, not to a pre existing financial crash.
You have to look into it but when you do, you’ll see that there was indeed a financial disaster growing last Autumn – one that was seeded in 2008.
I did see something to that effect a few months ago. Don’t know how vetted this is:
https://wallstreetonparade.com/2020/05/evidence-suggests-u-s-financial-crisis-started-on-august-14-2019/
Doesn’t Parliament go on summer recess on 22nd July? Probably why the 24th was chosen – no opportunity for any debates or challenges..
Maybe these things don’t have to be mutually exclusive. The Gates/WHO/Pharma axis can at the same time further their own aims using the same over-egged pandemic….
It’s a good description and I really hope you are right. There is so much that just doesn’t add up in this, we know what is happening on the surface is complete rubbish.
Ciao I like your style.
Except for one big elephant.
Millions of people died and we’re still financially destroyed
It works from a western POV I suppose if you take the ultimately depressing view that that the western world gives no shits about dead and starving people in the developing one.
So yeah.
Maybe.
Actually there’s another elephant. Massive incompetence. I still don’t think any of these fools could organise their way out of queue let alone a global financial wipeout (which was a big part of the reason it got so bad last time, lest we forget, lots oof people sticking their fingers in their ears and going LALALALA). Like…. How the hell would they get China to play ball and take the wrap for the ‘virus’ when they’re probably the only country in the world that could withstand such an economic shitshow?
Millions? Died? Where?
I think this is referring to Lockdown deaths, of which, the “third world” countries are going to be hit extremely hard.
Got it in one. The Coronavirus deaths we won’t see reported in the media. Ever.
See below
Interesting… most conspiracy theory stuff just annoys me (especially as it distracts from or devalues the provable science-based evidence against lockdown) but this genuinely seems to make sense. Though the fact that I would like it to be true – compared to the current apparent situation of the government and media having lost with reality – makes me doubtful! It would mean that the government do know what they’re doing long-term, and are fully aware of the consequences, as they’re trying to avert a worse economic disaster. Both of which would actually give me some hope in the current situation.
I agree Drawde927
It is the lack of hope that has had me in such low spirits. If this is indeed a means to an end – or there is method in their perceived madness – then it becomes much more bearable.
We are told that Rishi Sunak is a whizz at this stuff – that he knows about money and the system. I have to have hope in that.
It doesn’t mean that the situation is nice, or easy, or has a real end in sight, but it might mean that we will survive as a nation and be able to build it up again without that gut wrenching anger and resentment that we had in 2008/9 when we were all stuffed so the banks, etc, could balance their blotted copy books.
The chief negative effect of quantitative easing of the banks & corporations is that they became corrupt and lazy, thinking, ‘If it goes bad, we’ll just go back to the state teat.’ And that did happen.
So, now we have quantitative easing via the client, ie, the people.
Possibly…
You are a superhen!
Does anybody remember the 1976 film Logan’s Run.
In the film it was accepted that life was only possible, safe and happy beneath a cluster of geodesic domes. Virtually everybody had been slowly brainwashed and the governments mandated conventions and rules were blindly accepted without question. Anyone attempting to escape (called runners) were shopped to the authorities mostly by the population itself and were then tracked down by “Sandmen” paid for by the state.
Towards the end of the film the very beautiful Jenny Agutter (Jessica 6) and sandman Michael York (Logan 5) and others eventually realised that outside the domes, life, despite its risks was not only possible but it was richer and much more rewarding.
In a chillingly similar concept to today, those that questioned or fought the established groupthink were physically cancelled by the system.
Following Covid hysteria I can now see even more clearly why entire populations in the past have been brainwashed into committing atrocities.
Also when these so called Covid spikes are happening, are people dying in large numbers? Or are most people getting it and moving on with their lives. Has this not been normal over the millennia?
Surely it’s only a section of the medical profession with its new found power and the inevitable agenda and a few Covid bedwetters that are really bothered with all these rules. Along with the mainstream media, these people appear to have successfully brainwashed the entire population.
My respect for Boris has reduced to zero. He is certainly no Thatcher or Churchill.
Better get your shopping done!
I’m past the point of anger about this madness.
I’m now sanguine about the entire affair.
Is this the best they can do?
To defeat this we simply ignore it.
I ignore it on buses.
I ignore it on tubes.
I will ignore it when I am in Scotland next week and I will ignore it when I return to Englandshire.
It really is that simple.
Just say you are exempt on medical grounds.
That’s it.
Job done.
The Scotsman reported that Police Scotland have issues ZERO fines (https://www.scotsman.com/news/crime/police-scotland-no-fines-handed-out-those-not-wearing-face-coverings-shops-2912231)
The Police in Englandshire are now saying it is unenforceable (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/14/shops-and-police-must-help-enforce-english-face-mask-rules-says-minister)
It’s nonsense.
It only applies to you if you allow it to apply to you.
This is really your choice.
Do you follow this or don’t you.
Make a choice
I’ve made mine.
Nice post Ryan, everyone here who talks the talk needs to walk the walk
Yes. I do. I will. Biker, ride your bike for me!
I plan to ignore it and then run away if anyone reports me.
I also plan to leave if they won’t let me inside anywhere without a muzzle.
In desperate situations i shall wear the skeleton/Matt Handjob balaclava but only if I’m literally in dire need of purchasing something in person right then and there (very unlikely)
Mostly I just plan to avoid all shops.
Where is Englandshire?
Englandshire is a Scotsman’s dismissive term for England.
It comes about because usually in the media places in Scotland will be simply dismissed as being in ‘Scotland’ – so Annan will be described as ‘in Scotland’ rather than ‘Annan in Dumfries and Galloway’ and ‘Nairn’ will be ‘in Scotland’ rather than ‘Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey’.
Whereas Chippenham will be described as being in Wiltshire, despite the fact that nobody who doesn’t live in Wiltshire neither knows nor cares where Wiltshire is.
It is basically a rebuttal of typical Englandshire arrogance.
Every day is a school day.
i’ve lived in Scotland my whole life and never heard that
Well ma man – Every day is a school day.
Please give that man a medal . The chief Medical officer in Wales has not recommended face nappies in shops. I am sure the Welsh government will introduce it because it is politically what the cult are demanding.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-53400877
“While Mr Drakeford said masks would not be mandatory for shoppers, businesses may ask people to wear them.
Later, he said Wales had taken longer than other governments in the UK to make the wearing of face coverings compulsory because it was “an intrusion on people’s civil liberties”.
He told Times Radio: “It’s not straightforward because there are people who cannot wear them – people with breathing difficulties, people who rely on lip reading, children – and you don’t do it, I think, without being very certain that it will make a material difference.”
The Welsh Conservatives have also been calling for the mandatory wearing of face masks in shops, saying it was a key element of its 10-point plan published last week.”
So here I was about to switch my allegiance from Welsh Labour to the Welsh Tories over the 5-mile issue, but now I can’t vote for either of them! I’ll just vote for my dog instead.
Buggar. I was thinking of doing some shopping over there, across “the Bridge”.
So were we!
Mr Drakeford said Wales had taken longer than other governments in the UK to make the wearing of face coverings compulsory because “I’ve got an election coming up next year and I want to win it.”
I’m sure your dog would do a better job
If Quackaduck follows the rest into slepavery, he will be ignoring the advice of his own chief medical officer.
Following the science.
Quite a fan of this one:
https://www.etsy.com/uk/FaceMaskShopper/listing/824740716/evolution-2020-2pcs-filter-mask-adult?
On another note, where did Hancock pluck those figures from?
The death rate of sales and retail assistants is 75 per cent higher amongst men and 60 per cent higher amongst women than in the general population??
his arse
I looked at the ONS figures in the occupational category yesterday and he is indeed talking out of his back orifice.
He just made them up, as he has done all along.
What? Where does it say that?
https://twitter.com/i/events/1282852710908178434
No account needed to watch
note that the twitter event is all positive about masks, even a section on “why isnt it in sooner” .. Not a single tweet there questioning the idea of masks and their usefulness.
So that is re-affirming Twitter’s pro mask bias
It makes me hopping mad that he dares to lie in Parliament like that.. It will be recorded on Hansard though, so there will be written proof if we ever get a public enquiry..
Probably mixing apples/pears – working population/general population. The latter is inflated by all the 70+s who don’t work. Anyone seen the actual numbers?
This may come back to haunt him as other workers will say, “What about us?!”
They are RUBBISH and he knows it – someone please ask Simon Dolan to do an FOI for the source of those statistics..
The bedwetters won’t get it. They don’t understand evolution.
It’s mandated from above – so they get it.
Intelligent design now, that’s another kettle of fish …
Just a little story regarding care homes. In a local newspaper this week, a carehome in Nailsea, near Bristol has installed an airtight glass wall in a room, so that the elderly can sit one side while their relatives can enter the room on the other side of the glass wall and see each other. I presume there is the capability to speak to each other properly, however of course they can’t touch each other.
While I can “sort of” applaud the innovation, it is still like placing the elderly inside a glass box and it is still isolation in terms of physical contact. Good idea? do you think?
I think this is an awful idea. Now the wall is there it’s unlikely to be removed so that’s likely how visitors will always greet their family. Also, given the fact that the elderly are quite likely to be hard of hearing, it’s not a great way to communicate with them. In fact, I would think being able to see them, but not touch or talk to them, would almost be worse than not seeing them at all. Just my thoughts.
Just re-read the article, yes there is a communications system set up. But I think that it’s…..like being in a zoo.
Or prison
Good idea? Are you fucking kidding? That’s a prison.
My question was intentionally sarky. It is still a prison.
Vile.
The dehumanisation continues.
Sounds like a prison visit.great
Sounds like visiting in a US prison. Communication done by phones .
Isn’t ‘lockdown’ borrowed from the US prison system? What they do when there’s an outbreak of violence and inmates are all locked in their cells?
Yep. The correct technical term here is house arrest.
Internment? There’s something so vicious about ‘lockdown’. Have the French, Spanish, Italians etc simply adopted the English word I wonder?
Sounds like a similar set up to those in the States when families want to watch a felon die by lethal injection.
Lovely…..
Horrible – the elderly are not zoo animals to be caged in this way..
Its like being in a prison. Awful.
I understand how you all feel but in Spain the few scattered dissidents are actually quite envious that in Britain mask-wearing is only obligatory in shops or transport. Here it has been mandated even on the beach in many regions, including the Costa del Sol. Apparently you can swim or lie on your towel without a mask, but have to cover your face if you stroll by the water’s edge, . Since public nudity is not illegal in most places, perhaps a muzzle-only protest would be in order. Muslim extremists, by the way, must be laughing themselves silly at the West’s surrender to covid niqabs
What was that thing Johnson said about Muslim women looking like letter boxes not so long ago? Hoist by your own penis, sorry petard, Johnson. Get back up that trip wire and look like the gormless see you next Tuesday you are.
How nauseating. The BBC is trailing programming called ‘NHS Heroes’ due to go out the night before face masks become compulsory. Are we going to be compelled to watch this crap as well? We love Big brother.
Not compelled to watch it, for sure. I won’t be. But compelled to pay for it? Yes, unless we have taken the righteous step of stopping paying the licence fee.
Not surprising. trying to get (entitled) free licence for my mother in her 80s. Five emails since March, not one reply.
The NHS is rubbish. They are also lying about cover deaths and silencing people who speak out. Why anyone trusts a single word that comes from the mouth of anybody who works for the government is beyond me.
I was in the house with my mum and dad and when we saw the advert for this all three of us went, “OH JESUS CHRIST!” at the same time. A heartening bonding moment after weeks of fighting over Covid nonsense. (They are feeling the sceptical feelings, but still too Comfortable to really care….. although I mentioned tax raids on pensions the other day which widened their eyes somewhat)
Don’t even get started on her – my contempt knows no bounds.
Regulations for wearing face masks in shops.
1. Face masks must conform to BS EN 149:2001+A1:2009
2. You must not wear a mask over a beard and you must be clean shaven
3. Long hair must be pinned back so as not to interfere with the effectiveness of the mask
4. Wash or sanitize your hands before fitting your mask
5. Check the mask is not damaged in any way
6. Face masks must be fitted to the face without touching the material of the mask
7. Face masks must be fitted correctly, with no visible gaps around the perimeter of the mask
8. You must have sufficient stock of masks on your person to enable you to change the mask every half hour
9. Shop attendants must check the smoothness of the customers face before they fit their mask and enter the shop. This can be carried out quite simply by passing a piece of silk or similar material over the customers face to see if it snags.
10. If your face does not pass the smoothness check you will be prevented from entering the shop
11. The customer will be given a colour coded flag to designate the time zone you have entered the shop
12. Once the mask is in place you may enter the shop.
13. You must not touch or adjust the mask once it has been fitted
14. If you are seen touching your mask you will be asked to leave the shop
15. If you are seen to touch your mask and then touch a shop product you could also be fined up to £100
16. All shops must have in place a colour coded flag time zone system to ensure customers are replacing their masks at the appropriate times
17. After half an hour you must remove the mask – without touching the material and place it in the specially designated bins and replace it with a new mask.
18. You must wash or sanitize your hands before you put on your new mask
19. You need then to request a new colour coded flag for the next time zone. Failure to do so will result in you being asked to leave the shop.
20. There must be sufficient bins available in shops to enable customers to dispose of their masks without them having to walk significant distances to find a bin and must have sealable waste bags in which the masks are collected
21. Sanitizer must be available at each bin location
22. The bins must be clearly signposted and must be only used for masks
23. Shops must empty the bins on a regular basis, by staff using full PPE, masks, visors, gloves and gowns and taken to a secure, restricted store area.
24. The waste masks should be transported to the nearest council incinerator, again by staff using full PPE, at least twice per day, more often if adequate, suitable storage is not available in the shop.
25. Councils will provide temporary incinerators sufficient to cater for all shops in their area.
The above regulations will come into force on the 24th July 2020. This is the new normal.
Enjoy your shopping experience!
Firkin hell, a real boost for online shopping!
Where did you get this because I don’t believe it?
Ha ha, very funny! I take it this IS a joke?
Yes I think it is. My sense of humour has clearly given up on me today. The scary thing is it’s quite believable!
If it hadn’t been for the bit about beards not being allowed, I think I probably would have believed it too!
It was getting your face stroked with a piece of silk that gave it away for me!
Any “lock-us-down forever, muzzle loving, please tell us what to do!” supines would orgasm if that became reality.
Thing is, if we were dealing with something truly dangerous and widespread you actuslly would need rules like this. The fact that they are only requiring face coverings not real masks etc shows how fake the whole thing is with no basis in science or human psychology.
This reminds me of Monty Python
Yes I made it up – but who knows hopefully will come true
It’s hard to make jokes or satire any more, because literally anything could now be true.
Just seen this from last week:
https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2020/07/covid-19-has-exposed-uk-s-public-toilet-crisis?utm_source=pocket-newtab-global-en-GB
Another way to keep us housebound!
Note to self: Must remember where I stashed my shewee!
Troops, if you really want to get depressed look at this article from the Guardian. The comments below (barring a couple) actually made me despair! https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/13/face-masks-shops-england-24-july-boris-johnson
No thanks. I’m depressed enough without a trip to the Guardian.
You’re right, it was a mistake! I should never have read it.
The Guardian is good for nothing more than toilet paper. Always hated the rag but its coverage of this ‘crisis’ has been both hysterical scare-mongering and sanctimonious solemnity.
Like the BBC The Guardian is funded by Bill Gates. In the BBC’s case it’s totally against the spirit of the Charter.
Loved this paragraph:
“On Sunday, Gove said he did not favour masks becoming mandatory. Government sources suggested he had misspoken and had been contrite in private.”
Has he also been airbrushed from every photograph he appears in? Appears Uncle Joe is still alive and well, lurking in London.
The Guardian, like the BBC, receives large donations from the Gates Foundation. I have no respect for either organisation.
I suppose everyone wearing masks will save us witnessing the results of no dentistry for 4+ months. Black and rotten teeth, plaque, gaps and bad breath all safely hidden from view.
Does anybody know of any sensible countries I can emigrate to? This mask wearing businesses really is the final straw for me. Just when you thought this government couldn’t be any more stupid…
Tanzania.
https://www.africanews.com/2020/05/06/tanzania-how-can-goat-papaya-pawpaw-test-positive-to-corona-morning-call//
Just what I was thinking. My fear is, the next step may be that you have to wear a mask out in public at all times. And what will the great British public’s reaction be? As we know, nothing. just comply. Resistance is futile, just join the collective.
Sweden.
Belarus. It may be a dictatorship but they seem to have a lot more freedom than we do at the moment.
Hungary
I was thinking about this the other day.
We (in the West) set such store by our ‘democracies’ yet it is patently clear from this shitshow that we don’t really have them any more.
It is precisely BECAUSE of democracy (or what is left of it), and the fact that it has become politicised (and professionalised) beyond all sense that we are in this mess. Governments are doubling down to protect themselves from the revenge of democracy. They are clinging onto power by lying and deceiving – nothing new, I know, but this time people’s lives in their millions are being sacrificed and jeopardized in order for these people to remain on their thrones.
It’s only in places with fragmented political systems (proportional representation, basically) or no political systems at all (dictatorships) that this shit hasn’t stood. Scandinavia has basically been right, or has admitted its mistakes – proportional representation – coalition governments whose individual parties have no hope of ever being solely ‘in power’. So they actually do their jobs without constantly thinking about trying to cling onto it.
Belarus/Hungary etc. are dictatorships. Clearly the guys in charge don’t have to worry about ever not being in charge via votes. They do however have to worry about being deposed by angry mobs. So they do their jobs properly.
The lack of politicisation in a modern ‘democracy’ has led to MORE competence on this issue. WAY MORE. Interesting how I now have more desire to live somewhere with a despot in power than somewhere where I can ‘legitimately’ vote.
Unless that place is China of course ;oD
I have just watched the BBC suggest, with complete agreement from the other party (Police chief), that we encourage ‘social shaming’ of all who refuse to cover their face. What is wrong with the British public? I have never resorted to saying this before but our real heroes of the early 1900s would be ashamed of us!
They’ll be bringing back the stocks next, or the ducking stool. Or, more appropriately, the Scold’s Bridle.
Be afraid, be very afraid. What is written in satire on Tuesday is fact by Thursday these days.
I don’t intend to be afraid of anything. That’s what they want. Stand up to them.
Quite right Bella. Laugh at them. They can’t stand that. When they glare at you in fear and hatred, give them a big smile and blow them a kiss. They just can’t handle it! It’s funny watching their reaction.
It does have a mediaeval feel to it. Toilets locked, no functioning economy, no holidays, just serfdom and ignorance.
Don’t be harsh on the medievals.
They never attempted anything as mental as this even during the bubonic plague.
And there were loads of holidays, saints days, festivals. And a thriving international economy, ever read the Merchant of Prato? Aha, maybe it’s all a gigantic conspiracy to get us back there…
It feels more like the Witch Craze of the 16th and 17th centuries. They’ll be basing policy on the Malleus Maleficarum next.
They didn’t even get mass unemployment after it. Oh, wait…
Didn’t all the peasants start kicking off for higher wages cause there were so few of them left to do the work?
Yes. It ended serfdom, effectively. In England at least.
Thankfully I am immune to being socially shamed by such a society.
Social shaming is nothing when the society that is doing the shaming has effectively ceased to exist, and broken all its contracts. We should not fear this.
First I thought you said “Contacts.” Which is basically what is happening.
If we have no social relationships to lose why does it matter?
Exactly. I’ve been haemorrhaging contacts as well, but these are people I can no longer be around!
I, for one, could not give less of a tiny little damn.
The mechanism of social shaming will reach far beyond masks. Introducing the concept deliberately to enforce a bad law is dangerous.
Hmm, I might decide to abandon other forms of social politeness in response.
I bet the members of my family that died in the second world war would be very proud to have made the ultimate sacrifice for what this country has become,I think the three of them that were buried in the same coffin because there was so little left of them would be over the moon.What about my late Great Uncle who spent years being tortured in a Japanese POW camp ?,I bet he’d be really proud to be British now !.
The state broadcaster and the police actively encouraging bullying,yes,that’s going to end very well.
I wish my Nan was still here,she wouldn’t have stood for all this nonsense and she would have put a few people in their places !.
Amazing! So a licence to shame people with disabilities.
They can try it in me, and see what they get back.
When is Handjob due to make the Big Announcement today? Not planning on watching it, just curious.
Just spotted this:
https://uk.yahoo.com/news/face-masks-conservatives-cut-membership-113326209.html
Tories resigning in disgust over the face nappy rule.
Lovely. Hit them where it hurts. I might join for 5 seconds just to cut up my card and then resign. It’ll be the second party I’ve quit in a year…
But you would have paid money into their coffers which you wouldn’t get back!
About time too, I would if I were a member!
This is great. People are actually canceling their direct debit for Conservative party membership. Hopefully many more will follow.
Good. I’m not a member of the Conservative Party but I’ve emailed them this morning with my thoughts, and told them in no uncertain terms that this is the final straw and that they have lost my vote, forever. Votes are the only thing they really understand.
It is. I prefer to leave my politics outside this forum, but I think what I said to Amanda Millings (one of the joint chairmen of the PCP) is relevant here. I told her that this Conservative Prime Minister had stolen our civil liberties and fundamental rights; the last had betrayed the largest democratic vote in this country’s history; the one before her had doubled the National Debt; and the one before him had enmeshed the political scene in scandal after scandal.
I wondered what further damage to humanity the Conservative Party had planned and suggested they might like to pack in politics, or else emigrate en masse and wreck somebody else’s country.
Yes, they’ve been circling the toilet bowl for years, Boris is the one who has just finally dropped down the hole
Ha! That made my day.
I’ve been looking for sceptical articles on California and Florida’s re-lockdown (perma-lockdown?) situation…also that smug story that’s been going the rounds about the 30 yr old Texas guy who went to a “Covid party”, caught it, and died lamenting his ‘mistake’ which sounds fishy to me….Does anyone here know the U.S. equivalent of LockdownSceptics? (Apart from JP Sears’ hilariously satirical videos, that is!)
Nope. Too many formerly respectable US publications have fully drunk the kool-aid on this one (National Review being the worst example).
Ron Paul’s website had some useful perspective on the “spike” in the south of the US.
http://ronpaulinstitute.org/
Read Alex Berenson, ex NYT journalist, on Twitter
We always knew that the WHO’s change (and the CDC’s change) of opinion about mask policy was due to political pressure. This was obvious from the fact that they cited to no new studies that supported the change, whereas their policy was previously supported by actual science. That a health organization caves so easily to political pressure is absolutely terrifying, and it should be widely publicized, though of course it won’t be.
When the WHO recommended 1 metre distancing our imbeciles decided we should have 2 metres because they think we’re stupid and didn’t know what 1 metre was. Now they are enforcing mask wearing after the event with the virus in retreat.
I don’t know much about the WHO, and I expect they have some excellent people working for them with a lot of integrity, but it strikes me that pandemics are part of their business so there’s possibly a natural tendency for them to want to play it for all its worth rather than playing it down.
And of course they are funded by governments.
Hi from the other side of the Pond.
Check out this story.
https://dailycaller.com/2020/07/10/nbc-news-contributor-battle-coronavirus-negative-antibodies/
Thanks Rachel – will check out toot sweet.
claims to have been “humbled” by the experience… right. Funny how that word has taken on the opposite of its original meaning, as so many words do.
That link is only about one story – would like to know if there are any sceptical articles on California’s lockdown in particular since I used to live there. My friends on the Monterey Peninsula don’t know a single person who has had c19.
Just received an Email off Tesco, wondering why I haven’t used the store recently, especially as they’ve introduced the anti covid safety measures. That’s the reason I haven’t been there, and if I’m told to wear a face mask, I definitely won’t go there,
Do write and tell them! We need to make our voices heard now. I’ve just written to the Conservative Party to say I will never be voting for them again and citing all the reasons.
I wrote to the CEO just over a week ago thanking him from removing the stupid directional arrows and stating I hope they wouldn’t insist on face masks because I’d stop shopping there. He assured me Tescos would not enforce mask wearing but that was before Herren Johnson and Hancock made their decree!
no shops are enforcing it, don’t worry about that
Him and his sidekick are both well connected to Bill Gates along with others who are connected into GSK, private central banking etc if you research the Tesco board make-up
We do not shop at Tesco, but in these trying times I will shop at ANY store which does not enforce face muzzles, hand drying alcohol etc.
I suspect fresh veg / produce I will be looking for a farm shop.
Dried goods we will order online if we cannot find a supermarket is not enforcing muzzles.
Still annoyed at last nights pronouncement of muzzles from 24th July.
Sorted. Just arrived. This will mean I don’t have to explain my dodgy lungs and anxiety to anyone …..
Perfect. I didn’t order the lanyard because I can slip the card into my work name badge holder, sadly unused as I cannot work at the moment. Probably not until next year unfortunately……..
I’m about to order one of these too.
Where from, Carrie?
Here you go Annie:
https://hiddendisabilitiesstore.com/shop/cards.html
What constitutes a face mask. Would a pair of my wife’s really thin tights work?
As tights? On you? Don’t see why not.
They’ll complement your mask and show of your shapely legs at the same time…
Oh there’s another idea. When crims put stocking over their heads. They look *really sinister. Love it i might use that. Can’t say it’s not tight fitting…
Badumche
Look what the government are suggesting – nanny state in overdrive here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/how-to-wear-and-make-a-cloth-face-covering/how-to-wear-and-make-a-cloth-face-covering
Using an old t-shirt to make a mask!!! What if the t-shirt is already infected?!!
The pants thing was pretty funny. People making masks out of things their genitals have been in.
How about my wife’s G string?
I saw a video somewhere of a shopkeeper demonstrating a Union Flag one.
This chap, back in the good old days when we could still have a laugh at all the BS. https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/video-shopkeeper-coronavirus-face-mask-union-jack-thong-a4371761.html
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/coronavirus-news-face-masks-increase-risk-infection-doctor-jenny-harries-a9396811.html%3Famp&ved=2ahUKEwjsqbfYhs3qAhXSX8AKHTGnAlgQFjAJegQIBBAB&usg=AOvVaw2ort98qqm6AMDpOXnDIMTN&cf=1
This could be a Marie Antoinette moment for Boris. Remember the look on the face of Ceaușescu when he realised that crowd had stopped clapping and had started booing
All Dictators go the same way in the end
There are a lot more of us than them
They shot Ceausescu.
Damn good idea.
Shooting is too good for him. He should be made to reenact Sisyphus for the rest of his life.
Or revive the Code of Hammurabi, for example:
https://avalon.law.yale.edu/ancient/hamframe.asp
Interesting demands for evidence for the existence of the virus that’s said to cause Covid-19, from Dr. P. Corbett, Piers Corbyn et al:
Letter: “Viral challenge to Boris Johnson”
https://www.kevinpcorbett.com/coronahysteria/viral-challenge-to-boris-johnson.html?fbclid=IwAR1rmDlAFMHAQofl4iUzaXFfZwjXN1HxtPZt1YqwNLTTT-NxhLAphAgzHoE
Pdf: “Where is the evidence for the existence of the ‘novel coronavirus’, ‘SARS-CoV-2’?”
https://kevinpcorbett.com/onewebmedia/WHERE%20IS%20THE%20EVIDENCE%20FOR%20THE%20EXISTENCE%20OF%20THE%20CORONAVIRUS%20FINAL.pdf?fbclid=IwAR387jrOWXtmi4bls-iYpyZeixAnm5CYVyS1zYP2FbFp1tPkVwWeK-YDPK0
Clicked on link but AVG virus detector warned of virus in PDF
I think that maybe a false positive. I have both Malwarebytes Premium and Windows Defender and no problems are reported…
McAfee says it is clean too.
just tried it with AVG and that picked up a threat … site itself -” kevinpcorbett.com is infected with PDF.urlmal-inf ”
explanation
The detection of
PDF.UrlMal-inf [Trj]is related to the PDF contents: the file itself isn’t harmful, but contains URLs (links) to sites that have been found malicious.so it is AVG being overzealous… nothing wrong with the PDF itself,
The Medium article by Omar S. Khan linked above here deals with all that and more. An excellent explanation of Koch’s Postulates. What Bhakdi and Wodarg in Germany have been saying for months too. The ACU extra-parliamentary enquiry linked in the ‘Round-Up’ shows promise also.
From Simon Dolan’s Keep Britain Free: Wonderful graphic fliers that can be downloaded for retailers who will not demand mask-wearing of their customers PLUS a letter template so that you can tell your MP your views on the muzzling mandate. https://www.keepbritainfree.com/get-involved?utm_campaign=127e77ea-c184-4825-b103-2e196a8d0c98&utm_source=so&utm_medium=mail&cid=0f47932d-f3d5-4bfa-8692-d5bf3cf0be30
Why would I write to a shithouse?
Because the shits in the shithouse are running, ir rather ruining, the country and if they get no opposition they’ll just carry on.
My shithouse ignored me for nigh on 9 weeks and I gave up. I don’t think the shithouse route is gonna get us anywhere sadly
Good luck trying to get your MP to do anything. I e-mailed mine 5 weeks ago saying that the lockdown needed to be ended immediately or it would end up causing far more deaths (through mental health issues, cancer and heart problem diagnoses and treatments being missed etc) than the virus itself. Three days later I had a reply from his “caseworker” saying that “Due to Coronavirus we are experiencing a high volume of e-mails” (the usual BS cited as an excuse not to do anything) followed by another e-mail three weeks later from a different caseworker (how many caseworkers does one backbench MP need FFS?) saying that my e-mail had been forwarded to the Cabinet Office and they hoped to “have a reply soon”. I’m still waiting. I warned my MP in my e-mail that if lockdown wasn’t lifted soon, he would lose my vote, despite the fact I have voted Conservative in every local and national election for the past 42 years. Needless to say, there is now no way I would vote for him or any other Boris puppet ever again.
Just had a dire visit to Aldi (in England),anyone not wearing a symbol of brainless,subservient,un-questioning obedience on their face was almost in the minority.
I overheard a young lad talking to his mother and his numerous siblings,’we’ll need a mask from the 24th’,his mother’s reply,’Yes,so we should,it should have been done at the start’,all round agreement from the children,my thought was (and I only just stopped myself from saying it ) was, ‘if that’s the case,why the f**k aren’t any of you wearing one today ?’ !.
I also had a disagreement with my wife,she bought some bloody face nappies !,she knows they don’t make any difference and is a sceptic but is worried about being thrown out of shops next week.I wasn’t pleased and said she shouldn’t let anyone tell her she must restrict her breathing.I then noticed a muzzled woman ear-wigging so I said loudly,’anyone wearing one is a bloody idiot and the best use for those cloth masks is to wipe your backside on’,the nosey woman didn’t know where to put herself !.
Incidentally,on the packet of masks it says they are not PPE,not of medical standard and can be put in a normal waste bin after use.
my Aldi visit this morning was fine . few masks worn (none by staff).. chat with girl on till who is total sceptic . Outside in shopping centre i would say 1 in 10 masked. sad to see kids wearing them . Also in B&M staff there also unmasked
Like in Scotland the pitiful wankers that pass for English people will strap on their mask and do as they are told. Wait till you see them it’s fucking depressing.
On my weekly trip to Waitrose this afternoon, I was saddened to see the mask wearers had increased a lot, up to around 50% of people.
Anyone know if it is an offence to pull tongues at them ?
Never an offence to annoy the terminally brain dead.
Waitrose?? enough said
Foolishly expensive, but they do some good stuff. Free range chicken & ham pies, unhomogenised organic milk, hummus without rapeseed oil, Crank’s bread, and 49% cocoa milk chocolate.
My mum’s favourite shop – she has a MyWaitrose card and a John Lewis one! Have to say, she does get some good bargains with it, and quite often a load of vouchers (which have monetary value, ie not just for specific items, though she gets that sort as well). So I think that does mean she pays quite a bit less than you’d think..
!
Personally I think she has got somewhat addicted to the free coffee and newspapers though
… then there was that ‘Take Back Control’ stuff …..
…I have an image of an oleaginous lump of lying lard repetitively parotting that one …
I think the term is ‘double entendre’.
What should be the appropriate penalty for stealing so much time from so many people?
1945 … Hitler burns … 2020 …. the grave opens …
There’s a poll on the DT about facemasks, might be worth voting!
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/07/14/debate-should-face-masks-compulsory-shops-writers-have-say/
Not looking great for them at the moment:
Now 63% avoiding shops.
Just voted. Yes, at 63%. Total votes 1,359.
And 73% opposed to masks.
Voted. Now 65% avoiding + 20% against but willing to comply
Unfortunately it’s behind a pay wall. Yesterday someone published the direct link to the vote in side the article please
Now it’s your turn. Should masks be compulsory in shops? Let us know which side of the debate you’re on and why in the comments section below.
Give em both barrels!
Banksy artworks
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-53407715
Art or vandalism? Cant tell is he is sceptical or not.. but i like the concept of rats wearing masks
Loved the chumbawumba reference at the end ..
A good bit of music for us sceptics
“I get locked down but i get up again, You are never gonna keep me down”
Banksy is pro-establishment, pro-EU, he definetely won;t be sceptic.
One of his works recently was called “If you don’t mask – you don’t get.” Not a sceptic alas.
Yep, great tune.
shit tune by a bunch of commie twats
I like the lyrics/sentiment and the beat/rhythm. Their politics I know nothing about.
Ok so….. my cousin (sort of, my uncle who isn’t married to my aunty’s son) went to art school with Banksy and was one of his bezzies for years. He did a lot of work for him, (he is a model-maker and artist, he works for Aardman in Bristol) including on that fantasy fair thing and the hotel in Israel.
Banksy refused to pay him, I think on numerous occasions, stating that he did the work ‘as a favour’ and ‘for his CV’ (these are two men with established careers in their 40s). It caused massive arguments and now they don’t speak.
Banksy is an entitled twat who hates working class people.
Aha, so you know who he really is then?
I think anyone with reasonable web search skills does.
Doesn’t everyone by now? (Having said that, I actually can’t remember now lol!)
My cousin obviously does. When I was a journalist (back when Banksy was still incognito) I once spent a whole evening trying to steal his number from my cousin’s unattended phone. Sadly my family know me way too well and I didn’t succeed. – Also seeing as I didn’t know his name, I was kinda fucked heh
I’ve suggested earlier a couple of things to write/print on the masks which we will all have to wear if we are to get food to keep us alive. Here’s another thought:
A silent protest: choose not to speak whilst wearing a mask/muzzle. You could use gestures so as not to make shopworkers’ lives not too miserable (e.g. thumbs up as thank you) (not their fault). Asking which aisle a product is in by gestures would waste valuable time for the management. It would also feel like a protest to you without the risk of getting your head kicked in by pro-mask zealots, as would be the risk with writing messages on the masks. They can make us wear masks, but they can’t make us speak. Essentially, NO MOUTH, NO VOICE.
Yes, I will be doing this. Also refuse to speak TO wearers of masks. Make out like you can’t hear them – it’s very effective, they end up taking them off thinking you genuinely can’t hear them. Objective achieved, even if they remain too thick to realise the point you were making.
I’ve had the thought to perhaps throw out the comment: you know that those masks fail to keep out 97% of viruses right?
Just to see what reaction I get…
There are some good pictures about showing how building dust gets through a mask – a virus is much smaller so would definitely get through..
The film I think we should be posting everywhere is this one, showing the effects of wearing one, using measurements of CO2: https://www.bitchute.com/video/ypLjmXQoLygi/
Have been doing that a lot – terribly sorry but could you please repeat what you’re saying, eh???, so sorry can’t hear what you’re saying or making a face so they have to repeat themselves several times over then finally remove the mask.
Jeff Bezos must be rubbing his hands with undisguised glee. All Boris and his cabinet of cretins will succeed in doing is utterly destroying the High Street retail sector.
I’ve got a feeling that this is the entire point of this operation. Follow the money…
“Follow the Money”
It’s always been my route to political explanation – that and the slightly wider ‘Cui Bono?’
See my link below sent around lunchtime. Yes it’s being done on purpose. Shocking.
Ironically I think it’s the opposite. It’s meant to encourage people to go back to shops because they will feel “safe”. But I am glad to see polls in the Telegraph showing that their readers aren’t buying it.
It may have some value if it helps to turn public opinion.
i think you’re right, if they really had set about destroying everything things would be so much better than they were before but since they’re trying to help they’ve fucked it big style
Every other coronahysterical decision they’ve made has been driven by the media and their narrow view of public opinion (heaven knows it certainly hasn’t come from anything remotely scientific!) – maybe this poll will indeed drive the next policy u-turn? I’ve lost track of them all.
Exactly. Again – wrong thing, wrong time.
They THINK it will provide people with the ‘safety net’ they need to feel comfortable in public spaces. It’s the opposite. It will turn most people off from feeling comfortable there. Most people will go shopping for the bare minimum and get the fuck out, in order to feel normal again ASAP.
This is what now leads me to believe they are truly, truly stupid. Even the all-seeing all-knowing psychic barometer of public mood Cummings is an idiot.
Agree, but you’d have thought that when people didn’t stream back onto public transport when they imposed masks, that they would’ve got the message that masks were not the way to go?
The government is merely sub contracting the extermination of the Refuseniks to the supermarkets
Not wearing a face nappy? The shop will refuse entry, which they are perfectly entitled to do as it’s private property
.
No entry to the shop=no food
Those who comply will be allowed food
And when people get tired of masks, they’l introduce the digital tattoo. This is from back in March:
https://biohackinfo.com/news-bill-gates-id2020-vaccine-implant-covid-19-digital-certificates/
Buy food online. Bugger the buggers.
Refuse to enter a shop that requires face nappies, and tell them very loudly why they are not getting your money.
As Banksy says, “If you don’t mask, you don’t get”.
I’ve caught bits of the BBC twice during th day (sometimes the depth of propaganda has a fascination that holds the attention).
The term ‘exploitation’ is the tenor of the times :
First Emma Barnett on Five Live (or Dead in terms of journalism?) around lunchtime using the anxiety of some poor woman frightened about a family member undergoing cancer therapy as a distraction from current totalitarianism.
Then Anita Rani being used to get brass for the Disaster Emergency Committee on the back of a fictional Covid narrative (Radio 3). The fact that the disaster in Yemen has nothing to do with a virus and all to do with the same class of exploiters who will make a mint from the myth doesn’t raise its head.
The virus is killing people in Yemen!
Well, yes, but locking down people in towns that are being still being bombed by our weapons via the Saudis is gonna kill more…….
Just looking at Trisha Greenhalgh’s Twitter feed. She is publishing tweets from people who disagree with being masked up.
One user called @SmellenBinney backs Trisha up by saying “This reads like it was written by a white man with no scientific background.” No rebuke of this racist comment at all by Trisha.
It looks like we are being dictated too by these woke Marxists, who hate all men and white people. If this same opinion was voiced about another race, religion or sex, and wasn’t rebuked immediately, then there would be uproar and the person would be cancelled.
All the black ones live in Wakanda.
“looks like we are being dictated too by these woke Marxists”
No. We’re being dictated to by the right-wing of the Tory Party. They are the government, no matter who else is compliant.
Fact.
Stop fantasizing to suit your own narrow political predelictions, focus on the issue and build a resistance across the board.
Couple of things wrong there, this isn’t a Tory Government/Party, and from what we’re seeing at the moment their policy is far from right-wing. In fact it pretty much matches what we were all being told life under Corbyn would be like.
Yes but they are the actual Tory party even if they don’t live up to everyone’s expectations of what that should be. RickH is right.
Corbyn would be even worse. A Starmer government would be less massively incompetent but they would certainly be doing all the lockdowns and mask crap.
“RickH is right”
.
No he isn’t The idea that this coronapanic is coming from anything like a political “right” is absurd on its face.
You might not like my politics, but you yourself conceded that the parties of the left would be at least as bad or worse on the coronapanic. So how is RickH’s silly paranoia about a fantasy “right-wing” driving it remotely plausible?
Granted, there clearly are Tories who are more “right-wing” (I’d say less left-wing) than others, so in that sense alone there could be “right-wing” Tories, but clearly they aren’t in control of the “Conservative” Party over anything at the moment, except arguably the specific issue of Brexit, but that’s entirely because a notoriously left-wing Tory leader (Cameron) mistakenly assumed he couldn’t lose a referendum on the issue and an opportunist libertine Tory (Johnson) committed himself to the bandwagon on that issue..
I agree, though it’s arguably true that a LOT of people who voted Conservative are quite supportive of government policy on the virus – possibly more the older voters, who feel most vulnerable, and the law-and-order lot (of which I am one, generally) who like to see rules followed. Probably lockdown sceptics skew “right wing”, but a lot of “right wing” voters are not sceptics and are as intellectually uncurious and apathetic about freedom as everyone else.
A true “conservative” (small c) government that believed in small government, personal freedom and responsbility and making grownup decisions and hard-nosed tradeoffs would not have got us into this mess, one hopes.
In my experience the older voters (myself included) are the ones most opposed to every aspect of the Lockdown. We can see where this is headed and it ain’t pretty; the young have little real world experience AND have mostly been thoroughly indoctrinated at school and university!
I’m with you, Ian!
Ah, maybe you’re right. Young, old or middle aged, sadly there are not enough of us at present…
You’re right. Generally speaking most of the scepticism I see is coming from people older than me (I’m 36). I’ve always felt more in common with poeple older than myself and this is no exception it seems lol
So, you’d be going for Rees Mogg for PM, Redwood Chancellor, Francois at MoD then? What about Health Sec?? Surreal…
Looks like RickH and Guy153 are the same person, I’ll back myself up with my other account lol!
I don’t think he said it was being driven by a fantasy right wing, just that it wasn’t being driven by a fantasy left wing. I agree with him on that.
Well he wrote: “We’re being dictated to by the right-wing of the Tory Party. They are the government, no matter who else is compliant“, which looks to me pretty much like saying it’s driven by a fantasy “right wing”. Though he did make his meaning more clearly that in his other posts, earlier.
And the ruling left wing in this country is absolutely obviously not a fantasy, as is made undeniably apparent by any honest assessment of the course of political change over the past few generations.
Tory party died when Hague was elected leader. Since then it’s been the Notting Hill set running things, no different to new labour.
I kind of agree. Well….. they went all ‘metrosexual’ ;o) then anyway. Kinda like hipster versions of Tories
But…. they still retained much of their core essence as Tories. Free market economics to the end etc.
Now – they’ve even lost that. They are quite happy to ritually sacrifice businesses to the covid gods as long as people still like them in opinion polls. – that is not a true Tory impulse.
This is exactly what happened to Labour in the 1990s with BLiar. They sacrificed the working classes at the altar of the middle classes. Well…. not exactly. The Tories are kinda trying to sacrifice the middle classes at the altar of the working classes hahaha! Sadly it’s not working. At least what Labour did worked, even if it completely destroyed their party base – which is only just coming home to roost now in these Blue Wall days.
The working classes are going to the wall along with the middle class.The government is certainly not acting in the interests of the British people that is for sure.
I think the current bunch of muppets are labelled “right” because of their claimed views on Europe.
But you’re right that they’ve thrown many of what most people would consider traditional conservative views out of the window. They’re fiscally irresponsible, populist, have no respect for personal freedom, and believe in the power of the big state to solve problems by meddling in them.
But who was telling you?
Good point!
“The right wing of the Tory Party”
So what does it mean to be “right wing” in your world?
Opposed to nationalised (socialist) health provision? So they destroyed the economy of the country to “protect the NHS”.
Opposed to state controlled education with built in indoctrination in political correctness? So they caved in to the teaching unions at every opportunity.
Patriotic and proud of their nation’s hostory, people and its indigenous cultural and racial makeup? So they pointedly failed to control mass immigration and loudly promote anti-white racial resentment that doesn’t even make any sense when applied to this country, and selectively apply laws on public assemblies so as to discriminate in support of foreign-based BLM liars and race-baiters whilst actively suppressing indigenous protest against the lockdown.
Socially conservative, so they resist political correctness in general? Yet they are pretty much fully in sympathy on coronapanic, BLM, etc with the BBC hierarchy, which is famously and objectively Labour/LibDem supporting, and fully support government spending on and cooperation with the political correctness enforcement industry.
Traditionalist, so they believe in basic political freedoms of speech and association as a British basic right? Yet they enthusiastically back totalitarian “anti-discrimination” and “hate speech” laws that trash these freedoms in the service of social manipulation.
Find me a member of the cabinet who substantially disagrees openly with any major aspect of the modern leftist settlement. Except perhaps Gove, who’s frankly a bit of a nutter generally and occasionally pretends to be conservative before lurching into support for Blairite/neocon (ie leftist) interventionist wars. I note he briefly claimed to believe in letting people take responsibility for choosing whether or not to wear masks (both a traditionalist conservative and a liberal,British stance, which reflects why the policy of imposing masks by force would never have been seriously considered prior to Blair) but I rather doubt we’ll see him resigning on the issue.
Who are these “right-wingers” and what are their policies? I’d like to be able to vote for them, if only they existed in sufficient numbers to control an actual political party.
The problem is, there is not one dissenting voice in the commons, not one. There were right wing politicians in the commons before Covid. Where are they now? Still there I guess. Which then suggests this has nothing whatsoever to do with left/right politics and more to do with the fact that our house has been infiltrated by nutters who, through the course of lockdown, have simply lost their minds.
Yes, where is Steve Baker? And John Redwood? Just two who I thought might speak up…
Redwood appears to speak up on twitter.
Do we actually have a Parliament at present where anything is discussed? Not so far as I can see.
To bring in the mask legislation they were going to amend some Act from 1984 I think (irony unitentional & it might have been 1986). How are they going to do that without a Commons debate? Or will the donkeys just nod it through?
They only have till 22nd July for any debates – then they go off on their summer recess. You might think this was all timed very carefully…?!
I said the same on our WhatsApp group this morning. One of our members threw out a statement saying he felt it was all engineered. This was my reply.
Incompetence may have been an excuse up to a point; I never believed that anyway. There is reason behind all their decisions but they have been straw-man arguments since day one, based on models, predictions, call it what you will. Evidential data can now be cited to counter all of the rationale behind lockdown and what has followed, yet they continue to beat the drum.
Incompetence may be to blame for the the policies implemented by PHE for the NHS, but the decisions made in government can only be calculated. They always have been – even more so since TB and his sidekick spin doctor Alistair Campbell came into town in the late 90s.
For me, the whole thing is engineered. I just don’t know what it will take to bring down the deck of cards. How much of a dystopian society will people allow before they rebel? My fear is that the people actually like it and, by definition, want it to continue. Oh, and let’s not forget, most people are stupid.
Nothing of interest from Redwood on Twitter that I can see. One of them needs to just say lockdown was a mistake.
He’s another snake. He’ll be biding his time.
The no dissenting voices is extremeMy worrying. I think this is because of the large Tory majority, any dissent and you’re out. Whereas under May, individual MP could dissent and command power because there was no majority without the DUP.
John Crace noted in the Grad:
The Tory MPs mostly seemed to be under instructions to not mention the masks, though Desmond Swayne thought the whole idea of shopping in a face covering to be “a monstrous imposition”.
Spot on Rick. Unfortunately the lockdown issue became heavily politicised very early on – possibly due to contamination from US political debate, possibly due to people looking for a stick to beat the Government with, most likely a bit of both.
The flipside to this is the embarrassing intellectual contortions you now see from the more right-wing ‘lockdown sceptics’ trying to argue that the Government, responsible for the current lockdown, isn’t really a Tory government. Look at their voting records on any non-Covid issue and it’s quite clear what they are.
Can’t speak for others, but my problem isn’t that they aren’t a “Tory” government, or that they somehow aren’t responsible for their actions (clearly they are and should not be forgiven, as I’ve pointed out on numerous occasions) but that they aren’t remotely right wing or conservative. It’s been a long, long time since any “Conservative” Party government was meaningfully either of those things.
Where are these supposed votes on other issues that somehow demonstrate “right-wing” credentials?
Did I miss a vote to end nationalised healthcare? To end political correctness indoctrination in schools? To force the government to actually take serious action to end mass immigration? To really meaningfully cut state spending and state interference? To roll back the promotion of divorce, of homosexual behaviour, and the debasement of marriage? To fight back against the anti-white race resentment of “anti-racist” dogma, or the ever-present anti-patriotic and internationalist propaganda? To de-privilege and sell off the BBC? To end the social engineering through “hate speech” and anti-discrimination laws?
I don’t even say I would necessarily support all these positions, but they would at least represent meaningfully “conservative” positions. but in practice a party embodying many of them would be completely excluded from access to the public square.
All I see is a government and party rather reluctantly forced to comply with its own commitment on Brexit, and otherwise fully (apart from a few marginalised exceptional individuals) in agreement with the late C20th leftist settlement.
#fragileblacks
I was really sad to read A Death in the Family in Toby’s updates above. Sadly this gentleman won’t be the first or the last to take their own lives over this awful, dreadful way of living that we have to endure now. Isolation is something that is a form of torture in many regimes. I think if I hadn’t had my horses to keep me sane, I wouldn’t have got through lockdown itself either. As it is, I feel as though I am teetering on the brink of madness most days – crying, laughing, screaming, giggling, deep depression, anxiety, unable to cope, all in quick order. My heart goes out to this gentleman’s family. I don’t know anyone who has been sick with Covid either – at least not confirmed Covid. I know people who have been poorly but that could have been anything, like the 4 strange days I had back in February, Those who have messed with our minds like this MUST be held to account, soon.
My grandmother died at 92 and we were able to celebrate her life. This poor man’s family must be devastated by his death and will probably never get over how it ended, let alone be able to celebrate a long life. It’s not as if the government dom’t know that loneliness is a killer even when the elderly were able to at least go out.
From medical friends I can confirm suicides are very much increased. Very very sad. And the separation of the mother and new baby made me very angry.
Saw an article only about a week ago where Bill Gates had suggested that all newborns were immediately separated from their mothers and virus-tested – and get this, even if the test was negative they were to keep the baby from its mother for at least another day and then re-test…
What is the betting that in a few months’ time they will see to it that the child tests positive and then is compulsorily vaccinated, once they’ve produced a vaccine..?
Jesus! that’s scary.
He’s a very scary man – terrifying in fact!
Just shout Windows 1.01 at him, and laugh.
And he’ll say “enjoy your vaccine”
Gloomy, Skip ?
In every video I have seen of him since this virus thing started, he is actually *laughing* about it all… he is unhinged, and evil..
He always has been, why would we expect anything different based on how he did business when he was at Microsoft.
Scary if you let them. If anyone had tried vanishing with any of our kids, they’d have been seriously regretful.
He is a sick man, very sick
This is interesting:
https://www.businessinsider.com/bill-gates-addressed-jeffrey-epstein-ties-made-a-mistake-2019-11?r=US&IR=T
Link, please?
I can’t remember where I first read it, but the advice to test newborns at 24 hours then again at 48 hours is on the Center for Disease Control’s website.
I’ll keep looking for where I first read it!
If I’m still alive at the next election I think I’ll take Simon Dolan up on his offer of putting up the deposit I’m feeling that pissed off with the country.
The way I feel right now about the stupidity being displayed worldwide I’m a long way to the right of Attilla the Hun.
I’d vote for you!
I don’t think there will be any more elections, you don’t need them with only one party!
Good. I really think we need a new party as this lot are so bad.
Headline in DM
Tories cut up their membership cards as party splits over facemasks
Go for it!!
I’ve been lurking here since May, now angry enough to actually register. I’m genuinely scared we’re losing.
Welcome to the wonderful world of freethinking sceptics
Welcome to the mad house . . . or at least that’s what the sheeple think this is! We like to think we are rather sane.
“The modelling suggests that deaths could be higher with a new wave of COVID-19 this winter”
Is this modelling any more accurate than Professor Ferguson’s??
Nope. Apparently he is still involved.
This is the paper behind the story:
https://acmedsci.ac.uk/file-download/51353957
Page 57
“and Professor Neil Ferguson OBE FMedSci, Vice-Dean
(Academic Development), Imperial College London, for their assistance with the COVID19 modelling.”
Has he no shame!
Our reasonable worst-case scenario!
They have such a good track record of worst case scenarios.
He’s probably being paid to be shameless.
Money talks..
What about the contemporaries of Fergusson. Must feel pretty sickening to see the chosen one getting on so well producing such rotten work. It’s as though hus contemporaries have no professional self respect. They have a duty to speak out.
He’s been catastrophically wrong about BSE…foot and mouth…bird flu…swine flu… Yet they still insist on listening to him.
Bunch of utter morons
Makes you wonder what he has over the government. If he was in the private sector he would have been sacked ages ago.
I don’t get how he can resign from SAGE and yet still have this much sway over anything.
Two words : Bill Gates.
I was just wondering that too!
I noticed they had to include a really bad flu season in it to get the numbers up. Now, a really, really bad flu season could hit 100k on its own, so I’m not over impressed. PLus the article I saw didn’t make it clear whether they’d allowed properly for covid attacking the same weakened cohort as the flu – ie you can’t kill someone twice so the overlap must be allowed for when calculating the numbers.
Given that covid (ably assisted by government policy) will have already wiped out the most vulnerable this year, surely any normal epidemic this winter will cause low mortality. Next winter, once the unemployment etc hits, will be a very different ballgame.
What struck me with the latest scaremongering was that they are claiming the NHS will need some extreme preparation (ie money presumably) for its protection. Considering that it can barely be described as functioning right now, I can’t see what new measures will be needed.
It’s Ferguson’s modelling, risen from the depths of bollox.
What do you make of this? Banksy on masks:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CCn800cFIbe/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=embed_video_watch_again
already mentioned earlier ….. “i get locked down but i get up again….”
also as earlier – great tune !
I’ve never really “got” Banksy. My brain’s wiring has had a “Banksy Bypass”. I get the feeling I have not missed much.
I feel like he did his thing *just at the right time, so became famous basically because of good fortune. There were loads of similar street artists doing it at the time he got big but none of them ‘broke’ in the same way. I like the *idea of what he does but that quickly went out the window once he got famous. I mean now for e.g. all he seems to do is cape for the establishment view- because the ‘left-wing’ has become the establishment, the irony being he’s become what he was trying to satirise
Ooooh someone deleted my rant
I *think* Banksy is an entitled prick
There you can’t get sued
Who deleted it? Mods?
My comment has also gone, where I said you know who he really is then..
Edit: I think our posts re that artist (!) are still there, further down..
Agh shit I prob posted it on the wrong thing lol
Oh well it can stay there, forever to confuse people
Regarding the masks/coverings, isn’t it blatantly obvious to everyone that they’re doing it just to show they’re doing…well…something?
Indeed, they are in a mad scramble to claim credit for nature’s work…
Basically.
As per usual they’re doing precisely the WRONG thing at the WRONG time in order to keep up with the joneses / save face. Because apparently the whole world is blind when it comes to science, biology, and risk.
(I say the wrong thing as opposed to just a symbolic, mainly harmless gesture because mask wearing is NOT harmless. It is physically and potentially psychologically harmful – so once agian, they harm the majority of healthy people in order to ‘save’ a tiny minority of ‘vulnerable’ people. The genuinely vulnerable should be shielding THEMSELVES or they should be in an already shielded environment i.e. a care home or a hospital).
Has anyone spotted what professors Gupta, Geisecke, Levitt etc have to say about face nappies. According to my understanding of their understanding of covid which has been proven correct, across the board, especially in relation to countries/ regions that locked down too early, trying to limit transmission to the healthy compromises our chances of achieving herd immunity and makes a second wave in the autumn (admittedly of an even more benign disease than covid has already become) more likely.
I’m moving towards the idea that none of these measures do very much, anyway. It seems that scientists aren’t even sure how flu spreads – and yesterday there was that great example of twelve people isolated in the antarctic for seventeen weeks who still somehow caught a cold that infected ten of them.
Tell it like it is Will – countries that locked down early and harshly will not have a ‘second wave’, but rather they will finally have their ‘first wave’ which they foolishly quashed before it got going!
Looking at #nomasks on twitter, and the pro-mask tweets are quite scary. How about this one, which lets the cat out of the bag:
“I’m buying some masks online and I see #NoMasks is trending. C’mon, it’s just a piece of fabric it’s not an attack on your human rights. It’s like wearing a badge to prove your consideration for others, I’ve always said this virus would prove who’s who and now we’ll know for sure”
Yes indeed, it will. It will prove who is brainless, spineless, conformist, authoritative, short-sighted, performative, or self-righteous.
Or of course a particularly vile cocktail of a few or many of the above.
I find masks uncomfortable and don’t want to wear one, but what’s worse for me is knowing how utterly idiotic it is – the mass acceptance by supposedly intelligent adults of lies, distortion, hysteria and illogic.
Worth revising that ‘supposedly intelligent’ thing you’ve got going there, Julian ?
Ha ha, yes. People with average or higher than average IQs who for strange reasons don’t apply those IQs to the biggest issue (aside from personal stuff) they will ever face in their lives probably – has the virus reaction been appropriate. Apathetic, uncurious, unwilling to believe how BIG the lies have been.
“Political correctness is communist propaganda writ small. In my study of communist societies, I came to the conclusion that the purpose of communist propaganda was not to persuade or convince, not to inform, but to humiliate; and therefore, the less it corresponded to reality the better.”
Theodore Dalrymple
Interesting quote
The lack of context here is unbelievable. Just turn this debate around and ask yourself is this what these people would be saying if the debate were to require people to remove face covering? The principle Of civil liberty and self determination does in fact mean something incredibly precious regardless of the person seeking to uphold it. Is this what Boris meant by ‘take back control’.
Good point. Many of these people are the same people who went mental when France banned the burka.
Only a fool is ever certain of anything.
That’s scary. Only a small step away from “burn the witch”.
Couldn’t agree more with WishWeWere Sweden. I commented as much on a Guardian article earlier on today only to have the whole comment and backwards forwards debate moderated out.
The sad truth about this is it has created huge divide due to a lack of proper rational discourse and balanced debate for the which the BBC deserves to pay us back years of license fees in compensation.
Actually the article linked below has an even more worrying image of Boris in a face mask – IN A PUB (not a shop) – how is that meant to promote the “Eat out to help out” mantra currently part of the government message.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jul/14/boris-johnson-face-coverings-mask-gove-cummings
I’m in Sweden and been feeling relatively laid back about the (low?) chances of masks being imposed here – until just now when I caught a Lidl advert (yes, Lidl !) on TV with a man sunbathing in a mask… Getting slightly worried now..
Lidl over here is the bastion of normality. Even all the self service checkouts are open vs Waitrose sectioning off 3 tills in between. If that happens we are all screwed.
So I had read – that is why it worried me.. I shall be watching TV ads here carefully now!
Hope that’s not a sign of things to come as had been wondering if Sweden accepted British immigrants.
Suspect it’s a Europe-wide LIDL commercial.
You can still move here before 31st December under Freedom of movement – but you’d need a job.
Thanks. What if I have a job here, that I can do remotely? How are they on holiday homes? You could start a sideline as a guide for distressed lockdown sceptics looking for a new home.
You have to sort the tax issue somehow, but so long as you can prove you can support yourself then it should not be a problem. You will need to have comprehensive health insurance while you are waiting to be added to the population register, which can take some time.
Julian, you could start by looking here: https://www.migrationsverket.se/English/About-the-Migration-Agency/Brexit.html
If you are on Facebook there is a group called ‘Brits in Sweden’ where the people are a mine of information! It’s a private group but there have been a fair few people recently joining who do not yet live here but are planning to move..
Thanks. That could be the thing that finally gets me on to Facebook…
Aimed at Majorca?
Maybe suggesting people avoid Majorca??
Ok guys, just looked at today’s virus stats from here in Sweden – first update since Friday, since they release the figures on Tuesdays and Fridays now.
Number of people in hospital with Covid-19: 469, which is *down* by 75
Of those 469, the number in intensive care is 91, which is *down* by 8
Of Sweden’s 21 regions, ten have fewer than 10 patients in hospital with the virus.
On Friday it was 11 regions with fewer than 10 hospitalised patients, but one region has had 5 new admissions, taking it back up above 10. This is the region of Skåne, which is where Sweden’s 3rd largest town, Malmö, is situated. It’s a region with a high number of immigrants, which might explain the little spike…?
I should add that five regions have 5 or fewer hospitalised patients with CV19..
Hi Carrie, something was posted a while back about excess deaths in Sweden being lower than Denmark and Finland even though their Covid deaths are, supposedly lower. Do you know from whence this came?
No, hadn’t read that myself, but I will look around… might be on Hector Drummond’s website???
I do know deaths are now under the ‘normal’ levels..
Was it this?
A ‘Nordic’ comparison: Sweden has lower overall mortality than Finland – and Scotland!
Might have been this…. ?
http://inproportion2.talkigy.com/nordic_comparison_4jul.html
Obviously 4-3-1-2, as exemplified by the greatest team ever.
I too am gobsmacked by how little research/investigation/study/questioning most people have down over the past five months.
Hancock promotes disability discrimination
Hancock has told shops to refuse entry to people not wearing masks. So some have already today, and refused entry to a friend of mine who was shopping for himself and for a 90 year old lady. He has a medical condition and is advised not to wear a mask. Hancock, I hold you responsible for whipping up the mob to do this to people.
So, a disabled man and a 90 year old lady were going without food this evening. I’m now looking on my freezer and pantry to sort something out.
Which shop refused him entry, Franki ?
It was a local supermarket (not a main chain) in west Midlands. I understand they said as private premesis they can admit or refuse who they like. I have advised my friend to quote the disability discrimination. Act to them if this happens again, which still applies.
Hancock needs a change of job, he’s become obsessive and paranoid
He is doing Bill Gates’ bidding..
Just a bully who believes in collective punishment (illegal under international law).
He actually looks like a petulant child, bet he was tell tale
Dead Ringers – Radio 4 – called him ‘the kid that always stares at you on the bus’!
He’s auditioning for the role of Herr Flick of the Gestapo in the remake of ‘Allo! ‘Allo!
Hancock is a very bad egg
Bad eggs are nowhere near as
fowlfoul.Someone tell that story to the press…
Even better, tell it to a solicitor.
The press are corrupt and won’t be interested in that narrative.
Try UK Column – https://www.ukcolumn.org/
That is truly awful.
Latest bollox from Wankock:
English mask plan will help tackle high Covid death rate for shop staff – Matt Hancock
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/14/english-mask-plan-will-help-tackle-high-covid-death-rate-for-shop-staff-matt-hancock
Hancock said the death rate of sales assistants and cashiers is 75% higher among men and 60% higher among women than in the general population.
However, here’s another MP to add to our list of mask rebels:
The Conservative MP Sir Desmond Swayne said he feared having to wear masks would reduce confidence among shoppers and called the measure a “monstrous imposition”. “Nothing would make it less likely for me to go shopping than the thought of having to wear a mask,” he told the Commons.
Prof Stephen Reicher at the University of St Andrews said:
“I don’t think fines are necessary. You don’t start off by being punitive, you don’t start off by attacking people, you start off by trying to understand and seeing how you can help them. If people can’t wear masks they can’t wear masks ….”
But…. isn’t that a lie? The 75% thing?
Yes, it absolutely is – and yet he had no qualms about lying IN PARLIAMENT!
That’s an out and out blatant lie how can he get away with that!
It’s at least his 2nd lie on the floor of the House during this ‘pandemic’ – right at the start in a reply to another MP’s question he said they had no plans to change the abortion law, and then they did just that straight afterwards – no Parliamentary debate…
How do we complain to the standards in Parliament committee, or whatever it is called?
Churchill said that prospective parliamentary candidates are “asked to stand, hope to sit – and are expected to lie”. As ever (almost) he was right!
In fairness, I always thought that was something especially invented for Amber Rudd.
It’s like one of those logic tricks, one of these statements is false:
“It is not permitted to lie in Parliament.”
“Everything said in parliament is true.”
He is past caring what he says now, he’s trying to justify his part in this and puffing himself up, Boris is due a shuffle, hopefully he’ll shuffle him off
It’s a whopper!
Just another thought – Hancock says he want s to protect shop workers, but they are exempt from wearing the masks. This illogical because the whole point (they say..) is that everyone is supposed to be wearing a mask for *everyone else’s* sake.
So that means WE are wearing masks for shop workers’ sakes, but the shop workers do not care about us, because they are not going to be wearing them???
Careful! You might put ideas into the wrong heads!
They also don’t care about one another. So we have to wear the masks to protect them, but they’re more likely to infect one another (being that they work together all day) but… they don’t have to wear them? Why ?
Union ‘safety at work’ pressure being brought to bear? More likelihood of court cases if people are wearing them for longer? In hospitals they can always find some other spurious medical reason behind any negative symptoms/illness in staff arising from mask-wearing, but harder to invent other reasons in shops?
where are you I will come to your shop
I work for a major supermarket. This morning, after hearing the news, we were told that employees would not be expected to wear a mask but customers would, but to wait for further advice. However, later on in the afternoon we were advised that employees ‘are under no circumstances to enforce this and put themselves at risk’. There will be an official message from the head office soon, however it is encouraging that enforcement may not be occurring. I don’t see how it is possible to enforce it, supermarket workers are advised to avoid confronting shoplifters, and so I think that forcing us to confront everyone without a mask simply won’t happen. Certainly, some of my colleagues and I have already made clear we won’t be wearing masks.
Posted this on FB this morning.
Okay, just back from East Dulwich Sainsbury’s for probably the last time until this madness ends.
First, the good point. There was no queue and no social distancing. Previously, I’d had to queue right around the car park for about 20 minutes before being allowed entry.
Unfortunately, there was no queue because there were even fewer customers than previously. The staff were nearly all unmasked, but there was a much higher proportion of customers wearing them.
To add to the jarring effect, I had forgotten to change my glasses so was wearing my prescription sunglasses. I don’t think I looked cool, so much as standoffish. Which put me in good company.
Perhaps the masked customers had heard this morning’s BBC News alerting them to a “possible” 120,000 more Covid deaths over the winter. The atmosphere definitely seemed more anxious than on my previous three visits over lockdown.
If the purpose of introducing this measure is to instill confidence in the public, it seems doomed to failure. For me, the experience was unsettling and sad. I had a chat with a checkout assistant as I loaded up on booze. “Better enjoy face-to-face conversations while we still can,” I quipped. She responded with a half-smile.
Anyway, that’s another £100 or so in Sainsbury’s coffers. But as I say, I won’t be returning. I feel desperately sorry for the staff, who will almost certainly be laid off in great number, but I left the supermarket feeling utterly disheartened.
I’ve done everything I can to maintain good physical and mental health since March. Yesterday I got my haircut after 20 weeks, and this morning I managed my first trip to a large supermarket without an interminable queue. Now is just the time I’d hope to be looking to treat myself with some of the money I’ve been earning while stuck at home.
But I won’t be. Well done, Boris.
I have been reading posts for a couple of months, but not actually commented yet. The last few days have made me so cross/disappointed/dismayed that I feel the need to comment, even though I don’t have anything to add except “what is going on”?!!
I’m very anxious about the mask wearing. I will avoid shops where possible, but I’m seriously worried about mission creep. When will it all stop and where will it end?
First post. This from the article in DM about Conservative party members cutting up their membership cards. Am I reading it right 9 months more of this stupidity, and not to normal but “near-normal”.
Mr Johnson is planning to set out a new ‘road map’ this week setting out a nine-month timetable for easing social distancing measures in the hope of giving people the confidence to return to near-normal life.
Oh yes, nearly forgot. My local council have put up some new ‘distancing’ posters, featuring 2m, a man, and a woman. They’re made from a thin rigid plastic.
If one is coming to the end of one’s cigarette, one can burn a hole at the point of the man’s groin area, and leave the butt embedded in the melted plastic.
One does what one can …
Is that what one terms a smoking gun?
I don’t smoke …
But it would be worth buying a pack …..
Don’t just stand there, man, improvise!!
Anyone know what the Lib Dems position on the virus / masks etc is? Genuine question as I’ve not heard a peep
https://www.libdems.org.uk/public-inquiry
Here you go.
They belong in the “should have locked down sooner, harder” camp.
Of course they do. They also believe men can menstruate, because they’re idiots.
Cheers. I’m starting to think maybe, just maybe, I am the crank. Not everyone else.
Surely you mean “individual”?
We’ve got a Lib Dem MP and she is definitely in the lockdown harder and faster camp! Absolutely in love with masks too.
How in hell can you call yourself a liberal and approve of a lockdown? Or a democrat and fail to incite the population to rebel against laws pased by ministrial decree?
…And there was a time I used to vote for them, even considered joining. Not now.
i think they’re claiming the virus to be a virus of colour with a non binary gender and have approached it to be their leader.
Hello fellow sceptics. I’ve been lurking here since May but figured it’s time to participate, particularly since things here in Canada have become even worse. In early May I escaped to our country home from Toronto as I couldn’t stand the dystopian landscape of my beloved city. Constant messages about staying inside, keeping “safe” and seeing the early mask adopters in streets and shops. Up here everything was so normal! A few weeks ago Toronto made indoor masking mandatory and I spent the day in tears. But at least I still had my country home where everything was normal…until it wasn’t. Just got word that our county, with a whopping ONE case of Covid, is now mandating masks in exactly the same way. So I feel for all of you in England, where I thought that at least you weren’t going to be forced to mask up. I had an idea a few months ago about making “protest” masks. I didn’t do anything about it because they weren’t mandatory, but now that they are I’m going to create my own for the odd occasion when I must go into a shop. Happy to share the slogans I’ve come up with for anyone else who wants to use permanent marker to make a statement on their mask. When I saw that others on the site were talking about doing the same, I figured it was time to “come out” and share. One I may have even seen from someone here or elsewhere, but here’s my list:
Seen But Not Herd
Mass(ked) Hysteria
Anti-socially Distanced
Silence of the Lambs
“New”/NOT Normal (with “New” crossed out and NOT above)
Herd Immunity/Mentality (same idea — cross through Immunity and Mentality written above)
Covid-1984
I’ve also ordered subversive masks, which someone else mentioned. By subversive I mean face coverings that won’t do shit but won’t get me ticketed. A friend mentioned silk as something one can breathe through, so I ordered a silk scarf that I’d use as a balaclava. I also ordered a set of Softan Sun UV Protection neck gaiter balaclavas — also silk with a bit of spandex that wick moisture away and keep one cool. Meant for outdoor use to protect from sun, sand, etc. but allowing for breathing. I hope one of these solutions work in the event I need to wear a face covering for longer than 5 or 10 minutes. Otherwise I’ll wear a protest mask.
So grateful for this site as it’s been very normalizing for me. Like with many of you, I’m flummoxed by the number of people who are seemingly OK with our rights being trampled with no way out in sight.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COWcvpXT5kI&list=WL&index=3
8:20 Shit is getting scary in America. They are sending ‘Covid teams’ to people’s houses, 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. One person from each household is to be ‘questioned’ about their health and tested via blood sample for antibodies and via swab for current infection. This is how they’re inflating the case numbers over there. Not too different from over here – but here everyone is (stupidly) voluntarily going to those test centres.
On the plus side, Pam Popper is s star. She seems to be coordinating a mass legal response on a state specific basis.
Do you know if they are doing those swabs that pierce the brain?
The swabs don’t pierce the brain, they go in along the nose and in to the back of the throat just above the tonsils (the tubes inside don’t point where you’d expect from the directions of the orifices). Apparently not painful, though reported as a most bizarre feeling. No risk of damaging the brain, there is bone between the nasal/throat cavities and the brain, the only risk you take in getting tested is that if you turn out positive you fuel the panic.
You what? They’re doing the swabs that they stick right up your nose, yeah, presumably
There is no doubt that the original sin of HMG’s handling of Covid-19 was the propaganda which first so terrified the public that many cannot now be restored to reason, and secondly made them so suggestible that they continue to participate willingly in the effort to destroy their freedoms. Victims of propaganda have actually been de-personed, literally. They have been severed from their automony and reason, and have been rendered incapable of proportionate emotional responses to threats.
I wonder how Boris and his ‘top-team’, who were party to these efforts, now feel about those they have so diminished? C.S. Lewis wrote about how the ‘conditioners’ might feel about those they have conditioned. “I am inclined to think that the Conditioners will hate the conditioned” (The Abolition of Man).
It is very hard, in contemplation of this, to believe that their rule over us is benevolent. If any one still has doubts about the psychological capabilities of the Cabinet, take a look at the following. The first piece is about how public reactions have been managed after terrorist incidents. I link to it only because it lays out what can and has been done already, not to get into debates about terrorism.The second is about the propaganda effort relating to Covid-19.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/mind-control-secret-british-government-blueprints-shaping-post-terror-planning
https://evidencenotfear.com/how-sage-and-uk-media-created-fear-in-the-british-public/
Clearly a terrible injury has been done to the national psyche. Instead of further exploiting this state of affairs to cover its collective back, the government or members of it could offer some transparency, which might help to restore the public to their right mind.
“I wonder how Boris and his ‘top-team’, who were party to these efforts, now feel about those they have so diminished?”
No evidence that any of them have much, if any, conscience about what they have done.
I think a few are enjoying the power a bit too much. Some are not up to thinking it through in a rational and intellectual manner. The rest are absent in action, happy to take the shilling without making any decisions or putting their necks on the line. Meanwhile we are, and will all suffer, until it goes past the point of no return – around October – when we go over the edge economically. I’m not sure how it will pan out, but it won’t be pretty.
The virus hasn’t bothered me TT, but what might happen after October most definitely terrifies me!
Agree. I think we are being softened up for another lockdown that has nothing to do with a second wave and everything to do with the likely backlash from the state of the economy after the summer. They are shockingly incompetent, arrogant and evil.
All I can say is that I’m not going back into lockdown. They got their three weeks’ of grace, which was three weeks more than I ought to have given. Never again.
No – never again.
Never again
Or they will release another virus – already rumours of it..
“I think a few are enjoying the power a bit too much.” You can reduce a personality to rubble using brainwashing or torture. What you can’t do then is respect the victim. Why would a man like Boris, schooled on the noble vision of Greece and Rome and by instinct a libertarian, enjoy ruling over people he had reduced to automata through propaganda?
Seems to me they have also frightened themselves, except it’s us they’re afraid of.
Their actions do not suggest they are afraid of us at the moment. I think that will change come the autumn. I hear what you say about Boris, but is that the ‘old’ or the ‘new’ model?
Boris isn’t a libertarian and doesn’t rememebr anything he may have been taught, he has one instinct and that is to flow into the shape of whatever contorted vessel can best get him a little bit of extra popularity.
I should think their consciences gnaw at them day and night. Their desperation to get off the hook shows it.
Some pretty thick skins and lack of social awareness – Cummings, Hancock, Williamson – to name but three?
I’m wondering why it hasn’t worked on some of us? When the scare stories began in January, I was more inclined to laugh at the BS. And as they turned the ratchet, I was telling all and sundry it was BS and they shouldn’t listen to it.
What’s the difference? It can’t just be the way we think, plenty of deeply sceptical people have fallen for this one. Is it fear? So many courageous folk I know have still fallen for it. Is it reasoning or a difference in how we reason? Or is it just that we’re the Awkward Squad?
Beats me. I’m a hypochondriac and petrified of/somewhat obsessed with dying, but reasonably early on (but maybe not at the start) I started to smell a rat.
Me too. What the MSM were saying didn’t match with what I was seeing. My suspicions grew most when I realised nobody was interested in the real world data, such as aboard Diamond Princess, which was quarantined in Yokohama Harbour. One giant petri-dish with enough people aboard (1,711) to give a sample to die for.
Yet everybody ignored the ship, it even has its own entry in Worldometers’ Coronavirus page. And now, months down the line, we’re seeing real world data almost perfectly matching what happened aboard Diamond Princess.
Even now, people sneer at me when I bring it up. (On other sites that is!)
Yes, you’ve made me think of something else – the lack of debate. In fact, the actual shutting down of any sort of dissent and the complete demonisation of any alternative viewpoints (at a time when surely robust scientific debate was needed more than ever) just stuck out to me like a sore thumb, as something really, really weird.
If you had been very close to the Climate Change debate (as my husband was) you would not have been surprised by this at all, nor indeed the manner in which the narrative has evolved by shutting down all skeptical views (Gupta, Heneghan). As with Climate Change, you have to follow the money, not ‘the science’.
That started Day One. Problem is, I remember the “New Ice Age Is Coming” panic of the 1970’s. Had once, don’t like to be had twice.
Absolutely. When you look back at the history of CO2 and temperatures beyond the last 150 years (no surprise they don’t go back beyond that!) and you see that we’ve had ice ages with CO2 levels around 1500 ppm and then 450 to 600 million years ago when CO2 levels were around 4000ppm, then you realise what an epic lot of bull$hit it all is. USA was a lot warmer in the 1930’s than it is now for starters.
Quite, the ‘dust bowl era’!
Almost hysterical, even in January.
The Diamond Princess is what convinced me the virus wasn’t that big a deal. I’ve been a sceptic ever since.
Things seemed off for me around the middle of April – whilst having a cuppa, I noticed that I could hear more traffic on the road than usual and I thought ‘that’s bad’, no ‘that’s good’…….repeat, repeat and then I sort of woke up. I knew something was very wrong, the penny dropped as it were and I haven’t looked back since.
I’ve had anxiety issues for years, but for some reason this one didn’t really get to me either. It’s odd. Fear of the new normal is definitely something I’m struggling with though!
I think your anxiety didn’t kick in for this virus because it feels wrong. If half the people were dying in your street you’d be anxious, i would be too but since virtually no one has had it, virtually no one knows anyone who has had it and those they claim have died of it are almost all very old and near death anyway with most of them being diagnosed by eye sight alone. You’re right to fear the new normal because it’s not normal it’s a prison sentence.
You’re right, things definitely didn’t ring true for me right from the start. I also know from past experience that my anxiety issues could destroy my life and happiness way better than this virus ever could…
Funnily enough though, a friend’s husband caught it right at the beginning of lockdown and was in hospital and on a ventilator for weeks! He survived, but is struggling to recover fully. Most likely because he was sedated and on a ventilator for so long admittedly. Because it was so early on, they were still sticking everyone on a ventilator so I think he was mostly just unlucky.
I bet what they did to him in the piss poor NHS is the reason he’s struggling to recover fully or it could just be a nasty virus takes ages to go away. I had Glandular Fever when i was 19 and was ill with a fever for six weeks and took a further four months to get back to my full fitness so it’s not uncommon to be ill for six months with a bad virus.
I’ve heard that the suffering involved in being brought off invasive ventilation and rehabilitated back to (proper) life is particularly horrific, waking while delirious with a tube rammed down a dry throat and being pumped like bellows while paralysing drugs wear off… Then weeks of struggle to regain basic abilities to move muscles and eventually walk… Much more terrifying to me that just letting everything end. If I’m struggling to breathe with suspected covid, which given that the virus has largely wiped itself out regardless of human actions I thankfully doubt I ever can be, I won’t be ringing an ambulance. I’ll let it take me, that way they don’t get a covid death count to add to a tally and use it to provoke a lockdown.
I agree. Also initially I felt I might be at risk (old underlying health condition) so as is in my nature I wanted to find out for myself whether I needed to panic or not. Turns out I didn’t. If I am going to panic, I want it to be for good reasons.
At first I thought ‘Nah, it’s just like SARS, MERS, Swine flu, bird flu – nothing to worry about’, then for a while I saw and heard stuff which made me worry that just maybe, this time, there *was* something to worry about. But after a few more weeks I realised that there was more going on and everything began to feel more suspect. Once I found the swprs site I knew things had been vastly exaggerated.
However, the real agenda *does* scare me…
The only saving grace is those behind the real agenda will likely as not fuck it up anyway. They couldn’t run a bath.
Common sense.
Someone said to me re: the ‘Covidiots’ on the beaches – “Look at these arseholes, they just don’t care, they’re shameless, they don’t give a shit, they’re not afraid of anything”
And I was like “Why aren’t they afraid though? Ask yourself?”
And he said “Because they’re idiots who don’t care about anything but themselves.”
(He knows my views) Me: “Am I an idiot who doesn’t care then?”
Him: “No, no. But those people haven’t done the research etc. like you have. They haven’t thought about like you do.”
Me: “How do you know? And even if they haven’t, do you not think people have the common sense and general nous to recognise true danger?”
ATEOTD most people KNOW this is a nothingburger, and that is reflected in their general behaviour. The limits on their behaviour that they’ve made have been sensible and personally assessed (voluntarily, this is their genuine own risk assessment), or IMPOSED, and wholly UNNECESSARY – and they know this. That’s why they’ll get out on the beaches as soon as they can and not give a fuck, because they genuinely know the risk is minimal.
It’s the same for everyone – even the zealots. The zealots just ignore it and project performative disapproval etc. on everyone else because they want to be superior and virtuous. Some people are genuinely scared, but honestly I think they’re few and far between. Most people who are scared are performatively scared. – The classic is the person who was also on the beach with their kids on saturday but refuses to go back to work because it’s DANGEROUS!
George W Bush once said something like “There’s a Texan saying, feel me once, fool me, never fool on you again.” Or somethng.
Anyway, when was the last time you took anything the government and/or media claimed seriously? I know I don’t, so was pretty much inoculated from the start.
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proofs. The government requires a lot more than that.
A mixture of all this. How you were brought up, your own (inquisitive) mind, your life experiences (have you faced death, redundancy etc). I have always been described as ‘difficult’ by those in authority – even as a 7 year old. The pen-name was one of several given by work colleagues!
I’m not good with rules. So have had clashes with those who believed they had authority over me. Always happy to disabuse them of that notion.
Me too. I simply hate being told what to do, especially if it’s for my own good. I automatically question it. I also tend to agree with the comments here that say something just didn’t seem right about it all and still doesn’t.
I’ve always assumed we’ve the right to fuck ourselves up if we like. I ride bikes on the road, race them in the dirt, smoke and stay up late at night, none of which can be described as good for your health. I’ve drank more than i should have over the years, taken every drug known to man (not any more i might add), had libidinous affairs with several less than respectable woman and in general not given one single fuck about my life. To me it’s all the same, any day to die is good enough for me. I’ve enjoyed the shit out everything and i suggest everyone should do the same because this dream we call living only lasts one summer and there ain’t no way i’m living like it’s winter.
It`s not a dress rehearsal. Live it.
Pig-headed is how I was described!
me too – always had an issue with ‘authority’ though to be honest i’m a very law abiding individual – but i detest some little prick telling me what to do and setting useless and illogical rules!!
My mother used to constantly say that I was pig headed and constantly asked “why?” when she told me not to do something. I was also labelled “difficult” at school and an “atheist” because I always questioned what we’re being taught in religious education classes.
You ever smoked a joint, pulled a wheely on a bike, started a fire, questioned religion, taken a tape recorder to pieces and put it back together again, secretly drank your parents booze? Not courage, just curiosity. Inquisitive minds, always wanting to understand why. Some of us simply don’t accept what we are told and are wary of any kind of authority. Others like to be told how things are and what to do.
I’m just awkward and don’t trust anyone least of all politicians. Admittedly in the beginning with the stories of italy, and i work with an italian company in lombardy region which was hardest hit, and heard some awful stories it did make me concerned.
But as the weeks went by and the daily shit storm by doctor death and the imbecile government spokespeople, (esp that Handjob who is just ridiculous) just did not sound credible and i sniffed something rotten beginning to happen. They are playing a game and covering their imcompetency.
I often wondered what it would have been like for the jewish community in germany in the 1930s with the nazi party bringing by stealth one restriction after another (not being able to work, wearing the yellow star etc). They probably thought it was temporary thinking it will be overturned in a few months.
Well I think we are getting the same kind of treatment and I fear we are in for the long haul on this with vaccinations, some kind of immunity passports etc and the constant erosion of our basic freedoms and rights – hope i’ll be able to stay sane.
I think it is animal instinct. Some of us have brains where ultimately the instinctive subconscious is in control. That part of the brain has been exploited.
It’s not that we are superior, just that we think differently.
I asked this in all seriousness a month or so back. Are our brains weird?
Seriously, I’d like to know. Wonder if any psychologists have studied contrarianism. Not that this is pure contrarianism of course but it’s definitely related. The initial ‘laughing at the BS’ is a contrarian impulse that we all seem to share. – Which then develops into genuine questioning and examination. But you don’t get the intellectual engagement without that initial reactionary kickback. It’s like a mind rebellion of sorts.
I know you’ve all got it, you must. It’s nice to just be in daily contact with similar people, to be honest, after spending most of my life not encountering many of us in person (we’re ‘that person’, that disagreeable ingrate, who always ends up arguing or disagreeing with other people because ‘the way of doing things’ makes us nauseous). Something good that’s come out of this.
Don’t worry as soon as Grinch Hancock cancels Christmas the populace will wake up.. (hopefully?) How strange to announce ‘ Let the wear masks’ on Bastille Day.
Yes, as a French graduate I noticed the date..!
Re Christmas – will they actually dare ruin Christmas, to make us (as Gates says) take it seriously? Or will the virus mysteriously disappear for a week or so
?
Oddball, outcast and questioning contrarian from birth. My older sisters (they were teenagers) use to say, “were you a philosopher in a past life?” when I was little and pestering them with questions….. Indeed, that may be the unifying quality here. The ones outside of the group think who are’t content with fob-offs to our questions.
Hi TyLean, all the best with your gathering. Too far for me, though.
hi tylean – i see Bugle’s note below – where/when are you thinking of meeting? Do we have to email you? cheers
Face masks ‘will deter young shoppers’ says JD Sports chairman
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/jul/14/face-masks-will-deter-young-shoppers-says-jd-sports-chairman
Peter Cowgill, executive chair of the FTSE 100 company JD Sports, said the government’s rule that face coverings should be worn in shops from 24 July would probably prove a “turn off” for its teenagers and twentysomethings buyers.
Cowgill said …. “I think masks will be a further deterrent for indoor shopping centres. Maybe it will be a positive for older customers, but I think it will be a deterrent for younger ones.”
The businessman said the timing of the move was also a surprise, coming into effect at the “back end rather than the front end” of the pandemic.
…. Sofie Willmott, a retail analyst at GlobalData, said many consumers would see the requirement to wear face masks as another reason not to go shopping, heaping more pressure on struggling retail chains.
.... The environment secretary, George Eustice, said retailers would have a role to play in getting shoppers to wear masks, in the same way they were managing social distancing in their stores. “Staff have been quite assertive in telling customers to wait outside or to keep their distance within store. I’m sure that they will be telling people they should wear a mask. If it comes to that final sanction of issuing a penalty that is something only the police can do.”
We definitely have to avoid the shops – tbh I think most people will, even unconsciously, because they just can’t be arsed with the hassle of it all.
The more they see it isn’t working and footfall is stil pitiful, the more big retailers will kick off, and whoop no more masks. I don’t think they would dare do it to the leisure sector because they KNOW people will not go to the cinema/theatre etc. if they’re forced to wear a mask, when they could sit at home on their own comfy sofa instead.
Of course shops should be feeling penalised because only they have been singled out. It’s supposed to ‘help’ them regain customers but apparently they can all see it won’t.
Maybe they’re using the shops as a test case because people ‘have’ to shop, whereas nobody ‘has’ to go to the pub or whatever. Trouble is people don’t ‘have’ to shop for anything but food. Once again the supermarkets keep raking it in, everyone else dies. This is why I imagine the supermarkets will band together and enforce this in some fashion (they’re the only ones who can afford to also) because they know we’re a captive audience. Everyone else though, clothes shops etc. – naah.
Think you’re right about cinemas and theatres etc; wonder what the plan is re churches?
Maybe supermarkets will diversify into selling more clothes, as a sideline? Once you are there to buy food, they’ve got you in…
Exactly it’s doubling down on the old chestnut – an independent clothes shop had to close because it sold ‘non essential goods’ but the supermarkets were still out there selling clothes….
I’m just praying they won’t stand for it for long. Come on businesses, big and small! (Especially small!) STAND UP FOR YOURSELVES! People will back you.
Hopefully people will back them by going and just not wearing masks, encouraging others not to do so. But I rather think they’ll just stay at home.
And the really scary thing over here, they never even talk about going back to anything like normal. Each small step is a final. Schools ‘bubbles’, pubs and restaurants signing in, masks and visors, now face masks. No plan at all to get us back to normal. And why tf are we still at level 3?
I expect they will try to get the economy back onto some kind of track again, but will be reluctant to get back to anything close to normal because they know that the big lie will then be exposed. That’s the mortal sin – the coverup, to save face.
I don’t think there’s any real desire to restore quality of life – they are not really affected by all these bullshit rules so don’t much care about that.
No exit strategy mentioned at any stage. No mechanisms for measuring the efficacy of policy, no attempt to mitigate unforseen consquences. I rather expect much of these policies will exist in perpetuity.
Followed a link from Scottish Government twitter feed to
https://corona-scanner.com/country/united-kingdom
“15.43% of infected people died in the United Kingdom”
“0 Recoveries”
“0 Currently infected”
I only found such incredible data by relying on Scottish Government to give me Scotlands figures. Which I believe to be +3 cases and 0 deaths.
Remarkable in light of the first minister not having any minutes or record taken of the decisions taken to plunge her nation into generational depression.
Those figures are wrong, surely?
Absolutely! Massively. But if you go to Scot Gov twitter as a regular user (me) that was my take away.
+3 cases
0 deaths -now six days no death.
Pop 5.5 million
Those are apparently accurate.
No, I meant the UK ones where 15.43% of infected people died..
I have a new slogan for the government. It’s of the three word style they seem to like so much. With mandatory face naps, social distancing, and menacing PHOs this slogan captures it all. ‘No Lives Matter’
Been doing the rounds for some time: https://www.teepublic.com/en-gb/t-shirt/866343-cthulhu-2020-no-lives-matter
Let’s have a little good news to brighten an otherwise gloomy day – just been on the phone to my step-daughter to ask her how her night out at the pub was last night (in a sleepy little Shropshire town), and she said there was no one-way system, no one asking for details at the door, no social distancing – it just felt like a normal pub in pre-lockdown days. I wonder if all this hysteria is only happening in the larger towns and cities? Anyway, I’m glad she had a good time. Bodes well for her 18th birthday celebrations coming up soon…
I wish I could name the town and the pub, but I worry that the New-Puritans will swoop down upon them…
It’s okay, don’t need to know.
I visited two local pubs over the weekend both individually owned no chains, and things were normal no masks no telling me to gel or take my temperature etc everyone was normal and having a good time, the owner of the second place only concession was sauce sachets the plastic ones he apologised and said sorry its not my usual stance to be like a motorway services, I just thought little Greta must be spinning in her igloo orwherever eco pa;ace she hangs out these days. But we don’t live in “that London” so are probaly classified as Gammons and Shirleys or whatever derogatory name they have for women who don’t live in London and have organic candles in their homes
That’s great to hear! I have a hope the end is nigh (for this hysteria, not us).
Anyone want to guess when this madness will end? Surely, it has to eventually!
“When we have a vaccine”
That’s my guess.
I’ve consulted the Tarot, and it says end of Summer.
I keep think it has to end, that it’s too surreal, but it keeps going.
The winter, end of furlough, unemployment, will help, as will seeing no second wave and other countries having a better time than us.
I’d say it’s 50-50.
I wouldn’t bank on there being no second wave. One will be manufactured if necessary as it will be flu season and all flu deaths can (and will) be attributed to Covid.
Quite possible, yes
I sadly think our lives will never be the same again. I am looking at options to live off the grid as much as possible. May get a slot on ‘Lives in the Wild’ but in seriousness, that is what myself and the family want to do.
My successful travel business built up
over the last 18 years is screwed so happy to sell up and ship out.
Don’t think it can change till we see what happens over winter. If infection rate goes to near zero in Sweden then there will be a good argument that all measures are pointless.
Fingers crossed for Sweden.
Yes, fingers and toes crossed over here! Today’s stats look good..I quoted them earlier..
If it doesn’t end by the end of this year, then it will never end.
It will end the day after the US Presidential Election
I’m worried it will never end, ratchet effect and all that.
Regulations will be relaxed and ignored but will always stay on the books, as you can never be sure etc etc.
I am keen to watch how covid measures will slide to be flu measures. I think it is inevitable.
Governments don’t hand back powers after they’ve grabbed them. See the temporary laws brought in after 9/11, and then see how they were never removed, and in fact subsequent changes took more freedom away.
..when there’s a vaccine???
Where did Hancock gets these stats about shop workers being 75% more likely to die of covid!!!!!!!?? Where? Which ones? What!!?? These is being printed in serious newspapers! What is happening, where is the data! How can they just say anything they like!? They’ve been working throughout lockdown, why will masks help them now. Why are they doing this? Why all the lies? These mask won’t help, they just make you touch your face.
Well we all know that the Covid deaths are overwhelmingly over 80 year olds. Hardly the demographic stacking shelves. perhaps it’s 75% more compared to those in a similar age group, which is really twisting the data – 75% more than next to nothing is, well, next to nothing.
He needed propaganda to support this draconian measure and this was provided by some assistant. The job with the highest risk for covid mortality was a security guard. They tend to be unhealthy men often overweight, high incidence of type 2 diabetes, and in London mainly black . Many work on multiple sites including shops so I m sure Mr Hancock lumped them in to pad out the figures.
I have all but disengaged from
news and main stream media for a long time, well, from early on in 2016. I occasionally get a taste and simply cannot believe it. I cannot believe the lies. Back to books and music for me. Unfortunately I won’t be shopping with a mask on, so online I will go. I’ll keep it independent where I can. Hopefully then the retail industry will demand the government stop using them to enforce their “laws” and allow normal behaviour to resume. The push will have to come from the retail sector itself.
I suspect he or his advisers are mixing datasets. Apples/pears etc.
Shopkeepers/total casualties which include all the 70+s who don’t work
A huge deceit that will backfire once he’s rumbled
It’s most likely to be complete nonsense.
It is sort of good that he said it on the floor of Parliament; it is not only on film but recorded in Hansard. Merits an official complaint!
Nowhere have I read anything about supermarket workers being disproportionally affected. And I’ve looked. If this virus is as contagious as it’s claimed then surely they, along with other key workers would have been dropping like flies.
Our branch of Sainsbury has had the minimum protective measures in place, and the same checkout assistants have been there week after week, smiling and friendly as usual. It’s been pleasant to go there.
Not any more I’m afraid.
Exactly, and I’ve been working cheek by jowl in a hospital all these weeks and only a few have got it. Such nonsense. Not to mention the lunacy of insisting a measure is important to protect people from dying and then only enforcing it two weeks later. Say what now!?
To be enforced two days after Parliament goes on summer recess, thus avoiding all scrutiny – this is clearly deliberate timing…
The lazy sods in parliament get a holiday? After they’ve spent the last several months doing fuck all anyway? They have a job to hold government to account, if I spent all the time since March doing none of my work I’d get the sack, why do those bastards get a paid holiday?
I work for a supermarket. No one got seriously ill, a few people had mild cold like symptoms and followed the self isolation guidelines and we paid little more than lip service to the covid restrictions. Hardly anyone wore masks (and the few who did quickly gave up wearing them), no social distancing in the back areas, no perspex screens, no extra cleaning, it was weeks before we even got any hand sanitizer in the delivery vans.
I don’t mean to be critical I thank you and all for posting. But your co workers had a ‘mild cold’ in old money. Truly not trying to be wise the language is how our thoughts are changed.
Same here where I live and my daughter works in a COOP and has worked all through lockdown, as have I as a key worker and we are both still very much alive and I don’t recall having any virus in the last 6 months!!!
I’ve been in massive warehouses and supply centres since … well forever. Even when I was ‘working from home’ like a good little girl I was still on call and visiting these places at last 3-4 times a week.
NOBODY and I mean NOBODY in these places was ever even panicked. Few mask wearers (who consistently got annoyed and took them off once they realised they couldn’t communicate with anyone and therefore couldn’t do their jobs), but that’s it. No stories of infected people. No ‘cases’. Definitely no deaths.
This is THOUSANDS of people over 4 months. Granted I didn’t talk to all these people, but I’m sure someone in each of these buildings would have been gossiping readily about any infectious rumblings and I’d’ve heard about it from management.
I still don’t really know what this means – whether everyone has had it but didn’t know it, or whether hardly anyone has it and it’s really not that infectious – I keep flip flopping on this — but it DEFINITELY means it’s basically a common cold with brass balls if you’re already ill (or extremely unlucky).
This link here has deaths from covid by occupation. Be great if someone could analyse them – I can’t get 75% from these figures – in fact it looks like retail categories are about average.
https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/causesofdeath/datasets/coronaviruscovid19relateddeathsbyoccupationenglandandwales
Just one lie after another. 1,901 deaths in those under 80 with no pre-existing conditions between March and June. If the rate was 75% for shop workers then that value would be in the millions!
That isn’t what handjob is trying to say, he is saying they have a 75% greater chance of dying compared to other jobs, however given the numbers are so low statistics like this are very unreliable. Similar to the black people who have died in UK custody being 3 times as likely to die than white people, based on a sample size of 18, over 10 years.
i regularly go to my local tescos and chat to the staff occasionally and none of their checkout staff have had it. No masks or gloves just hand sanitiser and staff are going about their job as normal with no social distancing etc. If the supermarket staff were falling like flies we’d have known about it and the staff would be more cautious.
Obviously this is just one instance and not all stores but i reckon it’s all bullshit what the government are spouting!
Nope, you’re right its been the same here at my local Morrisons
78% of statistics are made up on the spot.
(I just made that up).
Who said covid killed culture?Remember when comedy used to be cutting edge. This isn’t that. I hope this worth posting, it gives an idea about how the management of society is enacted. From Edinburgh live local news:
Janey Godley latest hilarious Sturgeon spoof takes aim at facemask avoiders
Janey Godley has been providing the country with some much-needed
Janey Godley does hilarious Nicola Sturgeon Bammy B******s face mask spoof
“Right just to gie’s ye’s aw a heads up about what’s happenin – the face coverings are now mandatory.
“Noo that disnae mean that you aw stand in the shops wae yer phones oot hoping tae catch some bammy b*****t no wearin a mask, so ye kin huv a fight and upload it tae the internet
“Wur just askin ye tae wear a face mask as it’s dead important and it’s now the law.
“But ah don’t want this tae descend intae f****n chaos wae folk fightin o’er the chickpea cans about who did and who didnae wear a mask and who’s a Karen and who isnae.
Ah canny be dealin wae it, av goat enough oan ma plate, we’re aboot tae go intae phase three.”
https://www.edinburghlive.co.uk/best-in-edinburgh/bammy-bds-janey-godleys-latest-18579973
I expect cutting edge English comedy is being written tonight.
Big thread with 16 diagrams to investigate the “dry tinder” hypothesis (mild preceding seasons affecting future mortality)
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1283085450010402827.html
Not sure if you need a Twitter account to read it.
That is a very interesting theory!
The masks are a test. Wear one you’re theirs, don’t wear one you’ll be identified on CCTV and put on a list. I reckon it won’t take long before they know everyone who isn’t wearing a mask then you’ll get a special visit from the state where you’ll be detained as a threat to national security. Off course you’ll be offered the chance of a 30 day course where upon you’ll leave with a mask glued to your face and a ankle bracelet. You will be charged for your accommodation and lessons. You’ll also be banned from leaving your town, visiting anyone and leaving the country. Britain is finished, the fucks in Parliament have been bought out with sex, money and kids. We’ll never be free.
Speak for yourself, biker. I am free. This government may think they can twist my arm, but they can’t. I won’t allow it.
You’re free? lol, are you fuck pal. You’re a good little boy who wears his mask and comes here and pretends otherwise.
Already on the list for daring to ask for improvements not change, that really riled them.
I would rather spend my time with like folk in a sobibor hut than put up with the alternative of acting to be afraid in a giant game of let’s pretend for the rest of time.
Diversity is each of us doing our own right thing. I won’t do somebody else’s right thing.
Since I cannot find the clip/quote this isn’t exact but I saw the police saying that they cannot hope to enforce mask wearing in shops and that it is up to shop keepers to impose conditions of entry.
Isn’t that discrimination based on a medical disability/condition? I’d wager the same goes for airlines etc? Surely this isn’t legal, it’s bad enough they are just going to rely on others to tut and snitch people into compliance but for the deaf, asthmatic, heart diseased etc how can this be justified, is it legal and where can I find a solicitor to print me the wording as such if so?
Conditions of entry would be illegal, surely. And it wouldn’t be the government who are breaking the law – it would be the business.
Boris and co are despicable, they really are. If any shop hopes to enforce this rule they will have to rely on conditions of entry to do so. If they start stopping people from entering, they risk falling foul legally.
Once again, the government escapes responsibility for its own policy by putting it upon businesses.
No the deaf, astmatic, heart diseased and other people with non suitable mask wearing afflictions will be pulled out of their homes by the mob and stuck in ghettos and the virtuous can then go about their business being pious and patronising to all the little ethnics and disadvantaged by making blogs and videos and little hashtags telling them how they share their suffering, meanwhile the filthy ingrated who have medical illnesses must be winnowed out, its for the good health of society don’t you know
See the comment in this thread about an elderly couple who were refused entry despite medical condition – the person here who posted about it had to help provide them food or they would have gone hungry this evening
This can’t be legal, anyone know a solicitor friend?
Robin Tilbrook’s details usually appear at the bottom of Toby’s post..
If there is a big enough kick back against muzzling, Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson will cave, it’s what he does best.
Let’s imagine just for a moment that the wearing of face masks is as effective as its advocates claim. Then obviously we should have laws and penalties against every action with a comparable level of risk.
I demand hygiene monitors inside public toilets. It is quite intolerable that some people don’t wash their hands. Anyone with a cold or flu (to be tested regularly in case asymptomatic) must be banned from serving members of the public. All pin pads, door handles, handrails must be washed after each touch, under penalty of a fine.
The only people left employed will be the civil servants who devise the rules.
We now know that jogging is a very unhealthy activity spreading viruses far and wide…so all public jogging will have to be banned. Sorry Boris.
I was wondering if the nature of the “mask” has been mandated as yet?
I am currently doing an audit of the items I regularly buy from supermarkets and then I will seek out alternatives. I am fortunate in that I already get meat from my brother in law, who is a butcher, and a shop nearby his is doing boxes of groceries (fruit and veg).
But that still leaves bread and milk and toiletries. Even if I manage to find alternatives, I imagine that I may want something from a shop at some point. And I don’t know if I can avoid the post office either – though I will if I can.
One of the most disturbing aspect of this is the hideous conformist nature of these muzzles – whether it’s those revolting thick white plastic ones, black jockstraps or sky blue surgeons masks.
Does anyone know if I might be able to get away with tying my scarf around my head to cover my mouth in the event that I cannot avoid a shop?
I think it would be individual enough to signal a degree of nonconformity, but might equally be enough to confuse the mask fascists.
you can buy a hijab on Amazon that would be quite amazing, wear a bike helmet you cannot get more coverage than that, A gimp mask would make quite a statement, oh the fun we can have
I don’t want to go to any trouble. I’m very fond of my scarf, though it’s usually only worn in winter.
That ‘any old face covering’ is acceptable just shows this has NOTHING to do with reducing infections and EVERYTHING to do with *control*…
Balaclava would be good. Then they wouldn’t know if you’re a customer or about to hold the place up!
i like the sound of balaclava – will have to go and find one. Ski helmet, goggles, balaclava, snorkel just to be completely OTT – would turn a few heads no doubt!!
You may jest – have seen pics on the net of people in supermarkets wearing diving masks and snorkels..
Wear a balaclava and carry a large banana under your jacket with the pointed end facing outwards, That should cause a few escapes of urine among the masked throng.
This is my plan. I now have two. One with a nice skeleton, for public places where children and dismayed mothers are likely to be. One traditional bank robber’s knitted affair with two eye holes and a very fetching embroidered (knew my mother’s old sewing machine would come in handy one day!) logo on the back which reads: F E E L S A F E N O W? . This is my favourite.
If I’m to be treated like a public hazard, I’m gonna look like one.
I’ll be wearing the niqab I found at a motorway services some months ago. I like to think a girl abandoned it while making a bid for freedom. It’s actually surprisingly breathable (not sure that’s the point!)
Mostly I intend to claim a medical exemption but I might wear it just to frighten the sheeple.
I’ve just ordered a bikers snood …it does just say face covering . So thats it for my trip for bread and milk
My huge Garden Centre I regularly visit Blue Diamond Group has informed us that masks will need to be worn while OUTSIDE .
Ive told them it’s utter rubbish and completely safe outside , that the legislation is for inside
Management told me it was for my own safety and that of others
I told them in that case my money will stay in the bank thanks
I love how they are so concerned for my “safety”. Touching.
my husband is a biker. He has a snood with the lower half of a skull. I like it’s grim humour.
John, look at this: https://twitter.com/simondolan/status/1283061503080398849?cxt=HHwWgoCwwfPorM4jAAAA
The government have issued advice on how to make your own mask from an old t-shirt, so they can hardly criticise your scarf!
lol, yes I’d seen that!
That was partly what made me think I might get away with wearing my scarf around my face.
If someone insists then I will take my bandana, fold it in half diagonally and tie it at the back. I hope to scare a few nervous types
https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/641896524/airbourne-red-skull-bandana?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=airbourne&ref=sr_gallery-1-1
Bread and milk can be delivered by your friendly local milkman, along with some household items too in many cases. He would be glad of your custom I’m sure.
You could make your own bread, see if you have a local milkman, stock up toiletries before 24th. I like the Delingpole Rainbow Worrier mask. Bit pricey but sticks it to the bedwetters out there.
I’ll be wrapping my face in a Khmer Rouge-style krama, which seems about right for the inferno of incompetence we seem to find ourselves in
How bout wrapping ones head in toilet paper poking two holes for eyes, as a nod to the early days of lockdown lunacy.
good idea – i’ve got a few of those also from time in asia – also an arab scarf – think i’ll completely wrap my head and shout allah akbar – that’ll send them in a tizz in the supermarket!! don’t think security state is going to like this cover up!!
LOL! You might as well go the whole hog and dress as a ‘letter box’, as Boris would say.. Although that could backfire..
Holá, ¿No te han escrito todavía?
How about wearing a balaclava or a bank robber style stocking mask which really would frighten and offend some of these lockdown zealots.
How about try to just not wear a mask and worry about what to wear if that does actually cause a problem. If even the sceptics immediately submit then there is no hope.
The Danish face mask study ended July 1st. Hopefully we see the results soon.
Here comes the Cavalry (maybe):
Coronavirus: Face masks could increase risk of infection, medical chief warns
https://bit.ly/2CdILZ7
Jenny Harries, deputy chief medical officer, said the masks could “actually trap the virus” and cause the person wearing it to breathe it in.
Well, duh. Haven’t we been saying that all along!
Is that new? She said that at the beginning…
Is she now protecting herself from a future public enquiry?
It’s from the 12th March!
Excellent article – it needs the press to pick this up again though – the article dates from 12 March.
Harries is literally the only one of these people who has continually spoken sense.
This is why they’ve more or less disappeared her from public briefings and the media.
If you want to see hysteria pumped to the max then look at Victoria. The comments to the right of the article linked below are a joy to behold. They of course have had a rigorous quarantine and lockdown since March and adopted the New Zealand policy of elimination on the King Canute model.. Watch the covid19 stats in New Zealand in the next month….
https://www.theage.com.au/national/as-it-happened-victoria-records-270-new-covid-19-cases-two-deaths-as-nsw-remains-on-high-alert-amid-crossroads-hotel-cluster-growth-20200714-p55br7.html
Now for some good news . Nanny state Germany has lifted travel restrictions to Sweden as the covid19 epidemic winds down in that country. The UK wont do the same because it is too embarassing to admit that the Swedes were right.
https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/einreise-schweden-corona-101.html
I think Swedes might take pride in being in the UK gov dog house. If ever a population understands this situation Sweden does!
And they’ve still got an economy.
Ed Conway Sky reporting today the lack of v-shaped recovery is a surprise. Never seen a reporter or report so out of touch. Not propaganda just a simple report on the may figures. It really is bad.
I think a v-shaped recovery would be a real possibility (at least here in the US) if we actually lifted restrictions and opened everything up. That includes the idiotic masking mandates. Our governments will shoot themselves in the foot, though, as always, and we will discover that the bulk of the harm was what we imposed on ourselves.
If. But that isn’t happening.
However, all the government are likely taking backhanders from Gates, so they don’t care…
Not sure the mechanisms work like that but there is clearly a reason for not opening up.
Two deaths of over 80s in NSW in 24 hours. Over 80s dying is really unusual and strange in the winter you see, it has never happened until this year, ever in history, so “Lock us down”, they cry, “it’s coming to get us!” We’ll have that again here in November. Human beings really are stupid.
2020 was the year the human immune system stopped working and everything we ever knew about health turned out to be a lie.
Speaking of Nanny (or should that be Mutti?) State Germany, Stern.de is reporting that an Austrian hospital ward doctor from Graz, Konstantina Roesch, has been ‘allowed’ to keep her job despite speaking at a demonstration by the ‘Initiative for Evidence-based Corona Information’ in Vienna, where she stated that ‘Anyone who claims these masks protect us from anything is lying’ and, further ‘Their only purpose is to humiliate us’.
Despite her work at the University Clinic in Graz being beyond reproach, she has been reprimanded and informed that any future public statements making reference to her work as a ward doctor will lead to instant dismissal.
I suspect that her opposition to compulsory vaccination didn’t help, as it is presented as opposition to vaccines per se, presumably to imply that her views belong to the lunatic fringe inhabited by conspiracy theorists.
Is it any surprise that medics are unwilling to speak out?
https://www.stern.de/gesundheit/oesterreichische-impfgegnerin-darf-weiter-als-aerztin-arbeiten-9336940.html
Ho ho ho. Those people who warned us not to trust governments, that their aim was a global police state, mandatory vaccination, a cashless society, and universal surveillance ? Get outta here, DJ.
Oh, good – somewhere that might welcome Swedes! Maybe time to visit my German penfriend
. Not that I fancy visiting the UK right now…
The UK don’t want us
Don’t blame you, what a loathsome country the UK has become.
Lockdown early and lockdown again and again and again exactly as Professor Geisecke predicted.
Those Australian comments are depressing. I thought more of our antipodean cousins.
If in shops, why not in restaurants and pubs?
If in restaurants, why allow them to be put aside once seated- the waiter will eventually be just as close to you as any shop attendant.
Indeed, this is mere chicanery, with the added bonus of a bigger economic rebound next year in spite of Brexit.
Don’t expect Hancock’statistic, if at all true, about higher retail sales death rates to count for anything from January onwards.
Conservative, James Davies, also broke ranks …. by asking if masks should now be introduced in bars and restaurants. “No,” said Matt [Wankock] firmly, thereby ensuring he will be back in the Commons within a matter of days to make masks in bars and restaurants compulsory.
John Crace, Grad.
John Crace has Hancock sussed!
Instead of restaurants, let’s see the return of the dinner party at home!
allowed in France for quite a while now – but subject to (anti)social distancing. Not many people have 12 ft+ tables
Are shop assistants 75% more likely to die of CV19 than the general population?
From the statistics on the ONS website, this only looks true for men. Male shop assistants’ death rate was 34.2 per 100K, compared with 19.1 deaths per 100K in the male working age (aged 20-65) population, which is indeed a 75% uplift. Female shop assistants’ death rate was 15.7 per 100K, compared with 9.7 deaths per 100K working age women, or only a 62% uplift.
And before getting too shocked, consider that:
the actual total number of shop assistants’ deaths was precisely 43 male, 64 female.
So when the actual figures are small, even a small % increase looks scary!
https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/causesofdeath/datasets/coronaviruscovid19relateddeathsbyoccupationenglandandwales
Are these stats from all deaths or just Covid ones? How many had no co-morbidities though?
THe ONS keeps careful tally of deaths ‘of’ (i.e. the only cause stated) and those ‘with’ CV19, (i.e. where it is stated as one of a number of causes) on death certs. Which is important, because it shows up how widespread it is, and how closely related to very old age and other co morbidities. As I copied from the website, these are deaths in that period ‘involving’ CV, i.e. mentioned as one of a possible list of co- morbidities on the death cert. There are no further details in the text. I don’t know if you might be able to extract the (probably vanishingly small) numbers of shop assistants’ deaths where CV19 was the sole cause, from the spreadsheets.
I wonder how many tons of discarded masks are going to be put into the environment.
Talking of the environment, whatever happened to climate change?
DavidC
The same thing that happened to the ban on single-use plastics.
Working from home is eco-friendly.. And how many people have *not* taken a flight that they would otherwise have done?
Don’t these masks have to be marked as biohazardous material, like they are in hospitals, so that they go into the correct bins to be incinerated?
Exactly, but no one in government does that kind of joined-up thinking!
I’ve got four cars not being used at the mo so that has probably resolved the problem of climate change. All my work has become remote rather than being on the road, and as I’m not going to be on the road for a fair while I’m going to have to get rid of a couple of them.
Is this just a rumour?
The government are already mooting the idea of a green tax being applied to online deliveries.
From the comments in the mask debate in the DT
Is it someone from 77th brigade testing the waters for the government?
I can well believe it, I think they are deliberately trying to p*ss the silent majority of the population off to start social unrest. Then once that happens there’s probably another draconian law they can invoke.
Civil contingencies act?
That is a possibility
I listened to the radio today for the first time in months.
I couldn’t believe this warning ad about dangerous fake information about the virus being shared, and the strong suggestion to check for the validity of any such information on the government website first!
Even if you don’t think that that’s actually where the fake information resides, the attitude, tactic and suggestion behind it is purely Orwellian and fascist.
big mistake listening to any radio or tv station – full of government sponsored propoganda!
Travelled to and from Liverpool Street station from Billericay today (about 30 mins each way) . I didnt wear mask at any point. Nobody said anything. i carry one just in case, so i am not that brave as i needed to complete the journey. i was not the only one by the way.i will dfo the sme when out shopping, except i will not carry one. they have made a grave error i think. This will unravel very quickly.
As far as I know the mask wearing exemptions still apply. I won’t wear one and will say I am exempt as I suffer from Hypercapnia if I wear one.
DavidC
that’s my plan as well!
Some light relief
https://twitter.com/Sunder_LAD/status/1283041206017101824?s=20
We seem to have a “perfect storm” of destructive forces that are imposing controls on us, but detached from the consequences.
A medical and academic establishment paid by the State. A welfariat dependent on the State. Very large numbers of people employed or paid by the State. A national broadcaster paid by a compulsory tax.
With one mighty bound, this lot could take wing and stay airborne forever on currents of QE. pushed out like exhaust gas by the Bank of England.
Not just the state-supported…tonight on ITV there was a political propaganda message (from ITV!) making a number of tendentious statements on race and racism in the UK including linking race to culture (which is something I thought Victorian Imperialists were keen to do).
I can’t describe how depressed this new masks in shops rule makes me feel, what is wrong with them? And with the general population who appear to be lapping it up and demanding more. Please tell me. I can get away with a scarf and avoid an actual mask. Going to make our high streets hideous places to be.
Couldn’t agree more. I can’t believe anyone seriously believes this will increase footfall on the high street. The effects on children will be very serious.
Yes, a scarf is fine. Silk is breathable and easy on the skin.
I’m not wearing a mask, or paying a fine either. That probably means supermarkets won’t let me in, but hopefully I’ll have more success with the corner shops. I’m stocking up for a while anyway – some more each day until Friday next.
If I ever have to wear one, it will be a thin, light scarf or snood. Possibly customised with subtle breathing holes! I think the govt have said that’s OK (the scarf part, not the breathing holes – although since they haven’t outlawed valved masks, I can’t see why not).
However, since they give me panic attacks, I will probably claim exemption.
Everyone remember this.
https://www.itpro.co.uk/business/business-operations/354999/prime-minister-boris-johnson-calls-for-tech-to-support
More pertinent than ever now with him ringing the death knell for the high street.
And we wonder why there isn’t rebellion against face masks? They’ve already analysed the big data. Announce it the day before, monitor the ‘likes’ and ‘unlikes’ on twatter, facefook and every single comment thread on MSM and they’ll know within a few hours whether the next draconian policy is going to be accepted by the masses. The computing power of big tech gives them every answer they need.
Cummings’ job advert a few months back was looking for tech geeks…
He was looking for weirdos, not tech geeks.
Although if there was a PCR Test for weirdness, then a lot of tech geeks would test positive!
From the ad, “We want to hire an unusual set of people with different skills and backgrounds to work in Downing Street … The categories are roughly: data scientists and software developers; economists; policy experts; project managers; communication experts; junior researchers one of whom will also be my personal assistant; weirdos and misfits with odd skills.”
Note ‘data scientists’…and software developers (apps, anyone?)
And his first pick was a misfit who believed in Eugenics lol
He should look in the effing mirror then. And around the cabinet table!
Him and his previous master Gove for start.
…or psychopaths
Politician and Civil Servant are both in the Top 10 of Psychopaths in the workplace.
Toby,
You need to watch this through. 1hr:40m.
UN/WHO Global Preparedness for disease Control. LiveEx for disease control.
https://principia-scientific.org/more-evidence-pandemic-is-a-un-live-exercise-world-leaders-complicit/
I was wondering if everyone on here could help me. I’m doing a poll to find out how many people know someone who has had COVID-19. I’m interested to find out if people know anyone who has had it, I don’t personally know anyone that’s had it, and I have also asked work colleagues and friends and they don’t know anyone either.
The link to the poll is below, and you do not have to register to vote in the poll as the site accepts posts from guests and registered users. All responses are very much appreciated, thanks in advance:
https://lockdownsceptics.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=54
I think you need to distinguish between people who had symptoms / were “ill” and tested positive versus people who tested positive but never had symptoms. Positive versus negative cases is meaningless, especially as the test itself is so inaccurate. Plus, I’ve never heard of someone having an illness who had zero symptoms (without any intervention).
I had the very same thought a few weeks ago and put this to my family; I have 5 adult children and they too did not know anyone or anyone in their extended families (in-laws etc) either and, they live in 4 different cities/towns. I work in the social care sector and no one I work with has had it either…
Here in Sweden I have one friend (age 41) who is pretty sure she had it, her doctor also thinks so, but it was way back at the beginning when you only got a test if you were so bad that you needed to be hospitalised. My friend had been in Thailand and travelled back on a plane full of people who were coughing, so it seems fairly likely to have been Covid.
I also have one friend (aged 61) who has it at the moment – confirmed by a test. She is a nurse, but works in the psychiatry dept and nowhere near the Covid area of the hospital. She got it from a colleague.
Interestingly my landlord’s daughter is a nurse on the Covid ward, but she has not been infected as yet – that said, she is only 26 so fairly low risk.
In the UK both my brother and sister are fairly sure they’ve had it, but were never tested.
I was working at a company with 2,000 employees there before lockdown, they’ve had no reports. At each job I’ve done since at other places I’ve asked the guys I’m working with but nothing. Had a BBQ with family at weekend, they don’t know anyone either.
Oddly, nobody I know (or know of) has suffered from a ‘normal’ cold (or man flu) during the whole of the Covid panic. Must be one of the few beneficial effects! [sarc]
I thought I had it two weeks into lockdown, I was ill for three weeks. I took and antibody yesterday but there were no antibodies present, so must’ve been some other virus.
ah but you won’t have antibodies if you fought it off with T cells.
As skipper claims “ill for three weeks” T cells seems unlikely, I may be wrong but to my understanding they eliminate the virus quickly before it can cause many symptoms, if you get many sysmptoms for long then, to my understanding, T cells weren’t enough and other immune systems have come to the field of battle. Even if skipper fought it off with antibodies they can be hard to detect, the tests can give false negatives. The antibody tests often struggle to see the levels of antibodies found in people with cases mild enough not to need any hospital treatment, although these low levels are still sure to give immunity for quite a few months, if not longer.
Two possibles one definite.
My elderly neighbours both think they had it in jaunary, and we’re extremely ill. Both ok now.
My old boss’s father in law died ‘of’ it in hospital. (Really he died of liver cancer- the reason he was in hospital for an appointment and caught it in the first place).
Thanks to all that have voted so far.
Today I had a very unpleasant experience – I was obliged for personal family reasons to don a face mask for the time ever. I felt like I was being asphyxiated. I immediately seemed to be producing considerable condensation which was steaming up my glasses! I couldn’t keep it on for more than half a minute. I feel they must harm one’s health if worn regularly and for any length of time.
Get an exemption. Acute distress.
Watch this film – you are not wrong! https://www.bitchute.com/video/ypLjmXQoLygi/
Good video. Probably explains why mask wearers are always fiddling with their masks – in reality they are not “adjusting” their masks but trying to reduce the CO2 concentration.
Masks, social distancing, home office, information only through surveillance subjected channels and everything online instead of face to face.
Me thinks the real reason for all this, especially in light of the weak to non-existent evidence that they are effective against the Coronavirus spread, is to prevent the uncontrolled mingling of too many people, which can easily lead to an exchange of ideas outside of the surveillance capacities, that could easily lead to a mass questioning of and rebellion against those actions of governments.
Which, in conjunction with their ever new primary reasons to continue to leave us oppressed (flatten the curve, Ru1, u50 new infections/100k, masks off only if less than 100 new infections in total (Germany) etc.) and the tool the false positives of the PCR test gives them (1.4% false positives, aka 1400 ‘infected’ per 100.000 tests even if the virus was completely gone) will probably mean that we will stay locked in snd oppressed for good.
Orwell just got the year wrong, as they say, but even he couldn’t have made up all those subtle mean nuances.
I made this point in youtube comments. What strikes me about lockdown is how it is designed to prevent human interaction and isolate people from each other. The early lockdown rules meant you couldn’t meet anyone from outside your household and even now there are strict rules in place. The places where people socialize such as gyms, pubs, concerts, restaurants and theatres were closed. Children couldn’t go to school. People were encouraged to work from home. As vast numbers of businesses couldn’t open people couldn’t go to work which meant no socializing with colleagues and customers. Many are already losing their jobs. We are told to keep six feet from each other. People are taught to see each other as carriers of disease.
We are all baffled as to the real reason behind the muzzle insanity.
Since it exists worldwide, independent of race, geography or political regime, I conclude that the muzzle is the token of adherence to the Covid religiin. Many, many religions impose special, often grotesque, dress codes on their followers. Quite a lot also demand mutilation. There’s circumcision, for starters. And female infibulation. Self-castration was in vogue among some early Christians, though it never caught on (and let’s hope the Covid god doesn’t start demanding it, though it would certainly cut down the supply of future zombies).
And because the Covid religion is totally intolerant and persecuting, we all have to bear the token of our forced conversion.
Personally I think the Covid god can be identified with the Devil. I know many of you don’t believe in supernatural forces, but you may still agree that the word ‘diabolical’ applies.
Alternative dress code for Christians:
Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. (Ephesians 6:11-13).
Amen.
I think it’s because we copied China, both on lockdown and masks – or rather the rest of Europe copied China and then we copied the rest of Europe.
It’s interesting likening it to a conversion or a religious regulation enforced on a population. What an interesting contrast you make.
The muzzle is something isolating, preventing smiles, facial expressions, or even inhibiting speech. This fits in a society that can seem to me is becoming more isolating, more fearful, more fragile, and less able to cope with hardship and preparing for a fight.
The armour of God in the other hand is about preparing to be brave. The passage uses the example of a soldier preparing to go out and face danger for a greater cause. To fight with truth, justice and faith.
A religion is exactly what it is. It has its articles of faith, its rituals (pot banging), its incantations (usually hashtagged) and its hierarchy of the great, the good, and those able to afford a comfortable private pew (i.e. having a great lockdown working from home in complete economic security).
Above all it has a mass of terrified, ill informed peasantry compelled to work but fearful of eternal damnation (or perhaps just of expiring suddenly two weeks after visiting a pub). Every religion worth its salt needs them too.
I blame Twitter.
From the DT comments:
https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2020/04/commentary-masks-all-covid-19-not-based-sound-data
Sweeping mask recommendations—as many have proposed—will not reduce SARS-CoV-2 transmission, as evidenced by the widespread practice of wearing such masks in Hubei province, China, before and during its mass COVID-19 transmission experience earlier this year. Our review of relevant studies indicates that cloth masks will be ineffective at preventing SARS-CoV-2 transmission, whether worn as source control or as PPE.
A pretty reasoned analysis on why masks don’t work. Hadn’t seen it before so apologies if it’s been posted previously. Found it on Matt Le Tissier’s Twitter feed. He’s a very public sceptic and gets a lot of abuse for it. If you’re on Twitter it might be good to give him some support:
Masks Don’t Work: A Review of Science Relevant to COVID-19 Social Policy/By Denis Rancourt, Phd/11 June, 2020
https://www.marktaliano.net/masks-dont-work-a-review-of-science-relevant-to-covid-19-social-policy-by-denis-rancourt-phd-11-june-2020/
The thing that interested me is the idea that the virus hangs in the air for as much as an hour. This is the main argument being used for mandating mask usage indoors.
If this is the case, then regardless of the efficacy of the mask/face covering, as soon as you move it away from your face and inhale you will become infected. In fact any air that is inhaled from the sides of the mask will be likely to suck in virus particles.
For sports sceptics, check out Peter Ebdon. He was on a radio 5 programme a week or so before the lockdown. The host of the show gave the usual “Peter’s views do not represent the views of the show” type response after he’d done his slot.
I very much doubt Peter will be sat in the studio alongside Steve Davis and John Parrott ever again.
I remember that. I never supported him as a snooker player, and he royally pi$$ed off other players with his tactics at times. But kudos to him for not being afraid to speak out.
Le Tiss also a sceptic
Send a message to your local police via police dot uk, asking them not to enforce this ludicrous rule and thereby improve their standing with the public, which, let’s face it, is what they need right now.
They should be on our side, not the side of this autocratic government.
How about we don’t support the defunding of the Police, and in return they don’t nick us for not wearing a mask?
Sound a fair swap to me.
Yes. I’m also attempting to curry favour with the police to let me off.
Hahaha!
Good idea!
In the meantime I have ordered a landyard and card to show that I have a medical exception on the grounds of mental health if I am stopped. Probably like most people on here I’ve been driven almost insane by all this, and covering my face just to buy food will make things worse.
My wife doesnt really get my concerns despite being a sceptic, as other laws introduced are more restrictive in terms of freedom. I think that to be legally obliged to cover my face is in a way dehumanizing. It’s a personal invasion. It is not the same as having to wear a seat belt by law (this comparison is often made). Also unlike general face covering, seatbelts are proven to save lives!
I sort of agree with your wife, for the key reason that much graver abuses of liberty have already ben committed by this illegimiate government, But I can see how the masks are a slieppry slope to more darkness, to wars on cash, CCTV covering every private doorway, social credit systems, re-education camps… in other words Xi Jinping’s China. Only mask I’ll ever consider wearing is one with protest slogans on it, and not polite ones either.
Hi all,
We’re definitely seeking a judicial review on this mask outrage.
We have a barrister and a spokesperson lined up but in order to prepare the case for a full launch on CrowdJustice.com we will first set up a GoFundMe campaign for the £5,000 initial seed funding.
There is a surprising amount you need to have in place before you can launch on Crowd Justice.
So, phase one will be the GoFundMe page which we hope to launch in a couple of days.
Lots of you have offered to contribute so we’re taking that as market research!
I will keep you informed here and on Lockdown Truth.
I really agree with your message about fear, just when you thought things were getting back to normal. They ramp up the fear factor and destroy a million retail jobs. Why? Does this government consider the consequences of its actions. It made masks compulsory on public transport but it hasn’t increased passengers, the most I see on buses is three is that because the sight of masks frightens people from travelling. I believe the sight of masks at shops is simply designed to frighten us, after all why wear masks of there’s no infections. Lastly I’ve come to the conclusion Boris is murderer he’s already killed 44000 now he’s determined to kill off millions of jobs and together 100000 of lives from cancer,heart disease as well as hip old etc.
I haven’t travelled by public transport after the masks became compulsory. Walked everywhere so far. Hoarding up food currently, so that I could survive for at least couple of weeks without going to any shops.
I think Boris is displaying symptoms of PTSD and possibly the bipolar disorder his mother suffered from.
I’ve been describing this as genocide in the MSM comments sections.
When you consider the science around masks and then see what kind of nonsense about making homemade masks is being peddled in the U.S., the degree of delusion about their efficacy is crystal clear.
This is mask-making advice from a Stanford anesthesiologist:
Our studies show that, if constructed properly with high-quality materials, a homemade cloth mask can function as well as or better than a surgical mask. Based on our studies, the WHO now recommends a cloth mask of at least three layers of different materials. The outermost layer should be made of a fabric that is at least somewhat water resistant. That can be a fabric that is a combination of cotton and polyester, nylon or rayon. The middle layer should either be a polypropylene — a spunbond material used in some reusable grocery bags, mattress covers and craft projects — or three-ply disposable facial tissues like Kleenex. Finally, the innermost layer should be a wicking material to draw moisture away from the face. One hundred percent soft cotton works well here.
A tiny fraction of people are going to make masks like this (which would have to be washed and dried after each use, so you’d need many). Few can afford the disposible surgical masks–and what a waste generator. These “experts,” who are ranging outside their areas of expertise to give advice, are living in a fantasy land.
This video on the CDC website is just absurd. A mask made from a t-shirt folded 8 times would be suffocating: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPx1yqvJgf4 Few would wear such a thing for more than a few minutes. I would guess that few people here in the U.S. bother to wash their cloth masks after every use, as is recommended. Or have the 3 layers of different fabric. This is theater, not science. I hope that Heneghan and the other scientists who are skeptical about masks can continue to get a hearing. I’d love to see an on the record report about the pressure on the WHO regarding masks.
I make no claim to originality, but the following has recently become clarified in my mind.
Theory 1. The UK government is inexperienced, inconsistent and incompetent. Their policies on Covid-19 have been shaped by a mish-mash of scientific, medical, economic & behavioural advice of variable quality, plus dubious opinion polling, with no overall strategy. Johnson’s judgment has been impaired by his spell of illness and/or his partner Symonds. The similarities in policies across different countries can be attributed to international groupthink.
Theory 2. A globalist elite led by (choose one or more) the Chinese Communist Party, Gates, Soros, Bezos et al. is directing the policies being implemented by national governments. Another strand is extreme environmentalism and its Greta puppet. The aim is first to control the people, then impoverish them and reduce their numbers. Hence physical retail and the cash economy are being destroyed, allowing personal expenditure to be monitored and controlled. The masses will no longer be able to consume or travel around, while of course the elite will continue to do so as they consolidate their power.
I still lean towards Theory 1, but I no longer dismiss the adherents of Theory 2 as cranks. It may become clearer in the next few months: current restrictions look likely to continue until autumn, and the colder seasons may provide an excuse for a second lockdown. If “Christmas is cancelled” it looks like Theory 2 applies.
To oppose all of this, short-term tactics can be the same on either theory: point out inconsistencies and adverse consequences, write to your MP, share advice on how to fight the measures. Currently opponents of the measures are disenfranchised, as the UK opposition seems to favour even harsher measures, while Farage appears unsound on these issues and has no MPs anyway.
Longer-term strategy depends on which theory applies. If it’s Theory 2 an international opposition needs to be be built.
Your theory 2 is closer to the truth: https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/uncategorized/they-are-deliberately-trying-to-bankrupt-businesses-to-recreate-a-marxist-world/
Unfortunately it seems 2 is more likely..
See event 201, Davos, Lockstep, agenda 21 and 30..
Re Theory 2, it doesn’t have to be a conspiracist theory. There is a commonality of interest. We’ve seen unlikely alliances before now: Hitler and Stalin, Stalin and Churchill, Nixon and Mao…In the 1920s and 1930s there was a lot of support from business, the media and mainstream politicians for Fascism.
Did anyone see the political propaganda slot on ITV tonight? I don’t mean the news! – I’m referring to a direct statement from ITV to viewers regarding racism in the UK. A very worrying 1984-style development, directly instructing people what to think.
When was that? Between programmes? or part of the ‘news’?
Between programmes. I think it was about 9pm. Just after the ads. Wasn’t paying much attention. Thought it was one of those Godawful Nationwide ads. But then realised this was ITV directly telling us what think. Voice over with text appearing as yellow on black.
Time to complain!
To Ofcom? You have a rich sense of irony!
No, to ITV…
It was on at least twice.between programmes almost like a party political broadcast for black lives matter.frightening
It wasn’t some content free Yorkshire Tea style message of support for BLM, it was making a whole series of tendentious claims and telling us what we MUST believe.
Outrageous..
Is it BLM that are paying for it? We have a right to know..
Somebody has paid a fortune for that! Does BLM have such resources? Scary!
I don’t think it was an advert. It was credited as a statement from ITV.
Watch the first bit and this is what we have ahead of us. 3mins 20 onwards in particular
https://dollarvigilante.com/blog/2020/07/12/divide-conquer-how-racism-is-being-used-to-distract-from-the-great-reset-and-collapse/
OKUK that’s a very good point, commonality of interest. I still am doubtful that the CCP would want to destroy western economies as their own prosperity depends on exporting their stuff. Also the Huawei thing suggests that Johnson isn’t Beijing’s puppet.
No he has always been Washington’s puppet
The Chinese, quite reasonably one might even say after those two Opium Wars want to turn tables and show they dominate the world economy.
I think Theory 2 is on the table when you have the conditions of Theory 1 in place, as we certainly have. The adherence/promotion of ‘the science’, aka the ICL modelling that is supported and being pushed some of those you mention, would not have persuaded a competent, confident and experienced government.
I think theory 1 is exactly what’s happened. A mix of incompetence, bowing to pressure from the left, groupthink, and basically Boris doing whatever it takes to be liked by people. He is spineless and gutless.
I think it’s more complicated than that. His decision to back Brexit resulted in him being a target of personal abuse and he had Far Left fanatics outside his house confronting his children. Yes he wanted to be PM but that’s hardly unknown among politicians.
The longer this lunacy goes on, the more ridiculous and illogical the edicts, the more I start to look again at theories I would have dismissed a few months ago. Pretty soon, I’ll be believing that Boris and the rest of the government are all lizard people.
Lol!
Theory 1, plus a cynical desire (Cummings-led) to be re-elected at any price, would seem to explain the actions taken thus far.
Feed the fear, take action by fiat (unregulated by Parliament) to minimise the (already negligible) risk, then take credit for protecting the public from the “second wave”.
All the while, deflecting criticism of the catastrophic outcome to date (unnecessary deaths and economic meltdown).
This playbook is, depressingly, working a treat, as there is no parliamentary opposition to make an opposing voice heard.
Theory 1 explains it neatly enough. No politician these days wants to admit they don’t have the answers; add 24 hour rolling news idiocy and hey presto.
Theory 2 is strictly for those allowed nothing sharper than crayons.
So what do they do they get up to at those Davos forums and Bilderberg conferences or when they meet on their yachts in the Med – swapping photos of the Grandkids?
If it stops decorations being put up in shops in September, I must admit that Covid has its’s benefits
Essentially, everyone has a different threshold at which point they can no longer buy THIS level of incompetence on a global level.
I have always had an extremely low opinion of humans and considered most of them slightly more intelligent and competent than shit-slinging monkeys. They dropped below even my exceedingly low bar many months ago. In short – no one can be this stupid. I am restraining myself to a great degree here just how strong my opinion is on this.
For me personally, there are other factors that align with my own research rabbit holes in critical psychology….. the overlap is astounding. It’s far too much to get into here. We have been steadily marching down this Orwellian road for a long, long time. There is also a financial collapse aspect (another rabbit hole of mine) which was mentioned earlier by someone else, but I don’t think this is quantitative easing for the masses. We’re likely heading for hyperinflation and the rich have already made off with the gold. 2008 was never dealt with. The reckoning for that has been in the cards for a long time. And then there is the crisis of “medical science” ….. perhaps the most crushing of all the discoveries.
Whether it’s the result of misguidance due to insatiable greed or something more sinister… I don’t fucking know at this point. But I can say without any hesitation or doubt that it never – not for a minute – had anything to do with a statistically irrelevant cough.
I think it’s broadly 1, with the prime movers and shakers of 2 having ‘input’, shall we say. (Follow the money).
The elites are sticking their oars in in order to make money by perhaps prolonging the situation and milking it for all it’s worth.
I think that’s my current view – 1 with a bit of 2.
The only evidence I have against theory 2 is that Sweden (clap for them not the NHS, Sweden show us how to beat panicdemics), a country with no nuclear arsenal and a relatively small military (though sensibly all their arms and equipment seem to be manufactured by them not by allying with other nations to do it for them) and not home to any vast industrial or financial centre, has been able to resist. In a global conspiracy you’d usually think that either they’d have succumbed too, or that quite a lot more similar countries would have taken a stand (as it is only a very small number have avoided crooked lockdowns). But I’m turning to this evidence a lot more to comfort myself than because I actually feel confident that theory 2 isn’t the case.
This is serendipity in action. The world’s power base is more diffuse than either the democratic or conspiratorial models propose. There are vast number of rich lobbyists , think tanks, corporate interests and political fads. This has been opportunity for everyone of those to attempt to extract personal gain and of course many are in alignment.
Then there’s Theory 2 on steroids – Covid-19 is version 1.0 of a genetically engineered biological weapon, deliberately released as an experiment. Version 2.0 will have much higher infectivity and mortality and will be released to reduce the population. I don’t believe any of that, but it would make a good plot for a novel.
Latest headline on the Telegraph website. It’s behind a paywall but I will post in full if anyone wants to read it (and weep).
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2020/07/14/face-coverings-public-places-consideration/
Face coverings in all public places under consideration
The proposal which could see masks encouraged in offices is being considered amid fears over a second wave
Fears of a second wave that they are creating…
Yes seems to be a general MSM script today. If – as claimed by the Lockdown Lunatics – that no one has immunity, then mask wearing is not going to stop a second wave!
The article makes little sense. Offices are not public places. Or do they mean outside?!?
If this is anything to go by, they clearly haven’t a clue.
Mr Eustice said: “When it comes to workplace environments, because people are in the same company throughout the day, there are not lots of people coming through the venue as you have in a retail environment; the risk of transmission is therefore lower.”
Just seen it suggested on News at ten.also talk of a second lockdown in Blackburn.These bastards will never let it go.As must as I admire and appreciate Toby Young for his work on this blog it must be obvious to anyone that there is something very unpleasant behind the government actions and it can not be just incompetence and arse covering.
As has been asked earlier on today’s thread, why is this march to a dystopian future obvious to us but is oblivious to the masses?
In my view, the ever changing narrative is too much for most people to grasp. In many people’s heads, today is normal. They are unable to compare life today to what it was like pre-lockdown because the goalposts have moved. A lame excuse but one that fits the world of the plugged in, always on, consumer society where ‘here and now’ is all that matters to them.
In Orwell’s 1984 (required reading for all lockdown sceptics of course) people literally have no access to the past owing to the all pervasive propaganda. We seem to have reached that point. The BBC are very good at distorting the past e.g. conflating the Winter of Discontent with Thatcherism, and then making it sound like the EU rescued us while in fact we entered a deep recession immediately after joining the EU (or EEC as then was)!
Maybe that’s it. Many probably have no concept of what propaganda is. Unless you have read about it, one may never understand why you wouldn’t trust what you see, hear and (to a lesser extent thesedays) read.
Fear + unrelenting Propaganda.i was fortunate in studying Russian history at college and dystopian novels in English so have a basis on which to reject the narrative being forced on us.The general public has not the grounding or historic knowledge to resist.also they are all being bought off at the moment,full bellies rarely rebel.
I’ve found this response everywhere from ordinary people right up to the cleverest. I recently viewed a video blog of various scientists, all the scientists bar one seemed to view corvid-19 as some sort of interesting subject.The scientist who saw covid-19 as more than an interesting subject complained that other scientists told him to shut up. They didn’t even want to discuss his numbers the intelligent thing to do as they frightened. And this is the problem we’ve all become like sheep instead of asking questions we now except what the media and government tells us.
No, it’s just incompetence and arse covering. But you are entitled to your opinion.
It’s the need to be seen to be doing something. Anything! Even if it contradicts what you were saying the week before.
Any politician these days knows the media is there, ready and waiting to tear apart the slightest sign of weakness or inaction, because you’ve got to keep generating those clicks after all. Just…waiting, to gain firm information on which to base policy decisions, is no longer an option.
I refuse to believe that our leaders are that stupid.from the start I have been torn between cock up and conspiracy.Leicester was the final straw for me.Ramping up the testing then locking up the city on the strength of it.how can you explain that.
Also i was told by someone who worked in the home office that they were planning for a 12 week lockdown 2 weeks before March 23.make of that what you will.
As we keep on saying night after night after night after ruddy predictable night more testing will bring more cases (which aren’t actually ‘cases’ but test positives.)
Just read something about Blackburn which said they would significantly increase testing in the area, which they expect will lead to another local lockdown because of the “rise in cases”.
We are in the world of Johnson’s ‘whack a mole’ world where they crack down on local ‘outbreaks’.
My borough of Blackburn and Darwen could be next on his ‘hit list’. My OH won’t be bothered mind, she’s been practicing social distancing for years.
Cheezilla posted this earlier: ‘Conservative, James Davies, also broke ranks …. by asking if masks should now be introduced in bars and restaurants. “No,” said Matt [Wankock] firmly, thereby ensuring he will be back in the Commons within a matter of days to make masks in bars and restaurants compulsory.’
John Crace, Grad.
Anything that they say definitely won’t happen, definitely will happen! “Expert Opinion” or “The Science” can change whenever they want it to.
And the law can be changed by SI now – likely to happen *after* Parliament goes on its summer recess too, so as to avoid any scrutiny or debate..
Well most of the scrutiny and debate is because the government isn’t being authoritarian enough. Asymptomatic non-mask wearers need to visit the local incinerator head first. Otherwise they could kill just one person.
Just purchased a face mask exemption lanyard on disability horizons.com. No doubt others have already checked out this and similar sites. The list of exemptions is long and varied and essentially covers any type of distress or anxiety which pretty much covers the emotional state of many on this site today.
Good for Gove though, still not wearing a mask to the shops (photo in article).
Well it isn’t mandatory for 10 days.
Liz Truss virtue signalling is a different kettle of fishiness.
The media just doing what they do, trying to reassert their hold over government, with apparently some success. They could never force people to wear them outside.
I believe in Spain they have now made masks mandatory even outside.
Link please …
And, by the way. That cannot be enforced in depopulated areas, such as the countryside.
The police have complained that they are unable to enforce this in shops.
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-spain-masks/spains-catalonia-makes-masks-compulsory-in-public-at-all-times-idUKKBN24919K
Thanks. That is scary. They will have trouble with enforcement though in some circumstances. Sadly, no doubt many people will obey without question.
I have been dreading this. I could fucking cry. There is only one way I can see out of this — this is not a world I want to live.
Know exactly how you feel Adam, it’s an alien world and I don’t want to live in it. I don’t know how to stop it all either.
None of us want to live in this mad world Adam but don’t give up. Be strong. We’ve been here before as a nation…in the 1600s Puritans banned Christmas and Hot Cross Buns, and basically anything that appeared to be “merry making”. Our culture survived the ideological assault, and we revived. I am sure you have the support of everyone here. Don’t be downhearted.
Rise up. This is your time.
I feel the same Adam. Most mornings I wake up and wish I hadn’t.
If this happens I’m definitely getting arrested lol
It would be a very effective way for sceptics to find each other.
Lol. The Covid-1984 dating service
There are some very encouraging comments!
Maybe Gove has pocketed his y-fronts as an emergency mask. I thought his photo’s juxtaposition with Liz TRUSS was rather unfortunate.
ITV News: Hundreds of coaches form convoy in Blackpool to highlight effect of Covid-19 | ITV News.
https://www.itv.com/news/granada/2020-07-14/hundreds-of-coaches-form-convoy-in-blackpool-to-highlight-effect-of-covid-19-on-the-industry
“Coach companies have said that they are currently operating at just 2% of their capacity..”
Goodness!
No school trips!
COVID has had no effect whatsoever on the coach industry. It’s the government’s response that’s caused the problems.
Like many I will avoid the shops as much as I can. I have also learned that I can, legitimately as it turns out, claim a medical exemption to the muzzle but I do still intend to wear my niqab (up yours Boris) purely to sh1t up the sheeple. if we must wear some infernal face covering can I suggest we all make them as ludicrous or annoying to the zealots as possible. Not only do we need a laugh but it is well known that the one thing totalitarians really hate is being ridiculed.
A friend of mine is thinking of a plague doctor’s mask plus cloak.
There was a man in Norfolk going round in a plague mask. The local police were desperate to arrest him as they claimed he was frightening the locals.
I was thinking that another idea would be the full Venetian carnival rig complete with this:
https://www.camacana.com/en-UK/bauta-mask.php
http://themascherade.com/contents/en-us/d5_Page_5.html
Well all it says is a face covering, no one said it doesn’t have to just cover the nose and mouth.
I like the idea, might be the way forward a totally ridiculous mask.
If enough people either refuse or take the piss then hopefully people will realise how stupid this all is.
Actually yes, let’s take the piss. I have a couple of Halloween masks which would be great to wear for jollies.
Take the piss anyway if it helps you cope with it, irrespective of what others think.
Ironically the virus can enter through the eyes, they don’t tell you that one.Wonder why? So you can bet the idea is not to protect people.
Shhhhhh ! Or goggles will be mandatory next month.
By that reasoning Boris, Wancock and the Fergoid should all have been arrested several times over by now.
That is a personal favourite of mine. I was going to use it in our village scarecrow completion but that has now been postponed until next year in case people walking round the village in the open air looking at scarecrows spread “the virus”.
Cue rolleye emoji!
Me too. My plague mask as winging its way to me in the mail as we speak.
I was thinking snorkel or even a full frogman suit from the 1930’s.
The 1930s frogman suit could be annoying if they tell you the item you want is in aisle 37 but it’s actually in aisle 4.
This is on the way. Combined with my MAGA hat, should upset a Karen or two.
This made me laugh:
https://twitter.com/CovidSkip/status/1282800162151292929
Maybe I should start wearing a saucepan over my head. After all, one is more likely to die when hit hard by a falling object.
Priceless! Still laughing. Thanks.
There’s growing evidence in favour of the public wearing face masks according to the media. Well is there? Here is some such supposedly compelling “evidence” sent to me on Facebook: https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2020-07-08-oxford-covid-19-study-face-masks-and-coverings-work-act-now# This is just a lame attempt to link supposedly favourable outcomes across the world to public facemask wearing policies, while ignoring such outcomes as Sweden and Wuhan. So, no actual evidence at all. The most shocking bit about this otherwise lame and easily refutable piece comes in the middle, where it effectively states that public policy has been hampered by over reliance on actual science! There has been an ‘over-reliance on an evidence-based approach and assertion that evidence was weak due to few conclusive RCT (randomized control trial) results in community settings, discounting high quality non-RCT evidence’. The post attests. In other words science is not producing the answers we require, we will make them up anyway!
https://twitter.com/prospect_clark/status/1283131737116213252?s=20
That looks interesting!
“Junior government minister of obsequious ….”
Talking of TV – has anyone else seen HMgov’s commercial – I thought I was dreaming, I was close to nodding off actually. The tag line was: UK’s New Start – Let’s Get Going. It was a series of people in various work situations all smiling i.e. no muzzles. What the f**k?
Words fail me.
Just noticed, double three-part slogan there! It’s like primary school all over again. The govt think the population have a collective age of 7. Why can’t they talk to us like we’re competent adults?
Is it me or are there two HM governments right now? The fascist communist authoritarians who love the lockdown and want to keep ramping up the fear even as the virus wipes itself out (thanks herd immunity, funny how we could have got it without the traitorous lockdown though), and the few who realise that have a functioning economy is the bedrock for keeping life livable (even if they are too brainless to realise the importance of liberty too) and come up with “eat out to help out” but don’t have the balls to really get the economicnecessities in the spotlight? If any MPs among the few are thinking of a coup then they’d have the backing of many sceptics, have coward Boris shoved on those back benches where he can use his muzzle to stop himself spluttering authoritarian drivel.
AAARGH!!!! Just noticed this:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2020/07/14/face-coverings-public-places-consideration/
Face coverings in all public places under considerationThe proposal which could see masks encouraged in offices is being considered amid fears over a second wave
Lots of encouraging comments.
This is a good one: ‘If I have to wear a mask whilst in the office, the environment must therefore, be considered unsafe.
These are valid grounds on which not to attend your work environment, legally, and without recourse.’
Nice.
They are trying to have it both ways. The places we want you to go to are safe. But they’re only safe if nobody is allowed to breathe.
In their own words:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19/offices-and-contact-centres#offices-6-1
Don’t try to make sense of anything anymore. It is pointless. You’ll just get frustrated and angry like me.
Anyway, here’s an extract:
It is important to know that the evidence of the benefit of using a face covering to protect others is weak and the effect is likely to be small, therefore face coverings are not a replacement for the other ways of managing risk, including minimising time spent in contact, using fixed teams and partnering for close-up work, and increasing hand and surface washing.
It’s all a lot of Whitehall nonsense. Self important civil service bedwetters.
I understand that JP. I was just highlighting the fact that the proposed policy of mandating the use of face masks in public places is at odds with the statement “the evidence of the benefit of using a face covering to protect others is weak” taken from their health and safety guidelines that were updated just 4 days ago.
One could take from this that ‘evidence’ is no longer a factor when proposing new policies/guidelines.
Indeed. I was just expressing frustration Howie, not attempting to “correct” you in any way
Sorry. Me too. (shameful face)
Criminalizing people for nothing but a glorified Pascal’s wager
There’s no good reason for masks in shops or elsewhere. While common sense says it will block the virus science says the evidence is weak if at all. Why is this because science is all about truth and not about what seems right. Quite often the answer science gives is counterintuitive to what one would expect for example there’s articles saying smoking protects against covid-19. It may well do but until experiments are done no one really knows, and this is what should happen before forcing any one to wear masks.
Common sense does NOT say it will block the virus!
They’re having a “second wave” in Israel, apparently. And they’ll be fighting the virus all of next year (from The Telegraph):
Israel coronavirus outbreak likely to continue until the end of 2021, says minister
The coronavirus outbreak is likely to continue up until the end of next year, Israeli defence minister Benny Gantz said on Tuesday, adding that Israel could need to operate designated quarantine hotels until that time.
“The working assumption has to be that operations will continue until the end of 2021, that is, the entire year next year will also be all about the crisis,” Gantz said at an online meeting.
There are more than 41,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Israel, and energy minister Yuval Steinitz – who is a political ally of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – yesterday called for an immediate lockdown of up to two weeks after a renewed outbreak followed the easing of restrictions.
So what might be causing this “renewed outbreak”? Well have a look at the Wikipedia article:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_pandemic_in_Israel
In particular, look at the graphs at the bottom of the article; start with New cases per day (scroll right and left). It really does like like a “second wave”. Then scroll down a bit further and look at Tests per day. Anything jump out at you?
But we’re going to have a completely safe vaccine by Christmas, aren’t we?
They’ve had 371 deaths and 183 in critical care in a population of 9M people and they’re panicking.
Israel has had 40K confirmed cases, but going by the CDCs 0.26% death rate the deaths show they’ve had more like 146K cases.So between 0.4% and 1.6% of Israelis have caught it, any second spike will be because they have tried too much to suppress the virus rather than letting it spread more naturally. See also New Zealand, where they had to panic when the virus got reintroduced because two Brits turned up. And Australia which by restricting liberties hard, early on, kept the virus rare and have ensured any flare ups have the potential of seedinh whole new epidemics (hence the authorities’s brutal repression of Melbourne skyscraper residents). Second waves ONLY happen if you try to utterly eliminate the virus, can the lockdown zealots not see that the more they cower the longer they must fear second waves for. They see Israel, Australia, New Zealand and the Phillipines as shining examples, I see countries trapped in terror at how one little cough can undo all their (pointless) hard (oppressive) work.
Time for me to issue my regular appeal to Toby to set up a Free Citizens Party that will:
– Oppose lockdown ideology and end the mask madness,
– Enshrine free speech rights.
– Create effective recall and referendum rights to stop elites hijacking the democratic process.
– Defend, promote and celebrate our culture.
– Work for the prosperity of all citizens rejecting all oligarch interests.
I listen to “London Calling” with T.Young and J.Delingpole. A few weeks back they mentioned that there were rumours going round about a new party and that there was a desire for one, but there was no obvious candidate to front it. I am hopeful though..
Cometh the hour, cometh the man or woman or non-binary…I don’t care as long as they can get us out of this mess.
Indeed they did. Shortly after Simon Dolan was on The Delingpod. Pure coincidence. Innit?
Vernon Coleman today.
The screw is tightening
https://youtu.be/8vTM1NU6NZU
As good and relevant as he ever was.
Sign and spread the word. Repeal Corona Act
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/313310
Disappointing article by Patrick O’Flynn in the Spectator, who basically says that the idea that masks don’t do anything was never plausible, and he doesn’t seem to care about the libertarian aspect at all.
And even Brendan O’Neill in Spiked seems a little half-hearted, as though being anti-mask is a little too close to being a right wing conspiracy theorist for comfort, and therefore his objection to mandatory mask wearing is more intellectual than heartfelt.
Oh Brendan. Why, why, why.
In the midst of a cancel culture pandemic it is imperative for the vulnerable to shield themselves from the contagion.
I have been suprised about Patrick O’Flynn and Rod Liddle.
However I thought Brendon was good on the free speech angle. He said that this is something we should be allowed to discuss and not submit to. He says:
“We have to talk about this. We cannot let mask-wearing become the ‘new normal’. Masks are horrible. They’re stuffy and claustrophobic. They make it hard to read people’s faces. They alienate us from each other even more, hiding smiles and discouraging chit-chat. And they actually worsen the culture of fear by spreading the idea that our fellow citizens are walking diseases who must be muzzled and kept at a safe distance. Only people comfortable with the contemporary social atomisation that has been intensified by the lockdown would embrace mandatory mask-wearing with no questions whatsoever. “
Oh ok. Not a bad as I thought. Still hot, Brendan. #lockdownthirst
If he was one of the panelists on The Moral Maze I might go back to listening to it again. Although I like Andrew Doyle, I am so bored of the others on that programme.
Sad. I have respect for them both. For me this couldn’t be a clearer fight over personal liberty. The government is making us wear something that makes us feel bad and if we don’t comply we won’t be able to buy food. And the government’s claims are based on extremely dodgy science.
Brilliant article by Allison Pearson in the Torygraph this evening.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/compulsory-face-masks-proof-british-bulldog-has-become-scaredy/
Sorry if there’s a paywall but it’s late so no juicy quotes for me this time.
Night night all.
Awesome article by Allison Pearson in the Torygraph:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/compulsory-face-masks-proof-british-bulldog-has-become-scaredy/
Sorry, probably a paywall and it’s late so no juicy quotes from me now I’m afraid.
Here’s a thought. Apologies if this has been covered before and I’ve just missed it. Apologies also if I’m missing something fundamental – feel free to beat me over the head with my own stupidity as I’m not a virologist and neither would I call myself a scientist.
I read an article the other day linked from this website that seemed to indicate that a large proportion of people in a non-covid exposed population demonstrated a degree of T cell immunity to Covid-19 (‘cross reactivity’). One needs to be careful in reading too much into this, and this research is very much a work in progress, but it at least raises the possibility of cross-immunity from other types of coronavirus.
A look on Wikipedia (as I said, I’m not really a scientist) indicates that there are 7 human coronaviruses. Two are not circulating in the UK (MERS and SARS), one is Covid-19 and the other four cause common colds. According to an article describing work on Coronaviruses at the Uni of Glasgow, these other coronaviruses are common. The article did leave the door open to the idea that one type of coronavirus (e.g. a benign one) could protect against another form of coronavirus (e.g. a potentially serious one – Covid19):
More research is needed to understand whether infection with seasonal coronaviruses in young children provides lasting immunity, and whether seasonal coronaviruses can also protect against SARS-CoV-2.
https://www.gla.ac.uk/news/headline_720926_en.html
I accept an awful lot is still unknown, and scientists are on a steep learning curve, but it seems far from outlandish to think that the presence of other coronaviruses could have significant implications for our susceptibility as a population to Covid-19.
My thought is this. By significantly impacting normal viral transmission throughout the population, is there not a risk that we leave the population more at risk of Covid-19? If there are ‘competing’ coronaviruses (apparently coronaviruses don’t always like to co-exist – so one can dominate in a population over another) which also potentially create a degree of immunity against Covid-19, then do we not want these coronaviruses to still be in strong circulation? Presumably measures that significantly reduce the transmission of Covid-19 will similarly impact the transmission of these benign coronaviruses. Viewed from this perspective, a common cold goes from being a damned nuisance to potentially being a life saver (if it then helps protect you against Covid-19 at some later stage).
In fact, the measures currently being taken in this country are unprecedented – they will impact the normal circulation of a whole range of viruses (dare I say all viruses), and could therefore interfere with many aspects of population immunity. With no school, work, transport or social exposure – we are all far less likely to be exposed to common viruses, and this effect is going to be in play for many months. If we have massive reduction in exposures to many benign circulating viruses, is this a good or a bad thing? I don’t know the answer to this, but I’m pretty sure the government and their advisors don’t know either.
A lot has been written on this website about the single minded pursuit of the elimination of Covid-19 regardless of the cost to other important aspects of society (mental health, education, economy to name but a few). But what about the impact of these measures on the delicate balance of population immunity? What could be the impact on influenza risk following a period of mass suppression of normal influenza circulation?
I am not suggesting that we do nothing, but I do get the impression that we are taking extreme measures with very little thought or discussion, leading to goodness knows what unintended consequences and complications.
I posted something the other day about this. I can’t remember exactly what I wrote but it was along the lines of:
Suggestions of cross immunity from previous exposure to other coronavirus.
We pursue a zero exposure strategy, thus making us more susceptible to future coronavirus.
The measures taken in future need to be stronger to counter the effects of susceptibility.
Rinse, repeat…
It’s basically a downward spiral of worse outcomes unless we take stronger action each time. Eventually there will be no remedial action that we can take that gives us a better outcome than taking no action.
I think I know what you’re suggesting and I think you’re right.
I also AM suggesting that we do nothing.
(Except shield the elderly and encourage vulnerable demographics to look after themselves)
Sunetra Gupta was talking about this in an interview. She thinks that international travel is a good thing, in that it keeps everyone’s immune system ‘topped up’ with the latest virus variants. In the past, devastating epidemics would occur where populations had effectively been in isolation due to the lack of travel in those days.
“If we have massive reduction in exposures to many benign circulating viruses, is this a good or a bad thing?”
Many immunologists would say that its a bad thing. You don’t get a healthy immune system by not being exposed to antigens in the environment. The best example I can think of is what happened to the native Americans who first came into contact with the Spanish conquistadors. 90% of them died, because they had no immunity to the viruses the Spanish carried with them.
Boris Johnson needs to resign – I wish there was a march or demonstration for us to protest against him robbing us of our civil liberties – The masks are the final straw – I will certainly resign as a member of the Conservative party. This is now a police state.
Just found this on my Twitter feed. There were 5255 COVID-19 deaths recorded yesterday according to Worldometer.
Now imagine the attached image is a menu of death. The Grim Reaper tells you that you have to lockdown, give up your job, lose your business, wear a mask, basically all things associated with mitigating the spread of Coronavirus. Just to have COVID-19 taken off the menu so that no patrons have to eat the dish. It’s a bit off and simply not recommended he tells you.
After which the full menu will be available to every diner presenting at the restaurant. What you didn’t realise is that all the other dishes are equally disgusting if not more so, but you can live happy knowing that you stopped people having to try the one dish that wasn’t recommended.
Lol great analogy.
Let’s cancel death by respiratory virus!
Actually I suppose it’s like taking Covid off the menu, but forcing everyone to eat all the other dishes en masse then being surprised when they die – not of a respiratory virus!
Another row with a lockdown zealot this evening. You can give them all the information, counter arguments and facts in the world, but they cannot be convinced. We are fighting a losing battle trying to make people see sense. They just come back with “it’s to keep people safe”, or “tell this to families of the x thousand people who have died”, blah blah blah, and similar emotive and falacious arguments. So,… I decided to plot the UK death rate from the last 70 years. The per-capita death rate for 2020 including those attributed to CoVID, rightly or wrongly (WRONGLY!), is about the same as the background death rate from 15/20 years ago. Going to show them the graph tomorrow and simply say, why weren’t you permanently wetting yourself back then like you are now?
It’s an emotional response from them. They haven’t been reasoned into it, so they can’t be reasoned out of it. You have to come up with something that appeals to their emotion rather than their reasoning, maybe something more visual rather than just facts and figures, e.g. the woman featured in the BBC documentary recently, who died of cancer because the NHS had switched all its attention to CV19. What about her children, or the thousands of others who will be in a similar situation….
Toby Young,
In the “Roundup” section of this post, you refer to Matt Taibbi as a “Conservative American journalist.” Please don’t be misled. Taibbi may have become lately a profound critic of the Left, but he is no conservative. Not now, not ever as far as I know.
I have but just now been listening to Mr. Hancock on Radio 4. I’m jolly glad to hear him speak of “face coverings” rather than a masks. Because yesterday I invested in a face vizor which looks ridiculous on me as it necessitates wearing a pair of lensless plastic specs to hold it in place. Ten euros!
I imagine many a Mr. Plod and many a Mr. and Mrs. Busybody will think it not good enough but will they deign to challenge me? Evenso, I still feel to don it is an act of surrender. Only fearlessness will defeat the bind we’re in.
Hi, I’m a bit out of the loop as I’m on holiday for five days in barnard castle of all places! Anyway, I’ve been trying to detox my phone and internet use but I’m just on here for someone to briefly fill me in on what on earth is going on? Where has the figure of 120000 deaths in a harder second wave coming from and is anyone vigorously opposing face mask? It’s got to the point now where we must more openly challenge this nonsense. I will not wear a face mask, not because I’m some kind of crazy libertarian but because they are totally unnecessary and are nothing but a sign of subjecting. Thanks for the catch up anyway.
From what i recall, it’s another group of “scientists” coming up with another random generator prediction model to frighten people into submission. By the time it’s proven to be false, the economy will have been destroyed, but people will be too scared to do anything except do what the government says.
The prediction is that the second wave will be far worse than the first one. I have no idea what they’ve based this on, and I suspect, neither do they.
Have any of you actually done a Bayesian analysis of this as Michael Gove has suggested in his recent Ditchley Lecture?
Excellent information! Did you know that there are two types of different INFLUENZA VACCINES?? Those for medical staff and people under 60, and a special one for people over 60 and more, that besides all the other adyuvants, it has ESQUALANE snd FORMALDEHID or someting of the like, 2 elements not good for health. You can investigate this, please! You will get the answer on why so many elderly people died! It was planned to do so as an OBJECTIVE of the IMF. because elerly people are a big ECONOMIC BURDEN FOR SOCIETY. Another reason to KEEP THEM ISOLATED, so they get really ILL and EXTREMELY DEPRESSED.