The Dombusters
What follows is a guest post by Toby…
I feel ambivalent about Dominic Cummings’s departure. I should confess that until March 23rd, when the country was plunged into lockdown, I was a huge fan. I liked his abrasive style, his brutal candour, his fearsome intelligence, his ability to keep his head when everyone about him is losing theirs… I even liked his incredibly long blog posts (and one upside of his departure is that we might see some more of those). He’s a kind of campaigning genius, outsmarting his opponents at every turn, and I was usually on the same side as him, whether it was to keep Britain out of the Euro, leave the European Union or secure Boris a thumping majority. He has that same attribute that people used to attribute to Steve Jobs – a reality distortion field. He has this weird, almost supernatural ability to bend events to his will – to prevail against the odds by sheer force of personality. That’s a rare gift in politics and I have no doubt we haven’t seen the last of him. I can imagine Boris bringing him back to run the General Election campaign in 2024 when he’s trailing Keir Starmer in the polls with two weeks to go. Although he may not be willing to return, having been so brutally ejected this week.
It was partly because I had such faith in Dom that I was so disappointed when Boris panicked and u-turned in March, abandoning his common sense, “take it on the chin” approach and embracing the draconian restrictions that had first been introduced in Communist China. I think Dom has to shoulder a lot of the blame for that. He was initially in favour of mitigation, but, unusually for him, changed his mind – and that volte-face surely influenced the Prime Minister. The dominant member of the “quad” is Michael Gove and he and Dom are joined at the hip. Indeed, it was Michael who chaired the COBR meeting on March 23rd where, to the surprise of most people present, the lockdown was announced.
Why did Dom change his mind? How did he get the biggest call of his career so catastrophically wrong when he’d been right about almost everything until that point? I’ve looked at the minutes of the SAGE meetings in the week leading up to lockdown and there isn’t much in those tea leaves. There wasn’t the same push coming from the Chief Science Officer and the Chief Medical Officer as there was in the run up to the second lockdown (although I think their influence is exaggerated). If anything, the attitude of SAGE back then was, “Hold fire. Wait and see if the mitigation measures you’ve already introduced have the desired effect.” (Reader, they did.)
No, it was a political decision. I think Dom calculated – possibly after conducting one of his famous focus groups – that the Government should do everything in its power to mitigate the risk of the NHS being overwhelmed, however slight. By his estimation, nothing would be more toxic for the Conservative brand than footage of people dying in hospital corridors on the nightly news. So he panicked and urged Boris to imprison everyone in their homes so they’d stay the f*** away from hospitals – “Protect the NHS”. And the decision turned out to be incredibly popular with the British public, God help us, so a three-week lockdown became a five-month shut in.
Will Dom’s departure make a third lockdown less likely? On balance, I suspect it will. I’m fairly sure he was pushing hard for a second lockdown, for the reasons I explained. He’s a stubborn bugger and having committed to the house arrest policy he wasn’t going to change his mind again (although, to be fair, he does think that mass testing might be a route out). We don’t know for sure that he was the person who leaked details of the internal discussions about whether to ditch the traffic light system in favour of another lockdown, thereby bouncing Boris into abandoning his own policy, but the fact that he’s been defenestrated makes it look that way. And with Dom gone, Michael will be a diminished figure and Rishi – the most sceptical member of the ‘quad’ – a newly emboldened one. Worth remembering that Allegra Stratton, who prevailed in the power struggle with Lee Cain and appears to have forged some sort of feminist alliance with Carrie Symonds, used to work for Rishi until about a week ago.
My friend Michael Wolff, who has written a couple of good books about the Trump administration, reacts to every big political story by asking, “But is it good for the Jews?” By which he doesn’t mean the Jews, of course, but our team, our faction. Is it good for us – in this case, the cause of lockdown scepticism? And even though I feel more than a twinge of sympathy for Dom, I think his departure probably is good for the Jews.
Stop Press: I haven’t read everything about Dom’s departures, but of the stuff I have read this piece by Charles Moore in today’s Telegraph is the best.
Elon Musk Tests Both Positive and Negative for COVID-19 Twice in One Day
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Elon Musk, the Tesla and SpaceX entrepreneur and high-profile sceptic, wrote on Twitter that he took four rapid antigen tests yesterday and got a mixture of results back. “Something extremely bogus is going on. Was tested for covid four times today. Two tests came back negative, two came back positive. Same machine, same test, same nurse.”
The Mail has more details.
The 49 year-old may have been referring to Becton Dickinson’s Veritor Plus system, a rapid antigen test which uses a nasal swab to produce a result in 15 minutes. The FDA says that any negative result from the BD test should be verified by molecular testing – for example a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test.
Musk later revealed he was suffering ‘typical cold’ symptoms and warned of the contradictory results: “If it’s happening to me, it’s happening to others.”
Their documentation for the BD test warns that even a positive result “indicates the presence of viral antigens, but clinical correlation with patient history and other diagnostic information is necessary to determine infection status”.
As regards a negative result, it says: “Negative results are presumptive. Negative test results do not preclude infection and should not be used as the sole basis for treatment… It is recommended that these results be confirmed by a molecular testing method.”
Last week, the FDA said it was alerting clinical laboratory staff and healthcare providers that false positive results can occur with COVID-19 antigen tests.
BD, which is one of the major suppliers of COVID-19 antigen tests, said in September it was investigating reports from US nursing homes that its rapid coronavirus testing equipment was producing false-positive results.
In October, Nevada health officials ordered nursing homes to stop using two rapid antigen tests after nearly two-thirds of the tests were false-positives, or people were mistakenly told they were infected with the virus.
The tests were the Quidel Sofia II and the BD Veritor Plus, the latter being the company behind the tests Musk said he used.
A similar test from AbC-19 was also found to only be 81.7% accurate at diagnosing a positive result, according to a study this month in the British Medical Journal.
Musk took the tests because he was experiencing symptoms, which is supposed to reduce the incidence of false positives. Bizarrely, a negative result from a BD test is seen, according to the manufacturer’s instructions, as provisional pending a PCR test – as though you should assume you have the virus unless the BD test and a PCR test tell you otherwise. That’s clearly the wrong way round – you should never assume you’ve got Covid.
The Mail reporter Rachel Sharp states that PCR tests “are considered the gold standard of COVID-19 testing”. Which doesn’t say much for the standard of Covid testing, seeing that the operational false positive rate of PCR tests processed in high volumes has been estimated at 4.0%. At that rate almost all your positive results from community testing will be false.
Anti-Lockdown Protests Swell
Niall McCrae has written a potted history of the growing UK protest movement against lockdowns on the Unity News Network site.
On September 26th the biggest rally yet was organised by Save our Rights, marking six months since the Coronavirus Act was passed. About 25,000 attended. Again use of the venue was approved, on condition of a risk assessment. The organisers emphasised a peaceful gathering, and silence was observed in honour of a Metropolitan Police sergeant who was shot dead two days earlier. Towards the end of the rally, soon after David Icke spoke, riot police stormed in, striking protestors with batons. The crowd marched to Hyde Park, where Heiko Schõning, a German doctor who had been interrupted by the police incursion at Trafalgar Square, attempted to speak. For unknown reason police broke through the crowd and arrested him. After being held for 22 hours at Wandsworth Police Station he was released without charge.
As static events were likely to be obstructed, in October protestors changed to holding marches through central London. Attended by several thousand, these passed without the violent police intervention of previous rallies. Meanwhile demonstrations across the country were growing in size, with over a thousand at Birmingham on October 31st. When a second lockdown was imposed on November 5th for a period of four weeks, public gatherings (more than two people) were banned. However, this did not stop the protests. Hundreds marched through Liverpool on November 7th, and on the following day over two thousand attended a rally in Manchester.
While the police dole out fines, organisers and protestors are undeterred.
Yet these fines, of dubious validity in law due to their lack of proportionality and breach of basic rights, are not enough to quash the rebellion. This weekend there will be marches in Liverpool and Wolverhampton, and on the 28th another meeting of the masses in London. As they say at rallies, choose your side!
Read the piece here. And why not get along to a rally?
Is Arlene Foster a Lockdown Sceptic?
This is a guest post from Lockdown Sceptics reader and Northern Ireland resident Jim Morrison.
Back in September, DUP MP Sammy Wilson claimed that Northern Ireland First Minister Arlene Foster had reined in Health Department technocrats who wanted to take more severe measures over Covid.
Certainly we have been spared the worst features of the English lockdown. We are now in a “circuit breaker” in which churches, shops and gyms remain open, and six people can still meet in gardens, though schools had a two week half term and cafes and hairdressers are shut. True, it has been extended from four to five weeks, but pubs and restaurants are now due to open on November 27th.
This week the DUP vetoed a proposal from the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) Health Minister to extend the circuit breaker by a further two weeks, much against the wishes of Sinn Fein’s Michelle O’Neill, Deputy First Minister who, according to the Belfast Telegraph, was accused by the DUP of acting “under the orders of Dublin Sinn Fein” because of the different attitude taken across the border.
The Welsh approach to examinations has been rejected, with DUP Education Minister Peter Weir insisting that GCSE and A Level exams will take place next June.
When the circuit breaker started, DUP Minister of Agriculture Edwin Poots broke ministerial secrecy on UTV News to claim that his party had opposed the restrictions, arguing that they would cost “tens of thousands of jobs which may never come back”.
His attitude was echoed by DUP MP Ian Paisley, who told the Belfast Telegraph: “We are living and reacting as if we have the worst case scenario, which we have not… We know it attacks people who are vulnerable and who are elderly, and therefore we protect them more, but do you then close down the country as a result? No you don’t.”
And of course there were the four DUP Westminster MPs who voted against the November lockdown in England.
So is Arlene a lockdown sceptic? It’s not wholly clear. As First Minister, she must speak in support of Executive policies. But collective discipline in the DUP is strong (with some embarrassing exceptions) and, so far as I know, she has not reprimanded Edwin Poots or disputed Sammy Wilson’s comments. It is likely that they had the nod to say what she could not.
Public Think Average Age of Covid Deaths is 65, Among Other Misconceptions
The Telegraph reports on an online poll by Savanta ComRes for Conservative Woman that reveals the scale of misapprehension the public have about the pandemic.
The public mistakenly think the average age of Covid deaths is 65 and that the virus is the UK’s biggest killer, a poll has found.
Laying bare the misconceptions around the threat from the pandemic, the Savanta ComRes survey, for Conservative Woman, also reveals that the majority of people – 52% – believe “long” Covid affects one in three when in fact it is around one in 20.
The median age at which people think coronavirus victims have died is just 65 when the real average is 82.4 years. Average life expectancy is 81.1 years, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The poll found that 41% think the virus has been the single biggest cause of UK deaths in 2020, when ONS data shows that, for September, it was the 19th cause in England and the 24th in Wales.
The survey also revealed attitudes around vaccines and lockdowns, and some of the worrying collateral impact on healthcare and mental well-being.
Only around six in 10 people (59%) say they will accept a Covid vaccine, leaving more than 21 million Britons who would not (17%) or are neutral/don’t know (24%).
Six in 10 – 61% – agree that the UK will need repeated lockdowns until a vaccine is widely available, even though half of adults do not wish to see England’s second national lockdown extended beyond December 2nd.
42% say coronavirus pressures on the NHS have stopped them accessing non-Covid healthcare, equating to 22 million adults. 40% say their mental health has suffered as a result of the restrictions.
Critical Care Occupancy in England Below Average For November
A new chart courtesy of the Spectator‘s live data hub, tweeted by editor Fraser Nelson, shows how little cause for concern there ought to be about NHS capacity, and how surreal the idea of locking down the country to protect it is.
Bar Owner “Shocked and Saddened” at “Outbreak of Joy”
In a story that should be satire but sadly is not, the BBC reports on a police investigation launched into the scenes of unconstrained delight witnessed in an Aberdeen beer garden where football fans celebrated Scotland’s win in Belgrade.
The scenes were filmed at the Draft Project as Scotland beat Serbia on penalties to qualify for next year’s delayed Euro 2020 finals. Aberdeen City Council and Police Scotland are investigating if Covid distancing rules were breached.
The bar owners later promised a “thorough review”. Stuart Clarkson, owner and founder of PB Devco said: “Having seen the videos I am shocked, disappointed and saddened. This simply is not acceptable and I understand why people are so upset by this.”
He said it was clear they “misjudged” what was likely to happen and were “simply unable to contain the outbreak of joy at Scotland’s success”.
Mr Clarkson said: “I will now be carrying out a thorough review of what went wrong and what steps we have to take to prevent any such repeat incidents. We will also comply fully and assist any reviews or investigations by the police, Aberdeen City Council or the Scottish government.”
The issue was raised during Friday’s daily coronavirus briefing by Deputy First Minister John Swinney.
The Draft Project bar has now been ordered to remove its televisions. No more fun for you.
WHO Warns of New Virus
The World Health Organisation today warned of the release of a new and potentially lethal strain of Downfall Parody virus (DPV). The virus, part of a large family described by a Government-appointed expert as “amusing, sometimes hilarious, but rarely lethal”, was first detected on November 7th, and has since generated over 20,000 hits. A spokesman for PHE said: “This means the new virus has an R rate of 3.8 – a truly terrifying number.”
Unlike its predecessors, this iteration of the DPV has the effect of pouring scorn on the Dear Leader, implying that he knows he made a twat of himself back in March, was fooled by a third-rate statistician posing as an epidemiologist, has ruined the economy for no good reason, and has spent the last six months trying to obscure his original error behind a fog of self-confounding regulation.
A spokesman for Number 10 said:
It’s vital to the survival of the Government’s reputation that we control the spread of this virus. The first symptoms are a persistent chuckle, but in some subjects this can become so severe that they piss themselves laughing, and finally succumb to an irresistible urge to flick it on to their mates. Anyone who comes into contact with it should immediately leave their keyboard and go to somewhere busy and crowded, where they are less likely to use their phones and thereby propagate the virus. Go to the pub, maybe join a choir.
A spokesman for Pfizer declined to comment.
(With thanks to Lockdown Sceptics reader Tom Forrester-Paton.)
Devil’s Dictionary: Covid Edition
A reader has sent us some suggested new entries for a COVID-19 edition of Ambrose Bierce’s The Devil’s Dictionary.
Asymptomatic, adj. The condition of a healthy person being exceedingly dangerous to others, as illustrated by Boris Johnson knackering the economy well before he got sick.
Death, n. Biological inevitability that no longer haunts human consciousness since we realised that it has only one single cause that is eminently suppressible through a daily cocktail of virtue, hysteria and the forced poverty of others.
Great Barrington Declaration,n. Popular but banned TV show that began each episode with the following voiceover: “Two months ago a crack commando unit was ad hominem attacked for a crime against science they didn’t commit. These two men and one woman promptly escaped from a country house in Massachusetts to the dark web underground. Today, still wanted by no government, they survive as scientists of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them on Google, maybe you can hire the AIER-Team.” Viewers sadly didn’t love it when a Plandemic came together.
Hands. Face. Space. O.E. proverb. The act of compulsively putting your fingers up to your face while wearing a mask, creating a condition of such shambolic skew-whiffery that any diseased droplets could comfortably shoot out of the cosmically huge gaps below and to the side.
Icke, David, n. Oddly durable cultural relic whose anti-Semitic conspiracy theories render just causes unpalatable to mainstream opinion. cf. Corbyn, J.
Lockdown, n. A political experiment whereby aspects of society that should never have locks are zealously guarded by those who should never be given keys.
Lockdown sceptic, n. A person who rejects easy answers, seeks out nuance and complexity, assiduously follows the evidence, and then blames Klaus Schwab and Bill Gates for everything.
Mask, n. A facial prophylactic that unhygienically smothers the upper evidentiary channels such as the Randomised Controlled Trial, leaving exposed only lesser standards of scientific evidence.
Memory T-cells, n. A type of T-lymphocyte that causes numerous medical professionals to forget everything they might have read at university about the principles of immunology.
Nightingale Hospital, n. A medical unit so unburdened by patients that the average nurse is, in the words of Shelley, “a nightingale who sits in darkness and sings to cheer its own solitude with sweet sounds”. For that reason, they are perfect, if acoustically cavernous, Tik Tok rehearsal rooms.
Novel Coronavirus, n. A pathogenic spate of bad writing, hatched eight months ago in lockdown, only now sweeping the literary agencies and publishing houses of London.
PCR Test, n. Molecular assay that manages to stimulate the production of more worthless genetic material than even Prof Ferguson’s married lover.
SAGE, n. Strong-smelling herb whose medicinal benefits are largely apocryphal; if left to grow, can provide essential cover for grubby things that fester in the shadows; often completely undone by the seasonal effects of winter; can famously be found stuffed up the backsides of chickens.
Vaccine, n. A medical intervention taken retrospectively to justify crippling pain done to others.
Wet Market, n. A scandalously anachronistic biohazard zone in which caged rodents and other baffled mammals bleat and moan at a slimy sea creature wallowing smugly in its own unswabbed excreta. Questions to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care usually lasts about an hour.
Email us with any more suggestions.
Round-Up
- “High Street coffee chain Caffè Nero forced into insolvency after second lockdown hits profits” – Another familiar name moves closer to oblivion, from the Sun
- “London gym owner defies lockdown to remain open and says: ‘I would rather go to jail for a night than shut now’” – Evening Standard reports on gym owner Hannah Lanel who believes she has found a way to stay open throughout November. No sign of the Covid Stasi yet…
- “Why I’ve decided to break the law and open my church during lockdown” – And a London church leader who thinks he’s found a similar loophole, in Premier Christian News
- “Schools must stay open” – Emma Gilland in Spiked goes through the arguments for why education must be protected from the increasingly misnamed “teaching” unions
- “GPs in vaccine row over ‘impossible’ rollout that could ‘threaten patient care’” – Report in the Telegraph on a row erupting as GPs raise serious concerns about patient safety, logistics and the knock-on effect on treating other conditions should they become a Covid mass vaccination service
- “Even a Military-Enforced Quarantine Can’t Stop the Virus, Study Reveals” – Jeffrey A. Tucker in AIER on an overlooked study that found US marines placed in lockdown ended up with greater SARS-CoV-2 spread than marines who weren’t, confirming once more that lockdowns can’t even properly suppress the virus
- “Is lockdown II working?” – Ross Clark in the Spectator points out that infections were slowing in England before the new lockdown, while in Wales they actually increased in the second week of the supposed “circuit breaker”
- “T-cell test is EIGHT TIMES better at detecting whether someone was infected with coronavirus” – Report in the Mail about a new preprint that finds for 70 blood samples from confirmed COVID-19 cases, 77% tested positive for antibodies while 97% tested positive for T-cells, confirming that antibodies are a poor guide to previous infection compared to T-cells
- “Tetanus vaccine could be the solution to COVID-19 Spanish researcher reveals” – A study in Spain finds cross-immunity developing from another vaccine
- “Hysteria is contagious” – Latest Spiked podcast where Brendan O’Neill and Lionel Shriver talk Trump, Biden and the panic driving the New Normal
- “Is the alarming rise in Covid cases a result of testing quirks?” – Good analysis by Sarah Knapton in the Telegraph on some of the reasons why the recent spike in positive test results is unlikely to be an accurate representation of the pandemic, not least because almost half of them were a backlog
Theme Tunes Suggested by Readers
Just one today: “The Times They Are A Changin” by Bob Dylan.
Love in the Time of Covid
We have created some Lockdown Sceptics Forums, including a dating forum called “Love in a Covid Climate” that has attracted a bit of attention. We have a team of moderators in place to remove spam and deal with the trolls, but sometimes it takes a little while so please bear with us. You have to register to use the Forums, but that should just be a one-time thing. Any problems, email the Lockdown Sceptics webmaster Ian Rons here.
Sharing stories: Some of you have asked how to link to particular stories on Lockdown Sceptics. The answer used to be to first click on “Latest News”, then click on the links that came up beside the headline of each story. But we’ve changed that so the link now comes up beside the headline whether you’ve clicked on “Latest News” or you’re just on the Lockdown Sceptics home page. Please do share the stories with your friends and on social media.
Woke Gobbledegook
We’ve decided to create a permanent slot down here for woke gobbledegook. Today, more on the Law Commission of England and Wales’s absurd proposals to rein in free speech in order to reduce “hate”. The Free Speech Union has prepared a briefing doc entitled “Ten reasons to throw out the Law Commission’s Anti-Free Speech Proposals”. Here’s a summary of the first five:
- The Law Commission wants to make the Charlie Hebdo cartoons illegal
The Commission mentions “inflammatory cartoons” in its crackdown plans: “recent incidents involving inflammatory images create grounds for concern… These include Islamophobic cartoons…”
Currently, someone who sends another person an “inflammatory cartoon” can only be prosecuted under the Communications Act 2003. The Commission writes: “This does not carry the same gravity or labelling as the stirring up offences. It does not reflect the fundamental harm involved, which is not that it is offensive, but that it incites hatred.”
The Commission mentions various cartoons, but it is clear its plans include those published in Charlie Hebdo which resulted in 12 people murdered in a terror attack. The Commission calls Mohammed cartoons “infamous”, suggesting “the British media were right not to publish them”. It also suggests the offence of “stirring up hatred” should extend beyond written material, so publishing “inflammatory images” could mean up to seven years in jail.
- The Commission will scrap the need to show “intent”
A conviction for “stirring up hatred” usually requires an intention. The Commission would change this. If a tweet or a cartoon is “likely” to stir up hatred, that could mean seven years in jail.
- The Law Commission wants many more characteristics to be “protected”
The law already outlines five “protected characteristics” (race, religion, sexual orientation, disability, transgender identity). The Commission wants more, like classifying women – most of the population – as a protected group; it even wants “age” protected.
- The protection of “philosophical belief ” stifles free debate
The Commission wants special legal protection for philosophical beliefs and subcultures, like humanism – even punk rockers. Protecting a philosophy based on rational and limitless inquiry is laughable. As for punks, does a group that’s famous for distrusting state authority really need state protection?
- The plans are an attack on equality before the law
The Commission wants victims of crime to be treated differently depending on whether they’re a member of a “protected” group. This double-standard is at odds with the principle of equality before the law.
The briefing is worth reading in full.
And if you want to support the Free Speech Union’s campaign against these draconian proposals, you can join here.
“Mask Exempt” Lanyards
We’ve created a one-stop shop down here for people who want to buy (or make) a “Mask Exempt” lanyard/card. You can print out and laminate a fairly standard one for free here and it has the advantage of not explicitly claiming you have a disability. But if you have no qualms about that (or you are disabled), you can buy a lanyard from Amazon saying you do have a disability/medical exemption here (takes a while to arrive). The Government has instructions on how to download an official “Mask Exempt” notice to put on your phone here. You can get a “Hidden Disability” tag from ebay here and an “exempt” card with lanyard for just £1.99 from Etsy here. And, finally, if you feel obliged to wear a mask but want to signal your disapproval of having to do so, you can get a “sexy world” mask with the Swedish flag on it here.
Don’t forget to sign the petition on the UK Government’s petitions website calling for an end to mandatory face masks in shops here.
A reader has started a website that contains some useful guidance about how you can claim legal exemption.
If you’re a shop owner and you want to let your customers know you want be insisting on face masks or asking them what their reasons for exemption are, you can download a friendly sign to stick in your window here.
And here’s an excellent piece about the ineffectiveness of masks by a Roger W. Koops, who has a doctorate in organic chemistry.
Mask Censorship: The Swiss Doctor has translated the article in a Danish newspaper about the suppressed Danish mask study. Largest RCT on the effectiveness of masks ever carried out. Rejected by three top scientific journals so far.
The Great Barrington Declaration
The Great Barrington Declaration, a petition started by Professor Martin Kulldorff, Professor Sunetra Gupta and Professor Jay Bhattacharya calling for a strategy of “Focused Protection” (protect the elderly and the vulnerable and let everyone else get on with life), was launched last month and the lockdown zealots have been doing their best to discredit it ever since. If you Googled it a week after launch, the top hits were three smear pieces from the Guardian, including: “Herd immunity letter signed by fake experts including ‘Dr Johnny Bananas’.” (Freddie Sayers at UnHerd warned us about this the day before it appeared.) On the bright side, Google UK has stopped shadow banning it, so the actual Declaration now tops the search results – and Toby’s Spectator piece about the attempt to suppress it is among the top hits – although discussion of it has been censored by Reddit. The reason the zealots hate it, of course, is that it gives the lie to their claim that “the science” only supports their strategy. These three scientists are every bit as eminent – more eminent – than the pro-lockdown fanatics so expect no let up in the attacks. (Wikipedia has also done a smear job.)
You can find it here. Please sign it. Now over 650,000 signatures.
Update: The authors of the GDB have expanded the FAQs to deal with some of the arguments and smears that have been made against their proposal. Worth reading in full.
Update 2: Many of the signatories of the Great Barrington Declaration are involved with new UK anti-lockdown campaign Recovery. Find out more and join here.
Update 3: You can watch Sunetra Gupta set out the case for “Focused Protection” here and Jay Bhattacharya make it here.
Update 4: The three GBD authors plus Prof Carl Heneghan of CEBM have launched a new website collateralglobal.org, “a global repository for research into the collateral effects of the COVID-19 lockdown measures”.
Judicial Reviews Against the Government
There are now so many JRs being brought against the Government and its ministers, we thought we’d include them all in one place down here.
First, there’s the Simon Dolan case. You can see all the latest updates and contribute to that cause here.
Then there’s the Robin Tilbrook case. You can read about that and contribute here.
Then there’s John’s Campaign which is focused specifically on care homes. Find out more about that here.
There’s the GoodLawProject’s Judicial Review of the Government’s award of lucrative PPE contracts to various private companies. You can find out more about that here and contribute to the crowdfunder here.
The Night Time Industries Association has instructed lawyers to JR any further restrictions on restaurants, pubs and bars.
Christian Concern is JR-ing the Government over its insistence on closing churches during the lockdowns. Read about it here.
And last but not least there’s the Free Speech Union‘s challenge to Ofcom over its ‘coronavirus guidance’. You can read about that and make a donation here.
Samaritans
If you are struggling to cope, please call Samaritans for free on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email [email protected] or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch. Samaritans is available round the clock, every single day of the year, providing a safe place for anyone struggling to cope, whoever they are, however they feel, whatever life has done to them.
Quotation Corner
It’s Easier to Fool People Than to Convince Them That They Have Been Fooled.
Mark Twain
Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, one by one.
Charles Mackay
They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.
Benjamin Franklin
To do evil a human being must first of all believe that what he’s doing is good, or else that it’s a well-considered act in conformity with natural law. Fortunately, it is in the nature of the human being to seek a justification for his actions…
Ideology – that is what gives the evildoing its long-sought justification and gives the evildoer the necessary steadfastness and determination.
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
No lesson seems to be so deeply inculcated by the experience of life as that you never should trust experts. If you believe the doctors, nothing is wholesome: if you believe the theologians, nothing is innocent: if you believe the soldiers, nothing is safe. They all require to have their strong wine diluted by a very large admixture of insipid common sense.
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
Nothing would be more fatal than for the Government of States to get into the hands of experts. Expert knowledge is limited knowledge and the unlimited ignorance of the plain man, who knows where it hurts, is a safer guide than any rigorous direction of a specialist.
Sir Winston Churchill
If it disagrees with experiment, it’s wrong. In that simple statement is the key to science.
Richard Feynman
We’re Hiring
Lockdown Sceptics is looking to hire someone to help us write the daily update. This will involve producing a daily update yourself two or three times a week – so a page exactly like this one – under your own byline. The ideal candidate will have some journalistic background, be able to work quickly under pressure and know their way around WordPress. We can pay you £75 for each update. If you’re interested, email us here and put “Job Application” in the subject line.
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. (Don’t assume we’ll pick them up in the comments.)
And Finally…
Discussion
Comments
This week across the site:
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Profanity and abuse will be removed and may lead to a permanent ban.
Face masks, self quarantining and all the other inhumane restrictions imposed on us have nothing to do with health and everything to do with emotional distress. Lockdown rules are designed to elicit emotional distress. That’s their sole purpose.
Why?
So that when the offer comes, we surrender and accept the World Economic Forum’s new terms for living – regular vaccines, immunity passports, constant surveillance.
There is no Government incompetence. No accident. No chaos. This is all planned. It’s about control.
Manchurian Candidate on BBC2. Apt.
Weird! I was thinking about that yesterday – occurred to me (because of the current social climate ) it’s one of the best films ever . 🙂
Just watched a report on the Bristol demo on BBC World News. They interviewed a woman who spoke extremely well, and who is surely a sceptic on here. Anyone claim to be that woman ….?
Really interesting new article. Already in Sept 2019 circulating in Italy https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0300891620974755?journalCode=tmja Unexpected detection of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in the prepandemic period in Italy We investigated the presence of SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain (RBD)–specific antibodies in blood samples of 959 asymptomatic individuals enrolled in a prospective lung cancer screening trial between September 2019 and March 2020SARS-CoV-2 RBD-specific antibodies were detected in 111 of 959 (11.6%) individuals, starting from September 2019 (14%), with a cluster of positive cases (>30%) in the second week of February 2020 and the highest number (53.2%) in Lombardy.
Brescia, Northern Italy 2018:
“We would like however to report on the strange pneumonia epidemic that occurred in and around Brescia in Lombardy (Italy) between September and November 2018. As you may know, that is also the first epicenter of the current “Covid” epidemic in Europe. Only this one happened slightly more than a year before. It was extremely peculiar, and was extensively covered by the local press. Here were its main characteristics (references will be found below).
Local hospitals were overwhelmed: over 850 people were admitted in a short time span, among which at least 10 died. Astonishingly, the patients affected were 70% male (does that remind you of anything?). They were furthermore predominantly elderly, or with diseases that involve immunosuppression and/or other risk factors such as smoking. Children were barely affected (still nothing?). The patients that presented the most serious conditions suffered from respiratory distress and had to be put on ventilators.
Furthermore, health authorities at the time said this episode was unlike anything they had ever seen.”
https://coronacircus.com/2020/04/23/coronacirus-revisionism-chapter-1-the-strange-case-of-brescia/
Hospitalized mortality still only approx 1.2%, our was 6% at the start of lockdown.
Read more at that link and you’ll see that they’re suggesting that cv19 is due to chemtrails. Probably not the most rational source.
Anecdotally I recall many people in Autumn 2019 in the UK complaining of a horrible and v persistent respiratory infection characterised by extreme fatigue and dry coughing-lasting six weeks or more. Could it have mutated into something more deadly in December when the military sports conference was held in Wuhan?
Same around here in the SW but in and either side of the two week Xmas New Year shutdown.
Incidentally despite not having much of a first wave and having more ‘covids’ in hospital now than March-April deaths remain just 0-1 or 2 daily.
Maybe it’s the Radon gas that oozes out of the granite.
Sage member:
https://twitter.com/SusanMichie/status/1238803749373652993?s=19
Fully signed up psychopathic member of the cult. Parachuted no doubt.
The worst!!
Disinfecting streets? Try and present that at your next SAGE meeting. Even in that anything goes environment you’ll be laughed out.
Someone should tell her that China doesn’t count asymptomatic cases of SARS-CoV-2 PCR +.
Have you got a link please for China not counting asymptomatics.?
Found this:
https://www.voanews.com/science-health/coronavirus-outbreak/china-officials-exclude-asymptomatic-covid-19-carriers-data
Quote:
““Official documents show that China does not count asymptomatic carriers of the virus in its tally of confirmed cases. That practice is not consistent with the World Health Organization’s guidance, and it skews the Chinese data that epidemiologists have relied on to model how the virus spreads.”
I think that this supports the contention that China decided sometime in March that the whole corona thing had been exaggerated and over-hyped, whether intentionally or not.
They decided to declare victory and go home.
The tweet was dated 14 March.
Michie: Far Left extremist who celebrates Communist dictatorships.
The woman inhabits Fuller’s Earth, not this one.
What the f. has ‘disinfecting streets’ to do with anything viral?
She’s still in the first half hour of the Truman Show. The theatre is real life to her.
It’s shocking she is allowed anywhere near government.Maybe she is one of Rick Hs neo liberal tories.
The Merseyside police are being roasted on Facebook for their condescending post calling out protesters as selfish and gloating over their arrest numbers (that could be next big thing btw, an arrestdemic) – this is one of my favourites so far:
https://www.facebook.com/merseypolice/
When the right to protest is removed it should become a moral obligation to do so.
Long time reader, first time poster. I’m traditionally a left leaning ‘do gooder’ but I’ve lost it completely with the craziness of supposedly intelligent people!
A local pub close to me threatened to open last week after having no response from the government over several concerns they had about the second lockdown (quelle surprise!). In the end they didn’t open.
Interestingly they posted an update for the first time in a week tonight which was a little ambiguous but mentioned something cryptic which I thought was interesting:
“We will keep this short;
our personal views on the situation have not changed, however, following the video on Thursday we were contacted by some very knowledgeable and inspirational people who gave us some invaluable advice. We are in this for the long game not the short and we want to ensure that anything we do from now on can be fully sustained.
There are a lot of things happening behind the scenes not just locally but by very influential people and next week very big things may come to fruition. ”
It was the suggestion that something is happening not just locally that heightened my interest. I wonder what that… Read more »
Welcome, you won’t get many views this time of the night, might I suggest you repost this when Sundays page is up ?
Labour call for vaccine censorship (article not by me)
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/coronavirus-vaccine-covid-anti-vax-labour-censor-b1723009.html
“This is literally a matter of life and death, and anyone who is dissuaded from being vaccinated because of this is one person too many.”
Give me strength, where do they get these idiots?
Mike Yeardon calling out PCR tonight, as that’s how we spend our Saturday nights now.
https://twitter.com/MichaelYeadon3/status/1327684264977117185
Also German Health Minister shares an opinion that health workers without symptoms should continue to work. PCR doubts?
https://deutsch.rt.com/inland/109167-spahn-zur-not-infiziertes-gesundheitspersonal/
Maybe a recognition of the manufactured crisis in certain Hospitals with staff missing. That’s certainly the case here in Northern Ireland.
Also in that thread, this is a good overview of the deeper aspect of how PCR could have been pushed as the cornerstone to massive covid fraud.
https://twitter.com/NellyTells/status/1327713372108955648
I remain sceptical about whether such an intention can be proven, but if PCR was brought to court, the question would have to be asked. You’d have to go there and ask for the defence. Because, knowing its history, why was it ever thought fit for purpose by tbe powers that be?
Yay, another NI sceptic!
Why would a “Covid secure” pub close for Lockdown 2?
Or anything if they’re that confident it really is.
I think it’s become apparent that even with all the covid security some selfish individuals were managing to experience what used to be called ‘fun’ while in pubs. Until this can be stamped out completely these establishments will not be safe at all.
… which raises the question., anyway : ‘What the f. is Covid secure?’
Published in the NEJM. A comparison of strict quarantine vs. normal life in a cohort of Marine recruits. Infection rate in the normal cohort 1.7%. In the quarantined cohort 2.8%. As far as i can tell a well conducted study and likely the best we will get to a RCT of lockdown vs. normality.
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2029717
They should have been quarantined sooner, longer, harder!
Double masks and shoot anyone who disobeys. It’s the only way.
Mr Hitchens’ blog is up early
https://hitchensblog.mailonsunday.co.uk/
Apparently there are going to be several articles smearing people not cheerleading for the government lockdown and mandatory vaccine in the Mail on Sunday so it is funny he wrote –
A favourite term of abuse is ‘anti-vaxxer’. Well, I am absolutely not one of those. I was inoculated against optimism at an early age, and it has served me well all my life. I thoroughly recommend you, too, get yourself immunised against this dangerous scourge.
I’m not impressed – making light of this dangerous attack on free speech is not apt I feel, in his position.
Hitchens has been saying for months that when you can’t break through with reason, ridicule is worth a shot. I don’t disagree.
quoting:
“A serious Danish study on the effectiveness, or lack of it, of face coverings has still not been published. The study is a randomised controlled trial, the gold standard of scientific enquiry in such things. But according to a Copenhagen newspaper, Berlingske, three scientific journals have turned it down.
Nobody will say why. I’d only say that in recent months, existing research casting doubt on the usefulness of masks has been increasingly difficult to find on the internet, sometimes actually disappearing from places where it used to be.”
The memory hole.
One good thing seems to be that there has not been much talk of compulsory mask wearing at all times in public, indoors and outdoors, in the UK (I believe this is, or was compulsory in several countries). A few weeks ago I assumed this would be introduced by now.
Waiting tor the right moment I suspect.
Good point. Even Nic Sturgeon hasn’t gone there.
You’re missing the carrot/stick. Rules on something like gatherings will be relaxed, but they’ll make us have to wear masks everywhere. It’s going to be a cycle of give and take with a trend towards take.
BBC have an article that says if you’re 75+ you have a 88% chance of survival.
Of course it reads you have a 12% chance of dying.
C**ts
I don’t often look @ BBC and every time I do I remember why I don’t look. Masks, lockdowns, death. “Hospital fire in Romania kills Covid patients”.
It’s ridiculous – as is Children in Need by the way !
Presumably the hospital fire also killed non-covid patients, or does that not matter?
Oh come on! You know those with covid will be more dead than anyone else deceased and have a higher sadlidied rating.
It matters, they can be Covid deaths now.
I haven’t watched the BBC for AGES. ‘Children in Need’? Didn’t that used to be called ‘Jim’ll Fix It’?
Bumping;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugRnjpXEwTo
James Delingpole interview with Paul Joseph Watson.
Well worth listening to.
About 30 mins.
Over 125k views in 4 hours. Wouldn’t be surprised if New World Order supporting YouTube censor it.
Panscepticon now has a links library.
The link library is a single page that lists every link from every comment that scored 10 or more likes. The links are grouped by URL and ranked by descending popularity.
Much to my surprise, my website has appeared in first place. It’s not a fix, honest guv. 😀
Next on my list is to segregate the library by resource type. This will make the list easier to use because it will create separate lists for documents, images, and videos.
It’s a bit of a rush job, so let me know if you spot any bugs. Any suggestions for improvements will be gratefully received.
Good Work!
Good work Mabel
And nice to see you have mirrored theLS site too.
I assume you have a copy of everything in ‘A Safe Place ‘
Cheers
👍🏼
I’m in awe!
Rebellion growing in Tory camp – Damian Green and Tom Tugendhat quoted:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2020/11/14/boris-johnson-facing-growing-lockdown-revolt-among-tory-mps/
‘Boris Johnson facing growing lockdown revolt among Tory MPsThe Covid Recovery Group, launched to fight the imposition of a third national lockdown, now has around 70 lawmakers as members’
I think there is another informal group of 45 on a WhatsApp group, but not sure if there is now an overlap.
Tom Tugendtwat who wants coerced vaccinations???
More Gaslighting ?
Should see some clarity emerge over the coming week.
As long as they are all first in the queue, with their partners, parents, kids, and I can then observe the side effects over a timeframe of about 6 months at a minimum, I ‘might’ risk it. However, it is likely to have disappeared by then, rendering any vaccine a complete waste of time and resources.
Don’t you think they’ll just put areas into tier 3, which is pretty similar to the current full mockdown anyway?
I suspect this third mockdown debate is a load of smoked red herrings.
I think so, though I expect they’ll create tier 4 in the next couple of weeks.
Yes I expect it will be back to regional tiers in December as a token “concession”.
I think the mood is changing now towards mental health and the economy. They know people are not observing lockdown, so what’s the point in keeping any restrictions at all. The data does not support it, and they are much better informed than they were a couple of weeks ago.
Certainly the panic of March seems to have gone. There’s lots of huffing and puffing about ‘covid security’ and ‘controlling the virus’ but it seems more and more to be lip service to social conformity with the general public. Yes we have some psychopaths in positions of authority but even they can’t impose things on the general public unless the general public wants them.
Trouble is they’ve created a monster in the self-righteous, self-preserving, virtuous maskzealot lockdownistas – what do they say to quell their hysterical rantings?
Policeman’s help PART 1
Copied and pasted
From a former police officer. Thank you. Knowing the law and your rights.
As a former Police Officer, I am becoming increasingly concerned at seeing incidents where the public are being arrested at will UNLAWFULLY
These are guidelines ONLY as from Government dictats, or Statutory Instruments, under the Public Health Act (Control of Diseases) Act 1984.
According to Lord Sumption, the Civil Contingencies Act of 2004 would be a much more appropriate piece of legislation.
So, why isn’t this used instead? Because it would require an Act of Parliament and would provide stringent provisions for Parliamentary scrutiny.
What about the powers of arrest being seen to be abused so often?
Firstly, these are NOT for arrestable offences. These are strictly for crimes of assault, theft, which are summary or indictable offences.
Section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986 (harassment, alarm or distress) seems to be used the most often used, but this requires a warning to be issued.
The key points here are for ‘a person of reasonable firmness present at the scene to fear for his personal safety’. So, quite open to interpretation and debatable in a Court of Law!
What… Read more »
Policeman’s help PART 2
So a scenario here. A person goes shopping at Tesco not wearing a mask. This person has an invisible undisclosed disability. The store staff detain this person or this person is detained by police officers. The person legitimately asks ‘am I being detained?’ If the answer is ‘yes’ then stand firm. If ‘no’ then politely continue on with the shopping.
For a ‘yes’ detention, the police officer(s), none of whom are wearing hats, some having hands in pockets (discipline offences), then question said person as to why they’re not wearing a mask. Person states ‘I am exempt’. This should be ‘game over’.
However, the Police officer asks for reasons for exemption – instant discrimination under the Equality Act 2010 (court case on this basis alone against the numbered officer and potentially the Chief Constable also!)
Person refuses to provide details.
Police Officer(s) threaten arrest.
Person asks for what offence?
Police Officer(s) fails to clarify (this is a requirement under law to know the offence before or after the caution is stated)
Police Officer then states a fine will be issued.
Person declines to give details or says he is Mickey Mouse and he lives in Hollywood
… Read more »
Very good!
That’s brilliant Cheezilla! Thank you.
On Aron Freeman’s (the Bristolian tattoist who keeps being hassled) video earlier he was suggesting that the arresting officers have a re-read of their oath.
Would anyone be able to post the wording of that oath here too so we can see which are the relevant parts we need to be aware of?
Thanks. I found it in the comments on the Merseyside Police page!
Here’s the oath:
I, … of … do solemnly and sincerely declare and affirm that I will well and truly serve the Queen in the office of constable, with fairness, integrity, diligence and impartiality, upholding fundamental human rights and according equal respect to all people; and that I will, to the best of my power, cause the peace to be kept and preserved and prevent all offences against people and property; and that while I continue to hold the said office I will to the best of my skill and knowledge discharge all the duties thereof faithfully according to law.
Fantastic – now to commit it to memory 🙂
Thank you very much.
The whole legal side of this hoo-haa is now looking very threadbare. I think this needs a statement from the Attorney General to be given to Parliament, it is ironic that the leader of the opposition is a lawyer but is so keen on lock downs that he is unlikely to challenge the legal side of all this.
They might get away with the fact that when this started it was an urgent emergency situation but as things are now I do not see how they can continue to use the Public Health act to impose lock-downs?
I think we should all write to our MPs to challenge them on the legal basis of all this and to suggest to them that as a matter of legal principle they should object to any further attempts to bring in Statutory Instruments based on the Public Health Act.
If Dennis Skinner was still an MP, I wonder what he might have made of lockdown?
I don’t know – there was that photo of him coming out of his mistress’s house with his face masked – very Fergusonesque.
Or Tony Benn?
I would imagine him to be furious. As would Tony Benn if he was still here. I’d thank and pity them for it at the same time.
Our adversaries – https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=148413636993386&id=111076047393812
The sheeple flock here apparently. They think we’re the nuts ones
A 2-second reading of the comments on there suggest most can’t understand the difference between lockdown scepticism and covid ‘denial’. #Wibble indeed, that’s probably about the level of their argument.
I’ve been wibbeled on a close the schools Facebook group. Think I was pointing out that Sweden gave a message of hope and we should be rooting for their approach. I have left now, such people are lost.
Reply with #wobble (of the bottom lip variety)
Haha!
Jay’s lip quiver from Inbetweener
Morons who believe every word that the government says.
You’d be surprised. I’ve followed a few #closeschools groups and the the like. Wall to wal fear. They think the government have underestimated the Covid carnage out there.
What – when they have at the very least double counted every exaggerated statistic they have presented??
Yes. It’s like a mirror to lockdown sceptics. They also think the BBC are complicit in tbe under reporting and should be defunded. I kid you not. Look at BRUTUS schools.
https://mobile.twitter.com/parents_utd
They work extremely hard to present the view that all kids are infection sources and teachers will die because the government just cares about the economy or something. They want all schools to close, online learning, full lockdowns until a vaccine and long covid kids.
Check out this if you dare.
https://youtu.be/RiIambG8vs0
I think I may give that one a miss if you don’t mind – if others feel their heads won’t explode then go ahead! My kids are going insane with stress currently – one is having to isolate 2 weeks before mock GCSE’S that will give her her predicted grades. In tears again tonight with worry. Other one a very bright top A level student who now doesn’t want to go to uni next year and is even talking about dropping out altogether now. She had been utterly enthralled and over-excited about uni up to March. All that promise is disappearing fast – along with her hopes for a bright future. How I hate these bastards for doing that to my beautiful intelligent daughters.
Probably for the best, our University is an empty shell, first year students confined to their rooms. Police harassing students in shared houses to make sure they have no visitors.
Won’t change any time soon.
I do find it incomprehensible that anyone could now believe a single word they say
Oh but Boris can speak
classical Greekcodswallop.#Wibble? More like #Drivel
He’s a fucking Tory, what on Earth are you thinking? Scum, utter scum. An Egomaniac, sociopath and a loyalist. 🤦♂️
AMERICASTOFF
Tonight on the podcast we ask:
Is Joe Biden frightened of going to prison?
What are the UKMSM not telling you?
Why aren’t the BBC able to find a single instance of election fraud?
So is Biden really frightened of going to prison and is that what all the election chicanery is about. C’m on man, he’s one hell of a corrupt son of a bitch – along with his male offspring and his brother!! The only way he could keep himself and the family out of prison was to fix the election which was clearly heading for a Trump landslide.
So what are the UK MSM not telling you? It’s a long long list, so we’ve narrowed it down:
1. The Trump team are amassing a huge amount of evidence of election fraud. Check the interview of Sidney Powell by Lou Dobbs on Fox/You Tube.
2. Trump has already won a clear and important victory in a PA court re setting aside of illegally accepted mail-in ballots.
3. The state legislatures have control of state elections for the Presidency. Four Republican-controlled legislatures in the swing states are in the process of ordering… Read more »
The MSM speak with one voice, following a script: https://twitter.com/RealJamesWoods/status/1327684156340326402
Scary…why can’t the CIA vary the script?
Because they don’t need to work any harder han the couch people who watch it.
Lol!
I disagree that the Democrats cheated in the election just for Biden’s benefit. They’ve been doing everything to stop Trump since before the 2016 election. There was an article musing about impeaching him in April 2016.
It’s about power, pure and simple. They see the presidency, Senate and House as theirs by right, and will do anything for power and anything to keep it.
and the Republicans just do squeaky clean corruption, I suppose?
… and besides which, what the f. has the Trump fan club got to do with Covid and Lockdown?
There does seem to be a divide on the issue of Covid, with Biden generally portrayed as a ‘believer’ and Trump a ‘denier’ . I realise this is a gross over-simplification, but I do think there is a connection between which one is in the White House and the overall global response to the ‘pandemic’. Of course, it’s not strictly ‘on topic’, but it is a related issue.
Absolutely there’s a very strong correlation. The Dems are now using lockdowns to deliberately close down society, and create a diversionary crisis that they sense will help smooth Biden’s path and also set him up for an easy win victory in the early Spring when the war against the virus is declared won.
“There does seem to be a divide on the issue of Covid, with Biden generally portrayed as a ‘believer’ and Trump a ‘denier’ .”
That specific point has been made to Rick H on numerous occasions (several times by me, for certain), but he continues to post the same nonsense in response to references here to Trump that are not properly abusive, as far as he is concerned.
A classic case of Trump Derangement, it appears.
Historically the Democrats have been much more involved in direct fraud. The Republicans used to be the party of money and tend to buy elections.
The problem now is that the Dems have the money advantage now as well (both Clinton and Biden massively outspent Trump), as well as the voluntary and active support of most of the mass media and big tech.
All the anti-Democrat forces have on their side is the truth (relatively speaking). It was just barely enough in 2016, but seemingly the media and big tech bias and resulting one sided torrent of propaganda will likely prove too much this time.
Yes, as well as direct fraud, Trump faced people like Bloomberg deploying the traditional “buy the ekection” strategy of old against him, using his vast fortune to swamp TV channels with anti Trump attack ads.
Even so, I sense Trump won the honest election by a landslide. You can rationalise anything, but I’m swayed by:
– The opinion polls were out by a huge margin…except in these late counting states where the voting process came under Democrat governors.
– That the manual count was suddenly suspended in the swing states controlled by Dem governors as soon as it became apparent Trump was running away with the election.
– That there was the sudden emergence overnight of huge numbers of Biden votes, it seems from machine voting.
– That Trump did so well in Ohio but so badly in PA and Michigan. Especially when you consider the huge enthusiasm for the Trump rallies and Biden’s lacklustre performance.
Not going to say you’re wrong, I simply don’t know.
It is clear that Trump increased his vote over 2016, in the face of all that bought and voluntary propaganda, and there can be little doubt that a significant part of the Democrat vote was people persuaded to vote by the constant lies told about Trump, and suppression of criticism of the Biden gang. Propaganda works, as we have had amply demonstrated again by the coronapanic.
Of course, propaganda and bias are legal and it’s up to Americans to deal with the problems they face. We have our own similar problems, but we have no Trump figure at the head of of our establishment pseudo-“right” party. Just another soft lefty establishment type.
Biden is in favour of lockdown and a national mask mandate. Trump is against lockdowns and in favour of opening up to save the economy. That right there makes it to do with Covid and lockdown.
I responded before reading your comment so I make a similar point,
The US election is not totally unrelated to Covid. Trump seemed set on a Covid policy that embraced the Barrington Declaration. That might have prompted other countries to consider a similar path.
Currently all major countries are using the sledgehammer approach with little variation.
I don’t think China, Japan or Indonesia have any lockdowns.
If anything, even if there is a whiff of rat here, what does that tell you about the massive bias and shutdown operation by the media? It’s been incredible. You cannot believe them for a second. They are not even engaging in the build up of a court case one single bit. That’s just doubling down. One thing about trump is he called Fake News from day 1, and he’s done a great job in maintaining support despite the power battle he’s engaged in with them
We have to note BBC, Sky News and ITV all joined the American media in suppressing the various proofs of Biden’s corruption and other crimes. That shows what they are capable of and we see similar suppression of the truth in relation to Covid in the UK.
Agreed. They ask Trump supporters to accept the validity of a Biden Presidency when there was a Democrat plot every day to prevent Trump taking up the Presidency and then to remove him. They’re still at it now – chief conspirator John Brennan was the other day urging the Cabinet to remove him from office.
They went on for years about Trump supposedly winning with completely unproven Russian collusion/hacking but no doubt Biden will have won squeaky clean.
And they came up with nothing that would stand up. The UK media’s complete lack of interest that the allegations were all based on a dossier provided by a BRITISH Intelligence Officer speaks volumes! Er that’s what we call foreign interference in an American election.
Yes, the same John Brennan who flat out lied to a Senate Committee & spied on them when they were looking at his Agency’s role in torture programs. What a guy!
He did make cryptic reference that Trump knows things that could ‘bring down America’ – of course Brennan will not tell anyone exactly what he meant, but people are having fun speculating. JFK??
The same John Brennan who tells us he voted Communist in his twenties. The same John Brennan whom a colleague says converted to Islam when he married a Muslim woman in Saudi Arabia ( logical since Sharia does not allow a non-Muslim man to marry a Muslim wonan). The same John Brennan who has never issued any clarification on this but who was sworn into office as CIA Director under Obama with his hand on the Constitution not the Bible.
“[Biden’s] one hell of a corrupt son of a bitch”
… so , given that Trump is an even bigger one of that ilk [and lost the popular vote last time)… what’s the choice?
The anti-Trump fanatics, Dems and media, have been trying to nail Trump for four years…they have found nothing like that Biden family corruption – or indeed the very credible allegation by a female staffer of a serious assault on her by Biden or the Creepy Joe video at the welcoming of the new Senator families. The MSM, Sopel, Zurcher, Jay and Bryant from our srate-funded BBC all cover for Biden.
I’m not saying you have to like Trump but not liking him does not justify him being removed through electoral fraud. Whether real massive fraud took place we shall see. As the days have gone by I have become more convinced that it did.
In case you didnt get the ironic SOB reference, Rick, I was referencing Biden’s videoed boasting about how he got a Ukrainian prosecutor removed from office, using a US government billion dollar loan as leverage. Of course the prosecutor just happened to be investigating corruption in Hunter Biden’s company.
RickH – Hillary’s margin of victory in the 2016 popular vote totals can be accounted for by 5 New York counties
(Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, Westchester & The Bronx), and 1 California county (Los Angeles). Hence the reason for the Electoral College, so the people get a President of the United States, not New York & California.
It’s saddened me today thinking that some of the last relatively sane areas of the western world will soon fall. No doubt the BBC will be celebrating.
On the Dominian system, check out this New York Times vid showing how it’s hacked.
https://populist.press/nyt-flashback-demonstrates-why-voting-machines-are-bad/
Sorry BeBop, the NYT is suffering from Selective Alzheimer’s and cannot remember anything it did or said more than two months ago.
Police arrested people in Hull today. No other info.
One photo of Wolverhampton but no info. Hopefully there will be some reports tomorrow.
Custody Sergeants are busy today.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-54932843
Nick Triggle article. I get the impression he may have been spoken to, but is dropping a few hints on the scam.
Comments are open, Tallyho !
England’s deputy chief medical officer Prof Jonathan Van-Tam was unequivocal this week when he said he didn’t see the vaccine “making any difference” this winter.
Then what’s the point in rushing it out now???
Cmon Cheeze – there’s money to be made, and time is money.
First vaccine off the rank gets first call on the pot of gold…..
Twice!
Please take out the bits where he is dropping hints for me? Too much focus on cases in the first 5 paragraphs put me off. Completely flawed analysis
Hi Everyone,
I have been on a phone holiday for a few days.
I have been catching up with today’s posts and notice a recurring theme:
David Icke and the fear of being seen as weird.
I haven’t met Mr Icke but I have read a lot of stuff he writes and was impressed by a speech he gave at Hyde Park a few weeks ago. I venture the opinion that he has narcissistic injuries which make him easy to mock.
However, that does not invalidate what he says. And he has emerged as a meaningful prophet of our current trials. We British are unusually frightened of ‘weirdness’. We are terrified of being seen to be different. In times like these that is a major impediment to critical thinking and it is being used against us I believe. We live in weird times. Take the 5G conspiracy theories. No one wants to be seen as one of them nutters. And yet- do any of us really know what the effects of prolonged exposure to high potency electro magnetic fields are on animal life . I suspect none of us do. But nonetheless we rush to condemn those who, possibly irrationally,… Read more »
Can I just make a gentle request: that we stop using the expression ‘terrified’ when we are not that at all. I am not ‘terrified’ of Covid, NWO, the fucking Illuminati (whoever they are), death, the Old Bill or a bad write-up in The Guardian. Certainly not of ‘being seen to be different.’ Idle mis-use of language distorts reality. Terrified suggests helplessness, no power, victim and the lack of resourcefulness to fight back. Don’t be ‘terrified’, get angry…and hit back.
Well said Bella.
Don’t get mad – get even.
Please forgive the hyperbole. Please substitute : very wary of . The point remains the same. We do not , on the whole, want to be seen as being different from our fellows. We need to dare to be different.
Thanks. I just think that the low vibration of fear takes way our power. Get angry, hit back….but there is nothing to be fearful of. We are all going to die ffs.
We dont need to dare really – we kinda are different
Watching the livestream from Bristol today, I noticed a policeman being wound up by an articulate and persistent protester. A police colleague came up to him and obviously said something in his ear because he immediately put his shoulders down and collected himself.
I don’t think they wanted trouble any more than most of the protesters. Their job was to arrest Corbyn and that seemed to be about it – from what I saw.
Similarly in Liverpool, the police very effectively split the main body of the protesters into smaller groups and just stood their ground as the groups had no option but to disperse. Effective and very non-thuggish from what I saw.
Unlike some of the comments – and I’m glad those trolls were safely at home and not inciting riots on the street!
That said, the directions the police work under are still a flagrant breach of civil rights. Never forget that.
Oh I would never excuse their directors!
Why do so many shops have notices saying “No Mask No Entry”?
It’s a classic “we won’t punish them, we will punish you” scenario.
Because they’re dicks with no knowledge of the law.
Also, so we know what shops to boycott.
Yep. Still need a hairdresser after binning mine – getting a bit unkempt now.
Principles don’t make for good grooming these days.
Good point, but if you can, make them aware of why you will be boycotting. When cold hard cash is at stake, people may be more willing to question MSM narratives..
Some shops have ‘no entry without mask or valid exemption’. But I suspect some don’t want the concept of ‘valid exemption’ being widely known about.
Because the image of a person with a face has become a representation of death. Like every superstitious gesture, act and token, at bottom, the notices are attempts to ward off mortality.
Which is strange, because what faces are usually covered?
Dead faces.
I think it’s life they are scared of.
When you say that, do you mean life as opposed to death – so, life in the sense of, for example, having to make choices and take responsibility and face facts and know oneself? Or do you mean life in the sense of mortal being, life as a state bound up with the reality of death?
Becasue they want to go bust?
If only! Local bakers doing pretty well on what looks like almost 100% mask compliance.
Only because people still have to eat..
An absolute Master Baker
One place had a sign “It is the law to wear a mask“
Another of those ‘the law is what I think it is’ notices. Just like it was ‘the law’ that we were only ‘allowed one hour of exercise per day’ in Lockdown 1.
Almost all of the shops here have the same notice. I don’t go into shops for the most part, but I did notice that the government buildings and our liquor stores (government run) do post the entire by-law which covers exemptions. However, the liquor store will get around the exemption by offering curb side pickup and delivery options. That’s how the grocery stores get around it as well; where it gets dicey is for goods and services where there is no alternative. I haven’t faced it yet, but I’m sure I will.
I’ve been having one of those days when you fear it will never end, especially now we’re properly losing the USA.
Read the BMJ article. It really does list a number of ways in which the tide is turning :
> PCR not fit for purpose
> Shady government dealings in their pandemic fire sale (Court Case set for January led by Moynahan, Caroline Lucas MP)
> Conflicts of interest at the highest levels within the pandemic operations, including SAGE
> Ignoring or even gagging of alternative opinion in the medical profession
> vaccine dangers
Send that to your MP and tell them to wake the fuck up.
There is indeed good news but on a bad day you can just imagine this shit going on for years. And not being lucky enough to have a non-useless MP I’ve just gotten the usual boiler plate rubbish.
We have had many of these underlying issues just bubble up as the corrupt see Covid as their opportunity for domination and £££. They’ve been lurking, taking little pieces of your liberty here and there, skimming from the top. Soft corruption. Now, they’ve overplayed their hand. They’ve come out into the open thinking this was it, their time to impose their wet dream on the rest of us.
Yet, they’ve overplayed their hand. They thought we wouldn’t be watching. This may take years and there will be pushback on a grand scale. But the people and truth wins the day. I truly believe this ends with Hancock in jail. That’s how deep I think this corruption and illegal use of state power goes.
Denmark protests against the debate on mandatory vaccination.
https://twitter.com/riseupmelbourne/status/1327416927996706816
Even if we are winning the thought of it going on for years is still so depressing.
I know what you mean. But Trump isn’t going away, even if he leaves the White House. I think he will probably be able to achieve just as much if not more from outside, in the same way Farage has done.
Well said indeed. But it ain’t over till it’s over. And it ain’t over. There’s still a lot more counting and investigation to be done – that’s not accomplished overnight. If nothing else it will expose a rotten system, and that’s good. But personally, I think he’s still in with a chance. And I’ve no doubt he (and his party) was robbed.
Seen the speech by Jon Voight? It is powerful…
Angelina’s dad?
Is there a link?
Keep going – it is like a roller coaster! You hit the bottom but then something or someone gives you new momentum!
I do get good days when we get a positive development.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugRnjpXEwTo
Very good, like he says it isn’t a conspiracy as everything is published and openly spoken about. The great reset is happening now in the background, don’t know how any one can still deny it ‘build back better’ etc. Resist it now whilst we still can.
Mahyar Tousi has just spoken about this too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R99fXxOqnfI
I saw that, it’s quite positive that Mahyar is speaking about it as it gets wider exposure. Like Jeff Taylor he tends to play things quite safe, might prompt some more people to do some research. Need more people to see the sinister control freak Klaus Schwab.
Visual Evidence Technician:
https://www.jobtrain.co.uk/merseysidepolice/displayjob.aspx?jobid=6089&fbclid=IwAR0n235LhCFjJbS6lMpSFPVl-3vdZZ1EICqgqc-jHAyrHvjry55nnLT8x3E
Maybe send them some visual evidence?
Surveillance State Enabler required, good perks and pension.