Don’t Panic, Mr Mainwaring
Yesterday saw another Downing Street press conference, with more depressing news. The Telegraph has the story.
The new Covid variant may be deadlier than the original strain, Boris Johnson warned on Friday night, with scientific analysis for the Government suggesting the strain could kill 30% more infected people.
Mr Johnson was told on Friday morning that the first major study of the mutation – which emerged in Kent last month – had found evidence that it is more lethal as well as being up to 70% more infectious.
The Prime Minister faced questions about whether the lockdown could now last longer and said he could not consider lifting the restrictions while infections remained “forbiddingly high”…
Although Sir Patrick Vallance, the Chief Scientific adviser, and Prof Whitty stressed that there was a lot of uncertainty about the emerging research, initial analysis by three universities suggested the new Covid variant could kill between 30 and 91% more infected people than the original strain.
The Department of Health’s committee on New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats (NERVTAG) analysed the data and reported that the Kent variant is likely to kill 1.3% of those who get it, compared with one per cent for the original strain.
The news of increased mortality was based on the conclusions of a NERVTAG meeting, and as ever, it made its way to journalists ahead of the afternoon’s conference. Robert Peston had a briefing from Neil Ferguson which earned him a sharp rebuke from Deborah Cohen:
Naturally, any concern that the new strain is more deadly deserves to be taken seriously, but it soon emerged, with the release of the NERVTAG paper, that the evidence is rather thin. MailOnline reports:
A SAGE warning revealing that scientists are only 50% sure the Kent strain of coronavirus could be more deadly was handed to ministers just hours before last night’s ‘scare-mongering’ press conference, it has been revealed.
Ministers were only informed about the development yesterday morning after scientists on the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG), a subcommittee of Sage, discussed the issue on Thursday.
The group concluded there was a “realistic possibility” that the variant resulted in an increased risk of death when compared with the original strain.
Evidence for increased mortality remains thin – NERVTAG papers reveal that the term “realistic possibility” is used when scientists are only 40 to 50% confident something is true.
But the decision to reveal the new information just hours after learning of the development is a yardstick of how alarmed ministers are.
It came after some critics accused ministers of “scaremongering” by announcing their fears the Kent strain is more deadly at short notice and while admitting in a press conference yesterday that the evidence that it is more deadly is still “weak”…
The report continues:
The SAGE paper released last night after being handed to ministers cited three studies of the risk of death associated with the new strain:
A London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine study that said the hazard of death within 28 days of test for the mutant strain compared with non-mutant strains was 1.35 times higher. This was based on a study of 2,583 deaths among 1.2 million tested individuals;
An Imperial College London study of the Case Fatality Rate of the new mutant strain that found the risk of death was 1.36 times higher. This study looked at all cases of new variant but the total number was not revealed in the papers;
A University of Exeter study that suggested the risk of death could be 1.91 times higher. The papers provided no additional background on the number of deaths looked at during the study.
But the SAGE scientists admit that there are problems with the data of each study meaning they are only 50% sure that the new mutant strain carries a higher risk of death. These include the fact that:
Analysis is based on just 8% of the total deaths occurring during the study period;
Age-matched analysis might be comparing frail elderly people in nursing home outbreaks of the Kent variant, which is more transmissible, with healthier elderly people infected with other strains in the community;
An increase in the severity of infection with the variant would likely lead to an increased risk of hospitalisation, which there is currently no evidence of in individuals suffering from the strain;
Analysis has not identified an increased risk of death in hospitalised cases of the variant.
However, the long time lag from infection to hospitalisation means there isn’t a huge amount of data available on the variant, with NERVTAG saying analyses will become more definitive over the coming weeks.
Worth reading in full.
The NERVTAG paper is available here. This is what the Twitter account Covid Fact Check had to say about it:
Stop Press: The senior financial journalist who occasionally contributes to Lockdown Sceptics has passed on a sharp observation.
For all the hullabaloo about new Kent variant being 30% more deadly, I saw Professor Lockdown quoted in the Telegraph.
“Prof Neil Ferguson, who sits on the Government’s NERVTAG advisory committee, said the latest evidence from university researchers suggests around 30% more people die of the new variant of Covid – but the data is patchy.
‘It is a realistic possibility that the new UK variant increases the risk of death, but there is considerable remaining uncertainty. Four groups – Imperial, LSHTM, PHE and Exeter – have looked at the relationship between people testing positive for the variant vs old strains and the risk of death,’ he told ITV. ‘That suggests a 1.3-fold increased risk of death. So for 60 year-olds, 13 in 1000 might die compared with 10 in 1000 for old strains.'”
This seemed a bit low compared to what Ferguson was saying last March. So I looked up the notorious paper which cites an IFR of 2.2% for 60-69, 5.1% for 70-79, and 9.3% for 80+. A simple average of the estimates comes to 5.5% (a weighted average I imagine would be 3-4%).
Anyway I suspect that after scaring the country into lockdown Ferguson has been quietly adjusting his model. After all, we always knew he had form for making extravagant forecasts.
Stop Press 2: In an interview with Spiegel, epidemiologist Christian Drosten details his concerns about the “British variant”, and says that he is worried about the Summer.
Advertising Standards Authority Forces Cabinet Office to Withdraw Fear Porn
The Telegraph reports that a controversial COVID-19 ad stating that joggers are highly likely to have COVID-19 is to be discontinued following an intervention by the Advertising Standards Authority:
A Government advert that says joggers and dog-walkers are “highly likely” to have Covid is to be discontinued after the regulator said there was no evidence to support the claim.
The Telegraph can reveal that the Cabinet Office has also agreed not to repeat the claim made in the 30-second radio ad – which also warns that “people will die” if individuals “bend the rules” – after being contacted by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).
The taxpayer-funded advert was condemned by MPs and public health experts for spreading “false information” and risking “scaring” people into physical inactivity during the third national lockdown.
The ASA said it had received complaints and would “assess those carefully to establish whether there are any grounds for further action”.
A spokesman said: “We have contacted the Cabinet Office with the concerns that have been raised about its claim, in a radio ad, that it is “highly likely” that individuals such as joggers and dog-walkers have COVID-19.
“Our rules require that advertisers hold robust documentary evidence to prove claims that are capable of substantiation. We have received an assurance from the Cabinet Office that the ad will be discontinued by early next week and the claim about individuals being highly likely to have COVID-19 will not be repeated.
“On that basis, as the Cabinet Office has worked with us to swiftly address and resolve this matter without the need for formal investigation, we consider the matter closed.”
The ASA said it was also assessing complaints about a similar ad about supermarket trolleys, as well as a poster about takeaway coffee headlined “Don’t Let a Coffee Cost Lives”, but had yet to contact the Government about those.
According to the most recent official data, one in 50 people in England was estimated to have Covid between December 27th and January 2nd, rising to one in 30 in London, which would mean individuals are unlikely – rather than highly likely – to have the virus.
Under ASA rules, adverts must be “legal, decent, honest and truthful”.
Worth reading in full.
Stop Press: If you’ve spotted any Government adverts about the virus you think are a bit dodgy, the Advertising Standards Authority has an online form through which it receives complaints about misleading, harmful or irresponsible claims about the current COVID-19 situation.
Stop Press 2: A new Covid advert is being launched. Designed to appeal to a sense of personal responsibility, and featuring numerous close-ups of Covid sufferers and frontline health workers, the advert ends with the line: “Look them in the eyes and tell them you’re doing all you can to stop the spread of COVID-19. Stay home, protect the NHS, save lives.” This campaign might be more effective if the NHS had been more successful at preventing in-hospital infections.
Declining Case Numbers
HSJ reports good news in its update for January 22nd:
The number of Covid positive patients in English hospitals has fallen by 1,101 over the last three days, strongly suggesting that the third wave which has been overwhelming parts of the NHS has peaked.
The national figure for Covid hospital patients has now fallen for three consecutive days since the third wave started numbers climbing on December 4th.
As many as 33,325 Covid inpatients were reported yesterday, a decline of three per cent on the January 18th figure. The fall was driven by a 565-patient reduction in London and one of 460 in the south east, as well as the lack of any substantive growth elsewhere to offset that figure.
London is now 7% down on its peak figure, recorded on Jan 18th, while the south east now has 10% fewer covid inpatients than its peak on Jan 13th. The east region, whose decline has been bumpier, has 5% fewer patients than its peak, also on Jan 13th.
The running seven-day total of admissions of Covid patients in these three areas has now fallen for at least seven consecutive days to January 19th (the latest data available). The south east is at 81% of its peak, London 84 and the east 87.
Elsewhere in the country, Covid patient hospital numbers are marked by a slowing in growth.
The North West, North East and Yorkshire and Midlands all saw their figures grow 10% in the last week, while the south west jumped nine per cent. On January 14th, the corresponding growth rates were 26, 18, 28 and 37%. This change is reflected in small rises or gains in the rolling admissions data.
Meanwhile, responding to the REACT report which suggested increasing infection rates, Tim Spector said that his ZOE app data showed a more positive picture, and suggested infections peaked on January 1st:
Yesterday’s update from the ONS infection survey appears to support a similar conclusion: infections peaked on January 1st. This is not the first time a national lockdown was imposed after the peak in cases:
Why are BAME People More Reluctant than Whites to Have the Vaccine?
Today we publish a guest post by Lockdown Sceptics reader Kit Stocke-Finucane
I’m reluctant to use the term ‘BAME’ not least because there are massive differences within the groups identified by the term, but for the purpose of this note to you I’ll use it.
You may recall a piece Lockdown Sceptics ran in November. In discussing the role of vitamin D in preventing COVID-19, Dr Grimes (et al.) devotes a paragraph to the link between higher levels of melanin in the skin and vitamin D deficiency. But his Twitter feed goes much further and his presentation here on the Amish Inquisition podcast a few days ago goes further still.
In his presentation, Dr Grimes explains that early on in the pandemic he and his colleagues identified at-risk doctors and got vitamin D distributed to them. He highlights the sharp drop in numbers of BAME doctors dying from COVID-19 after their initiative.
News-wise, there was quite a bit of coverage back in the spring given to the fact that more, relatively speaking, BAME doctors die (and at a younger age) than their white counterparts. Then there was nothing, until summer when we have failures in Government to push for the protection of BAME pharmacists.
In June, in an excellent letter, a reader of Lockdown Sceptics expressed scepticism at historic racism being behind higher numbers. He ruled out socio-economic factors. He may well be correct, but the Government and healthcare bodies, it seems, recognise sections of the population in the manner it sees fit and when it suits. Because after recognising the problem for BAME people, then letting the whole thing drop very soon after, it is now the case that BAME people are singled out for their non-compliance with vaccine orthodoxy: only 55% of the Asian community would take up the vaccine, they say. It appears BAME people are not only undeserving of vitamin D, research into genetic predisposition and blood groups, or risk-assessments. In addition, we’re now told they lack mental capacity because it is all down to fake news and WhatsApp, apparently, and not because they’ve been condescended to throughout the pandemic, or because of a healthy, informed reserve about a rushed-out vaccine posited as the only way out.
There’s a budget in news stations for this reporting on BAME, there’s a budget in Government to push out the vaccine over other measures for BAME, but no budget for vitamin D or further research to actually protect the lives that are supposed to ‘matter’ so much as to have an expensive fist in fireworks representing them on New Year’s Eve. You can understand why some people coming under the banner BAME get royally hacked off, can’t you?
How Persuasive is the Latest Pro-Masking Study?
Lockdown Sceptics reader Dr Rachel Mann, has drawn our attention to a study published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society that modelled differing aerosols emitted while talking and coughing, and found “time-of-flight to reach two metres is only a few seconds resulting in a viral dose above the minimum required for infection, implying that physical distancing in the absence of ventilation is not sufficient to provide safety for long exposure times“. The study was also reported in the Guardian.
She writes:
Masks were not evaluated in the study, yet the first study recommendation in the conclusions section was “standing two metres opposite an infected speaker is not safe without the use of a protective mask or respirator”.
Needless to say, this drew my incredulity at such a leap of apparent ‘science’. I emailed the lead and corresponding author and received a response, and quite naturally I have responded again.
In the face of inconclusive evidence of the protective effects of face masks in general population community settings, it’s frustrating that the study authors still seem to feel completely justified in recommending face masks.
Dr Mann emailed the study’s lead author, Dr P.M. de Oliveira as follows:
Dear Sir,
I was most interested to read the paper published today January 20th 2021, by you and your colleagues in The Royal Society regarding the evolution of spray and aerosol from respiratory releases and also reported in the Guardian newspaper this same day. I was delighted to find that your work supports the same conclusion as Fenelly (2020) regarding transmission via aerosol of viruses such as SARS-Cov-2 and other common influenza and coronaviruses rather than the respiratory droplet, which is incredibly important in advancing the body of knowledge with regard to virus transmission, particularly in the current climate of masks, lockdowns and social distancing. However, I wish to draw your attention to the issue of masks, which you mention in your recommendations in the conclusion section in relation to the recent study by Xi et al published in Physics in Fluid in December 2020.
With regard to your recommendation statement in your paper regarding masks and respirators and the statement in the Guardian newspaper that masks should be worn (“We need masks…..”), I wish to draw your attention to the following in the hope that you will clarify your position on the use of surgical masks (if these were indeed to what you were referring to in both the paper and the Guardian news article) as a protection against aerosol transmission.
As you state in your abstract, the size of the majority of aerosol particles are ≈5 to 10 micrometres, the study by Xi et al found a typical 3-layer surgical mask or a zero filtration mask (e.g cloth mask) does not prevent inhalation of aerosol virus particles ≤3 micrometres in size, which is equivalent to ≤3000 nanometres in size. As the size of SARS-Cov-2 virus particles are approximately only 100 nanometres, use of surgical face masks cannot protect an individual from inhaling SARS-Cov-2 virus and therefore, it is unlikely that masks protect the wearer against aerosol infection from SARS-Cov-2. Worryingly, zero filtration (cloth) masks were found to increase deposits of SARS-Cov-2 virus on the face and upper airway. Indeed, the study by Xi et al also reported that when wearing a surgical mask, air enters the mouth and nose through the entire surface of the mask at lower speeds, which favours the inhalation of ambient aerosols into the nose as well as their subsequent deposition in the upper airway.
Given that the Xi et al study was conducted as a tightly controlled experiment and the mask “etiquette” of the general population is sub-optimal at best, it is almost impossible to conclude that surgical masks, particularly ‘trendy’, patterned zero filtration cloth masks, are likely to have a significant benefit in preventing transmission in general population community settings e.g supermarkets and other indoor spaces. Given the size of the SARs-Cov-2 virus, I do feel that it is important in this climate, especially where we have unadulterated social media shaming and blaming of those that cannot wear a surgical mask for disability/health reasons to clarify what you mean by masks. Given that most individuals will likely attribute your use of the term “mask” to mean the common-or-garden ubiquitous blue surgical masks or cloth masks currently seen on every street in the UK (the type as tested by Xi et al), I fear that you should have clarified that at levels of less than three micrometres that surgical masks are likely to be ineffective. In hindsight, it would have been more useful to explain what you mean in your recommendations by using “masks and respirators” (to which masks and respirators are you referring?) and in which context they might be most beneficial. I hope that you will consider clarification, especially in the mainstream press.
I look forward to your response.
Dr P.M. de Oliveira responded:
Dear Dr Mann,
Many thanks for reaching out on such an important issue and for your interest in our paper.
I am dealing with a large volume of emails and, therefore, apologise that my answer for now will be brief.
As widely accepted in the community, scientists expect that virus exhaled is in a wide range of droplet sizes, from hundreds of nanometres to the millimetre size. We know that large droplets quickly fall on the floor due to gravity. From the point of view of transport of the small droplets in air currents, for example, various studies highlight that droplets of up to 100 micrometres could be carried. The debate around the definition of aerosol is, therefore, very important at the moment. It is currently defined as 5-10 micrometres by health agencies, but as I said, most scientists seem to agree this definition needs to be revised. We discuss this in the introduction of the paper.
Now, it has been shown by a number of experiments both in preprint and published papers that even multi-layered cotton masks *may* have some effect in blocking both the emission and inhalation of aerosol. If you refer to the results section of my paper, you will find that because large droplets of the aerosol “carry most of the respiratory liquid exhaled”, they will also, most likely, carry most of the virus exhaled. Hence, even though masks that cannot filter particles at the size of the virus (not as good as FPP2/FPP3, for example), they might still be able to block the dry saliva particles, or aerosols, of sizes in the range of 5-100 nm. I refer you to the work of Professor Catherine Noakes and Professor Linsey Marr, among various other academics, who have and are currently investigating filtration efficiency of masks
I hope to be able to reply to your question in the coming days with more detail.
With best wishes,
To which our reader, Dr Rachel Mann replied:
Dear Pedro,
I note in your conclusions section of your paper that you categorically and unequivocally state “Standing 2 metres opposite an infected speaker is not safe without the use of a protective mask or respirator”
However, in your email response, you state “masks *may* have some effect in blocking both the emission and inhalation of aerosol” and “they *might* still be able to block the dry saliva particles, or aerosols”.
I refer you again to the study by Xi et al.
Whilst I appreciate your response, the use of “may” and “might” does not warrant your study conclusion with regard to mask use.
As a source of protection for primary exposure and secondary transmission the evidence of mask use in general population community settings is inconclusive, with RCT results showing a slight to modest non statistically significant protective effect; study designs at risk of significant bias, imprecision and inconsistency tend toward more beneficial protective effects but are generally not statistically significant.
https://www.eurosurveillance.org/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2020.25.49.2000725?crawler=true
https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/6/12/e012330
https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/m20-6817
As per above, I do not believe that current inconclusive evidence of mask use in community settings warrants your conclusion.
Regards
Rachel
Stop Press: Mask rules appear to be tightening across Europe, following outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel’s announcement on Tuesday of a new measure mandating that people wear surgical masks or higher-specification N95 or FFP-2 devices rather than simply donning cloth face coverings. The French Government is now recommending that people wear surgical masks in public and scientists in the UK are giving similar advice. The Lufthansa Group has also just announced that it is banning the use of cloth masks on flights from February 1st, with passengers now required to wear “either a surgical mask or an FFP2 mask or mask with the KN95/N95 standard”
Stop Press 2: The Evening Standard reports that London Mayor Sadiq Kahn has called for tougher rules on wearing face coverings outside. They are needed, he said, “where people are ‘cheek by jowl’ in outdoor locations”. He has also revealed concerns at the number of Londoners in public places because the lockdown rules were not tight enough and has apparently stopped walking his dog in the park because it is so busy.
Weimar Court: Germany’s Lockdown Restrictions Are Unconstitutional
A ruling just published by the Weimar District Court has found that the Government’s social distancing rules are incompatible with the country’s constitution. Moreover, through forensic analysis of official data, the ruling asserts that the epidemic situation used to justify the law no longer exists. The case concerned a birthday party with too many guests. 2020news has the story – and we must thank Northumbrian Nomad for the prompt and accurate translation he or she let in the comments yesterday.
A district judge in Weimar has acquitted a man ordered to pay a fine for breaching the Covid contact ban by celebrating his birthday with at least seven other participants from a total of eight households – six guests too many, according to the Thuringia Covid regulation. The judge’s verdict is damning: the Covid regulation is in breach of the constitution and can be appealed against in material law.
This is the first time a judge has engaged intensively with the medical facts, economic consequences and effects of specific policies.
Part of the Rechtstaat Principle, the principle of the state acting in accordance with the rule of law, is the imperative of precision in legislation. Laws cannot simply impose across-the-board regulations, thereby affording authorities licence to act according to whim, which would amount to arbitrary rule. According to the Federal Infection Protection Act (IPA), the “relevant authorities” are to impose “the requisite safety measures”. In normal times, this means that spreaders or persons suspected of spreading an infection may be isolated or contaminated areas closed off.
The IPA does not envisage a general ban on contact also extending to healthy people. However – and this is the interpretation made by many administrative courts so far – it may be permissible to go beyond the purview of the IPA in the case of an “unprecedented event” that was so new that the legislator would have been unable to pass the necessary regulations in advance.
The judge rejects this pretext. As early as 2013, the Bundestag had access to a risk analysis conducted with the participation of the Robert Koch Institute, concerning a pandemic caused by a “SARS-type virus”, which described a scenario of 7.5 million dead in Germany over a period of three years, and discussed anti-epidemic measures during such a pandemic (Bundestag publication 17/12051). The legislator was therefore able, in regard to such an event that was considered at least “conditionally probable” (occurrence probability class C), to study the provisions of the IPA and if necessary adjust them. This political failure, as a result of which Germany went into the pandemic virtually unprepared – without legal instruments governing control of the virus, without stocks of masks, PPE and medical equipment – cannot now lead to politicians’ simply closing a gap in legislation as they see fit.
Particularly given that an epidemic situation, i.e., the basis for the expansion of the routine infection protection provisions, simply does not exist (or no longer exists). The numbers of those infected and showing symptoms were already falling in the spring. The lockdown thus came late and was generally ineffective.
At no time, therefore, has there been a concrete danger of the health service’s being overwhelmed by a ‘wave’ of COVID-19 patients. As can be seen from the DIVI ICU register newly established on March 17th, 2020, an average of at least 40% ICU beds in Germany were free at all times. In Thuringia, 378 beds were registered occupied on April 3rd, 36 of these with COVID-19 patients. Meanwhile there were 417 beds vacant. On April 16th, two days before the issuance of the regulation, 501 beds were registered occupied, 56 with COVID-19 patients, and 528 beds were vacant… Thuringia registered its highest number of notified COVID-19 patients in spring at 63 (on April 28th). Thus, at no time did the number of COVID-19 patients reach a level that could have justified fears of the healthcare system’s being overwhelmed.
This estimate of the actual dangers from COVID-19 in the spring of 2020 is confirmed by an evaluation of settlement data from 421 clinics belonging to Initiative Qualitätsmedizin, which found that the number of SARI cases (severe acute respiratory infection) treated as in-patients in Germany in the first half of 2020 was 187,174 – lower than the figure for the first half of 2019 (221,841 cases), even though this figure included those SARI cases caused by COVID. The same analysis showed the numbers of ICU and respirator cases lower in the first half of 2020 than in 2019…
The judgement is powerful:
The judge concluded that there were no “unacceptable gaps in protection” that could have justified recourse to across-the-board regulations. These measures therefore “violate human dignity guaranteed inviolable” in Article 1, Paragraph 1 of the Federal Constitution. This is a devastating accusation against the Federal Government. It is striking how coldly the Weimar judge concluded this months-long discussion:
“A general ban on contacts is a severe intervention in civic rights. It is among the fundamental liberties of the individual in a free society to determine for himself or herself with whom (on presumption of consent) and under what circumstances he or she will make contact. Free encounter among people for all imaginable purposes is also a fundamental basis for society. The obligation of the state here is categorically to refrain from all intervention that purposefully regulates and limits this. Questions of how many people a citizen may invite to his home or how many people a citizen may meet in a public place to go for a walk, play sports, shop or sit on a park bench are categorically of no legitimate interest to the state.”
In imposing a general ban on contact, the state – albeit with good intentions – attacks the foundations of society by imposing physical distance between citizens (‘social distancing’). No one, even in January 2020, could have imagined, in Germany, being prevented by the state on pain of a fine from inviting their parents to their own home without banishing other family members from the house for the time they were there. No one could have imagined being forbidden to sit with three friends on a park bench. Never before in Germany has the state come up with the idea of imposing such measures to counter an epidemic. Even the risk analysis ‘Pandemic caused by SARS-type virus’ (Bundestag publication 17/12051), which described a scenario of 7.5 million dead, does not consider a general ban on contacts (or bans on leaving the home or the general suspension of public life). Apart from the quarantining and segregation of infected individuals, the only anti-epidemic measures it discusses are school closures, the cancellation of mass events and the issue of hygiene recommendations (BT 17/12051, p. 61f).”
Much of the public has now almost come to terms with the new normal. However, as the judge points out, the life that was previously considered ‘normal’ has now been reinterpreted as a crime.
“Although it appears that a shift in values has taken place over the months of the Covid crisis, with the consequence that many people find procedures that were formerly considered absolutely exceptional more or less ‘normal’ – which of course also alters perspectives on the constitution – there should be no doubt that by imposing a general ban on contacts, the democratic Rechtsstaat has broken what was previously seen as a self-evident taboo.
“It must also be noted – as an aspect worthy of special consideration – that the state, in imposing its general ban on contacts with the aim of protection against infection, treats every citizen as a potential threat to the health of third parties. If every citizen is seen as a threat from which others must be protected, that citizen is also robbed of the possibility of deciding what risks to take – which is a fundamental freedom. A citizen’s choice of visiting a cafe or a bar in the evening and running the risk of a respiratory infection for the sake of social interaction and pleasure in life, or of exercising caution because she has a weakened immune system and therefore prefers to stay at home, is removed under the provisions of a general ban on contacts.”
The report goes on to detail the judge’s consideration of the collateral damage of lockdown:
The judge also considers the collateral damage of the lockdown rulings, which is now becoming ever more massively apparent.
1. Profit setbacks, losses incurred by businesses, traders and freelance professionals as direct consequences of the restrictions imposed on their liberties;
2. Profit setbacks, losses incurred by businesses, traders and freelance professionals as indirect consequences of lockdown measures (e.g. losses to suppliers of directly-affected businesses; losses resulting from the breakdown of supply chains leading, for example, to production stops; losses resulting from travel restrictions);
3. Wage and salary losses from curtailed hours or unemployment
4. Bankruptcies and destruction of livelihood
5. Consequential costs of bankruptcies and destruction of livelihood
Northumbrian Nomad’s translation of the report from 2020news report is worth reading in full.
The text of the original verdict is available here.
Lockdown Scepticism: The Case for the Defence
In a new piece for Spiked-Online writer and freelance journalist Harrison Putt has issued a rallying for lockdown scepticism. Criticism of the Government’s authoritarian policies is as important as ever he says:
Last Sunday’s papers launched what almost seemed like a coordinated attack against people who dare to question the conventional wisdom and, increasingly, the religious tenets of the pro-lockdown mainstream. The Observer invited Conservative MP Neil O’Brien to brand vocal opponents of mandatory house arrest as dangerous loons. Meanwhile, in the Sunday Times Dominic Lawson attacked healthy scepticism of the Government’s efforts to fight the virus, implying such objections were motivated by capricious disregard for the elderly and blind trust of “pet experts”.
Lockdown sceptics like myself, now routinely slandered as ‘Covid-sceptics’, have taken a serious kicking in recent weeks. But we should avoid self-pity, not least because one can already picture how the likes of O’Brien and Lawson would respond: “The sceptical cranks think they’ve had it tough? Someone should give these Covidiots a tour of London’s overwhelmed hospitals, not to mention its morgues.”
They would not be wrong to point to such realities. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the number of deaths in England up to 25th December 2020 was 70,000 more than the five-year average, a rise of 12.3%. While hospitals avoided being overwhelmed during the first wave, they have since come under considerable pressure, especially in London. Still, none of that justifies slandering critics of lockdown as a homogeneous crowd of deluded cranks who reject ‘the science’. Supporters of the Government’s destructive measures would do better to address, with intelligence and good faith, the strongest arguments made by those of us who oppose them.
But the remarkable levels of conformity in parliament and the media mean that O’Brien and Lawson feel no obligation to do so. Instead, bar the occasional good point, they prefer to set fire to a battalion of straw men.
O’Brien has fun combing through predictions made by lockdown sceptics that did not materialise. Toby Young, editor of the Lockdown Sceptics blog, is singled out for saying: “There will be no ‘second spike’ – not now, and not in the autumn either.” Young has since graciously admitted that this summer prediction was mistaken. The same cannot be said for Neil Ferguson’s insistence, a full week after Sweden’s daily deaths actually peaked, that fatalities there would continue to “increase day by day” – not to mention Chris Whitty’s presentation of a graph projecting 49,000 daily UK cases by mid-October (there were actually around 15,000).
Worth reading in full.
Postcard From Paraguay
Today we publish a postcard from a reader in Paraguay. The country won renown for locking down hard and fast after registering its first cases of COVID-19, but it is not likely that they will do so again:
The mental atmosphere in Paraguay at the moment is close to what I had hoped in vain it would be in Britain by now. That is, while there are still some restrictions, life is more or less back as it was the last time I visited in the carefree days of January 2020. People don’t talk much about Covid, they don’t obsess over numbers of cases or deaths, and nobody swerves off the pavement to walk past you. Masks are mandatory both indoors and (since December) outdoors, but compliance outdoors is reassuringly low: under the nose, under the chin and dangling off one ear are all common sights, and away from the city centre and main streets, entirely naked faces are tolerated without comment…
Why didn’t Paraguay re-enter lockdown when cases and deaths started to climb in July? Basically, it couldn’t afford to. Paraguay is still a fairly poor country with only a rudimentary welfare state, a small tax base, many small family-owned businesses (it’s a remarkably un-globalised place) and a large informal economy. After a couple of months of copying the full lockdown policies of vastly wealthier countries, for many Paraguayans it was a choice of returning to productive activity, or collapsing into poverty. Their president and health minister surely wanted to continue with the restrictions, but public pressure to reopen was strong enough to force their concession.
What’s more, everyone I speak to on the topic says the same thing: that Paraguayans won’t accept another lockdown. This may sound like hot air, to be wafted away if and when a fresh spike of infections triggers panic again. But aside from the anti-lockdown force of economic necessity, for the older generations (including my husband), enforced restrictions and curfews are disturbing echoes of the country’s long, brutal military dictatorship under Alfredo Stroessner, which only ended in 1989. The echoes were particularly sharp when members of the armed, balaclava-clad, paramilitary police motorcycle unit Lince (‘Lynx’) published videos of themselves humiliating groups of young men who they had caught breaking lockdown, forcing them to do press-ups, or march and repeat boot-camp chants with their hands on their heads. Public opinion was predictably divided, with the usual contingent pleased that “covidiotas” got what they deserved; but the majority was rightly appalled by the sneering cruelty of the Lince officers.
Furthermore, Paraguayans are quite used to defending their liberty since the country’s return to democracy, with multiple attempted coups and seizures of power coming up against strong, and sometimes bloody, popular protest. Most recently, in 2017, a large group set fire to the building that houses the country’s Congress, in protest against an attempt by the president of the day to pull off a familiar trick in Latin America: circumventing his one-term limit by changing the constitution. He failed.
Worth reading in full.
Dr Clare Craig Rebuts Neil O’Brien’s Smears
Dr Clare Craig, a regular contributor to Lockdown Sceptics has written a stout rebuttal to Neil O’Brien MP following his tirade against her on Twitter. It’s a defence both of lockdown scepticism and free inquiry, and it’s worth clicking on this tweet and reading the full thread.
Round-up
- “Inflation is the easiest way out of this – just don’t expect the Government to admit it” – “The UK Government borrowed £34.1 billion in December,” writes John Stepck in Moneyweek. Realistically, there is only one way to pay it back: inflation
- “Fixating on the R number isn’t real science” – Writing in the Times, Ed Conway reminds us that the R number is just an educated guess
- “Children did not play a key role in spreading coronavirus during the first wave of the pandemic and are ‘unlikely’ to have boosted infection numbers, study finds” – Mailonline reports on a new study which suggests that children are not the vectors of transmission once feared
- “Screens can’t replace schools” – Schools are closed again and, writing for the Conservative Woman, UsForThem’s Christine Brett thinks that the focus on screens and free school meals misses the point. Children learn through personal and social interaction and they need to be in school
- “The conceivable inconceivable: COVID-19 and Giving Up Who We Are” – Omar S. Khan’s latest article is based on his conversation with Sinéad Murphy, a regular contributor to Lockdown Sceptics
- “Sensationalist headlines spread Covid panic and lead to bad decisions” – William Wellesley tears into to the media’s Covid sensationalism for CAPX and suggests a post pandemic inquiry to consider whether it has acted responsibly
- “James Bond film No Time to Die delayed again over Covid” – The Guardian reports on the worst news of the day
- “People have to got to rise up and bring it down!” – Desmond Swayne on talkRADIO says the idea people will accept endless lockdown restrictions and “go on living like troglodytes is absurd”
- “Libertarians in a Pandemic” – They might have some good ideas after all, says Jacob Grier
- “I’m glad to be living in India at this time” – Writing in the Deccan Herald, Sharrell Cook say she is glad to be living in India. Why? Because the country has defied the “dire predictions of death, despite lifting the lockdown”, it has pioneered early treatment protocols, including ivermectin, and it has not closed itself off to the world
- “How to get a free bag of marijuana with the COVID-19 vaccine” – The New York Post reports on a new incentive to encourage young people to take the vaccine
- “With Trump out of the way, suddenly we’re hearing good news about COVID-19” – Now Trump is gone, America is hearing that things are heading in the right direction. A coincidence perhaps, but Ryan McMaken is sceptical on the Mises Institute blog
- “Joe Biden challenges Americans to ‘mask up’ for first 100 days – video” – Masks will be a key part of President Joe Biden’s first 100 days, reports the Guardian
- “Americans are fleeing lockdowns, when they can afford it” – Writing on the AIER blog, Jeffrey A. Tucker notes that Americans are forsaking locked-down cities like New York, San Diego and Chicago and heading for the freedom of cities such as Phoenix, Dallas and Denver
- “Teaching the poor to fail” – A new documentary by Sophie Rochelle Sandor, investigating how the state school system holds the poorest children back, featuring Katharine Birbalsingh, Theodore Dalrymple and Toby
Theme Tunes Suggested by Readers
Six Today: “Only a Fool Would Say That” by Steely Dan, “No Way Out” by Jefferson Starship, “Money for Nothing” by Dire Straits, “Isolation” by Alter Bridge, “Who Knows Where The Time Goes” by Sandy Denny and “Bubbles in My Beer” by Bob Wills.
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 as well as post comments below the line, 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 so you can share it. To do that, click on the headline of a particular story and a link symbol will appear on the right-hand side of the headline. Click on the link and the URL of your page will switch to the URL of that particular story. You can then copy that URL and either email it to your friends or post it on social media. Please do share the stories.
Social Media Accounts
You can follow Lockdown Sceptics on our social media accounts which are updated throughout the day. To follow us on Facebook, click here; to follow us on Twitter, click here; to follow us on Instagram, click here; to follow us on Parler, click here; and to follow us on MeWe, click here.
Woke Gobbledegook
We’ve decided to create a permanent slot down here for woke gobbledegook. Today, the news that the three wise monkeys, a Japanese pictorial maxim, have been cancelled by a group of academics at the University of York. The Daily Mail has the details.
They’re a cultural trope that have been used to symbolise the proverbial ‘see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil’.
But it appears the three wise monkeys have been cancelled after academics at the University of York decided they are an oppressive racial stereotype.
Organisers of a forthcoming art history conference for the university have apologised for using a picture of the monkeys in promotional material and have pulled the image from their website to avoid offence.
“Upon reflection, we strongly believe that our first poster is not appropriate as its iconology promulgates a long-standing legacy of oppression and exploits racist stereotypes,” academics wrote in a statement seen by the Times.
It continued: “We bring this to your attention so that we may be held accountable for our actions and in our privileges do and be better.”
The three monkeys are depicted as having one with its eyes covered, another with its ears covered and another with its mouth covered.
The image became popular in Japan in the 17th century before spreading to the West.
It is associated with the Tendai school of Buddhism where they are perceived as helpers for divine figures.
But a spokeswoman for the University of York said academics were concerned the image could be insulting to ethnic minorities.
“The Japanese symbol of the three wise monkeys was used to represent a postgraduate conference about the sensory experiences of the body, and it also appeared on a document that asked for submission of research papers to the conference on a range of areas, one of which included papers that represented black, indigenous and people of colour,” she said.
“It was considered… that a monkey, which has been used in a derogatory way in the past, could cause offence in this context, despite this not being the intention of the organisers, so the image was removed.”
The image was used on a call for submissions page for the online conference Sensorial Fixations: Orality, Aurality, Opticality and Hapticity.
Experts in Japanese culture last night hit out at any suggestion that the monkeys could be insulting.
Lucia Dolce, who has been studying Japanese Buddhism at the School of Oriental and African studies at the University of London for 20 years, told the Times: “The monkey is a sacred being. They are vehicles of delight.”
Worth reading in full.
Stop Press: The Mail‘s Guy Adams has written an amusing piece about Leicester entitled “The University of Woke“.
Stop Press 2: In his latest piece for Breitbart, James Delingpole takes issue with Boris Johnson’s recent assertion that there is nothing wrong with being woke.
Stop Press 3: A Lockdown Sceptics reader has sent in a new example of the woke language in action.
“Mask Exempt” Lanyards
We’ve created a one-stop shop down here for people who want to obtain a “Mask Exempt” lanyard/card – because wearing a mask causes them “severe distress”, for instance. You can print out and laminate a fairly standard one for free here and the Government has instructions on how to download an official “Mask Exempt” notice to put on your phone here. And 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. Another reader has created an Android app which displays “I am exempt from wearing a face mask” on your phone. Only 99p.
If you’re a shop owner and you want to let your customers know you will not 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. See also the Swiss Doctor’s thorough review of the scientific evidence here and Prof Carl Heneghan and Dr Tom Jefferson’s Spectator article about the Danish mask study here.
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 in October 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 three quarters of a million signatures.
Update: The authors of the GBD 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”. Follow Collateral Global on Twitter here. Sign up to the newsletter here.
Judicial Reviews Against the Government
There are now so many legal cases being brought against the Government and its ministers we thought we’d include them all in one place down here.
The Simon Dolan case has now reached the end of the road. The current lead case is the Robin Tilbrook case which challenges whether the Lockdown Regulations are constitutional. 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 and Runnymede Trust’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.
And last but not least there was the Free Speech Union‘s challenge to Ofcom over its ‘coronavirus guidance’. A High Court judge refused permission for the FSU’s judicial review on December 9th and the FSU has decided not to appeal the decision because Ofcom has conceded most of the points it was making. Check here for details.
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.
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…
The genius that is Remy of Reason TV, has an entertaining take on the legislators who socially distance themselves from their Covid rules. A must watch.
Discussion
Comments
This week across the site:
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What’s the detail on the sneaky July 17th extension to this clusterfuck ??..
Guardian “journalist” (I use the word with caution) Nick Cohen has been on the booze again:
“Toby Young, Julia Hartley Brewer and the rest of the gang call themselves “lockdown sceptics” and imply they are a cut above deranged Anti-Vaxxers. But both deal in ignorance and both promote ideas that can kill.”
Cohen really is a prick. It’s always worth remembering what this premier league dickhead is like when he’s had a few too many :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRo8g6g-4sY
Ignorance of what exactly?
And if he ever tries to take on heavyweights such as Professor Heneghan or Professor Gupta in a free and fair debate, can I watch? Will I have a long weight?
Seems he’s just as deranged as many of the Twits on this Twitter thread.
https://twitter.com/DailyMirror/status/1353115545114173441
He must think that doctors asking for the time between jabs to be reduced must be dealing in ignorance and promoting ideas that can kill too.
I admit I’m hard on the media but only because I want more balanced reporting. The linked Twitter thread shows even the media aren’t safe when they do actually try to go against the grain.
Oh dear 🙂
He was no different about Brexit, and spent four years writing the same article over and over again in the Spectator, bemoaning how big a mistake it was, and the plebs were too stupid to know what they were doing.
” If You Get The COVID Vaccine You Will Go To Your Doom ” Says Medical Doctor Sucharit Bhakdi.
I talked to my parents today, they are very much more scared now than they were before Operation scare the population silly MK3 .
It’s still almost impossible to talk to them about “The Situation”. They love the BBC. As far as they are concerned everything on the internet is fake news. At least Dad is getting better at listening to me and not fighting back and getting all grumpy. As far as he is concerned, if he gets it “It’s 50%-50%”..
Anyway, it turns out that some friends of theirs (early 70’s) were coming to visit before their son flew out to California to live with his new wife. The son needed a test, so they got a notifiction that son had tested +ve, and that they had to all get tested. They tested positive too!
Waaaa!
They told my Dad “Not to tell anybody” like they had AIDS! lol
So they all felt a bit shit for about a week and got better. Terrifying!
Dad also relayed a story about a bloke he knew who knew a bloke in Exeter he got it and sadlidied, no it wasn’t his dicky ticker, nope not cos he was 65,… Read more »
I watched BBC News for about half an hour the other day and in that short time decided it is far worse than Sky.
They don’t have sky, perhaps they watch CH4 and think they are getting a balanced view…I dunno. I can’t tell them a thing, they just don’t want to hear that it’s a massive scam. They get all updet and angry, how dare I say it’s a scam and the government are lying….pfffff it’s insane.
Just know that you are not alone. It’s truly like we have a second sight that the majority (even our loved ones) neither have nor want to believe us over the god of truth – the BBC 🙄
Let’s start with what we know. Belarus (less excess deaths than the UK), Sweden (ditto), Oresund region (similar deaths, different restrictions).
Now if they want to say this is wrong, it is incumbent on them to come up with strong evidence for this. If they can not, then they really do need to understand that their intransigence is (so far as I can see) pretty much on the same level as superstition or prejudice. The truth is the truth, no matter people’s personal preferences.
I send Dad a link to Ivor talking about the “Dry Tinder” effect, that went down OK, I just sent him the NHS occupancy graph the UKC did, the circular chart of deaths for the last five years, the chart that shows this year as the tenth deadliest year since about 1997.
I am making some head-way but Mum is just no able to talk about it at all sensibly with me.
Oh, and the age standardised mortality graph going back to 1971..sowing nothing exceptional about this year, in face we are doing very well indeed compared to the old days.
Instead of telling, perhaps you could try asking. Take the vaccine for example. You could ask if it is safe and effective? You know the answer, but they will only know what The BBC has told them, so you would have a massive advantage. When they say, Yes, you could ask, When did the trials finish? They won’t know, but you do. You could ask, When were the vaccines licensed? You could ask, Has anyone died shortly after being injected? Is there any danger? You know the answers, they don’t. Telling people things they do not want to hear often elicits defensive responses. Asking questions is less likely to do so.
Just heard of a third lockdown suicide today, still don’t know of anyone who’s died of this mysterious virus, in spite of a wide circle of contacts both inside and outside the rail industry……is anyone keeping a graph of the suicides???
Yer I have heard of more people who have done themselves in than have died of covids in that “talking to a random person kind of a way”.
Way way more actually. like about 15 people now who have killed themselves V one or two reports of reasonably close contacts of random people who have died of covids.
I totally agree about the BBC, and other channels, I get the same approach from certain family members, and it’s split our household right down the middle!
I remember reading about how suicide statistics had to be suppressed by the authorities in the German Democratic Republic (Communist era Germany for anyone who doesn’t remember the 80’s) because they were too embarrassing. Whether something similar will be attempted here I don’t know. I’ll guarantee though that more people will die from lockdown suicides than children will from Covid
I enquired on here a couple of weeks ago about national suicide stats. I was told that they are compiled annually from November to November but not actually published for a further six months, which means we should get them in May.
Also, a good post and useful link from LS contributor Leggy on 7th Jan is quoted below (hope he/she doesn’t mind me re-posting):
Just about the only thing released in any official capacity regarding suicides, at least that I’ve seen, is this tweet from London Ambulance Service: https://twitter.com/Ldn_Ambulance/status/1321566876732952581
Thanks Steve.
It’s bizarre but true. This iteration of project fear has been far more successful than any previous attempt. The boy who cried wolf turned upside down.
How can it make sense? I suppose the sadistic abuse has worked. People’s minds have been fried.
Have you tried asking them what happened in 1958/1968? A few times I have asked some family/friends who are 65 or older what they remember about the 2-4 million deaths during the 1958 and 1968 pandemics. Those were similar figures for a world population just under half what it is today (assuming C19 keeps running for 2 years and maybe hits 4 million ‘with Covid’ deaths). They were both pandemic ‘level 2’ severity with IFR around 0.1 to 0.2% (C19 last I checked was 0.23%)
Out of around 10 people I asked over the past few months, of course zero remember anything but knew of the pandemic, and most didn’t even know those happened. Most were only 5-15 years old at the time, and almost zero media coverage. So they are all now too old to remember, and everyone else 50 and under has experienced nothing like this. But even in the cases of 58/68, they isolated the sick, let the healthy get on with life, some masks, gatherings cancelled. Zero questions today about doing the opposite – isolating all the healthy, exposing the vulnerable.
Not sure how old the phrase is – ‘let it pass through the healthy so… Read more »
I remember the really bad flu outbreak in 68. I was 14 and my mum had it as did some friends and neighbours. I don’t recall anyone wearing masks or gatherings cancelled, it didn’t seem to affect everyday life in any way whatsoever.
Agreed, can’t even remember much newspaper coverage…..
Finally got round to watching Luke Johnson’s performance on QT that i’d heard about. This is HIGHLY recommended viewing for any sceptic:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ag4Q4AoRXKw&feature=youtu.be
I couldn’t face watching the whole program, especially as the The Devil Sridhar was on, but trust me, just skip to the bits with Luke and you’ll be inspired.
Devi with her sad little face….awww poooo, what would you say to the families of those 360 who died??????
*sad face pouty lips”
Yer it was good, the QT panel were gobsmacked. Truth stun grenades. Good job to that guy L Johnson, good job indeed.
She’s one of the Sturgeon coven, hopefully gone soon……
Aren’t they delaying the elections in Bonnie Scotland?
Devious Sridhar: “Containment is good for public health and it is good for the economy”.
I’d like to see proof of that!
Luke Johnson is given a lot more speaking time than he would be nowadays – if he’d be allowed on at all!
Hard to believe this bit was said almost a year ago:
https://youtu.be/ag4Q4AoRXKw?t=2156
If the problem didn’t exist then we wouldn’t have to spend time and resources dealing with it. That’s basically what she’s arguing.
It’s pure ideology. If we could turn back time we could have taken action at the right time and we’d not be where we are now. That’s another nice an idea but neither are realistic options.
Belarus must be an economic catastrophe then!
Of course it could be, but if so, it’ll have more to do with Russia – though I suspect they will continue to give them relatively favourable terms whilst their man is in power in Minsk.
Lockdown won’t be affecting her generous salary which will be a drop in the ocean compared to the many millions the SG has spent on trying to destroy and jail Alex Salmond!
She’s an anti alcohol campaigner too, this is all right up her street!
FFS – I can’t get my head around the fact that so many healthy people are getting sick with this thing. It’s tragic.
(Barely) mobile heart attack.
He/she won’t be doing much mobiling
Naughty but funny!
DavidC
As Mr CGL would say – morbidly jolly
Chronic obesity, is that?
Yes, there’s no 2 ways about it, it’s not good for you. Invitable consequence though of the destruction of family life and of communities, of poor diet pushed by Big Food, of poor health outcomes pushed by Big Pharma…
Or an inevitable consequence of stuffing your face and not exercising.
as a coping mechanism for the above.
Save it for the Fatties Anonymous group.
I don’t agree.
Firstly, there’s plenty of public health messaging about good dieting and healthy foods.
And secondly, she’s an adult. She should be capable of thinking for herself.
The fact she has ended up like that is her own fault.
Oh there’s absolutely personal responsibility. That still doesn’t let Big Pharma, Big Food, and those responsible for destroying family life and communities off the hook. I know two brothers, one who has become obese, the other who is relatively slim. People react in different ways to what life throws at them, and people do have the agency to produce different outcomes for themselves if they make the decision to do so. But the people and forces who put them in a difficult position in the first place still have questions to answer. I think of the science which suggested that people with certain genes were likely to turn out really bad – and some scientist (or something) found out that he had these genes – and yet because of the strong support of a loving family and good upbringing (or whatever) he had turned out alright.
People can always make a decision to do right or wrong and use help that is available to them, but it’s still not enough to say, “there are workhouses, hospitals” (or whatever the quote is in A Christmas Carol) and leave them to get on with it.
(Peking Bidden?)
No , this lady is worth three of him / her /them / it.
Dearie me, BBC – always use the wedding photo from 20 years ago when they were 7stone lighter. If ITV can do it, it can’t be that difficult can it? Duh!
What scares me is the fact that my dose of vaccine would be identical to hers.
(Not that I’ve any intention of getting one voluntarily!)
whats gonna kill this one more? covids or doughnuts?
Fuckety balls, that’s big.
the answer of course is not to take responsibility for managing your own obesity, but to shut down other people’s lives and freedoms. yeh, makes perfect sense.
Crimson and Clover:
https://youtu.be/S5eoH4-5z4w
I can’t quite articulate why I’m posting this. It’s before my time but this song always resonated with me. It’s beautiful in its own, unique way. We need beauty more than ever given the current climate.
I like the Joan Jett version.
Sorry mate, I’m not having it. The sound is good, but I can’t get on the firm with a woman singing about a ‘her’. It just doesn’t go, you know?
No worries. The original is great 👍
No worries, Liam. Great stuff. The sound in that version is tip-top. Don’t get me wrong. I’m just not on the firm with a female on the vocals for that song.
I’ve always had a soft spot for that song as well, JD.
You know the Bobby Moore, DM.
You will have no opposition and will be happy. The new abnormal – Starma chameleon.
What a sad yet evil man, a plague on humanity, justice and society.
Just think, this absurd specimen almost makes Johnson look good! Only Labour could achieve such a feat.
Can’t argue with that, sausage.
Chunt !
Twunt!
FAO Stephanos
Could you (or anyone else for that matter) possibly tell me how one uses PM on here?
you need to log in to the forum
I’ve done the log in I need to do to post messages, is there something I need to do after that, and where abouts on the site is that, please?
It is confusing, Hugh. Are you wanting to send a PM to someone who usually comments here, or on the Forum? I rarely see any names from the forum on this particular page.
Stephanos said he had PM’d me and I want to reply. I’ve never actually been able to find the function for PM-ing
Not used it myself but you need to be looking at the forums here (link is at the top of the page too):
https://dailysceptic.org/forums/
Ah, found it, many thanks!
If you go to your control panel thing, you get privatemessages, there you can read your inbox and send messages. I think it you just start typing the user name of who you want to message thats will find who you want to send it to.
I must admit I don’t really use it so I can’t say exactly how it works, I can barely figure it out myself.
So I have seen some encouraging scepticism on Mumsnet recently. After an NHS/Education Union worshipping few months, it seems that nearly a year of childrens lives messed up is really starting to piss our nations Mummies off!! Unfortunately, MNHQ is also censoring debate – yesterday a thread posing the question ‘How long are we all going to put up with this?’, which was started at 11am was closed with the last comment around 5pm the same day, because a few posters were having a robust exchange of opinions. It seems threads with dissenting views are offending the faithful and they are reporting them, like nosey neighbours reporting people leaving their houses more than once a day. Quite extraordinary, given that MN is well known for frank, and quite personal airing of opinions on just about any topic!!
Good. It just foments dissent even more. I’ve had it on a thread (not Mumsnet) asking ‘How worried are you about C-19?’
My response; ‘not worried at all’ – removed. What is the point in speaking to such people? I just take a back seat now and watch the next person get cancelled and annoyed. And the next, and the next. This is how scepticism grows.
‘not worried at all’
Haha, they know your type Tom
Flagged as provocative apparently.
only correct opinions
Do you go by the same username on the Daily Mail, GrannySlayer?
Ah, ok 🙂
Only asked because I used to enjoy the comments from certain people on there. Given it up now though; made my blood boil too hot.
🙂
Hitchens in apocalyptic gloom tonight, probably his best since it started.
https://hitchensblog.mailonsunday.co.uk/
Wow, you weren’t joking.
Glad he mentioned Bhakdi. He’s a lockdown hero for sure. His measured but apocalyptic warnings have kept me up nights, no joke. His book is a must.
My copy arrived today will start it tomorrow.
It was released rapid fire too. These people are immersed in the world of virology and immunology. And from the get go, people like Bhakdi were saying this is a coup of the human spirit, that we are being lied to. Putting it all on the line, having made a career of the best quality from this stuff.
Did you see him on triggernometry? its been taken down by Utube now but when asked about the vaccine his immediate response was “its dangerous“.
It’ll be on Bitchute.
I seen his recent Planet Lockdown interview, very similar. However, he’s especially angry, in his mellow tone, but worried, very worried. He is out of words almost, because for him it is clear as day that this is not science. Everything he has used to direct his being over his career is now considered some kind of quackery by the public and their political masters.
I’m disenchanted with Hitchens.
Here’s a man who has gone against the trend for the last 30 years.
Here’s a man able to walk along an Oxford Street with apparent nonchalance while pursued by a baying, rabid leftist rabble.
And yet here’s a man not prepared to lead a march of tens of thousands of decent citizens against the wanton destruction of everything we hold dear from family life, through jobs, education and health to culture and sport.
I call that a failure of nerve. He seems happier to be a Poundland CS Lewis whose values the PC media can caricature as belonging to the 1950s and not the current era.
I think Mr Hitchens is top dog but that is fair criticism.
I do admire him (doesn’t mean I agree with everything he says, eg his worship of the train over the car…OK for Peter who doesn’t have to worry about the taxi fare from the station to wherever he’s going). But I heard him on Talk Radio and felt he was just going through the motions in his role as the “controversial conservative columnist”. Surely he realises this is the crisis. Lord Sumption makes it clear the assault on our liberties is in an unprecedent scale – I’d say something not seen for something like 400 years. I was hoping Hitchens would do something more than scribble in response
He has to walk a very fine line. Say the ‘wrong’ thing and he’ll be taken down leaving no mainstream point of contact.
Yes, but that wouldn’t be a financial calamity for him as it would be for an ordinary Joe or Jane. He must earn at least £100k a year, probably a lot more , and he doesn’t appear a man of extravagant tastes, so I would hazard he is totally financially secure .
Hitchens has failed us and I think in his heart of hearts he will know he has.
Point is, if he is taken down, he will no longer be able to reach these audiences. Better perhaps if he doesn’t push it too far thus being deprived of his platform.
He is past retirement age anyway so why does he still need to work? As if he needs the money. I like him in many ways but he has disappointed me recently. He clearly fears mass civil disobediance more than he fears lockdown. His idea of people writing to their MP was a pathetic damp squib.
He also refuses to think our rulers are governed by anything other than good intentions. I am afraid I do not see it that way…I see them as the enemy who I would be willing to fight to the death if necessary.
I don’t think these criticisms are fair – he’s a writer and broadcaster, not a political leader or activist. A writer’s job is to speak his own truth, and that he has done admirably – if only there were more like him. to say that he’s useless because he doesn’t do anything more than speak or write is like saying that you hate Freddy Mercury because he never did any good rap music- it’s your problem, not his, you’re looking in the wrong place, go and look for a rap artist if that’s what you’re into! in this case, if you want to see a leader, an activist, an organiser, then look no further than Dolores Cahill
He’s an introvert loner, not march leader material.
Someone with a national profile needs to step forward.There is massive discontent but how can we fight back.At the moment the resistance consists of a Takeaway coffee and a walk in the park.
Totally agree. We are looking for some sort of figurehead who already has a good bank balance and a support network, for whom even a short jail sentence would not be a personal tragedy.
It took till September I think before a single MP spoke up against Lockdownism!!! Well done Desmond Swayne. Since then a few others have joined in but with uncertain blasts on the trumpet.
People like Hitchens may occasionally peruse this site so I think it’s important we send the message: now is the time for action not words. We need someone to lift the banner of freedom and reason and take on the lockdown lunatics.
Desmond Swayne AND Charles Walker. Sir Charles is genuinely passionate in his condemnation of lockdown. How his emotion packed speeches in the HoC haven’t moved the lockdown debate in our direction I have no idea.
Charles Walker has made some fine speeches and he did at least make an intervention when he saw a lone anti-lockdown protestor outside being unjustly handled by the Police. However I am slightly suspicious because it took him so long to find his principled opposition to lockdownism – a good month after Swayne I think, so about seven months after the first assault on our liberty in March). I do hope he’s genuine but I think he is part of the Mayist faction whose prime motivation to remove Johnson so I remain a little sceptical about his real objectives.
Agreed. All talk and not much action.
I feel the same.
However, for sure his time is coming, as it is for all of us.
We will all have to pick a side and sacrifice for what we believe to be true this year.
Probably better keeping him safe to comment on proceedings ! He’s a wise old General 😉
Great response to attacks on him by the now cretinous Private Eye .
i agree however we need Hitchens and or some other prominent figures to lead a protest march .
Lets see how our cowardly police and MSM media respond.
There’s me and Chaos busily updating ‘the list’ and these silly bedwetting cunts are writing their own…
https://twitter.com/_NatashaDevon/status/1352543032189583360?s=20
That’s shocking cancel culture mixed with 1984 media blackout smear campaign. All sorts of suppressive tones.
So if we are worried about the effect of lockdown on people’s mental health and are subsequently against lockdowns, we are ‘weaponising’ it? Are these charities going to tell their people seeking support to stop blaming lockdowns for their deteriorating mental health? What the hell is this madness?
‘Weaponising’ is code for arguing a point to very good effect. Heaven forfend we fight them on their own terms (health) and come out on top. That’s before you broaden the argument out to include wellbeing, where lockdown sceptics have always been on very solid territory.
Take heart, we are chipping away at these fuckers.
They use the term “weaponising” because it’s what they do, they are projecting. It’s called accusing others of what you do yourself.
I only read a little of it, as it appears in such small print, but I agree with their point that the expression “mental health issues” has been trivialised.
But this has been happening for years.
Feeling sad, blue, a little bit down as it is winter, we are “depressed”.
No, we are sad, blue, a little bit down.
After August, if we have 16C, it is “freezing”. No, freezing is 0C.
People, please be aware of your words.
It’s not the sceptics who are trivialising the mental health crisis; it’s the lockdown zealots who, by their actions are effectively disregarding it and denying its unprecedented scale.
Fucking evil, evil people. They have no shame.
The CS Lewis quote rings in my head when I read this stuff:
“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.”
CS Lewis thou shouldst be living at this hour. Here’s another of his:
“But there’s one more thing to be said, even so. Suppose we have only dreamed, or made up, all those things-trees and grass and sun and moon and stars and Aslan himself. Suppose we have. Then all I can say is that, in that case, the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones. Suppose this black pit of a kingdom of yours is the only world. Well, it strikes me as a pretty poor one. And that’s a funny thing, when you come to think of it. We’re just babies making up a game, if you’re right. But four babies playing a game can make a play-world which licks your real world hollow. That’s why I’m going to stand by the play world. I’m on Aslan’s side even if there isn’t any Aslan to lead it. I’m going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn’t any Narnia. So, thanking you kindly for our supper, if these two gentlemen and the young lady are ready, we’re leaving your court at once and setting out in the dark… Read more »
That is powerful.
He must have had a good dealer.
A few pints of Henley’s special was probably enough to do it. ..
It’s from “The Silver Chair”.
👍
it states “nhs staff are seeing larger numbers of severely ill patients with no underlying health conditions and who are relatively young” . really? this following the usual government type description of an nhs in crisis.
Anyway, check out Natasha’s wiki . a political activist with a history of issues and with no actual qualification in the subject (but down with the yoof and a tv pundit).
There’s a long list of people named who it isn’t at all clear have fully endorsed the views contained in the letter – just named as individuals connected to the charity.
Pure doublethink
I didn’t realise mental health was owned by a group of individuals. It seems as if they’re saying anyone talking about mental health assumed to be representing them purely based on the subject matter.
That’s quite a remarable claim.
Katharine Gun – Wikipedia Official Secrets (film) – Wikipedia
This lady was brave, are you ?
Did you know you have to sign the OSAct if you work for forestry commission? Seriously if you plant trees you can be convicted of breach of OSAct!
My Dad had to sign the damn thing to make weedkiller (ICI).
My brother is on her facebook group – she is amazing.
Good film , Dr Kelly ? Alastair , any idea ??
Infighting in Nervtag.Prof Dingwall don’t agree on more deadly strain as stated in pres conference
https://reaction.life/30-per-cent-more-lethal-claim-rests-on-fragile-and-uncertain-evidence-says-nervtag-member/
TBF, He’s been sceptical from the outset.
The Prof here is just Covering himself – they (the Johnson regime) are doing twice as many tests as just before Xmas and their precious case numbers are broadly the same as back then. Oops. So zero growth. I swear, as a chemist with lab experience, that it is 99% probable that cases went up because all the experienced staff took a break at Xmas. Inexperienced staff were covering. Mistakes were made. Any mistakes were never discovered or were covered up. Either way who cares.
The experienced staff are back now so cases are falling as tests are more accurate again. If anyone can disprove this I would really love to see it. Anyone who belittles this never studied Chemistry after GCSE O Level. Just my humble opinion.
Reading between the lines I got the impression from Prof Dingwall that there are some on SAGE and the subgroups that have done quite well out of this crisis.
One answer to anyone trying to blackmail, coerce, bully for the vaccine. Thalidomide.
Check out the Netflix/Harold Evans documentary.
Look up vaxxed on bitchute, research bill gates record in India, see if you can find out about a vaccine in US in 70s (think it was a strain of swine flu) lookup the last sars virus vaccine, history is littered with dangerous recalled/banned vaccines, moderna have NEVER made a vaccine before, now they’ve come out with a form of vaccine that hasn’t been properly tested, Pfizer are criminals recently been fined for some kind of fraud or other.
I’m not anti-vax in principle, but it should be personal choice, informed consent. But they wont give you uncensored information, vaccines contain adjuvants to purposely provoke an immune system reaction, they don’t record or investigate adverse reactions after 28 days, regulators allow big pharma to basically regulate themselves, big pharma don’t pay scientists to prove vaccines don’t work or are dangerous.
Professional liars a.k.a politicians are snake oil sells-men, they don care who dies, they wont be in office by the time any scandal is uncovered, the state backed compensation scheme is rigged against claimants even then £125k for life changing disabilities.
STILL WANT A VACCINE?
Duck Duck Go > Pfizer > Nigeria
I’ve been reading Chesterton this evening. This has been quoted in other contexts but it’s never seemed more appropriate than now.
They have given us into the hands of the new unhappy lords,
Lords without anger and honour, who dare not carry their swords.
They fight by shuffling papers; they have bright dead alien eyes;
They look at our labour and laughter as a tired man looks at flies.
And the load of their loveless pity is worse than the ancient wrongs,
Their doors are shut in the evenings; and they know no songs.
We hear men speaking for us of new laws strong and sweet,
Yet is there no man speaketh as we speak in the street.
It may be we shall rise the last as Frenchmen rose the first,
Our wrath come after Russia’s wrath and our wrath be the worst.
It may be we are meant to mark with our riot and our rest
God’s scorn for all men governing. It may be beer is best.
But we are the people of England; and we have not spoken yet.
Smile at us, pay us, pass us. But do not quite forget.
“Replying to @BBCNewsnight and @devisridhar
“The year of the variant” & we can only survive if we roll out ever-new vaccines “fast enough and get them into peoples’ arms” ??
“Sorry, but Dr. Devi is insane.
“Why is no one in Media calling her balderdash out?
“She’s not even a qualified medical Dr or biological scientist”
Patrick Henningsen
https://twitter.com/21WIRE/status/1353005751250407427?s=20
Dr Nigel Kellow @NigelKellow
·
12h
It must be nice to have a job where you have a guaranteed income, where you can stay at home, grow a large social media following, be on-call for TV companies, tell us how to manage the pandemic, and talk about medical topics when you aren’t even a medical doctor.
Quote Tweet
BBC Newsnight @BBCNewsnight
· 22h
“Even if we suppress it here… it could be circulating somewhere else in the world.”
Professor of global public health @devisridhar tells #Newsnight we could have travel restrictions for the next year or two due to the increased transmissibility of the new coronavirus variant
https://twitter.com/NigelKellow/status/1352909540115800064?s=20
See a short clip of insanity by sridhar on link. Or choose not to.
Everything is potentially circulating somewhere else always so how can you possibly eliminate a bug and keep it out except by living in a fortress with nothing coming in, nothing going out ever again. No commerce. These people are deranged. They don’t seem to have a plausible intellectual basis for their policies and can’t seem to understand the impossibility of the state those policies purport to aim at. Bizarre. I think we are already overwhelmed by the post-rationalists. It is only a question of time before we fall before the wokery. No more facts, just oppression and safe spaces.
How does the human race survive if we spend all our time hiding from nature?
Because if we do it for this virus then the “go early, go hard” mantra will ensure that we never face any future threats head on.
Devi currently writing her own warrant. These zealots should be being picked off very shortly.
It’s been increasingly deranged as the week has gone on. Sounds like she wants the whole economy tilted towards vaccine production, roll out and lockdowns. Dangerous individual.
She’s right about one thing. Once you have your mRNA lipid nanoparticle delivery system up and running, you can update your payload in double quick time. Especially if it’s already on the shelf..
And you can put any type of nano particles in the lipid.
Lots of trojan horse potential. With therapeutic intent, or, ermm, other intent.
Here for example:-
https://physicsworld.com/a/molecular-trojan-horse-breaches-blood-brain-barrier/
Moderna, Fauci et al, have been at this for several years.
This is Gates Microsoft’business model transferred to public health.
Buy his software and continually but his anti virus software every year.
Interesting!
http://ronpaulinstitute.org/archives/peace-and-prosperity/2021/january/22/anthony-fauci-joins-the-long-list-of-people-incapacitated-by-coronavirus-vaccine/
Fauci has thus joined the large and growing list of people who have suffered serious harm from the injections that he and other government officials have been encouraging Americans to take.
I don’t believe that he had it at all. Smells like a double bluff.
Anything that sows seeds of doubt works for me right now.
But can we believe he actually had it. It could all just be a stunt!
He’ll make a miraculous recovery proving it is indeed safe. 🙄
Not that safe if he was ‘incapacitated.’ Trump recovered from the damn thing so it’s not that deadly either. They can’t have it both ways. (Well they can, but they look stupid. But, hell, so did the Nazis.)
I have noticed people being rather pleased if they feel all wimbley-wembley after the vaccine; they assume that a strong reaction to the jab means they would have had a bad attack of Covid, had they but caught it.
I’ve also seen people who have been bedridden for days after a flu jab assert that they will still have the Covid jab ‘because it’s the right thing to do’.
Mmm.
People talk utter shit
No, but if it’s finite, I’d like to know what limits it.
These dumb dumbs just can’t get their heads round the possibility that the bad reactions to the jab is the recipient’s body telling them they have been injected with poison and that their body is desperately trying to reject it .
I’m not an anti-vaxxer (anti vaccer?) but I do agree with your comment.
DavidC
You don’t have to be anti vax not to want to be coerced / forced into taking a rushed and experimental medication . The Mrs would never hold any countenance advice that maybe she doesn’t really need the flu jab every year till recently , she had a terrible reaction to the flu jab last autumn , she has now sworn that she will never have another.
I don’t believe it but if he died that would be beautiful
As they say, ‘he would say that’
Just shows how thick fauci is! Knew how dangerous the vaccine was but still took it.
PCR Inventor Kary Mullis On Anthony Fauci
Very good and great to see video of Kary Mullis (RIP).
DavidC
Psyop. (‘It knocked me out, but only for 24hrs’.)
Daily Mail: Conservative MP Sir Desmond Swayne says Britons will not tolerate another ‘absurd’ lockdown.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9179759/Conservative-MP-Sir-Desmond-Swayne-says-Britons-not-tolerate-absurd-lockdown.html
Unfortunately I think they will. The public have shown themselves to be totally spineless and have shown a complete lack of critical thinking.
I agree. Apparently they wouldn’t tolerate another after the first one, yet here we are.
Serious troll infestation in the comments!
tide is turning in his favour
Sadly i think SIR Des is out of touch or just being a politician a.k.a liar. I trust none of em specially not a tory libertarian who accepted a knight hood, true libertarians just don’t do monarchy.
I’m a libertarian and I do. In fact a constitutional monarchy is ideal for libertarians. The last thing I want is for there to be an elected head of state. That would immediately involve executive power concentrated in an individual, my worst nightmare. A token, tourist attraction head of state with no power is my ideal. President Blair? Jesus, that raises my heart rate dangerously just thinking about it.
Yes, the elective dictatorship is working wonders right now.
Hmm whats your definition of libertarian again?
Being a true libertarian isn’t a multiple choice test. You either hold your freedom as paramount or not, serving royalty isn’t freedom! If you believe in royalty or constitution you aren’t a true libertarian.
But no one serves them. That’s the point. They are decoration. No power. No service. The perfect leaders – utterly emasculated and unnecessary. I don’t consider myself their servant – in fact I see them as mine. Which they are. Far more than anyone in government and infinitely more than an elected president would be. A leader who is symbolic but has no power? I’ll take that.
Even the police pledge allegiance to the queen, if you don’t mind me saying you’ve got a mixed up idea of liberty.
So the local police have posted this on Facebook
“We have been made aware of anti lockdown posters being placed around ___ Town Centre.
Police have been on foot patrol in the town today. The signs that were put up overnight have been removed with the help of the mall security team.
Signs of this nature will not be tolerated and any persons that are identified as responsible for putting up these signs will be dealt with.
CCTV is being monitored in the town and we will continue to patrol the town daily to ensure covid guildlines are being followed.”
Comments are lapping it up, literally asking the police to arrest the people who put up the posters. We’re very far from this being over.
perhaps some posters are needed with a slightly twisted meaning. “have a jab, have a go”
or “Boris rules OK”
or here’s a good one “Do you know where you are going on holiday this summer?”
“Do you know when the cycle of lockdowns will end?”
Lockdown will end
on February 25that the end of Marchin Julyin Septembersometime after Christmas
(if you’re lucky)
Christmas 2035.
So soon?
Or maybe one like this with a lovely picture of Whitty and alter the phrase to say,’Sage is truly your friend’
I’m almost starting to feel sorry for Whitty. He isn’t the main villain in all this but seems to be carrying the biggest can right now.
Meanwhile, the nudge unit works its evil largely incognito.
Note, I said almost!
Was worried you’d been kidnapped & replaced by the 77th for a sec.
Why,no one is forcing him to go on National Tv and lie.He could end this tomorrow by giving a press conference and telling the truth.
They are all guilty.The entire government,Parliament the media and the courts with a few honourable exceptions.
Oh I agree. He’s the one who looks the most uncomfortable while he’s delivering his scripted lies. Blackmail or some form of coercion?
He looks like a kiddie fiddler so probably blackmail.
Back in May he did try to tell the truth but no one listened.
‘Compromised’ is the polite term.
Putting up anti lockdown posters while being monitored by CCTV would be the only valid use of a mask. Just make sure it totally obscures your features. Add goggles for extra protection or go full hazmat. Anything to stay “safe” (from prying eyes).
Goggles are a must.
Clothing should be all black or grey with zero logos or identifying features.
A cheap grey hoodie and sweatpants from the local big box are good, paying cash for a slightly used getup at the second hand is perfect.
Little piece of advice, which you may not need, but anyway…
During the anti-terrorist wars in Rhodesia, they prepared for the first “externals” (attacks on terrorist bases outside Rhodesia) by going round the clothing manufacturers (clothing was v expensive due to sanctions) and asked the manufacturers for “unsaleable seconds”; stuff which was serviceable but unsaleable due to errors in the stitching or decorations. The plimsoll sellers were asked for the same.
They made a “firewalk” of embers outside until a path of glowing embers was hot but not too deep. The soldiers then put on the tatty, unsaleable clothes with new but damaged, unsaleable plimsolls. They looked like a rag-tag group of hobos. They then walked down the ember path to remove all the trademarking from the soles of their gym shoes and walked into the bush.
At the final RV just outside the terr camp, they picked up their weapons [leaflets] which had been put into a cache and carried out the attack. After the attack, they abandoned all spare weapons [leaflets] and ran out again into the bush, running or jogging five miles from the attack point so that no-one could possibly know that they had been… Read more »
Burkas are useful in this situation.
Yes, who’d have thought! The French police saying you mustn’t cover your face (with Burkinis in this instance), and now saying, actually you must cover your face after all
So it’s illegal to put up posters in Dystopia, is it?
What about posting them through people’s letterboxes, I wonder…
post some through the letterbox of the police station!
All those forms of antisocial behaviour, sometimes with lethal consequences (and I think of the disabled man taunted by local youths who eventually died of a heart attack as I recall) which the police fail to tackle. Give them a taste of their own medicine and see how they like it.
So what exactly is the crime?
having an opinion opposing official government policy?
littering?
The comments are crying out that its fly-posting.
One happy commenter suggested they should be arrested for misinformation “just like jude law at the end of Contagion”
That would be interesting, then there’d have to be a trial investigating the government narrative.
just carry a Black Lives Matter banner or Extinction Rebellion?…seems to work?
If you see a Sweden flag above a flyover in the near future, it wasn’t me
Fascists. In our town, Extinction Rebellion posters were stuck up in the market place on some board over a boarded up shop and they were there for months. They are the right kind of fly posting aren’t they.
I enjoy taking down all the pro lockdown stuff…..its the only time I wear a mask lol!
Had a great day working in the local woods, came back and thought I would check the latest NHS/Gov dashboard figures………not very good.
Then I thought, what madness is this? I never used to come home and start checking public health data. My life and freedom never used to be determined by how many people were in hospital and how many had died as determined by some dodgy assessment process. Throughout my lifetime Public Health has been a bit of a sideline matter but suddenly it is now the dominant driver for all human activity and policy. Why has this happened? probably a PHd study area!
But if this is truly a Public Health issue then where are we?
For a country of 66.65 milion people with an ageing population, in winter time and with a climate that commonly gives rise to winter time respiratory infection is the current death rate such as to give rise to urgent public health concerns? No…….. not at all, indeed whilst we await the final end of year figures it looks like the live birth rate will be significantly ahead of the death rate for 2020. Is the National Health Service currently under threat… Read more »
Sinister is a good description.
Maybe you should have come home and had a cup of cocoa and read a good book and then you would have had an even better day. Always another day to look at those pesky numbers.
Have you read this?
https://off-guardian.org/2021/01/22/the-old-lady-who-swallowed-a-fly/
New range of toys… We’ve got the annoying baby Yoda, a fat blonde white girl with the paedo symbol of the butterfly on her clothes, and a black girl dressed as a nurse wearing a Covid-19 mask.
All boxes ticked.
I will stick stick to Hot Wheels for my son and the same for my daughter…….she doesnt care much for dolls.
It is a natural survival instinct to think of death in the abstract. Apart from those who are close to you there is no reason to care about the death of strangers.
If we did then we would spend every moment of every day grieving people we’ve never even met. Just think how that would affect people mentally.
It’s concerning therefore that the government have chosen to push an advertising campaign to do the opposite of what comes naturally and inflict mental harm on the masses.
What an interesting point.
So true.
very true….excellent post
easy explanation = socialism
It’s more like totalitarian fascism at the moment because it’s being driven by big private corporations and the banks.
How do you form compliance & consensus? Pseudo socialism. a.k.a corporate socialism, its a shame so many people have a corrupt definition of socialism i.e. marxist ideology, but that’s part of the great neo-liberal scam.
Do you not find it odd how despite socialists & neo-liberal globalists claim to be sworn enemies, they both advocate the same distractions, migration, identity politics, lgbqtyminoplkfdh+, only black lives matter, transgenderism etc etc. Its not a coincidence!
Compliance and consensus, in any totalitarian regime, is formed through propaganda and fear.
Isn’t that what i said? I just used the abbreviation, i.e. ‘socialism’, socialism is just fear & false promises.
Thats right, its why true libertarians believe in self reliance! Society has been so profoundly indoctrinated into governance they can’t imagine self rule without leadership from someone who considers themselves entitled elite, its a sad state our species finds itself in, we have evolved such socialistic dependencies.
The left and their various hobby horses are being used by the forces of state and global capital to divide and scatter the population to prevent its uniting and rising up.
Anitifa and BLM are funded by George Soros and corporate money.Extinction Rebellion are obviously controlled opposition.
Our survival also depends upon young people perpetuating the species, so it’s also very unnatural to sacrifice the young for the very old. This whole insane experiment is fundamentally anti-human.
This is precisely why I realized the corona-cult is satanic.
Well said, now smoke this
Alan Watts | Consider death now [NL. ondertiteld] – YouTube
I was saying something like this to Mrs 2-6, that really in truth, unless it is somebody you know really well or a family member who sadlidied in all honesty, yes it’s nasty but well, you get over it and in reality people go, phew at least it wasn’t me, or somebody really close to me..
We are being told to grieve over all the numbers of deaths every day of the thousand of people we don’t know. It’s just totally un-natural. I don’t think they can keep this up for much longer as most people will just go back to not really giving a toss about anybody but themselves and their nearest and dearest.
I’m a 55 yr old middle class white guy,
The financial collapse will kill us all,
Your pension (state or otherwise) will not save you
Burn it all the fuck down.
your first sentence has three black marks. Hang on, can we still say black mark?
Only if you capitalize the B in black. But that’s only if black refers to a particular person who identifies as Black, not when you refer to black as just a colour. This identitarian stuff is so natural we need to training to understand it.
Yup.
Even if you’re lucky enough to be holding put options when they crash the markets to zero the exchanges will refuse to pay out.
Oh I’ve already decided that if and when this pushes me to the point that I have nothing left to live for I will be taking as many of the fuckers as I can with me when I go. You can count on that
Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
Thread ‘I’ve changed my mind’ https://avftt.co.uk/index.php?threads/ive-changed-my-mind.13905/
It was a coff that carried him off
Heard today of a neighbour who died recently in hospital. He’d been very ill for a year and his death certificate showed heart disease, renal disease, bowel disease, COPD… but most importantly, the deadly COVID!!!! Which he caught in hospital.
Will the death toll from this terrible killer virus never end?!?!
https://twitter.com/MaizyDaizyZzzz/status/1352934042702913537?s=20
Another response to the look into the my eyes campaign.
Good one. And lower down in the thread, a reminder about 30th January.
.
That particular campaign is already backfiring spectacularly. It’s almost as it the people who put it together didn’t realise there was another side that could be put to it. Because they were living in a self perpetuating vacuum or something.
Sky News have been reporting on Lebanon all day. Is it because people can’t get enough News about what’s going on in Lebanon?
Actually, no. It’s apparently because they celebrated Christmas and New Year and now hospitals are full. No mention of any mutant variants though so that’s a positive I guess.
It’s funny because according to Mark Austin on Twitter they only report the facts. But only the facts they want you to see of course.
Sky is shit?……
“Know thy enemy” as said by Sun Tzu is something I try to stick to.
Out for a lovely walk in the sunshine this afternoon, and we happened across (no we really did honestly!) a work colleague of Mr CGL – out on his bike with a friend. The friend is a doctor of medicine, who has just had his first Pfizer jab.
So, as he’s a doctor, I asked how he could rationalise having the 2 doses too far apart and against the manufacturers instructions. He shrugged and said, and I quote “I don’t know – I just go to work”
What hope do we stand, if this is how our medical folk think? (or don’t think I suppose)
Trust me I’m a doctor – no fucking way!!!
I know it’s strange isn’t. I also know of a Dr who had taken it and was very surprised by that. I mean do they not research what is in these damn things??
I think that’s a pretty standard attitude in most professions. I always try to stay abreast of new information in my field, lots of people I’ve worked with do not. They just go through the motions and do the bare minimum required to collect their salary each month.
I’ve no reason to think that medical doctors would be any different as a group, unfortunately.
It’s shocking – am on a what’s app group of old uni mates – one of whom is a GP – who described eat out to help out as a “massacre” last week…
Sheesh!
I just looked at the German news magazine “Focus”.
They had a short article how the “Killer mutant virus from Britain” is rampant in Berlin Hospital!
They initially had 2 patients, but then discovered that – despite all hygiene and isolation procedures – 20 patients and staff have the mutant virus.
“Some infected staff did not know they have the variant, and went home to family and kids, went shopping. THEY COULD HAVE GIVEN IT TO HALF OF BERLIN!
You think Boris & co tried to scare us, the Germans are going shit ape crazy!
‘despite all hygiene and isolation procedures’ –
and yet a bit of dirty rag in the supermarket works a treat.
You can take the German out of Nazi-ism…