Hunt is On For the South African Variant
Yesterday brought yet another Downing Street press briefing, this time with the news that 105 cases of the South African variant have been identified, just 11 of them without any link to travel. New measures are therefore required, according to H.M. Government.
Our South African colleagues spotted a new variant through their high quality genomic sequencing and rightly notified the world, as we did with the variant that we discovered here in the UK.
We’ve now identified 105 cases of this variant here. Eleven of those cases don’t appear to have any links to international travel.
There’s currently no evidence to suggest this variant is any more severe, but we need to come down on it hard and we will. We’ve already made sure that all these cases are isolating and that we’ve done enhanced contact tracing of all of their close contacts.
We are surging extra testing into the areas where this variant has been found and sequencing every single positive case.
Working with local authorities, we are going door-to-door to test people in the local area.
If you live in one of these postcodes where we’re sending in enhanced testing, then it’s imperative that you stay at home. And that you get a test, even if you don’t have symptoms.
This is so important so that we can break the chains of transmission of this new variant. And we’ve got to bring this virus to heel.
So there’s lots of good news, but this is a stark reminder that the fight against this virus isn’t over yet.
Every day, we’re protecting more people and getting ourselves one step closer to normal life. But this is no time to let things slip. So let’s, all of us, do what we must to get this virus under control.
Sound familiar? The areas concerned include Surrey, London, Kent, Hertfordshire, Southport and Walsall. The MailOnline has some more details.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said tonight people in those areas must take “extra special precautions” amid the threat of an outbreak of the new, highly-infectious variant. Speaking at tonight’s Downing Street press conference, he added: “The stay at home message is there for everyone but in particular in those areas it’s absolutely vital that people minimise all social contact and get a test when the opportunity arises.”
More than 80,000 over-16s will be targeted as part of the huge surveillance scheme and residents will be asked to take a test regardless of whether or not they have symptoms. Mr Hancock said it was “imperative” that people in these areas stay at home and get a test when it is offered to them.
As well as knocking on doors and asking residents to take tests there and then, extra mobile swabbing units will be deployed to all eight postcodes and home testing kits will be available to order online for residents to do themselves…
Mr Hancock said “enhanced contact tracing” had been carried out to isolate the 11 patients’ close contacts. There is currently no evidence that the variant causes more severe illness and early studies suggest the current crop of jabs are good enough to protect against it.
Experts fear there could be hundreds more cases already in the UK because PHE only analyses one in 10 random positive samples and the strain cannot be spotted in standard PCR tests. All of the swabs confirmed to have Covid will be sent to labs for further testing…
The PCR test – considered the gold standard method worldwide – looks for three genes present on the original virus that came out of China, the S gene, N gene and ORF1ab. Health officials are able to spot the Kent strain with regular PCR because that variant is missing the S gene.
But the South African version is much harder to track because it shares all three genes with the original strain so PCR results cannot differentiate between the two, meaning researchers need to manually sequence each sample in a laboratory.
Seek and you will find. The report also contains an interesting comments from an unnamed source in Public Health England:
PHE sources claimed today they were “not expecting a surge in cases” because the strain is no more transmissible than the dominant Kent one currently plaguing the country, so it has no “evolutionary edge” over it.
Worth reading in full.
Stop Press: As door-to-door testing gets going, the Telegraph reports that some elderly people are worried that it’ll mean answering the door to strangers.
A Postcard From Cape Town
We’re publishing a “Postcard From Cape Town” today by a Lockdown Sceptics reader. Sounds like the people down there have other things to think about than the new variant.
Rather than sitting out the lockdown and school closures in England we decided to spend our time in Cape Town. Currently, the only South African restrictions are a ban on the sale of alcohol (the illicit trade is very profitable for ANC cronies), closed beaches (the Government was told the virus comes in waves), closed state schools (the teachers’ union is the single most important voting bloc and like many in the UK, the SA teachers are partial to being paid for no work) and a 9pm curfew.
The great thing about Africa is everyone knows the Government is incompetent and corrupt. For this reason, together with the fact that hunger trumps corona fear, the South African lockdown quickly broke down and the first wave subsided regardless. Virus cycles run their course. The same thing is happening now. Despite a supposedly more infectious variant and no meaningful restrictions, South African cases are down from 321 per million on January 9th to 98. today The South African Government’s attempts to blame lockdown-related hardships on the virus ring hollow; people do not believe the statements of “the virus caused this”. They know it’s the Government preventing them from earning a living and feeding their children. Viruses don’t write laws.
The actions of politicians aim to increase and consolidate their power and in Africa the citizens know this. The usual tool is fear, delivered through the public broadcaster. I was surprised how the UK Government used public funds to constantly broadcast a message of fear. At least in Africa, the opposition parties say no and push back against power grabs. Amazingly in the UK, rather than push back, the opposition has egged the incumbent on.
Given South Africa’s limited social security net and inability to print money, the lockdown trade-offs become apparent very quickly. When faced with economic collapse, starvation and riots, the Government was forced to end the lockdown. Developed markets can hide the lockdown costs for longer, but that does not mean they don’t exist, obviously. Nations will be burdened with the fallout for decades.
Once governments have tasted absolute power and begun spending without limit, it is difficult to reverse course. In developing nations unfettered spending quickly becomes hyperinflation; it will be interesting to see how it ends in the UK.
What is the Economic Cost of School Closures? (£350 bn)
The Institute of Fiscal Studies published an report yesterday on the cost of lost learning brought about by school closures. It could, the author suggests, add up to hundreds of billions in the long run and the problem demands an imaginative response. The key points include:
- By February half-term, children across the UK will have lost at least half a year of normal, in person schooling. This would increase to two thirds of a year if schools weren’t to reopen as normal until Easter
- Early evidence already suggests this loss of schooling is contributing to lower educational progress and skills, particularly for disadvantaged pupils
- Existing evidence on returns to schooling would imply a long-run loss in earnings of £350 billion
- If by some miracle, the efforts by schools, teachers, children, parents and charities allowed us to mitigate 75% of this effect, the total loss would still be £90 billion
- A large amount of these negative effects are likely to be borne by children from lower-income families, resulting in a likely rise in inequality over the long-run
- A massive injection of resources is likely to be required to help pupils properly catch up
Luke Sibieta, the author of the report, said:
A loss of over half a year of normal schooling is likely to have far-reaching long-run consequences. We will all be less productive, poorer, have less money to spend on public services, more unequal and we may be less happy and healthy as a result. Standard evidence on the returns to schooling would imply a total loss of £350bn, or £90bn under incredibly optimistic assumptions. The inescapable conclusion is that lost learning represents a gigantic long-term risk for future prosperity, the public finances, the future path of inequality and well-being.
We therefore need a policy response that is appropriate to the scale of the problem. One useful benchmark is the £30bn it normally costs for half a year of schooling in the UK. That doesn’t mean we need to spend that much. But is does strongly suggest that the £1.5 billion allocated across the UK so far doesn’t even start to match the scale of the challenge. A much larger policy response would allow us to consider radical and properly resourced ways to help pupils catch-up.
In the report itself he makes a call for action
This could be extending the school year, lengthening the school day, mass repetition of whole school years or summer schools. And there is sound evidence that increasing instructional time can yield positive effects. Given we’re trying to compensate for half a year of lost normal schooling, such measures would likely be necessary for a few years. I am not in a position to advocate for any of these options. Indeed, schools and teachers will probably have a much better idea of what is possible with the right resources. But everything should be on the table and we should be engaged in a national debate about the merits and feasibility of all of them. There are already signs in Wales that such options are being considered.
Of course, none of these are straightforward and all would need to be properly resourced and staffed. Extending the school year or day could not be done by just asking frazzled teachers and staff to work a little bit more, which would risk a mass exodus of school staff. But if we can use Salisbury Cathedral to deliver vaccinations and 750,000 people are willing to volunteer to help the NHS, then we can use our ingenuity and imagination to find the space and people needed to help children catch-up on their education. A national plan with cross-party support and close partnership with teachers, schools and local government could achieve almost anything.
We’d be glad to hear the perspective of any teachers on how catch up can be achieved, and indeed any plans that are being made (email us here). One reader has suggested that schools should stay open throughout the summer.
UK primary school children could easily receive in excess of 60 hours catch up teaching this summer in a two hour, three-day-a-week, morning-only school…
Attendance would be on a voluntary basis only and focus on the core skills – the three rs.
We have five months to get our act together and with a final show of hands to gauge support by the summer half term, schools should easily be able to organise a skeleton staff to run it all.
We now at least talk openly about the loss of learning this year. This gap must be most pronounced amongst primary school children who will carry it with them for the rest of their lives and such a solution would suffice to bring all children much closer to the required levels in time for the September re-start.
I fear we may have to work on the basis that the teaching unions would be against this proposal from the off but, despite the professional bodies having largely covered themselves in shame in 2020, I do see care and love in the eyes of the teachers on my children’s zoom calls. I propose therefore that teachers would be asked to volunteer to work these classes and thus avoid any contractual issues.
I would even think that should the call go out, some retired staff might even return for a few days to help out. Even if some schools cannot muster the volunteers for a whole summer, asking teachers and some school staff to sacrifice a few mornings during the summer holiday feels rather reasonable. With more and more families unlikely to be able to take a holiday, the respite would be welcome and important for parents.
Many parents are struggling mentally under the yoke of home-schooling with no let up (grandparents, sleep-overs, parties, playing with friends), but they are afraid to admit it as the narrative is all about how hard it is for schools. ‘Thank yous’ issued to parents in weekly newsletters count for little when the teaching profession looks forward to long statutory holidays and working parents are already posting ungodly hours as they work late into the night to compensate for the home-schooling they have helped deliver during the day.
Stop Press: The Telegraph reports that, having been told that the peak has now passed, the Prime Minister is pushing to reopen schools.
Stop Press 2: A Lockdown Sceptics reader has drawn our attention to Uppingham School in Rutland, which, like many others, is doing its best to bring pupils back as quickly as possible. In an energetic address published on YouTube yesterday, Headmaster Dr Richard Malony (at 1m 41s in the video) said that, with the return to secondary school unlikely to happen March 8th, Uppingham will be ending the Spring Term early and bringing forward the start of the summer term. In the letter to parents, he writes:
The Prime Minister announced on Wednesday that the earliest schools in England would be allowed to open will be on March 8th (two weeks into the second half of term). We had hoped to be able to resume school in Uppingham immediately after the half-term holiday on February 22nd and are very disappointed to have been stymied once again.
If you read the Prime Minister’s words carefully, you will see that there is no explicit commitment to get all pupils back in schools on March 8th. Indeed, my sources tell me that it is likely that only primary schools will be permitted to resume on-site education on that date. Furthermore, secondary schools could well be ‘staggered’ in their return over the subsequent three weeks.
From our point of view, this is not good news. However, rather than railing into the wind, we have chosen to do something positive to best benefit Uppinghamians.
Consequently, our decision is that we will end the Spring Term a week earlier than scheduled – on Saturday, March 20th (rather than the 27th) and begin the Summer Term a week early on Sunday, April 11th (rather than the 18th)
Clearly, if there is any chance to have year groups back in school before Easter they will be welcomed back to school with alacrity. We are desperate to have them back with us in Uppingham and, given any chance to have them here, we will seize that opportunity.
Here Come the Free Speech Champions
Inaya Folarin Iman, a Founding Director of the Free Speech Union, is launching a new venture today called the Free Speech Champions Project, along with a group of students and recent graduates. (The Mail on Sunday ran a story about it two days ago.) Below is an extract from the press release.
The Free Speech Champions Project is an exciting new initiative which aims to inspire the next generation about the importance of free speech. It has been set up by a socially and politically diverse group of university students and recent graduates to create a space for challenging thinking. It will do this by creating a network of young ‘free speech champions’ across the country who will host events on free speech, support and encourage the development of free speech societies, and develop the information, ideas and arguments about free speech needed to inspire the next generation. The Champions will collaborate with individuals, groups and organisations who share their commitment to free speech.
The Free Speech Champions Project is led by Inaya Folarin Iman, a 24-year-old graduate of the University of Leeds, and developed in collaboration with the Free Speech Union and the Battle of Ideas charity.
Inaya said: “Freedom of speech is essential for open enquiry to flourish. Social and human progress depends on courageous individuals who are prepared to think for themselves. Too often, the places where free speech should be valued most highly – universities and online spaces – are where it is in most jeopardy. We need to re-articulate why free speech matters, especially to young people.”
A 2020 survey carried out by ADF International revealed that 40% of students self-censor out of concern for their future careers.
Inaya said: “A lot of attention has been paid to the problem of explicit censorship on campus – no-platforming of speakers, the closing down of debates. It is a good sign that a lot of people instinctively feel that this is wrong. However, a more subtle pressure to self-censor has also become far too prevalent in places of education. This is not about being ‘polite’. Too many young people are holding themselves back from exploring ideas because they fear the potentially negative consequences of using the wrong words or of honestly sharing what is on their minds.”
The Free Speech Champions Project will go to where young people most need the space to think and speak freely – schools, universities and online communities – and inspire support for freedom of speech.
Toby Young, the General Secretary of the Free Speech Union, said: “The Free Speech Union is delighted to be supporting this project, along with the Battle of Ideas charity. If free speech is going to endure it’s essential that young people understand why it matters and needs to be defended.”
You can find out more about the Free Speech Champions Project by visiting its website. And if you’re a student or recent graduate who would like to get involved, please fill out the form on this page.
Stop Press: Watch Inaya talking to Mike Graham about the Free Speech Champions on talkRADIO.
Aussies Panic and Freak Out
If only we had done a proper lockdown, long and hard, and firmly closed our borders against all foreign visitors, then life here would be great right now, according to some. Well, Western Australia has been gleefully Covid free for 10 months, thanks to its border controls. But over the weekend, a single case of infection recorded in the city of Perth has prompted a snap five-day lockdown, and scenes of panic-buying chaos. The Telegraph has published a letter from Ronan O’Connell, who is currently living there.
Perth’s reign as arguably the safest city on the planet is over, after it recorded its first community-based COVID-19 infection in almost 300 days, with this single case triggering a severe and immediate lockdown.
While the rest of the world has been upended by COVID-19, here in Perth we have felt like we’ve existed outside of the pandemic, enjoying a carefree lifestyle due to the state of Western Australia going 10 months without an infection.
WA achieved this remarkable success by implementing, in March last year, some of the world’s strictest travel rules, which have remained largely in place ever since.
We’ve been banned from taking overseas holidays, haven’t been allowed to travel to other Australian states for much of that period, and have had to do a mandatory 14-day hotel quarantine if returning from living overseas.
Now one infection – a guard at one of these quarantine hotels – has triggered an immediate five-day lockdown across a large part of WA, which began on Sunday night.
During this lockdown, we are limited to our homes, except for essential activities; we must wear a mask whenever we leave our properties; and schools, many businesses and public facilities are closed.
So unaccustomed are West Australians to feeling the close presence of the coronavirus that panic buying hit Perth supermarkets just as the lockdown was announced. When I went to my local shop two hours after that announcement, it had been ransacked, while other Perth supermarkets were forced to limit customer entry, so large were the crowds.
Fortunately, no new COVID-19 cases were found in Western Australia on Monday. Despite that good news, and the short length of the lockdown, hysteria raged in Perth as people inundated pharmacies and shops in search of masks and hand sanitiser, or took to social media to slam others for panic buying.
Worth reading in full.
As the clamour mounts for Britain to close its borders, it may be worth considering the logistical difficulties as set out by Sarah Nickson at the Institute for Government.
Hotel quarantine is an enormous logistical undertaking
Establishing hotel quarantine is far more complex than mass booking hotel rooms. Hiring suitably qualified staff, training them in infection control procedures, sourcing hotels with adequate ventilation and facilities, and attending to the health and welfare of those in quarantine have all proved enormous challenges for Australian authorities. Cracks in the system have seen the virus seep out of hotels and into the community, sparking fresh lockdowns, including in Melbourne where a second lockdown lasted over 100 days. These failures have already sparked a major inquiry and ministerial and senior official resignations.
The UK would not find running hotel quarantine any easier. Testing and tracing operations here have shown the difficulty of setting up new systems from scratch. And the Government is reportedly considering using outsourced private security in the quarantine hotels, a move which was implicated in Melbourne’s failures. On the other hand, if the Government drew on its own workforce – military logistics officers, police and health care workers – this would divert resources from the vaccine roll out.
Human and Economic costs need to be considered
The UK will likely find that an effective hotel quarantine system will necessitate border closures. Logistical pressures limit the number of people who can realistically and safely be accommodated in hotels, so the Government will need to find a way to ration demand. This in turn imposes significant economic and human costs. Australia has set caps on the number of citizens and residents who can enter the country: for instance, Sydney is permitting only 1,505 arrivals per week. For other cities, the weekly cap is in the hundreds. This is nowhere near enough to meet demand, locking out tens of thousands, and has led to drastically inflated fares set by airlines seeking to maintain revenue from sparsely populated flights.
As a result, some Australians stranded abroad have been left jobless and with expired visas, while others have missed weddings, funerals and other milestones. Those who do make it back are forced to pay their own quarantine costs, on top of the airfare. And in order to relieve pressure on the quarantine system, the Government has barred Australians from leaving the country without a special exemption.
Hotel Quarantine might be harder for us than it is for Australia
There are factors particular to the UK that might make this exercise even more difficult and costly than it has been for Australia. The UK would need to – once again – consider how border arrangements would work for Northern Ireland, in conjunction with the Northern Ireland executive and the Irish government. And it would feel the effects of border closures even more acutely than Australia: in 2018-19, the UK received 145 million international passenger arrivals, compared to Australia’s 21 million.
Hotel quarantine is a huge logistical operation that would force the UK Government to make difficult decisions about who it lets in and out of the country. Consideration of hotel quarantine must be informed by sober appraisal of the full range of these costs.
Sceptics Under Fire
Two items to flag here today, first: Toby has fired back at Nick Cohen’s recent ‘blood-on-your-hands’ broadside against lockdown sceptics with a letter to the paper’s editor.
Lockdowns cost lives
I was disappointed to read Nick Cohen’s article, in which he blamed lockdown sceptics like me for the death of Mr Matthews. I have never denied that COVID-19 can be deadly, never suggested that “5G causes cancer” and never urged anyone not to get vaccinated. True, I have suggested that those varieties of the common cold caused by coronaviruses could provide people with some immunity to COVID-19, but that claim is based on reputable research.
I don’t think it’s fair to accuse sceptics of endangering lives. There have been at least 30 research papers, the most recent by a team led by Professor John Ioannidis at Stanford, showing that lockdowns imposed across the western world last March had little or no impact on reducing Covid mortality. However, there is an equally voluminous amount of research showing that the lockdowns have caused catastrophic damage, not just to economies, but to people’s mental and physical health. The number of deaths caused in the developing world by the economic recession triggered by the lockdowns will likely be far greater than the number of lives saved in the west. The UN predicts the coming recessions will plunge 420 million people into extreme poverty.
Based on these findings, it is those promoting lockdowns who are killing people, not those expressing reservations. But I would never accuse lockdown advocates of being murderers because such emotive hyperbole is not conducive to sensible debate.
Toby Young
London W3
Secondly, a reader has written in to point out Adam Boulton’s misstep in his recent interview with Sir Desmond Swayne
I shan’t accuse Sky News’s Adam Boulton of “lying”, a word which has become synonymous with “making a mistake” in the eyes of many. But he can fairly be described as inept on the evidence of his recent interview of Sir Desmond Swayne. With regard to Sir Desmond’s questioning of NHS and Government data, Boulton asked: “How is it wrong for us to be given these statistics… which reputable people like Ed Conway… have verified. What is wrong about the way it is being presented?” (from about the 3:19 in this video)
Embarrassingly, he only needs to watch Conway in this video – made about the same time as Swayne’s comments in the autumn – to see that his Sky News colleague was expressing the very same scepticism at some length!
In view of the fact that the Department of Health itself backed down after the Mail’s in-depth story, can the MP expect an apology from Boulton?
Free to Attend Covid Symposium in NZ
A reader in New Zealand has asked us to flag an international symposium that’s being organised by some sceptics over there, starting at 7.30pm GMT on February 12th. Freethinkers from around the world will gather (on Zoom) to hear, share and discuss the latest evidence-based critiques of the lockdown policy. Participants include Prof Sunetra Gupta, Prof Ramesh Thakur and Prof James Allan. Webinar tickets can be obtained free of charge here.
Round-up
- “England set to see Covid inpatients fall to pre-third wave level by March 8th” – The HSJ reports on the shrinking numbers of cases
- “Isle of Man ‘returns to normal’ as face masks and social distancing are ditched” – The Isle of Man has reach the end of a 25-day ‘circuit break’, reports the Telegraph. Life has returned to normal, but its borders remain closed
- “Lockdown: The cruelty is the point” – blistering piece from Laura Perrins in the Conservative Woman, taking aim at the immoral, unethical and disproportionate lockdowns, and the politicians and media which support them
- “COVID-19 rarely spreads through surfaces. So why are we still deep cleaning?” – The virus spreads predominantly through the air, not via surfaces, says Dyani Lewis in Nature. No need to disinfect your shopping
- “The Moral Case Against COVID-19 Lockdowns” – Julius Reuchel says that lockdown is sacrificing one group of people for another – and it’s immoral
- “Coronavirus: no going back to normal” – “Life after coronavirus will not feel like life before and it is best that governments acknowledge that,” says the Institute for Government
- “How many excess deaths were there in the UK last year?” – Noah Carl follows up his recent piece in the Critic with some further analysis. Hint: fewer than 100,000.
- “Unreported by the MSM: Lockdown sceptics win Cambridge Union debate” – The Conservative Woman‘s Kathy Gyngell fills the gap left by the MSM and reports on Team Sceptics’ victory in last week’s Cambridge Union debate
- “My Response to Guardian smears” – Maajid Nawaz responds to a nasty piece in the Observer on his Facebook page
- “Why vaccine nationalism won’t end in 2021” – It’ll be with us for quite a while says Joanna Rossiter in the Spectator
- “Establishment ‘journalists’ versus free speech – the digital lynching of lockdown sceptics” – Sceptics in the media have been pilloried by their peers, whose pro-establishment activity would be better suited to Pravda, says Dr Niall McCrae in the Unity News Network
- “Thoughts on home, family and how our outlook has changed” – In episode 11 of the CoronaStories podcast, Christine talks to a woman in an all-too-familiar situation: She is working from home full time while trying to home-educate her three children
- “The power of digital: GameStop, schools and pubs – The Week in Review” – The latest episode of the Bournebrook podcast discusses the reopening of schools and pubs and how lockdowns have changed the latter for good
- “Italy ‘bucks trend’ in easing virus restrictions” – RTE reports that Italy is easing its restrictions, despite warnings from public health experts
- “Sweden’s figures do show that lockdowns are a crime” – Hector Drummond analyses Swedish death data and concludes that April 2020, supposedly the worst month for the world in a hundred years outside wartime, in fact had lower deaths than about 20 other months in Sweden in the last thirty years.
- “America’s murder rate increase in 2020 has ‘no modern precedent’, crime group analyst finds” – There were more than 1,200 additional killings year on year in a sample of 34 American cities, Fox News reports
- This is an excellent video summing up the case against lockdowns
Theme Tunes Suggested by Readers
Two today: “Drinking Alone” by Carrie Underwood and “Make the World Go Away” by Eddy Arnold.
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 Lockdown Sceptics 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, from NBC Bay Area, we bring you further detail on the decision by the San Francisco Board of Education to rename 44 of its public schools. We featured the full list last week but the wokeness is quite far reaching:
The names of Abraham Lincoln, George Washington and other prominent figures including U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein of California will be removed from 44 San Francisco public schools, a move that stirred debate Wednesday on whether the famously liberal city has taken the national reckoning on America’s racist past too far.
After months of controversy, the decision made by the San Francisco Board of Education in a 6-1 vote Tuesday night will strip the names of one-third of the city’s schools. The Board approved a resolution to change school names that honoured historical figures with direct or broad ties to slavery, oppression, racism or the “subjugation” of human beings.
In addition to Washington and Thomas Jefferson – former presidents with connections to slavery or oppression – the list includes naturalist John Muir, Spanish priest Junipero Serra, American revolution patriot Paul Revere and Francis Scott Key, composer of the “Star Spangled Banner”.
Changing the name of Dianne Feinstein Elementary school, named for the Democratic Senator and former Mayor of San Francisco, has raised eyebrows. The trailblazing 87 year-old’s star has dimmed in recent years with dismayed liberals joining calls for her retirement after she embraced Republican Senator Lindsey Graham at the heated confirmation hearings on U.S. Supreme Court Judge Amy Coney Barrett.
Feinstein’s spokesman Tom Mentzer said the senator had no comment.
The committee that selected the names included Feinstein because in 1984, while Mayor, she replaced a vandalised Confederate flag that was part of a long-standing flag display in front of City Hall. When the flag was pulled down a second time, she did not replace it.
“I want to assure people this in no way cancels or erases history,” San Francisco Board of Education President Gabriela Lopez said, commenting specifically about Feinstein and the wider group as well. “But it does shift from upholding them and honouring them, and these opportunities are a great way to have that conversation about our past and have an opportunity to uplift new voices.”
Lopez said the decision is timely and important and sends a strong message that goes beyond racism tied to slavery and condemns wider “racist symbols and white supremacy culture we see in our country”.
For some San Francisco parents, the brush stroke was too broad.
“This is a bit of a joke. It’s almost like a parody of leftist activism,” said Gerald Kanapathy, a father of two young children, including a kindergartener at a San Francisco school not on the list.
“I don’t particularly mind the notion that some of the schools need to be renamed. There are a lot of questionable choices out there,” he said. “But they sort of decided on this and pushed it through without much community input.”
A group called Families for San Francisco opposed the vote for similar reasons, calling it a “top-down process” in which a small group of people made the decision without consulting experts and the wider school community.
Worth reading in full.
Stop Press: Spectator’s Steerpike reports that another Covid ad is to be discontinued:
The advert, which showed women cleaning and caring for children while a man lounged on a sofa, sparked accusations of sexism.
“It has been withdrawn and removed from the campaign. I will make clear that it does not reflect the Government’s view on women which is why we have withdrawn it,” Boris Johnson’s official spokesperson said today.
Oh dear
“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.
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.
Stop Press: There is a new petition on the Parliament website that readers may want to sign.
Make it illegal for businesses to challenge those not wearing face coverings.
The Government should support those exempt from wearing face masks by making it illegal for businesses to challenge those not wearing a face mask. Many supermarkets/shops and tourist attractions are still requiring medical proof or exempt cards and won’t allow you to enter without proof.
To support the disabled community and ensure we have a voice. At the moment we are challenged everyday at supermarkets, public transport and even tourist attractions. The Government must legislate to protect those exempt and ensure we aren’t challenged or made to feel embarrassed when trying to go about our day. We shouldn’t need to produce our badge multiple times whilst going shopping or be stopped at every shop.
Sign it here.
Stop Press 2: Check out this masker doing a live exercise class for her Instagram followers while the coup in Myanmar unfolds in the background. Doesn’t this just sum up the current state of the world? Narcissists talk to each other on social media, oblivious to the destruction of democratic institutions that’s happening all around them.
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.
Scottish Church leaders from a range of Christian denominations have launched legal action, supported by the Christian Legal Centre against the Scottish Government’s attempt to close churches in Scotland for the first time since the the Stuart kings in the 17th century. The church leaders emphasised it is a disproportionate step, and one which has serious implications for freedom of religion.” Further information available here.
There’s the class action lawsuit being brought by Dr Reiner Fuellmich and his team in various countries against “the manufacturers and sellers of the defective product, PCR tests”. Dr Fuellmich explains the lawsuit in this video. Dr Fuellmich has also served cease and desist papers on Professor Christian Drosten, co-author of the Corman-Drosten paper which underpins the SARS-CoV-2 PCR test protocol. That paper, which was pivotal to the roll out of mass PCR testing, was submitted to the journal Eurosurveillance on January 21st and accepted following peer review on January 22nd. The paper has been critically reviewed here by Pieter Borger and colleagues, who have also submitted a retraction request.
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…
Listen to the latest episode of London Calling, Toby and James Delingpole’s podcast, here. This week they discuss the Great Reopening (which was a damp squib in James’s part of the world), mutant variants, summer holidays, the Mauritanian and the Team Sceptics’ victory in the virtual debate at the Cambridge Union.
Discussion
Comments
This week across the site:
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Why is closing down international travel pointless?
Over half the population of New Delhi have antibodies to the coronavirus, according to government study. This obviously must mean that an even higher proportion of the population have immunity. https://twitter.com/SatyendarJain?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1356547817427226624%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rt.com%2Fnews%2F514397-new-delhi-coronavirus-india%2F
Yet the health minister announcing the news demands that people continue to observe social distancing rules and the government continues to roll out its (obviously necessary) vaccination programme.
“It’s imperative… that you get a test” (mutant virus story).
Now I’m not going to ask anyone to stand near me who doesn’t want to. And I won’t cough on anyone who’s self-isolating. But I will not have a test. No to forced medication and a flawed, invasive, poorly run testing regime that is keeping this (latest) scare going.
“Bring the virus to heel”?! Like a dog? I thought that a coronavirus is more like a cat.
Ministry Of Truth
Front pages tomorrow are astonishing!
“The Best of Us!”
“Nation mourns…”
“We’ve lost a national treasure.”
“Hero of our time.”
“We never walked alone with you at our side.”
“…the hero who walked into our hearts.”
“Where he walked, the nation followed.”
The Express want us out on our doorsteps tomorrow at 8pm to give him a round of applause.
I don’t want to sound heartless (family have lost a dad, grandkids a grandad, after all), but this is a complete load of utter garbage! Totally fake MSM bollocks!
Fucking Diana 2.0!
Ceriain, it’s not fake MSM bollocks (i.e. it IS true that Tom Moore has died – I wonder how many of the MSM even know ‘Captain Tom’s’ surname), but it certainly is MSM emotional hyperbole. I can remember the Diana death and thinking how strange all the emotional outpouring was for someone nobody KNEW, other than through the media. And here we go again…
DavidC
Yeah, that’s what I meant. Angry posting and all that. 😉
I was visiting my retired parents when Diana was buried but went to the pub during the funeral specifically because it didn’t have a telly.
A shame he died?
Well, it’s also a shame that my Grandma died last year, a shame that I couldn’t see her in her final months because the crooks in government (and the Labour opposition) prevented people seeing their relatives in their final months, a shame that the widow of a man who fought for our freedom in WWII and was given a nice parade by the authorities was treated like a prisoner by those same authorities, a shame that his NHS doesn’t get the root and branch reform it desperately needs if it is to be fit for purpose (rather than just having money thrown at it), a shame that his NHS is in the (deep) pocket of blood-stained Big Pharma
Rant over.
Communism is alive, NY Times Calls For Biden To Appoint “Reality Czar” To Fight “Misinformation” & kicking, the perfect cover for the globalist agenda.
See Bill Gates calls for global alert system and ‘pandemic fire squads’ for post-Covid-19 world Told ya.
Love this from RT’s comments section.
LOL
How come Capitol Police officer who shot & killed Ashli Babbitt unlikely to be charged there’s no outrage for a white woman’s brutal murder?
Insane Maoists now run the US.
Supposed freedom-loving people forgot the price of freedom really is eternal vigilence.
We’ve grilled and chilled our way right into full-blown Marxism.
There’s still half (ATM) that want freedom, they’ll soon be in the gulag though. The commies just need to take their guns first.
The 2A crowd is talking tough online.
I fear we’re going to see if there is any substance to their talk very soon.
On the subject of the general population wearing face masks, Fauci said:
Don’t wear masks, they are no use;
Do wear a face mask, they prevent transmission of the virus;
Do wear two masks, as two are more effective;
Don’t wear two masks, as there is no evidence of effectiveness.
Which statement was misinformation? How will the “Reality Czar” know?
“Misinformation” wears a maga hat.
today’s statement is the correct one. the previous statements will be memory-holed. what Fauci is saying today, that is what he has always said. he never said anything different. Covid 1984
“How many fingers am I holding up, Winston?”
Of all the harms that the responses to the coronavirus have inflicted perhaps the most serious is that fear and virtue signalling and moralising condemnations have defenestrated reason.
i’m against the lockdowns but i ts the masks that bother me the most above all else , also the idea of an enforced vaccine.anyone hav e any idea how long the masks thing
I think they want a years worth of data for their evil experiment so when ever they brought them in June, July…..Who knows. Yes the masks are the worst thing about this psy-op.
i guess i t’s becuase it’s the msot visible thing.you can’t not notice it and it s like duct tape over your mouth. we’ve been kidnapped !
i sure hope by june july and this year , cant take this much longer
I am lucky so far I have avoided wearing one. I honestly just cannot see why people go along with wearing them it’s just insane. They are so corrosive to human interaction it’s incredible.
i’ ve worn a scarf rare times go to store .they wouldn’ t let me in otherwise .out of doors never ! even though sometimes one of the few not wearing a mask. at least i do that makes me feel good .
me too that ‘s what i say too people are absolutley insane
I haven’t been into a shop or pub or anywhere since they were mandated really, a few times if I really HAVE TO. I avoid the town centre too in general.
maybe that means there are many more of us than we realize out there .
actually i havent been to the store that almost threw me out either much.only one more time and for first time started ordering delivery a few times . and a nice friend[ who isnt bothered by the masks] got me food from the store i now hate
yes I think there is a lot in this. Most of the people you see in shops are people that don’t seem to care about FN’s. The ones that do are staying in.
In the spirit of VIZ:
When I heard about the terrible terrible terrible death of that lovely man, Captain Tom (subs check his second name) that lovely hero of a man, that lovely brave hero of a man, a man who was a man, a real man.
A man of courage, a man of steel, a man who stood up against Hitler, a man who stood up against age, a man who stood up against COVID19, a man who stood up in his garden with the help of his walking frame. He stood up and walked, he walked for days, he walked and walked and walked, for days on end, he walked, to get from one end of his garden to the other.
This was a walk of hope, a walk of charity, a walk of defiance, a walk of bravery, a walk of kindness. A walk of LOVE!
For a man of such an old age (subs check his age) he was very very very old, he was so old he remembered Queen Victoria (subs check this) He was so old he remembers gas lights, he was so old he didn’t know what the internet was. He didn’t know… Read more »
Brilliant! You sure that’s not Handjob’s speech in the HOC tomorrow? 😉
I haven’t seen Viz for a few months or so. I wonder if they’re getting any mileage out of this shit show, it’s such a treasure trove. Mind you, they did do a Monopoly style Covid board game in one issue.
A bit, one or two strips address it, The Male Online and some stuff in the letters pages and a few other things but the artists do seem to avoid the Rona issue. I find this a bit strange but on the whole they aren’t particularly sceptical.
They did a good spoof magazine advert of two, “Home Dentistry Monthly”
-“How to make a dentist’s chair out of a deck chair and a car jack”
-“Root canals are easy”!
-“How far is too far? “We explain litigation and personal injury claims”
and “Panic buyer (Incorporating hoarder weekly)”
-“I take my extended family on the weekly shop”
-We show you 25 ways to circumnavigate the 3 units per customer rule!
Two-Six,
As per Ceriain’s comment – brilliant! Particularly the (Subs – check) bits!
DavidC
Furious Edinburgh cyclist to sue council after hitting Spaces for People bollard
The 21-year-old care worker was forced to take an emergency trip to the A&E after colliding with a bollard, part of the council’s Spaces for People initiative.
Edinburghlive.
The reshaping street clutter the Sustainable development goaling brainless council chucked together have broken one shoulder, smashed this above guy’s face in and caused several near misses of bike – pram collisions. There are likely many more incidents too.
The council have acted incredibly dangerously imo. What is stark is their thoughtless arrogance in using covid to change the city infrastructure. This was part of the psy-op of the first lockdown.
Just submitted a couple of tunes for above the line, one of which being Hawkwind’s Needlegun……”it’s a vaccination joy”.
Hawkwind – Needlegun – YouTube
https://www.circleofdocs.com/is-the-cdc-is-sleeping-with-drug-companies-you-decide/
https://www.clintonhealthaccess.org/myanmar/
The Clinton Foundation, and others, has interests in Myanmar.
Our Donors: Among others… Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Quelle surprise
But they’re like an infinitely-armed octopus.
Got to wonder if Bill ever sleeps.
Their corrupt tentacles are in every pie, The Clinton mafia (democrats) are just another organized crime syndicate, much like the monarchy.
https://www.republicbroadcastingarchives.org/windows-on-the-world-with-mark-windows-sept-17-2020/
The vaccination agenda plus The Great Reset with Magda Taylor of informedparent.co.uk
There are at least 4 commercial breaks and each one lasts 4 minutes.
Moderna vaccine side effects:
Common Side EffectsThe most commonly reported side effects, which typically lasted several days, were pain at the injection site, tiredness, headache, muscle pain, chills, joint pain, swollen lymph nodes in the same arm as the injection, nausea and vomiting, and fever. Of note, more people experienced these side effects after the second dose than after the first dose, so it is important for vaccination providers and recipients to expect that there may be some side effects after either dose, but even more so after the second dose. Learn more.
That’s all I want to know, thank you.
https://www.modernatx.com/mrna-technology/mrna-platform-enabling-drug-discovery-development
Our Operating SystemRecognizing the broad potential of mRNA science, we set out to create an mRNA technology platform that functions very much like an operating system on a computer. It is designed so that it can plug and play interchangeably with different programs. In our case, the “program” or “app” is our mRNA drug – the unique mRNA sequence that codes for a protein.
We have a dedicated team of several hundred scientists and engineers solely focused on advancing Moderna’s platform technology. They are organized around key disciplines and work in an integrated fashion to advance knowledge surrounding mRNA science and solve for challenges that are unique to mRNA drug development. Some of these disciplines include mRNA biology, chemistry, formulation & delivery, bioinformatics and protein engineering.
The public:
“Genetically modified tomatoes? I’m not eating that!”
“mRNA vaccines? Here’s my arm!”
More than I want to know.
Excellent interview with Italian sceptic Robin Minotti
Not a useful idiot on Twitter: “Fabulous analysis of current situation-authoritarian/technocratic agendas in play. Whether they work up to us! We need to share ideas, call out lies, take action, open up, reduce online payments, join together and push back NOW or too late: @robinmonotti https://t.co/nh3safX1EZ” / Twitter
Haha, don’t know if this is true but would be funny and also sinister if it is:
https://twitter.com/robinmonotti/status/1356739766268608512
Robin Monotti
@robinmonotti
Not true!
Belarus had elections a few months ago, as did Tanzania.
Democracy strikes again. I’ve been wondering lately who will get democracy delivered to them via the US of A mic, now the Clinton mafia are back in power.
A Myanmar invasion might upset china.
Myanmar is quite a big country with one of the worst monsoon seasons in the world. I doubt whether there will be any invasion but stupider things have happened.
Invasion may have been a bit strong, a democracy drop from 10,000 feet! Saying that the British faired OK in Burma (for a while). If there’s money in it, details like lives lost doesn’t seem to matter.
If winning mattered why are they still in Afghanistan?
Afghanistan is a giant money printer for the US MIC.
Yep them smart bombs are expensive things.
I think China wants a free hand to further the BRI in Myanmar.
They would prefer to see the US get tangled up in Syria and Iran.
Dar es Salaam. The minister for Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children, Dr Dorothy Gwajima, yesterday touted the use of traditional medicines in the fight against Covid-19 and other diseases.
Dr Gwajima, who was accompanied by her deputy, Dr Godwin Mollel, told a press briefing that the Tanzania government has no plans to import any of the Covid-19 vaccines being used in other countries. It will make use of all the traditional means, including herbs and steam inhalation.
https://www.thecitizen.co.tz/tanzania/news/-forget-about-covid-19-vaccines-says-minister-3277666
That’s them on WEF, IMF, World bank shit list. They’ll cave.
You know, I wouldn’t be averse from herbs and steam inhalation. Sounds quite nice.
About a week or two ago someone posted a link to the Tanzania story, which was very funny, because the Tanzanian president pocketed the EU money and declared Covid solved. A week ago, that was the only story on Tanzania and covid when you googled it. This morning I tried to find the article again and found a deluge of stories about Tanzanians angry at the president (“pushing back”) against his refusal to import vaccines.
That’s the media for you. Spinning, spinning, spinning. I get so angry when I see their playbook play out YET again, and it working YET again. And all the slobbering volunteer citizens coming forward to say the very thing the media wants to hear. Infuriating.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/pm-hails-herculean-effort-of-life-science-companies-to-defeat-coronavirus
This from November 11, 2020
Boris is not on our side.
He never was!
Prime Minister Boris Johnson hosted Bill Gates and the heads of ten leading life science and pharmaceutical companies for a virtual discussion this afternoon, [Tuesday 10th] to address how government, industry and civil society can work together to defeat coronavirus and prevent future pandemics.
The CEOs of Bayer Pharmaceuticals, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol Myers Squibb, GSK, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Novartis AG, Pfizer, Roche and Sanofi joined the meeting.
Really?
Well he never fooled me!
So can we all agree to disagree with the DM who state that Chris Whitty is, actually, not a liar?
This is a joke.
I think Chris Whitty is a huge liar. Masses of evidence supports this. He is Big Pharma. I support the youth (not a covidiot- fcuk off DM) on this post! The so called Youth probably has a name and probably has a loved one suffering because of Chris W and his mega science lies. Chris W is 100% compromised.
Jeez. A new low in investigative journalism from the DM.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9215899/Appalling-moment-Covidiot-youth-abuses-Professor-Chris-Whitty-street.html
The DM don’t care. They have the title so they can show the video so they can get visits so they can generate clicks so they can get ad revenue.
Exactly. MSM is all about the clicks.
Comments are moderated. Disappointed not to see more support for the lad.
Whitty is at the very least a Sociopath. Lying is his default setting.
There is definitely something abnormal about him, much more so nowadays.
Staged. False flag. Same as the suspicious package at the vaccine plant in Wrexham- their cousins in the FBI pulled that stunt post- 9/11, remember.
Sorry, I haven’t got the original html reference – but worth a search (it should be easily located) for anyone who hasn’t seen it, this opinion piece by Tom Jefferson from the BMJ in 2017 is fascinating reading re. the appointment of government ‘advisors’. :
“Tom Jefferson: The UK turns to Witty, Vallance, and Van Tam for leadership: revolving doors?”
Thanks, Rick: https://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2017/12/06/tom-jefferson-the-uk-turns-to-witty-vallance-and-van-tam-for-leadership-revolving-doors/
Different Witty, but the point’s still valid.
BeBop’s article (linked above) re. the CDC and Big Pharma ends with:
Just business as usual for these guys.
While Whitty definitely promotes lies, he’s always extremely precise with his wording, so he can’t be quoted in a lie later. He’s often careful to distance himself from Vallance’s numbers and he uses vague terms like might and possibly a lot. I also think he looks very uncomfortable while delivering the lies.
I think he is very happy in doing it or totally spineless. Chose one!
Prior pandemics tell us a lot.
https://mobile.twitter.com/RussLamberti/status/1356159544041361408
No doubt these experiences helped form pandemic preparedness plans pre 2020. Come March, twitter bots managed to overcome that kind of approach.
This must have been several years ago?
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2020-07-28/Experimental-COVID-19-vaccine-is-put-to-its-biggest-test-in-the-U-S–Sufpn3MBk4/index.html
Oh wait ….!
Rick deSantis i minute video
https://twitter.com/GovRonDeSantis/status/1356006161548533762
“Every Floridian has the right to earn a living. Florida is open, and we’ve got your back.”
West Virginia too, things will soon be looking up on the employment front. apparently.
https://thetruedefender.com/kamala-harris-says-there-will-be-job-creation-around-reclaiming-abandoned-land-mines/
I’m going to make this my final posting of the night. I’m not going to read or respond to replies to this one.
First of all I just wan to thank sincerely everyone who has responded to my scribblings tonight. At times difficult, but also quite stimulating.
I just want to add a few points to my lengthy post on free speech.
The thrust of my post was that I consider personal remarks in debate as inappropriate. You can disagree with someone without making it personal. And it makes for more mature debate.
As an extreme example, it Toby Young made a comment on the television about his opposition to lockdown and his opponent said, “Toby, you stink, have you washed today?”
What would you think? What do you think viewers would think?
Today I’ve been accused of being a paid troll, a dimwit, childish, and various other snide remarks have been levelled at me.
Perhaps it reflects more badly on my critics than on me? Debate with me. But don’t make it personal. What you know of me is limited to the scribbles I put here.
Regarding personal remarks, let me use another extreme analogy. Supposing you are a… Read more »
Sometimes I think I’d rather watch a press conference than read this stuff.
Don’t read it then.
I made a movie recommendation just before you wrote your farewell message. Check out Contagion from 2011. You’ll see that there was a blueprint for this nightmare being pumped out by Hollywood in plain sight.
No Blade of Grass (1970) The acting is awful, plot depressing, but you get to see a young brunette wendy richard in her undies 😉
Today I’ve been accused of being……………etc etc.
Oh i’ve been called lots worse, when some people get triggered by something they don’t like they sometimes melt down, it shouldn’t be this way, but life isn’t always pretty or pleasant, suck it up, spit it out, forget it. Why should you care what someone you don’t know, will never meet, thinks about you?
As for your analogy, that was just ridiculous i didn’t waste time reading further.
Get yer trousers on, son, you’re nicked.
Take a break from here. You can’t deal with it. You sound incoherent. You say “Debate me, disagree with me” – but you can’t cope with anyone who disagrees with YOU and then you accuse others of abusing you. Sometimes I think you are doing this for fun, most times I think you are addicted to self harm. I have supported you many times here in your endless mission to piss people off – but you have never responded to me, probably because I have an anonymous username. This post is totally insane – give it up for your own sake please.
‘I’m going to make this my final posting of the night. I’m not going to read or respond to replies to this one.’
I’ll bet a score you’ve been back to read the replies. You’re a self-absorbed narcissist. But it’s worse. You’re a narcissist with a nasty side. Your earlier threats to try and have this comments section taken down exposed a dark side.
By the way, you’re ignoring all the rational responses others have taken the time to write to you and you’re *still* erroneously calling criticisms of your behaviour ‘abuse’ and ‘personal attacks’.
To be honest that may be a tad of an exaggeration, i suspect the authorities don’t need an excuse to shut it down, there again its a perfect surveillance trap so they may prefer it to stay up!
Don’t let paranoia get to you, you know the saying.
“just because i’m paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get me”.
I’m not paranoid, mate, it’s just that they’re all coming after me 🙃
What do you think might be an exaggeration, my claim about John P’s threat? Here it is:
‘I was close to calling the police, but I’ve calmed down now. I[n] any event, I would expect they have better things to do than shut down the comment threads of this site.’
Note the assumption that a call to Plod would result in ‘shut[ting] down the comment threads of this site’.
No his motive, coz frankly if he’s not transgender i doubt they’d care.
Like i say the authorities know this place exists if they wanted it closed it would be.
I agree that Plod wouldn’t care. It’s risible. But I stand by my assessment of this narcissist.
To be honest, kudos to Toby Young, but he’s a middle class liberal, part of the establishment, heavily invested in the system, he’s not looking to rock the boat, just blow it gently on to a different course.
He’s no more a threat to the narrative as piers corbyn or david icke. They aren’t looking to shut this site down.
I suspect you may be too sensitive to argue with strangers on the Internet.
Just watching the BBC 10 o’clock news.Its amazing how many lies you can fit in an half hour.
How do the viewing figures hold up to a year ago? Anyone know?
You have nerves of steel putting up with that, is it a Saint Tom sobfest special tonight?
Home affairs editor gushing.One of the finest generation in our darkest hour.lot of World war 2 imagery.
To be expected.A decent old man co opted by the most despicable government in our history.
Sometimes it’s a good laugh tuning in. You get to see lazy reductive ‘journalism’ at it’s finest. You also wonder how people fall for it, but they do on mass.
To be honest, their dishonesty never surprises me. However, like a morbid fascination, I’m mesmerised by their sudden switch of position on the EU in the last few days. Who Oceania’s latest enemy?
I think it’s Eurasia, but I’m not sure.
It’s tough living on Airstrip One.
Yes, it’s mesmerising. We were told that Brexit would mean shutting our borders; but now that we have Covid, suddenly, shutting our borders is a good thing. One might even call it a double-plus-good thing.
The idiot from labour wants to quarantine travellers for years.Even the BBC man said it was unsustainable.He replied it is
Which particular idiot was that? Their name is Legion, for they are many.
Was it the idiot called Starmer?
I don’t know, soon as the propaganda started I made an excuse and left. Did you see that PPB he did the other night…..fucking hell, what a hole in the air he is, the oxygen depletes and flowers die as he moves his lips…..nobody will convince me that’s not Max Headroom they’ve elected..
Excellent summary what happened in March with the spread of lockdowns, a new invention from China
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1356679222660526082.html
Watch the New Normal documentary by the Happen Network. On Bitchute. They cover this. The WHO rep who wouldn’t answer a question on Taiwan was telling. It reminded me of this moment in The Inside Job documentary which covered the sub prime global scam.
https://youtu.be/5msVl3oZl4U
When the scammers get called out.
I always enjoy the moment when the Canadian WHO rep hangs up on the intrepid reporter from Hong Kong and her perfectly legitimate questions about Taiwan joining the WHO.
He knows the rules of his own self censorship
The UK will have an elderly population with a suboptimal immunity after only one dose, rife for developing vaccine resistant strains (don’t need imported South African, Heathrow hotels for that!), which will only have side effects of the first dose. And if not Pfizer/Moderna jabs, receiving a vaccine AstraZeneca with no proven effect against C-19 according to EMA in the over 65(Germany,Sweden,Poland not recommending AsraZ over 65,no proven effect)
UK.The worst of two worlds lead by a science led government,cheered by Spectator Lockdown centrics
The two tweets below informative
https://twitter.com/AlexBerenson/status/1356699398672175106
Turns out 461 Israelis have died of Covid after being vaccinated (about 1/3 of those who died of Covid in January. 21 have died after receiving both doses. 32,000 have tested positive. 2,600 after receiving both doses. At best this suggests delaying the second dose is insane.
Interesting tweet and comments on the problems with C-19 still in UK nursing homes after 1st Dose.This is from people in the know,Consultant Geriatricians.
https://twitter.com/runnermandoc/status/1356337026757492738
I was looking at an article on fb about carehome deaths in the US. Many residents are dying with positive covid tests after receiving the Pfizer vax. Now I don’t think this vax contains any attenuated coronavirus. So what’s going on?
Possibly it takes down the immune system for a week or so allowing infection. Discussed on UK column yesterday
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oHhCYkEwbAQ
At the beginning I think.
Ironic, considering previously covid-free carehomes are losing residents to covid after they’d been jabbed.
Most of the docs on the twitter thread are depressingly vax positive, though I suppose it means they’re not hypocrites. I liked this comment from this one:
Given that single dose efficacy has roughly the same odds as a coin toss, this isn’t a suprise to me.
The fast&wide strategy is seriously flawed.
One dose isn’t “vaccinated”, it’s “halfassed” #liarjohnson #mattHancock
That would push quite a few people over the edge. I believe that is what kills people who have AIDS – the immune system shuts down.
The Pfizer vaccine turns your own cells into a coronavirus spike protein manufacturing plant.
So you are making the coronavirus proteins.
I cannot remember what part of the virus the PCR test looks for but if it is part that is in the spike protein, then the patient is bound to test positive.
The deaths – if what I have said above holds true, then the deaths cannot be from coronavirus (as the care home resident is only making the spike protein, not an active infection) but could be from the impact of the vaccine on the body and immune system, or from an autoimmune reaction to the foreign proteins.
Only a proper investigation and autopsies could find out the truth.
Deaths from pneumonia (Covid or influenza) would be distinct from deaths from sepsis or organ failure dur to some reaction to the vaccine..
The Pfizer vaccine zeroes the immune system for 7 days +/-. For an old person quite literally anything could be fatal during that period.
I understand that if there’s a verdict of covid, an autopsy is as good as forbidden. Clever!
Care home in Basingstoke had no deaths between March and Christmas but have had at least 22 since they started vaccination.
https://www.basingstokegazette.co.uk/news/19043790.coronavirus-outbreak-22-deaths-pemberley-house-care-home/
It replicates the spike protein of the virus and your immune system is to kick in when it’s recognised. So I think at that point a positive test can be returned.
I think I saw this explained in Monday’s UK Column news – it’s worth watching anyway..
So many doctors posting there. Twitter must be in a bind about whether to take it down, or not.
Tweet after tweet of people saying the same thing, people dying after 1st Poison jab. Is this the reason for the vaccine to
Has the Spectator got even worse since I cancelled my sub three weeks ago? Fucking hell, it was bad enough then; wall-to-wall femmy liberal-fascist Sloanies and their tame soy-boys interspersed with cheapshit low-rate Globalist/NWO shills that nobody’d ever heard of……in the end it was only Rod that was keeping me there, but I’m sure he understood- he took the loss bravely anyway, so they tell me.
Rod and Taki. Not sufficient though. Cancelled.
Yes, Taki too.
I’m surprised you stuck it out that long! I had a free trial month last autumn. No way would I pay for that stuff.
Taken from twitter. Monday, Tuesday….
Since the weekend our Branch has lost 14% of members. Think about what is happening @theSNP this is not a minor thing, especially if replicated across all Branches. We expect a video from @NicolaSturgeon anytime soon,,,,,,,,,,,,, #SNPLeftMe
https://twitter.com/Elsee29/status/1356654032950095872?s=20
Neale Hanvey MP
4h
Replying to @Elsee29 @theSNP
and @NicolaSturgeon
Lesley, I am so sad to hear of this increase to 14%. Unfortunately I’m hearing of similar resignations locally and elsewhere. Following my email to constituency members yesterday, I again appeal to all valued members, some of very long-standing for Scotland please stay.
—
Still whistling in their downfall. Relevant to Lockdown in that the government of Scotland is in mid-scamdenic collapse. If niknak goes what will devi do?
Where is the bbc? Haha their bias has them exposed too.
The knight thing is ridiculous, pics like this just hammer it in:
No more, this is abuse! STOP PLEEEEEEEEASE…..
Isn’t it just? If she weren’t the apex and the keystone of a thousand years of Establishment power it’d be risible.
What i don’t get is why certain people are immune from criticism or even terrorism when they have so much opposition.
Why don’t the woke attack monarchy?
Why didn’t ISIS terrorists attack Israel?
Its a serious question, it doesn’t make sense sworn enemies don’t attack the actual cause of their resentment. Seems fishy.
I don’t know about the “woke” but ISIS would never attack their head office.
Yes, it does, I agree. Who whom?
“…a thousand years of Establishment power”
To be precise, just 300 years of the last immigration of it from Germany.
Its all serfdom, the rest is just detail, few care about.
Actually the Knight thing in itself is OK. Monarchs throughout the ages have recognised appropriate recipients. If it’s an anti Monarchist discussion you want bring it on but not on this forum. Her Majesty sensed the swell of the Mob and acted accordingly.
Who rules who. hopefully she will soon follow the old man & we can finally eradicate royalty. Would we need a written constitution then? Some claim we already have one, that everyone ignores, so I guess its as irrelevant as the monarchy is.
It’s not Brenda’s decision. It was political.
I’m tempted to start a petition to replace the nasal swab test with the Chinese anal probe test. The “science” seems to support it and I would love to see the reaction of the drones in my area who boast on social media about going for a test every other day. It would be a most satisfactory way to troll them.
DIY?
Looks like it’s come straight from the pages of Viz 🙂
Spot on! Would save us £billions.
Oh …..
Yes – I think there is a place in this for some of us going the reverse psychology route.
Also known as ‘pursuing Covidianism to the last consequence.
For instance, is it really acceptable to speak to other people – and thus risk spreadng the deadly virus – when we have the altenative to communicate safely – ie electronically.?
Perhaps speaking to people outside of your bubble should not be allowed.
Dungford and his repulsive crew want exactly that in Gulag Wales.You mustn’t speak to anybody, ever, or you will make the Covid god angry.
The Pot-Bangers are still rushing round in their living rooms, adorned with converted LGBT-to-NHS rainbows, trying to figure out how to please the Covid God. Guess this could constitute Johnson’s preferred definition of daily exercise.
Calling Captain Tom a Covidiot for going to Barbados.
I’ve been doing that on the Metro website. The trouble is most people don’t actually get the joke. Eg on one news item I told off people for using supermarkets and deliveries, and said it was safer to grow your own food indoors and live on a diet of mushrooms and water cress.
One man replied that he’d tried to grow fruit and veg in his garden but hadn’t done very well. I was tempted to tell him off for daring to go into his garden, but didn’t have the heart.
LOL, well done for squeezing the comedy out of this awful situation
Well, I have supported removing all 11 quadrillion or whatever viruses from the face of the earth – no half-measures…
The nasal one sounds potentially brain-damaging, I think I’d actually prefer the alternative. They could hardly administer it from a tent in a carpark either.
Besides, all those testing kids would have to pass the notapervert test – which takes weeks atm.
never mind the piles
You guys should watch Demolition Man. I never knew it at the time but it’s actually an adaptation if Huxley’s “Brave New World”. Its depiction of the future world is uncanny to what is going on right now.
I didn’t know that. Thanks. Free on Prime too!
I’ve said it a few times, but nothing compares to the utterly dreadful movie made in 2011, Contagion. It’s got a surprising number of big-name actors, for a movie that looks like it has a budget of a drunken multimedia student.
But I guarantee you’ll want to watch it all the way through – because it is not any normal movie. It takes predictive programming to a level I’ve never seen before – it is without question a pretext for what we are living now. Only difference is that they suggest the origins of the virus comes from Hong Kong (matching the Rockefeller Foundation documented rehearsal).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contagion_(2011_film)
Just wanted to add a quotation of the movie’s subtitle:
“NOTHING SPREADS LIKE FEAR”
…does anyone have a link to the UK government’s own observations that outlined their need to drive more fear in to the public to increase compliance?
It actually isn’t.
There are influences – one of the more likeable characters in the film is called Lenina, after a character in the novel, but it is not an adaptation.
Just had a quick look at today’s Gov.uk made up numbers page. They are asking people to fill in a survey; on the page it says:
The survey is done using Google Forms.
Nuff said!
Did you fill it out? I get an error message from q3 and cannot go to the next page. Apparently one can only choose one answer per column. But it should be per line?
When I saw what they used to create the questionnaire, I, too, was not surprised it does not work!
I didn’t, Silke. Give me 5 and I’ll go and have a look. 🙂
Edit: I’m back; all working here.
I just pick random stuff for the choices questions, and was sarcastic for all the places where they asked for opinions.