Covid ICU admissions in Israel hit record levels this week, reaching 130.5 per million on January 26th 2022, topping a previous peak of 127.1 per million on January 19th 2021. Why is this, when Omicron is milder and most of the country is now vaccinated whereas last winter almost none of it was?
At the previous peak only 6% of the country were double-vaccinated. Now 65% are, plus 46% are triple-vaccinated and around 8% are quadruple vaccinated. Israel was also first out the block with its booster campaigns. If the purpose of the vaccination programme was to relieve pressure on the health service – and recall it was supposed to be a two-dose vaccine, not three or four doses – it’s hard to see how it has helped much.
Having said that, the number of patients in ICU is still only around two thirds of the peak level, suggesting the stays may be shorter.
Also, deaths are currently less than half the peak – though as Dr. Noah Carl points out, this is higher than you would expect from 95% effective vaccines.
It’s also noteworthy that Israel has not seen any obvious reduction in all-cause mortality since the vaccines were rolled out.
It’s not just Israel. Highly vaccinated U.S. states in the North, West and East are also seeing record Covid hospital admissions.
True, many of these will be incidental admissions. But deaths are also high in many of those states.
Taken together, the picture is not exactly what those who saw vaccines as the solution to the pandemic will have expected. There is also the outstanding question of why non-Covid excess mortality in Europe and elsewhere has been so high since the summer.
Further investigation is needed.
Discussion
Comments
This week across the site:
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Profanity and abuse will be removed and may lead to a permanent ban.
I’ve historically believed Israel to be a state to be admired. Created out of genocide, surrounded by enemies and the only democracy in the Middle East.
However, unfortunately I now view the country, generically, in the same league as the dictatorial New Zealand, Canada and Australia.
I’m confident that past Israeli premiers – Golda Meir and Shimon Peres for example – would not have been taken in by the WEF and the pharma conglomerates. They’d probably have authorised a Mossad operation against some of the evil men and women behind all of this nonsense.
“Nanotech found in Pfizer Jab”:
https://odysee.com/@spearhead4truth:e/Nanotech-discovery-280122:9?fbclid=IwAR2n2-tdiA3a7D1mEsBwlSPItM5HR_2re9ZGUA55mzlBmXLDDJ3mR194bho
Surprising?
Why make a mystery out of the obvious? The pseudo-vaccines afford little if any protection against catching transmitting the COVID virus, while systematically undermining the natural immune system.
The more you jab with the “one size fits all” spike protein snake oil, the more you lower resistance to SARS variants and other pathogens.
“The real-world effectiveness of the Covid-19 injections wanes significantly in a short amount of time, but unfortunately for the vaccinated population, rather than the immune system returning to the same state it was prior to vaccination, the immune system performance begins to rapidly decline making it inferior to that of the unvaccinated”.
https://dailyexpose.uk/2022/01/21/triple-vaccinated-are-developing-aids-gov-data
A pretty obvious attempt at an explanation would be They can admit more people because more capacity is available.
If you live in a country where national service is practiced then you will get a certain result. Makes me sad having known some people from there. I know its hard to say no. No excuse though. My parents are both in their late seventies and they haven’t taken this shite. You call yourself a soldier and yet you can’t even stand up to this nonsense? Trust me you are already dead.
It is a sad thing really the Isaelis believed in their rulers for obvious reasons and now they are well and truly screwed up. There is now way that they will be able to run a defence ministry now. They could get shat on from the skies and they would barely notice it. You fucked up big time mofos.
My guess would be that it’s down to mass testing in hospitals. All mass testing achieves is to ensure that a proportion of hospital deaths get attributed to Covid irrespective of what a sane person would attribute as the actual CoD.
I do not believe this these incidents of acute respiratory problems will go away in fact they will increase despite the backdrop of some seeming fall in infection or severity of illness. You have to discern this attack for what it is. I have a niece who went in and they put her on a ventilator and induced a coma for some respiratory problem and she was completely healthy a couple of days after being discharged from hospital. This is not a natural recovery path. Surely the abiding lesson of the last couple of years is the importance of a complete or holistic understanding of our situation in its entirety. Anything less would be like treating a metastatic tumour by just attacking one site.
Th ventilator, presented to us as a life saver two years ago, has turned into a ‘pathway’ killer !
There is a simple explanation for this. Given the nature of this disease the only appropriate response in severe cases is ECMO (extra-corporeal machine oxygenation). These machines are extremely expensive and the UK only has about about a dozen of them. The ventilator is a way of hiding liability. Every step of this nightmare can be perfectly well understood given the systemic framework that organisations were operating within. Doesn’t excuse any of it but this is the sad truth.
Re: ECMO
I wrote a feature story on an Alabama man who almost certainly had COVID in December 2019. He actually spent 28 days in ICU from his life-threatening case. He and his wife both believe that it was the ECMO device that saved his life.
If this man had died (which he almost did several times), he would have been the first confirmed COVID death in the world. He was also probably the first COVID patient whose life was saved by ECMO. One of my frustrations about this story being ignored is that lessons from this man’s case could have been used to save more lives.
But the hospital that treated him never reported this likely early case to public health officials (although the director of ICU nursing later said he “definitely” had COVID). So there was definitely a cover-up of this early Covid case and CDC and Alabama Department of Public Health Officials never even talked to this man or his doctors.
Still, this man was lucky that he was treated at one of the few Alabama hospitals that had ECMO. FWIW, this man’s wife later came to think that ventilators WERE killing more COVID patients… Read more »
The ventilators, like the remdesevir and the midazolam and the jabs are all geared towards one thing – murdering patients to justify more terrorism and the death of freedom.
Good section on ventilators as a murder weapon here:
The Chinese Communist Party’s Global Lockdown Fraud
https://ccpgloballockdownfraud.medium.com/the-chinese-communist-partys-global-lockdown-fraud-88e1a7286c2b
3. Deadly Recommendations for Early Mechanical Ventilation Came from China
In early March 2020, the WHO released COVID-19 provider guidance documents to healthcare workers.[44] The guidance recommended escalating quickly to mechanical ventilation as an early intervention for treating COVID-19 patients, a departure from past experience during respiratory-virus epidemics.[45] In doing so, they cited the guidance being presented by Chinese journal articles, which published papers in January and February claiming that “Chinese expert consensus” called for “invasive mechanical ventilation” as the “first choice” for people with moderate to severe respiratory distress,[46] in part to protect medical staff. As the Wall Street Journal later reported:
Last spring, doctors put patients on ventilators partly to limit contagion at a time when it was less clear how the virus spread, when protective masks and gowns were in short supply. Doctors could have employed other kinds of breathing support devices that don’t require risky sedation, but early reports suggested… Read more »
Senger makes out that China is doing this of its own accord – Im pretty sure Senger is a limited hangout. I would finish this statement with a statement about how the kakistocracy is engineering this situation and using China to achieve its objectives – shifting its protection racket from the west to the east – so they are deliberately destroying and weakening the west to make the west weak and the east – Russia and China – stronger. Thats one purpose of Convid – to finish off the west and to Chinafy it by getting its people used to having no human rights – just like in China which our treasonous lowlife politicians believe to be some kind of utopia. I guess if Satan lives in your heart – and he clearly does live in the heart of the majority of British politicians – then a Chinese style government with a scared traumatised population is the way to go. But these agents of Satan who are destroying our lives will face the consequences of their evil when their day comes. China is NOT doing this of its own accord. It is playing a role which has been given to… Read more »
.
But it still gets all those millions of spike proteins busy reproducing in the cells and messing up your immune system doesn’t it?
That’s the important thing! ( Not to mention the clots and myocarditis.)
To borrow from Father Ted: “is there nothing to be said for injecting another vaccine? I do so love injecting vaccines.”
So I know of no one personally that has died of/with covid, I know of 2 people dead from the jabs and 1 who’s life is destroyed, injections for life as a result of clots.
Good times…
The thing is were still learning about “The Virus”, and kids can get long covid and covid toe, so we have to be safe.
We just have to settle for the drip drip drip of information even if it seems frustratingly slow. Some people have been naive to these issues until very recently which is fine. The intellectual or the warrior. It puts me in mind of a parable of disputed origin whereby a warrior was going about his daily duties and someone spat at him in the face. On the one hand it is impermissible for the warrior to act out out of anger and on the other hand this was an impossible affront. Apparently he went home, meditated for a couple of hours and achieved a great calmness and then went out and slit the miscreants throat thereby resolving the dilemma. It is quite an interesting story when you think about it.
Are they rotating the rules now on a cycle of page refreshes, or refining as we go? ROFL
Has anyone else seen news about the ICLCJ Court issuing arrest warrants for Big Pharma, Government, Church Leaders etc? I can’t tell if there’s any truth to it or not. There’s nothing on the official ICLCJ website. Apparently its why the UK have scrapped Plan B?
Do you mean this?
ICLCJ Verdict and Sentence – Common Law
Hadn’t heard of it until you posted.
Yep. There’s this too – http://murderbydecree.com/2022/01/25/breaking-news-january-25-britain-cancels-covid-measures-after-iclcj-arrest-warrants-issued-against-pharma-ceo-and-anglican-archbishop/
Just seems a bit too good to be true.
I’ve forwarded the links to a group which includes a number of lawyers. Be interesting to see what they know or think about it all.
Thank you 🙂
It’s all a scam by a Canadian who runs his ‘Court’ from his motor home….
The main point of The Canadian Truckers for freedom is that they should not be subjected to “vaccine mandates.”
So let’s talk a little more about vaccine mandates.
If 12 months ago, vaccine boosters had said, “once we get the vast majority of the world vaccinated we will have …. record numbers of confirmed Covid cases ….,” people would have said, “What the hell?”
If, in Israel, vaccine boosters had said, “Once we get 95 percent of our population fully vaccinated, we will have … record numbers of Israel citizens being treated in ICU’s for COVID,” people would have said, “What the hell?”
If I had said these things in my social media post I would have been attacked as a heretic and a fool and probably banned from every posting again.
And, yet, this is exactly what has happened. Any person who might have made such bizarre predictions would have been 100-percent accurate and prescient.
Really, all these truckers are trying to say is don’t trust the experts and authorities … And, here’s the kicker, this simple message is (finally) resonating with millions of people.
You’re absolutely right. It’s a slow drift to madness. And we can be guilty of it too. Over a year ago my attitude towards children being injected with this bullshit would have been “over my dead body” and yet I’ve been literally excusing them from class all day for exactly that. Such is the creeping, insidious evil of this period.
https://tcp.art.blog/2022/01/23/covid-the-strange-death-of-medicine/
If there was any good left in the doctor’s role, it was as a benevolent arbiter for the patient, heavily armed with the shields of medical ethics: physician independence, patient choice, patient confidentiality, informed consent, bodily autonomy, beneficence, justice and primary non-maleficence…….. Today, in a tryst with evil, we indulge in the reverse. We peddle fear and connive with exploitative drug barons to push their dangerous, experimental and unnecessary genetic potions. Covid is the friend of Pharma. The people are the enemy, the fodder of the corporate biosecurity state.
Vaccine injuries in the DOD and the attempted cover-up
Further analysis of Thomas Renz’s claims to the congress committee chaired by senator Ron Johnson.
Warning – ominous background music.
https://trmlx.com/vaccine-injuries-in-the-dod-and-the-attempted-cover-up/
Pfizer have published plans to study the effect of the vax on military personnel with the agreement and co-operation of the Department of Defense.
The DoD is mandating the use of the original EUA authorised vax, even though this must be illegal.
The cominarty vax had its license granted and withdrawn on the same day 23 Aug 2021. And yet army personnel who refused the illegally mandated vax were illegally removed from services.
Secretary of Defense owns over 29 thousand shares in a company that made a vast amount of money in Pfizers vax.
So he’s a lucky chappie isn’t he then! No clouds without a ‘silver’ lining!
“Profanity and abuse will be removed and may lead to a permanent ban.”
Toby. How about something along the lines of
“Try only to be respectful and truthful in your comments – only this way can we show the world we mean business.”
Do we know that Natural Immunity can be achieved by a ‘jabbed’ person as the jab may have compromised their immunity system?
Original antigenic sin.
I don’t believe they have taken the Goyim Juice.
Can you expand on that point?
OT
Can anyone tell me when they announced approval of the clotshots for 5-11 year olds?
My friend has received an NHS notification to book an appt for her 8 year old.
Bring on the tumbrils – and that’s not abuse it’s wishful thinking.
Do they care about ‘approval’ anyway? Whitty will just ignore the advice and say – Yes, I hear but it’s all OK by me!
Pfizer have screwed up the trials by compromising the control group – so it looks lie a rubber stamp for authorised use world wide will follow!
There are no ‘Control Agencies’ protecting the public worthy of the name any longer. If they say go ahead – the wise would be advised to run a mile in the opposite direction.
Oh no, we have an updated message:
‘Profanity and abuse will be removed and may lead to a permanent ban.’
Whoever is writing this nonsense needs to understand that the Free Specch Union largely exists to combat the arbitrariness employed in restricting others’ rights to free speech. ‘Abuse’ is an ambiguous term in this context and different people will have different ideas about what constitutes abuse. Such a ‘policy’ puts us all at the mercy of the personal whims of whoever is spouting this garbage.
This is exactly the kind of ill-defined garbage which leads to the type of arbitrariness the Free Speech Union claims to oppose. So who is serving up this nonsense? I think the readership here deserves answers.
Yeah, the least TY could do is write an article about who is forcing him to publish the disclaimers.
You can email them at [email protected]
Presumably “I break wind in your general direction ” (Monty Python) _if addressed to a named individual would led to a life-time ban then?
What’s all this guff about a ‘Free Speech Unon’?
Oh and can we a have a list of ‘mild’ terms of acceptable abuse to choose from as well? ( perhaps ‘cad’, ‘ bounder’, ‘rotter’, ‘spiv’ and ‘scallywag’ could make a comeback?)
How would advocating the legitimate debating society argument for a return of Capital Punishment for named crimes and the individuals responsible go down?
I don’t know – it seems to me the longer this goes on, beliefs about the ‘marvellous vaccine’ become more entrenched. I have been quite shocked to discover that most people don’t look beyond msm for information, and are actually very surprised if you, for example, mention the (official) figures about vaccine deaths. You just know you have just been labelled and are therefore an untrustworthy source of information.
Totally depressed about how many were still wearing masks at the supermarket this morning – and those useless visors, or both. I wish the information here was published in the mainstream and I wish all these people would just wake up! Do you think it will ever happen?
I’m afraid I am equally pessimistic. We live in two parallel universes: one where we look at data and can understand broadly what is going on (I am suggesting we have a perfect understanding) and the other where people mop up the propaganda from the MSM, think vaccines are a marvelous invention and are completely ‘safe and effective’ and that facemasks and lockdowns have prevented armageddon. A few people have woken up to this but I keep expecting the dam to burst, and it doesn’t happen. Whether that is just cognitive dissonance, as they have taken the gene jab and don’t want to admit they have compromised their health, or just the fact that they are completely unaware of what is going on due to the censorship is hard to say. I don’t see it changing any time soon though.
Post hoc rationalization and especially refusal to admit having been fooled is a very powerful motivator. Ask any professional conman.
This has been an MSM /PCR test sh*t show ( German term!) from the outset – subtract these elements and life becomes instantly ‘normal’ again.
For us getting our craven MPs to block the ‘State of Emergency ‘planned perpetual renewal used to give Johnson Dictator powers must be a priority.
There is now (never was) a “state of emergency” – so watch them create a new one!
Yes, it was like a kick in the guts for me this morning at the shops 🙁
Some will just be fanatics. I guess for the others it will be a slower process than we might have hoped.
It’ll probably take a couple of weeks (longer for Waitrose and M&S customers) for mask wearing to drop by 50%. Then they’ll be a gradual decrease, but I reckon 10-20% will continue to wear them for the rest of their lives.
Thanks for publishing this. When one of the most vaccinated (and boosted) countries in the world is having record number of ICU admissions, this tells all but the brain dead that the vaccines are NOT effective …. even against “severe” or serious cases.
And surely by now nobody is saying that these vaccines prevent infections. Those that are vaccinated now seem to be more likely to test positive.
Uhhh… 65% hardly sounds like most vaccinated. But Israel was first in the “race”, so their vaccinations have long stopped working.
Which vaxx stopped working? Vaxx 1, 2, 3 or 4?
Last figures I saw in the Jerusalem Post had about 55% of the people in serious condition in hospital being triple-vaxxed.
It looks like ‘the Great Shakedown’ is coming in Israel – how are they ever going to handle it?
By saying “we’ve tried, but now we must make the vaccination mandatory”. Pretty predictable.
The early ones, of course. And on top add to it the 35% that have not been vaccinated at all.
I think about 95 percent of the population of Israel has received at least two jabs by now. Certainly 95 percent when you look at the population over, say, age 55.
Actually, yesterday on Dutch TV there was a new government ad filled with doctors and scientists urging us to get the boost – one of the reasons was ‘you were much less likely to get infected’. The lastest public health figure showed 11% of last week’s positive ‘cases’ were triple-vaxxed and they only started boosting at the end of November. Speaking of spreading misinformation about the virus and the vaxx..
Whatever has happened to LIbertarian Holland of the 1980s?
It wasn’t libertarian, it was libertine. NL in the 1980s was a frontrunner on political correctness, wokeness, i.e. hypocritical moralising by people who are in their hearts fascists but love having found a way to let their inner fascists out while being lauded for their good intent.
You really weren’t allowed to say anything or you’d get told off. Happy to say it’s calmed down a bit.
What is happening now is a small-ish country in the EU being told what to do by Brussels and particularly Berlin. Rutte decided to side with France and Germany against the UK when it came to Brexit, rather than trying to keep the UK in the EU. The UK was a much better and more reliable friend to NL than the other 2 have ever been.
Just heard Rutte announcing on the news that NL would provide the Ukraine with arms if needed – after Germany said it wouldn’t. NL is renowned for its weapons industry – not. Once again NL will be the bagman for Germany’s dirty dealings, just like it got to be the whipping boy bullying the southern countries over the euro. NL has no plans for a vaxx mandate,… Read more »
It’s as though the political class is running a preconceived agenda based on pharmaceuticals that simply don’t do what they were promised by Big Pharma that they would. It’s extraordinary to watch. They will increasingly look like communist dictators of old, utterly separated from reality in some parallel dimension. One reassuring thing that Mattias Desmet said in his excellent interview with RFK recently is that because of technological advancements the whole totalitarian process could be over much sooner than past regimes, let’s hope that’s true!
Are we playing the game of patients in icu ‘because’, or patients in icu ‘with’…?
I am beginning to doubt my own sanity.
Is this really about no more than greed?
Planned global incompetence, something we humans excel at (no offense intended) followed by what, a incompetent virus and a matching vaccine (no offense to viruses intended, I believe none were harmed in this experiment).
What next, exactly? Dodgy health passports? Why not just drop the word Human altogether and replace with Dodgy?
None were harmed? How ever do you arrive there?
Referring to viruses.
Every single one of my family are triple vaccinated with two teens having had their booster shots – every single one of them are now coming down with heavy colds including the two teens who are now off school with heavy colds.
I’m unvaccinated and so far I have not come down with a single thing.
I can only conclude that it must be the vaccines.
So…. 2 +2 = 4…. is at last coming back into fashion!
Well of course it’s the vaxx. Didn’t you know, feeling unwell, having adverse reactions, even getting corona are all proof the vaxx works? Haven’t you been following the science? 😉
Sad to report I’ve watched a series of 13 year old children leave my classroom today for their second ‘covid vaccine’ ; all returned with a slightly flushed sweaty appearance and did seem absent minded. Perhaps I was looking too hard for that. I am struck with a heavy sense of sadness and responsibility but what to do…
Serve a cease & desist notice on the school via an enlightened friend?
“Ich habe nicht erwartet, dass sie den Job für mich erledigen!”
Is that Schwab Senior in the background?
Well spotted. 😀
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus of the World Health Organisation made a very weird slip of the tongue a while back, which implied he was aware the “vaccines” caused injuries and death in children.
He said:
Check the video via this link and jump forward to the 17 second mark, and you will clearly hear him say this. It was very clearly a Freudian Slip.
The likes of Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is thuggish and bullyish, but all these types are inherent cowards. Tedros has probably become aware that purposeful harm is being done with these so-called vaccines, and he’s scared there may be consequences. Thus, the nervous slip of the tongue.
Perhaps this was a hidden” ‘off’ agenda| item at one
of his ‘Conspiracy Sessions’ – under the title: ‘What do we do about the children’?
Presumably the answer was something like : “All taken care of by the boosters!”
So Mr. Young has now verified his “rules”.
Sounds very much like East Germany to me, I don’t like rules!
Goodbye
You’ll be sorely missed if you go. But I do understand your frustration with the fupping grassholes.
It’s the principle, if something isn’t illegal, then people should be free to express themselves as they please. I object to being infantilized & told what I’m (a 60 year old) is allowed to say or think.
There is no reason the internet should be any different to any other public space & if words are made illegal, then it’s the law that’s offensive, not the language!
If it was put as a request to be considerate & polite to others fine, but being threatened if you do not comply is not acceptable, shame on you Mr. Young!
You need to resign from the free speech union, you don’t have the integrity required to be its leading head.
Apparently you are too thick to recognize that these “rules” are only there to protect the site owner from legal attacks by his enemies.
May I remind you that “hate speech” laws are the most effective censorship laws out there and they will be used to suppress free speech and hurt anyone who stands in their way by crazy, powerful people.
I think the motivation is probably something like that though not sure how swearing comes into it.
My theory is that it’s more to do with keeping the comments presentable, not frightening the newbies and maybe making it all look more mainstream, but it doesn’t make a lot of sense to me
I think it’s a mistake, but don’t suspect any dishonest motives
That’s easy, swearing causes rowdiness and aggression, which is more likely to trigger actual hate, at which point it becomes a concern for the operator.
Evidently, you don’t understand complying with oppression only strengthens the oppressors position, to be more oppressive.
You can’t fight tyranny by surrendering!
The most effective & dangerous form of censorship is self-censorship.
You must pick your battles. When the enemy has overwhelming force, walking into their ambush basically means suicide. And when you are dead, you cannot fight for freedom another day. Yes, we have arrived at that point.
But I thought we were the 99% ??
“Better to die once than forever live in fear” Julius Caesar.
Hate speech! You will be banned!
Yup, and I don’t care about getting banned. I’ve been banned elsewhere so many times before that I’m actually pretty surprised that this forum has not banned me yet (much to its credit, I must say).
rayc:
Apparently you are too thick….
Not swearing, granted. But clearly a bit rich, to then follow up with
That’s easy, swearing causes rowdiness and aggression, which is more likely to trigger actual hate, at which point it becomes a concern for the operator
Could have made his point without having to lead with thick.
There’s nothing illegal about using four letter words.
Personally I find it rather infantilising to be told that I can’t use certain words. For heavens sake, even the bbc has programmes littered with the f word and the c word, and no one turns a hair. Forums that allow the full range of wonderful expressive English are much more interesting to read.
Anyway, there doesn’t seem to be that much swearing on here, but the odd well placed f*** adds emphasis, or sometimes amusement.
Bring back fucking free speech, I say.
The bizarre thing is that people willing to comply with the spirit in which these rules have been asserted have clearly learnt nothing about authoritarian collectivism over the last 2 years.
You can not win a war by surrendering at every battle!
You’re A fucking right Old Bat. FREEDOM!
I don’t disagree… but my theory is the rules concerning swear words are not going to be enforced, they are there as as sort of window dressing and also as a sort of polite discouragement to make the site appear more “respectable” (than it really is).
Called ‘doing a Prince Andrew’.
no need to be abusive, that could get you banned
My thoughts too.
There is something deeply concerning about the leader of The Free Speech Union (FSU) banning erm, Free Speech. I am a paid up member but this instruction is causing me to reconsider the point of my membership.
If this site was a school classroom full of under 18’s the instruction might have validity but it is not, it is primarily a site for adults.
I am a paid subscriber to this site but the instruction to watch my p’s and q’s is very disturbing.
The last two years have seen daily announcements from government toe rags (is that allowed?) dictating what we can and cannot do and which I have purposefully ignored. Now an Internet site which I pay to subscribe to takes it upon itself to seek to control my very utterances. For now I will see how this pans out, which is why I did not comment on the new LAWS yesterday – I was effing livid.
If I subsequently get barred the subscription here goes and so too my membership of the FSU. I know my few pounds will matter little in the scheme of things but as far as I am concerned Toby Young has… Read more »
I think you are speaking for many. It is very sad – has Toby been ‘spoken to’ I wonder?
Yes, most likely spoken to by attorneys.
My thoughts exactly.
There are no laws against “profanity” or “swear words” in this country. Not yet, at least.
Or by the men in black balaclavas. Dragged out of bed at 3am, bundled into the van, and round the block a few times. No need to even say anything. A half mile to walk home in your pyjamas and bare feet, trying to avoid the broken glass and dog shit on the pavement.
Now it’s:
“Profanity and abuse will be removed and may lead to a permanent ban.”
In truth, it’s that didactic and authoritarian approach that I find concerning. My experience is that any interventionist rule for the control of speech will inevitably be abused to suppress opinions and exclude individuals that the moderators dislike.
It doesn’t seem to me there is a problem with offensive speech on this site, but then aqain we haven’t had any formal feedback on how hard the moderators have been working in that regard. My impression has been that censorship has been sufficiently light touch that I’ve very rarely had the impression that posts are being removed.
If it were my site, I would avoid authoritarian order-barking such as “x will be removed”, and simply remind people that the owners of a site by definition have the right and the power to remove stuff if they deem it appropriate. It is clear that there can be legal reasons for removing material, as well as insurance-related ones, though neither seems likely to justify the nannying obsession with “swear words” and “profanity”..
The less the moderators feel like petty authority figures and the more they feel like janitors,… Read more »
I broadly agree.
In East Germany thinking about using a “banned” word was banned -so that it yet to come.
Goodbye Anti_socialist. I don’t think you should leave though. Can I be deeply unpopular amongst all my sceptical comrades and say that I (kind of) agree with the new rules – I do like to drop the occasional f-bomb, and probably will continue to, but I think we need to view it in the context of how does it look to outside potential sceptics or people who are asking questions for the first time. There are some extraordinary regular BTL commenters with amazing insight, experience, and scientific/technical backgrounds. I’d rather read that kind of content than really coarse stuff that appears from time to time. Sorry, but that’s what I think. And the’ve downgraded the censoriousness to house rules, rather than deplatforming, which is a much better look I think.
So if you agree with the ‘rules’ what is the dividing line between ‘rude’ and “very rude” and who decides?
Are those “black balled” allowed to appeal – if so to whom? Is banning “for life” Will there be sittings of the ‘Banning Panel’ and has the chair the casting vote?
Does saying someone ” should be treated to a rope necktie” constitute a banning offence?
Well, yes. These are totally valid questions and get to the heart of the problem with censorship. I passionately believe in free speech, I’m just saying that if I had a counter narrative website that was in danger of being written off (by morons) as rabid paranoid right-wing tin foil hat wearing nonsense etc etc, I’d want to encourage high quality content, even BTL.
That’s a contradiction & or an outright hypocrisy, after you have just asserted your acquiescence to censorship.
It is not only cowardly to surrender to your opponents on the fear they may sanction you for your values & principle, it’s entirely self-defeating!
I absolutely respect your position. I suppose what I’m arguing for is selective strategic self-censorship. Hell, the things we say when we’re not swearing are outrageous enough in normie world.
I don’t disagree with you in a general sense CG, but people who come up with coarse stuff and nothing further to say would soon leave, as no one would engage. Plenty of people make one- or two-line jokes and although not rude or the like, one could argue they don’t add to the debate, but we like the jokes and banter, it’s part of the appeal of a good comments board – and some times people get heated in the discouse. So I see your point but it is a slippery slope. I am glad they changed the wording, the first really was condescending and inappropriate.
I find the trolls far worse than coarse language, they are only out to wind people up and disrupt the debate – the fact that they are usually quite careful in their language does not change their malintent.
TBH, the only rule that makes some sense is the one about killing, as they could face legal claims regarding incitement of violence or some such.
Having said that, I agree with Anti-Soc above, I don’t wish death upon anyone. But if I were to find out some overreaching politician or some corrupt scientist or… Read more »