Avian influenza is a highly contagious viral disease which occurs primarily in poultry and wild water birds. Avian influenza viruses are either high or low pathogenic viruses (HPAI and LPAI, respectively) depending on the molecular characteristic of the virus and its ability to cause disease and mortality in chickens.
HPAI was first recorded in 1996 in East Asia.
Most strains of avian influenza cause no or few signs of disease in infected wild birds. By contrast, the current outbreak is of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), which can cause severe disease and high mortality.
The U.K. Health Security Agency continues to advise that the risk to (human) public health from the virus is very low and the Food Standards Agency advice remains unchanged, that avian influenzas pose a very low food safety risk for U.K. consumers. Properly cooked poultry and poultry products, including eggs, are safe to eat.
Avian influenza is spread from bird to bird through contact with infected saliva, nasal secretions or droppings. Wild birds are often more resistant to bird flu than domestic birds and can carry and spread the virus without showing symptoms.
This has led to speculation that wild birds are the main cause of bird flu spreading, but there are several ways by which the disease is spread. Globally the most significant has been the unrestricted movement of poultry and poultry products.
As wild birds’ movements cannot be restricted in any meaningful way the only significant way to reduce the spread of avian influenza is by restricting and monitoring the movement of poultry and poultry products and, possibly, by trying to limit the mingling of captive and wild birds.
Thus the decision to have any restrictions is based upon 1) a desire to lower the incidences and impact of HPAI, 2) a wish to protect and improve the health of the at-risk species, and 3) a belief that the restrictions will be financially effective and proportionate.
I am concerned about the U.K.’s restrictions and lockdowns which appear to have been in use since January 2018. There have been various measures mandated for all bird keepers such as:
- Ensure the areas where birds are kept are unattractive to wild birds, for example by netting ponds, and by removing wild bird food sources;
- Feed and water your birds in enclosed areas to discourage wild birds;
- Minimise movement in and out of bird enclosures;
- Clean and disinfect footwear and keep areas where birds live clean and tidy;
- Reduce any existing contamination by cleansing and disinfecting concrete areas, and fencing off wet or boggy areas;
- Slaughter of all birds in a group where any infection occurs.
For some periods there have been more restrictive requirements such as compulsory housing orders, with all captive birds being required to be kept indoors for the duration (months) of the order. This is what was mandated last winter 2021-22 and is, it seems, likely to be mandated again.
I was curious as to what research had been carried out into avian influenza and how to prevent its spread. My FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) request was sent to the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) and asked them to let me know:
- What cost-benefit analyses have been carried out for each/all of the avian influenza lockdowns that have been ordered across all or parts of the UK since 2015.
- What research, and its findings, was done into the impact of the lockdowns and other restrictions on the welfare of the relevant poultry species
- What research, and its findings, has been carried out into the results/successes/failings of the policies and implementations of poultry lockdowns and other restrictions.
- What the belief/position of the CVOs (Chief Veterinary Officer) for the U.K. and its regions is as to the long-term sustainability/impact/benefits/risks of continuing the policies each winter.
The information I have currently received is incomplete and mixed but, taking each query in turn:
- Some cost-benefit analyses have been carried out and I have had to request again for these to see what was actually analysed.
- I was shocked and disappointed to be told that: “The Welfare veterinary advisory team is not aware of any specific research done by the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) on welfare impact of lockdown and other restrictions. The farm animal welfare policy team within Defra has made no assessment of the impact of the lockdowns and other restrictions on poultry welfare.”
- The main research that they have relied on are two papers entitled “Avian Influenza” and “Scientific Opinion on the assessment of the control measures of the category A diseases of Animal Health Law: Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza”, both from the European Food Safety Authority.
- APHA said they could not answer this query as “Requests made under the FOIA are for recorded information only. Any correspondence for views, explanations, or interpretations would not amount to a request under this regime and therefore is not a valid request.” I am appealing as I believe that the opinions and views of the CVOs must be recorded.
The two scientific papers referenced by the APHA came to the following conclusions:
- Only few non-wild bird pathways were identified having a non-negligible risk of avian influenza introduction.
- That the measures recommended were the opinions of experts based on generalised research rather than the result of actual scientific research on Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI).
- To limit the spread, stamping-out measures must be implemented in the infected poultry or captive bird establishments as soon as possible. Feeding stuffs, contaminated equipment and manure must be destroyed or treated to inactivate the virus.
My conclusions (so far).
First, it seems unbelievable that no-one has done or requested that any research be done into the impact on animal welfare by housing hens, ducks, geese (and others) for months without access to sunlight, bathing water etc. Both as regards the direct damage to the birds from the housing but also the impact on their susceptibility to catching and being affected by avian influenza, for example by spending more time in very close proximity to other birds and a loss of general health by a lack of light and the importance, especially for ducks and geese, of bathing.
Second, that the slaughter of all birds that come into contact with HPAI will only be successful insofar as it will ensure that any birds that come into contact with HPAI will be slaughtered and so any birds with resistance will be lost. The main effect of this will be to ensure that HPAI stays as deadly as it is now as natural resistance to avian influenza will not be gained by existing captive birds or their offspring.
This seems similar to the approach with cattle and TB, where all cattle are killed if they come into contact with it, whether or not they are resistant etc. I have spoken to many vets who say they do not understand or agree with this approach.
Lastly, the CVOs and APHA have been told that they must ‘do something’ even if what they are doing is not building up natural immunity, resulting in fewer dead birds, improving animal welfare or minimising impact on the poultry industry.
UPDATE January 5th 2023: DEFRA has confirmed that it has no record of any matters relevant to my query, “What the belief/position of the CVOs for the U.K. and its regions is as to the long-term sustainability/impact/benefits/risks of continuing the policies each winter”. This implies that the CVOs have not even considered whether these winter (or more) lockdowns and other policies are making any difference or are sustainable to do each year. So basically they are not making any long term plans and just taking each ‘outbreak’ as it comes. Not a very scientific approach to a long term issue.
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DeSantis Fights Back on Obscene Drag Shows for Kids…
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/07/26/exclusive-ron-desantis-florida-files-complaint-against-bar-that-held-lewd-drag-show-for-kids/
Exclusive: Ron DeSantis’ Florida Files Complaint Against Bar that Held Lewd Drag Show for Children
by JOEL B. POLLAK
Yellow Boards By The Road
“But what can I do? I am just one person”, said 8 billion people …
Thursday 4th August 11am to 12pm
Yellow Boards
Junction A321 Wargrave Road &
A4 New Bath Road
Twyford, Berks RG10 9PN
Stand in the Park Sundays 10.30am to 11.30am – make friends & keep sane
Wokingham
Howard Palmer Gardens Sturges Rd RG40 2HD
Bracknell
South Hill Park, Rear Lawn, RG12 7PA
Telegram http://t.me/astandintheparkbracknell
Flaming Nora I’m back! And what a palarver getting here, but I won’t bore you with the deets. But suffice to say, the many people who haven’t returned are not tight-wads. The vibe around here has definitely been obliterated, which leads me to my main point;
To the DS team,
Despite the fact I value this site and appreciate all of the hard work you guys put in to churning out quality articles I am less than impressed with the way the recent changes to this place have been implemented. I’m perplexed as to why you ditched the other comments section, but didn’t feel any explanation was warranted, and why you felt it wasn’t worth giving us a heads-up that you planned to bring in this ‘pay to comment’ concept. It was just dropped on us out of the blue under the guise of ‘site maintenance’. This comes across to me as both underhand and cheeky. I’m certain that had you let us know that you were in dire straits financially in advance people would have contributed gladly because we are all grateful for this place, but respect works both ways and what you did is not cool.
I would therefore appreciate it if someone from the team could explain the following;
1) Why you got rid of the other comments section, in the ‘basement’. That section offered a totally different place in which many people could engage, both on and off-topic ( often very much off! ) and not have others moaning about them doing so. It had a more laid-back vibe and was extremely popular and active. This section has always been very ‘business-like’, talking only about today’s topics, and dies a death come the afternoon, whereas the other section was active into the small hours. There’s a reason many posters from both sections never or rarely crossed over and posted on both sections. This site had something to appeal to everyone but now that is gone.
2) Why you didn’t tell us of the up-coming significant changes you had planned. By not doing so you have silenced and cancelled the opinions that posters were entitled to share, both good and bad ( as surely all feedback is constructive? ) about what was coming. Evidently many did have misgivings because a large chunk of posters have not returned and now we’ll never know why because you didn’t give them the opportunity to raise any concerns. You’ve ironically taken the “free” out of ‘Free Speech’ in more ways than one.
People visit this site not just for the articles but for the community built by the many, varied and regular posters. Dumping a ‘pay to comment’ policy on us with no advance warning has gone down like a lead balloon for many of them, evidently. So a shout out to the regulars from the other section; BagpussKitty ( I miss your cartoons! ), Victoria, Londo, Swedenborg, Kate, Dante, Bungle…I know you’re still here. Please consider coming back, even just temporarily so that you can actually share your thoughts on these changes. I miss all of the contributions, the craic, the informative and funny exchanges we enjoyed. The place won’t be the same without you all and everyone in this one section doesn’t exactly bode well going forward, though that remains to be seen.
In a nut shell, this site is now different but not improved. Just my opinion for what its worth.
There’s still a comments section under the daily newsletter pages – I don’t see how that has changed.
As for the £5 – it seems odd in a way to charge people who made a net positive contribution but I doubt there were any easy choices as to how to raise money, and putting the whole thing behind a paywall simply means our message won’t go to those who need it most.
I think the articles are better – more original pieces, fewer links to mainstream press behind paywalls that were sceptic-lite.
I’m not referring to that comments section. There was a general comments section at the bottom of the site, so under this section. It wasn’t exactly hidden away, it was there plain as day.
And as I said above, I’ve no probs with contributing financially in order to not lose this site but its the sudden and unexpected way in which it was brought about that I find hard to comprehend. Really inconsiderate actually. People could have aired their views on this had they been made aware ahead of time, then they could have decided for themselves to remain or leave. The fact that such a large number of key contributors have decided to leave and stay gone is not something to be overlooked. But as for the ‘why’…. they were deprived of giving their reasons so we may never know.
I don’t know if you saw my post three days ago. I said some of the same things. And feel very similarly about the changes.
https://dailysceptic.org/2022/07/25/news-round-up-501/#comment-825077
Yes Amtrup I did. I concurred 100%. Wish we could get the opinions from those who are conspicuous by their absence too, from both comments sections. People are entitled to give feedback but that ability has been denied them.
I am baffled as to what comments section you’re referring to but I will take your word for it.
I am not sure TY or DS owes us anything. I personally don’t feel it does. Maybe others are more invested in it. It’s TY’s site to do with what he feels best, and as long as it is supporting anti-lockdown and free speech causes I will support it and hope it succeeds.
It’s a shame that certain people don’t post here any more, but I am not convinced that telling them about the changes in advance would have made any difference. People are free to do a one-off contribution of £5 to have their say, or email the DS team.
I think DS is vastly improved. The comments section is now a comments section. I’ve been a subscriber since the site started, and my favourite posters are still here. Most of the names you quote I don’t recognise. I’m sure ‘Kate’ (as I think I know who ‘Kate’ is – hero!) is still here, under another name, as cover might have been blown…
I didn’t hang out in this section as much but even I can see that many familiar posters are absent. All of the Aussies have gone, for starters. That’s a real shame as I find it interesting to get firsthand accounts of the situation from people in other countries. Mark was a major contributor, then there’s naughty boy RedHotScot…just to name a couple. You probably don’t recognise the ones I mentioned as they were active mainly in the general comments section. Where the people who aren’t so starchy would go to kick back and let it all hang out..As I said, there was something for everyone but now there’s only here.
You have to wonder whether online payments from Oz are somehow disrupted or made too complicated. Conspiracy though it sounds, I wouldn’t put it past the shysters who want to shut us up and have the power to do so through such devious means. The increasing practice of freezing bank accounts is a sign of what TPTB can and are doing. They don’t like dissent and they don’t like us all being connected. A long shot perhaps but plausible.
Do you really think so many are that paranoid about the security of paying online ( though doesn’t everyone pay online these days? It’s hard to avoid. ) that this is the reason they haven’t returned? It seems a bit over the top. So we’re down to 3 possible reasons why people have gone MIA;
1) They’re too tight to cough up a fiver. Seems pretty unlikely to me.
2) They’re worried about the security element of donating to this site. I find this hard to believe also, although if I were in Canada it would be a different story. If spies wanted to trace you they could easily. Even if you never pay for anything online there’s many other means available to find a person.
3) People are pissed off with the DS team and holding a grudge due to not being forewarned about the changes. I don’t think people hold onto grudges that long if they’re normal, adjusted individuals. Plus, the benefits of this site outweigh the inconvenience of the recent shenanigans here so surely people would want to rejoin the fold by now?
So its a mystery to me as none of these possible reasons sound very plausible to me. Not for *everyone* who’s missing anyway.
As I said in my post the other day my reasons for not donating earlier were that I’m mostly pretty broke; I “don’t do” subscriptions/have never done them, and I don’t like using my bank card online more than can help/if I can avoid it, and yes, I was/am annoyed/repelled/alienated by how this change was carried out, on top of the earlier changes a year or more ago when DS started erasing the whole comment thread below the Daily Update at the end of each day. .
And I was/am still very sad about the disappearance/destruction of that wonderful early feeling of cooperative community here, in which we seemed to be a team, a real community fighting the lockdown&mask&testing etc together.
That sense of cooperative team effort, of acting together to resist was tarnished by the unilateral acts of the editorial team that time, and now again. It has seriously eroded the feelings of loyalty I felt towards this site. I have made this one payment/donation in recognition of the great thing it was, and because I appreciated a new site link in the Roundup, but I don’t know if I will be making any more donations.
I think it’s possible that sceptics are inherently less inclined to “subscribe to” things, less likely to “buy into” stuff, not so readily “sold on” anything … and they like to, need to, weigh up pros and cons, and do not like decisions being made for them.
You misread me, Mogs. I didn’t question the integrity of our antipodean friends at all, just the authorities and the way they can manipulate things like overseas payments – god knows I’ve had problems sometimes with this. Anyway, read my reply again and you’ll get the gist of it.
I miss the Aussies very much. I would share a drink with Alt Ego any time. Lovely fella.
For those of us who are frequent and usually Daily posters DS is not “vastly improved.” Prior to the changes we had a large and diverse body of commenters who provided many often well-researched and genuinely thought-provoking points of view. Yes we had the occasional bouts of levity but in these demonic days is that really so bad? And in any case the people periodically lightening the mood tended to congregate in the general Comments section and not here at BTL.
We also had a more international cast of people. The Aussies seem to have disappeared entirely and I miss them and their Southern Hemisphere perspective very much. Holland lost too many but it’s fantastic to have Mogwai back. The US element is denuded – where’s Bill Rice now?
The bottom line is that successful commentary requires a degree of erudition from a wide and diverse group of people and without doubt a modicum of commitment to frequency of posting. Hopefully we can re build this site and get back to some occasional bouts of craziness for the sake of everyone’s sanity.
I do not think the changes to DS were handled well, clumsily would be a better description, but if a paywall was required to keep this bastion of free speech alive then I support the team. At the end of the day nothing runs on fresh air.
So, no Deborah, we are not “vastly improved.”
Well articulated and totally agreed, Hux. Also thank you to yourself and the others who have welcomed me back. Just a mere hiatus.
I do hope more of the tribe will think on and trickle back as time goes on. The site was richer for their presence and regular posts, be it the technical stuff like graphs and scientific papers, or the many other links and articles that people took a lot of time to research and share, which most people wouldn’t know where to find..the random threads started by shared opinions or anecdotes or people just stopping by to connect and have a chin-wag, looking for camaraderie and mutual support or just to vent your spleen. To have a place where its frowned upon to talk about anything other than the articles on the site, despite the huge diversity of personalities who frequent this place, is unrealistic and frankly bonkers.
You need to be a rabble rouser and start up the ‘Breakfast Club’ again. See how many join and how long it takes for anarchy to ensue.
We all know how offensive and annoying wishing people a ‘good morning’ is. 
Why, it makes you practically a troll around these parts!
Another lovely post Mogwai and you made me laugh.
I do tend to keep late nights so the “breakfast club” might be revived. Lately, I have tended to put DS to bed by 11:30 pm because there’s nothing happening and pre changes the evening banter was always the best. And you are absolutely correct –
“random threads started by shared opinions or anecdotes or people just stopping by to connect and have a chin-wag, looking for camaraderie and mutual support or just to vent your spleen. To have a place where its frowned upon to talk about anything other than the articles on the site, despite the huge diversity of personalities who frequent this place, is unrealistic and frankly bonkers.”
That to me sums up why
this site means so much. The only people who share similar views to mine are on this site. Away from here any discussion of our predicament is ĺimited to C1984, Putin bad and how many jabs have you had. Everybody I speak to has their head in the sand. It drives me nuts. I come here for sanity and like-minded souls who at least allow me to think I am not on my own. Bleak I know.
Thanks again and I will repeat myself – glad you are back.
PS. I hope some of the others can get back.
Good evening, Hux! I liked your tenacity in continuing to wish us all a jolly good morning and how it irked all those grumbly downtickers.
Many thanks Aethelred.
Actually I genuinely meant those “good mornings” because I felt I was amongst friends, like-minded souls who sought keypad comfort from those with similar views. We had a real community. Short of us all being sat round a table in a pub with a drink in our hands it couldn’t get much better.
We need to bring that community back. Lord knows we have enough fighting to do.
Oh I know you did, Hux, and it was a lovely way to start the day. I liked yours and AE’s banter. I truly hope you get to meet him and have a pint together one day. I’ll even join you!
Cheers Aethelred. The drinks will be on me and it will be a pleasure.
I have the impression – which my be wrong – that Toby never much cared for the comments sections. Shame, as I felt they were a massive part of the site.
You might almost say they were lifesavers – kept you up to date with evolving themes in a way ATL couldn’t. I’m guessing those forums meant many people didn’t take the stabs who otherwise might have done so – so literally a lifesaver.
The forums were a fine place for the airing of cutting edge themes, which weren’t yet ready for ATL presentation – for example, they were almost completely anti-stab while ATL was neutral or even supportive. Certainly ATL in early 2021 seemed slow to perceive that the threat had moved on from actual lockdowns to the new and even more insidious ground of stab coercion.
Yes, I miss those forums and many of the posters. (But good to see the back of the trolls though.)
Yes I agree. And it didn’t go unnoticed by me the regular fishing of articles from the general comments section, usually posted by the likes of Swedenborg, which would then appear the very next day in the News Round-up. I don’t know how many hours some posters devoted to researching and posting on here multiple times on a daily basis but their efforts were appreciated. I think I’d feel a bit hard done by and like I’d been shafted after working so hard to add value to this site only to have these radical changes dropped on me out of nowhere. I hope people aren’t holding a grudge after all this time but you never know…
Even though I didn’t get a mention I’m glad you have re surfaced , lots to digest in your comeback post & I agree on most points raised , nothing stays the same so let’s regroup & Carry On Regardless ! Toby is still The Man & he is slowly hardening his view on all we see being deliberately done to the world as we knew it ! Welcome back
Haha now now Freddy. The only reason I didn’t mention you is that I’ve seen you about, albeit much less frequently. I’m on about the people who have literally vanished. Well most of the regulars from the other section are posting much less often, I rarely see them. Sophie, Hux, Judy…ebygum is giving it some welly most days though.
Yes I just think its a shame when people change things seemingly just for the sake of changing them. No real improvements have been made. If that were the case then we wouldn’t have lost so many regulars, who invested an awful lot of time and effort here, would we? If this site was ‘new and improved’ then we’d be seeing an increase in people posting not a decrease. It might change over time though. Let’s see…:-)
I’m here less often because things have been crazy busy at work. And also I used to be here mainly for the science updates from Kate and Swedenborg.
Currently I am fascinated by the massive fibrous clots that embalmers are finding, which could be fibrin based, but nobody knows for sure. But I have nobody to really discuss it with.
I’m on leave this week though, so am here a bit more. Though mostly hiking all day
Have you seen the video of the clots removed by John O’Looney from the cardiac blood vessels of a young man who died of a heart attack? They’re absolutely mad!
https://t.me/AnnadeBuisseretUKLawyer/3057
No I hadn’t – thanks for posting. I was wondering why we hadn’t heard more from the U.K. and was thinking maybe embalming is less common here? Not sure about that. Who gets embalmed?
Anyone who requests it!
If you want to keep up to date with things, then Anna’s Telegram is useful as she is in touch with many of the wonderful folk who are leading the fight for truth.
John O’Looney also put out a video of him looking at contracts for hospitals for cremations of babies. Any babies who are stillborn or die shortly after are being sent straight to the crematoria & bypassing the funeral directors. Almost as if they don’t want the sheer numbers being known…. Almost as if they want all the evidence destroying….
https://t.me/robinmg/21796
Ok
Welcome back, Mogs! I too took a sabbatical for precisely the same reasons and when I visited the comments section I could no longer comment on, it seemed like an empty town in a Western with nothing but tumbleweed blowing through and a door banging endlessly… But I took the plunge, like you because I missed the banter and interaction, like you, and have been rather disappointed that this has not really returned. It’s ironic that TY values and champions free speech but didn’t think it necessary to inform all the commenters about DS plans but, as you say, just foist them upon us. I get it that DS needs some money to run what has been a lifeline for many of us and that an awful lot of work goes into it but maybe an explanation of what they were going to do in advance would have gone some way towards minimising the surprise and disappointment. Still here we are, and here it is, we go on… Looking forward to the banter and interaction.
Maybe they should have taken a tiny leaf out of The Daily Expose’s book! LOL My god, their site has pop-ups and notices all over the place asking for donations constantly. Very in yer face but nobody can say that they weren’t warned if the site suddenly disappears due to lack of financial support. Contrast that with here, I had no idea what the financial situation was. Well nobody would if we weren’t notified by the team would we? Good job I’m not cynical or I’d conclude that the DS team don’t give a crap about the posters here, only the money they can get off us. If I were a cynic I’d think that the abrupt change was a strategic way of trying to get more money as opposed to just putting up a notice saying they need more funding. They chose to force peoples’ hands rather than take the polite route. Well I hope it worked.
Very well put, Mogwai. The principle of things is so important.
But I would say a fiver a month is, well… well worth it. Forgive their mistake in dropping it on us.
Agreed. A fiver a month is naff all. I’d squander that in a day without knowing where it went and I’m far from flush, let alone over the course of a month! And this is precisely why there are other reasons why so many posters have gone AWOL. Nowt to do with being stingy gits.
Mogwai!
Bloody great you are back.
You have made my day. I haven’t read your post yet. God I wish I could give you a big hug.
I hope all is well.
Ah bless ya! What a lovely post to read.
Great to be back with like-minded folk and kindred spirits. Well once you find your tribe you can’t just chuck it all away, right? I also hope all is good with you in Saddleback land…or was it Saddleworth?? Crap, there’s a saddle in there somewhere I’m certain. *Blonde moment alert!*
Definitely a ‘saddle.’
Saddleworth.
Blonde Moment? There are a multitude of blonde beers on the supermarket shelves over here now but I’m not familiar with ‘Blonde Moment.’ One to look out for I guess.
I share your views totally.
Great Post.
https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2022/07/27/the-phoniest-most-pr-intensive-war-of-all-time/#comment-84072
We’ve seen this before.
Top man
Edinburgh professor Richard Ennos.
Top man.
And he was interviewed on GBN by Mark Steyn last night, so he’s still got a job there – and so he should. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whhAjues38c from around 13 minutes in.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/07/27/dangerous-transgender-male-assaulted-women-sex-toy-dark/
I have a confession to make. Whenever I read transgender articles, I get confused as to who / what are they referring to: man- woman or woman- man? I look it up on the ‘net’ which tells me that a transgender man is a person assigned as woman at birth but identifies as male; transgender woman vice versa. Ah right, methinks, I got that…then I read / see another article and my brain hasn’t retained the information. Weird. I can only think that my old, decrepit brain is getting worse at retaining memory or, it’s fine tuning and shedding useless, unnecessary
Crapdata. I hope it’s the second.I think destabilisation and confusion is part of the trans agenda;
”Girls will be boys, and boys will be girls
It’s a mixed up, muddled up, shook up world
Except for Lola
Lo lo lo lo Lola”
But it is also a dangerous world, you do not go far into this subject before you come across puberty blocking castration drugs, gender realignment surgery, breast binding and mastectomy. As the mRNA vaccines are showing us; the human body is a highly complex dynamic interacting machine and it is very dangerous to play around with it. Female Sparrowhawks are 25% bigger than male Sparrowhawks, if a male Sparrowhawk went ‘trans’ and decided it wanted to be female it physically could not increase its body size by 25%, however much it tried. We delude ourselves if we think that it is different for humans; the more you study the biology the more you realise that the biological difference between human males and females is every bit as unbridgeable as it is for Sparrowhawks.
By all means breakdown the rigid stereotypes that society imposes on males and females, let people dress how they want, let girls play with toy tractors and let boys play at dressing up. But if you start to play around with human male/female biology you are into dangerous and damaging territory and it will not end well.
I have to explain that to Mr.Gefion every time he talks about something he’s read. The latest missive about transmen giving birth had him very confused!
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/07/27/trans-parents-should-given-chestfeeding-support/
As physicians you’d have thought they would have some basic knowledge of anatomy!
males have breasts and can develop breast cancer.
The chest is everything above the diaphragm up to the shoulders.
If you have a chest X-ray that is what is imaged, otherwise it’s a mammogram.
Humans are mammals which means that females have mammary glands producing milk. Although my 12 week old grand daughter does try and suckle my carotid!
They are the royal college of obstetricians and gynaecologists, the meaning of gynae is female/woman.
“The lights are going out across Europe”
This article in Spiked highlights the absence of any grasp on reality and reason currently in Europe among our so-called leaders. NATO is promoting and arming a country in a war against Russia. A war, not a skirmish or a bit of a tiff, a proper war with weapons and soldiers and stuff. Death, destruction etc. And yet they – the NATO countries, which includes most of the EU – are worried that the country that they are arming another country against is going to turn off the gas! So, rather than start peace negotiations and find a diplomatic solution with a ceasefire and an end of major hostilities so that energy supplies, grain supplies and food distribution can continue, they would rather fight this proxy war and let their citizens suffer. They continue to try and drum up support and, quite depressingly, I see these Ukrainian flags everywhere. If you don’t go along with the NATO narrative, you are against them as the journalist/blogger Graham Phillips is finding out with the UK government freezing his accounts although he hasn’t been charged with anything or done anything wrong other than tell the truth…which clearly goes against their version. It all feels wrong and skewed yet of course we don’t have the media to counter or question the decisions being made on our behalf. It’s a crusade, nothing more, and we have to pay the price. Let’s see if a few more people start to wake up when they’re sitting in the dark and they’re cold and hungry…while the government basks in heating at our expense and quaffs champagne and gorges on cake.
https://thewhiterose.uk/farce-mask-almost-20-years-ago-they-knew-mask-are-useless/?utm_source=mailpoet&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the-latest-news-from-our-blog_11
Also a perfect example and illustration of how the times, politicians, scientists, media and people have changed for the worse over the last 2 decades.
2 brilliant articles from the libertarian camp on what really ails us, happens and how we got there.
“Woke capitalism is what happens when social democracy grows to such proportions as to make it nearly impossible to earn a profit without political approval.”
https://www.michaelrectenwald.com/essays/the-failure-of-liberalism-and-the-conservative-crisis-of-faith
“Contrary to what almost everyone thinks, the main purpose of regulation is not to protect consumers but to entrench the current order. Regulation prevents new institutions from arising quickly and cheaply.
Does the Department of Agriculture really need 100,000 employees to regulate fewer than two million farms in the U.S.?
Has the Department of Energy, created in 1977 to somehow solve a temporary crisis, done anything of value with its 110,000 employees and contractors and $32 billion annual budget?”
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2022/07/doug-casey/heres-what-the-government-should-really-do-in-the-greater-depression/
Morning fellow Sceptics…..welcome back Mogs…..
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-america/faith-freedom/cdc-covid-vaccine-adverse-effects-data
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) is demanding answers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention after the agency told a nonprofit group that it never conducted a mandated data mining analysis on reported adverse effects that followed the administration of Covid-19 vaccine doses.
The CDC is tasked with performing a proportional reporting ratio, or PRR, data mining analysis on a weekly basis to determine whether the amount of reported “adverse events” following the administration of COVID-19 vaccine doses in the public Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, or VAERS, database is proportional to reported adverse events linked to the administration of other vaccines.
But the CDC said in a June 16 letter to Children’s Health Defense, a nonprofit group led by anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., that “no PRRs were conducted by the CDC.” The CDC’s letter, which was in response to an FOIA request submitted by the group, added that “data mining is outside of th[e] agency’s purview.”
VAERS standard operating procedures state clearly that the CDC “will perform PRR data mining on a weekly basis or as needed.”
https://rairfoundation.com/hungarian-mp-links-drastic-fall-in-birth-rates-to-mass-vaccinations-against-covid-video/
The deputy president of the Hungarian political party, Our Homeland Movement, warned that her country’s birth rates had shown a sudden and drastic drop since the beginning of this year. This massive dop comes almost nine months after the first surge of the covid “vaccines.”
During Dóra Dúró’s June 27, 2022, speech on the floor of the national parliament, she pointed out that the number of births in Hungry decreased this year by 20 percent compared to the same period of the previous year. Furthermore, the national fertility rate also fell:
I am of course going to state the usual:
Depopulation.
I looked up the U.K. abortion stats today, for last year. They look pretty stable. How do we reconcile this with the 10pct drop in Germany and the 10pct plus fall in births in the U.K.? It’s all v odd.
This is an interesting little article….there’s no doubt in my mind that this winter is going to be very hard in relation to fuel depravation…
https://watt-logic.com/2022/07/28/winter-outlook-2022/
If National Grid has not adjusted its assumptions on import levels in light of the market changes described above, then it is seriously mis-leading the market as to the true picture this winter. It seems beyond wishful thinking to believe our winter capacity margin this year will be higher than last.
Thanks for the link ebygum. I have read the article and while some of the technical stuff is beyond me the messaging being put out by the National Grid reminds me very much of the messaging put out about the, erm “vaccines,” i.e. ‘safe and effective.’
In short National Grid are lying.
https://twitter.com/EthicalSkeptic/status/1552432596776357890
from…Ethical Sceptic, graphs provided if you have Twitter….
Remember the states which registered the lowest VAERS Severe AE rates versus percent of population vaccinated? What we called the ‘saline effect’…
Well they’re back
Those same states ALSO happen to have the lowest rates of Non-Covid Natural Cause Excess Death.
Funny that!