News Round-Up

A summary of all the most interesting stories that have appeared about Covid and other areas of warranted scepticism in the past 24 hours – not just in Britain, but around the world.

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This week across the site:

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DS99
DS99
5 years ago

Er, no Amanda Platell it isn’t because I consider myself invincible that I’m not taking the vaccines – its because I don’t think I’m invincible. Let’s play along with the idea that the vaccines actually do protect you against Covid (yes, I know some of you will provide “irrefutable statistical evidence” about the efficacy of the vaccines but really, after eighteen months of the sleights of hand that are commonplace in government stats, can you honestly say that any of us know what the hell is going on. We don’t even really know who has actually died of Covid 19 rather than the multiple comorbities, misused drug treatments, being put on a ventilator inappropriately) then in that case I AM MUCH MORE AFRAID OF THE VACCINES THAN I AM OF COVID and what’s more I think you should be too.

Mark
Mark
5 years ago

The Big Question: Go Woke, Go Broke? Nick Buckley MBE on keeping politics out of business
Excellent interview from GB News.

Buckley, who seems a pretty impressive bloke, represents the positive aspect of the backlash against political correctness and its modern woke offshoot.

“It usually is always their fault. So what we don’t do is give young people excuses. Because they don’t need excuses – society is constantly giving them excuses. “It’s not your fault, you live in a deprived area.” “It’s not your fault, you’re from a single parent household.” And what we’re saying is: “Rubbish.””

He left out, but could equally have included: “It’s not your fault, you’re black/brown etc.” “It’s not your fault, you’re racially discriminated against.” “It’s not your fault, the country is systemically racist.”

Moist Von Lipwig
Moist Von Lipwig
5 years ago

Firebreak lockdowns or some other such rubbish masquerading as science.

Mark
Mark
5 years ago
Mark
Mark
5 years ago

Here’s an interesting developing story about the Midazolam scandal and the sudden death – “of covid”, forsooth – of the man who recently exposed it. I have no direct knowledge of this and am just passing on hearsay at this point.

WAYNE SMITH, THE MAN EXPOSING THE MIDAZOLAM MASS MURDER CARE HOME SCANDAL FOUND DEAD
I’m not aware of the source for this, which has just been forwarded via Telegram:

“Here’s an update on Wayne Smith, the highly knowledgeable man who was due to appear in the documentary I’m making about euthanasia in U.K. medical facilities and who was found dead in (what I believe to be) suspicious circumstances in his home in Chichester just over a week ago.

I’ve been talking to Dr. Mark Jones (who also knew Wayne and who interviewed him in the video I’ll reshare below), who, in turn, has been exchanging emails with the coroner’s office about Wayne’s sudden, unexpected and untimely death.

I spoke to Sussex police several times since making my initial report on July 27th. According to them, they were called to the scene on July 25th after two friends of Wayne alerted them. 

Wayne was found dead in the house and… Read more »

milesahead
milesahead
5 years ago
Reply to  Mark

That’s a disturbing read.

Mark
Mark
5 years ago
Reply to  milesahead

Indeed.

I’m instinctively cautious about such stuff, but you can’t just ignore it. Be interesting to see if any more comes out.

I don’t think there’s any chance of it getting to David Kelly levels, because frankly this guy wasn’t part of the broad educated social elite class in the way Kelly was, and the media are under a tighter rein today.

John Drewry
John Drewry
5 years ago

In his excellent article in The Critic, Matt Ridley says “The human imprint is on the quilt of Britain’s countryside”. In other words, you can’t get away with removing humans from the equation when it comes to restoring wildlife to the countryside”. This is correct. However, what we have to learn for the future, something largely discarded by human ‘progress’ to date, is to live in harmony with Nature as our friend and mentor, not as a resource simply to be dominated and exploited. For as sure as eggs is eggs, Nature can be unpredictable in her revenge on the unempathetic.

JayBee
JayBee
5 years ago

https://www.zerohedge.com/covid-19/larry-sanger-astonishing-hubris-global-experimental-vaccine
The cofounder of Wikipedia, who has also recently bemoaned what a censorious left wing rag sheet his baby has turned into, nails it:

“I am not an anti-vaxxer. I am an anti-global-all-at-once-experimental-vaxxer. There is a big difference.

Frankly, the hubris required for carrying out this plan, and for taking the lead in propagandizing the world to carry it out, is jaw-dropping and scary to me. If a world leader is willing to take such gambles with all of humanity, what else are they prepared to do?”

Mark
Mark
5 years ago
Reply to  JayBee

“I am not an anti-vaxxer. I am an anti-global-all-at-once-experimental-vaxxer. There is a big difference.“

Yep!

steve_z
steve_z
5 years ago

new daily estimated symptomatics continues to fall of a cliff (ZOE)

it proves 1 thing

the models are not fit for purpose

nds.png
BJs Brain is Missing
BJs Brain is Missing
5 years ago

I went out to a few pubs last night and for the first time in 18 months. No masks, people having fun, singing, dancing… It was like 2019 once more. Up yours Johnson!

Fingerache Philip
Fingerache Philip
5 years ago

I know that Costa coffee has had some negative comments on this site lately but in Kidderminster today, I would say that 95% of customers and half the staff were normal (maskless) which after going to Sainsburys where only about 1 % were normal was a great pleasure and relief.

steve_z
steve_z
5 years ago

it is maskless everywhere round here apart from supermarkets

I think supermarkets are functional – you go in, buy shit and come out. and people are doing it through a perceived ‘politeness’. when they actually are trying to interact – pubs, coffee shops etc – its maskless

Fingerache Philip
Fingerache Philip
5 years ago
Reply to  steve_z

Good to hear,Steve.

hippogriff
hippogriff
5 years ago

I’ve been telling my husband the lockdowns would be coming back for a while now. Even though he thinks I’ve gone mad and doesn’t want me to “drag him down the rabbit hole” he has been supportive of prepping just in case.

Our relationship is being damaged because he thinks I’m nuts, so I feel forced to hold my tongue. He won’t look at any evidence contrary to what the mainstream media is saying, mainly because he doesn’t want to get scared that something bad might be going on.

He said last night all the clues that things may not be how he thinks they are (I keep printing out side effect statistics and things from the Vaers database) are manipulative. He won’t even look at this website.

As long as the mainstream media refuses to have an open and honest debate about what is happening most people won’t either. As long as the fear is perpetuated and believed. I worry more about the effect on small businesses than a cold virus, one of which is mine. I haven’t had any work since last year and I know local businesses are suffering in what should be busiest months because… Read more »

dante
dante
5 years ago
Reply to  hippogriff

That’s horrible, my SIL is in the exact same position, her husband just doesn’t want to know, he has his head in the sand. It must be so frustrating, because this is something you need to be able to discuss and vent about. My SIL talks to us daily and we share articles, etc and think that helps, but it is still very tense. It’s the biggest thing to happen in our lifetime and to just wish it away is not a great coping strategy.

I have tried to mitigate the intrusion into life as much as possible, I have pretty much stopped going “out” to restaurants, cinemas etc but instead we go drives to the coast, hills, forests with the kids and take picnics. It’s more a change of attitude I suppose. I am lucky my husband and close friend also think this is all nuts, but I think I now exist in a sceptic vacuum having pretty much stopped seeing all my other jabbed friends, who I now realise were not really close friends after all.

SweetBabyCheeses
SweetBabyCheeses
5 years ago
Reply to  hippogriff

I don’t know what to say but I didn’t want to just read and scroll because your story has really touched me. Is have lost some friendships and I’m sure that some family think I’ve lost my marbles too but I can’t imagine the strain it must be putting on your relationship and how sad that must make you feel.

There’s a character in the matrix called Cipher who regrets taking the red pill and waking up and wants to take the blue pill again and go back to blissful ignorance. For some people it’s a coping mechanism I guess.

You can always come on here and vent but there are other ways of meeting likeminded individuals – Freedom Hub, Stand in the park, Back to normal – I’m sure there are others on here who can direct you. Maybe it might help you to be your authentic self with them and just share pleasantries with your husband until he’s ready.

RickH
RickH
5 years ago

The lack of ‘meat’ in Round Up is its most noticeable feature currently. It seems to be now largely a compilation of media opinion articles.

RickH
RickH
5 years ago

““Covid infection level in England falls to one in 75 people”

More total fantasy about ‘infections’ and ‘R’ numbers.

John
John
5 years ago

Someone made an earlier comment about winter 1947 being the last time the NHS didn’t have winter pressure. I know this was a reference to the winter before the NHS came into being, however, the private hospitals were probably under immense pressure that winter as it was a very bad one (62/63 was worse).

Mark
Mark
5 years ago
Reply to  John

Hospitals should be “under pressure” when facing peaks in demand. If they aren’t, then there is massive overcapacity in the system.

In reality “under pressure”= working very hard for a while.

Clearly there also need to be plans and resources in place for rapid expansion of emergency capacity if faced with a genuine emergency (like a pandemic of a genuinely societally dangerous disease, unlike the current one). But in that case you don’t worry about complying with all the normal rules and restrictions (“we can’t open another ward because the available staff don’t have the proper training boxes ticked”), you go all out. Because it’s an emergency

John
John
5 years ago
Reply to  Mark

Bear in mind that there’s a contingency of between 10 & 15% spare bed capacity factored in. When hospitals are “under pressure” it means that they have encroached into the contingency. Just to put a few numbers from my experience. When I started in A&E in 2008 we saw around 450 patients a day, on nights there was a two hour period when it was empty. When I moved to the urgent care centre patient numbers had risen to 700 attendances a day and the department was never empty. At peak times patients could be waiting in the department for up to 8 hours for a bed occasionally that went up to 12 hours.

CynicalRealist
CynicalRealist
5 years ago
Reply to  John

Is that mainly due to staff cuts, or to GPs palming patients off onto A&E departments?

John
John
5 years ago
Reply to  CynicalRealist

Not staff cuts as such, but staff turnover was quite high. People turning up at A&E with ailments that could be seen in primary care, which is why there was a colocated urgent care centre. Also, if you’re going to require A&E then August could be a good time as this is when the new FY1&FY2 docs start so there are plenty of consultants around! Although by September the newbies are left to fend for themselves so not such a good time, however, by this time they’ve learnt, usually the hard way, to listen to the senior nurses 🙂

Mark
Mark
5 years ago
Reply to  John

I’m not saying it’s well managed – far from it. Just pointing out that being “under pressure” – encroaching into the contingency – at peak times is exactly how a large organisation should be.

There are fundamental problems with the whole principle of state healthcare and especially with the NHS as it was initially conceived in the naive days after WW2 when wartime style state socialism was widely thought to be the wave of the future and its disastrous long term consequences not generally understood.

Most of that was resolved after 1979 (and new problems created), but the NHS could never be properly replaced because of the ease with which sentimental nonsense could be deployed to render it politically untouchable. With the result being the dog’s dinner you described above.

JayBee
JayBee
5 years ago
Reply to  Mark

Britain and Sweden have the lowest ICU/capita ratio in Europe.
None of them had to use the newly erected emergency hospitals.
Sweden managed this without turning the health service into Covid only, unlike the UK.
Germany also kept its health service open, and it has the highest ICU/capita ratio in Europe (7x higher than UK/Sweden if my memory serves me right). It had lower case and death numbers than UK/S, BUT: it spread the lie that its ICU capacity was at its limit to prolong lockdown.
This was later exposed as just a fraud based lie, to no consequences, of course.
Same in the US, where incentives were and are huge to mark anyone you can as a Covid patient.
Bottom line: the ‘lockdown to stop health systems from becoming overwhelmed’ was and is just a deliberate fraud in all countries.
The NHS is just the worst organised, mist bureaucratic and worst managed of the lot.

John
John
5 years ago

I wish people would stop referring to the NHS as if it is one organisation, it is not. The NHS does not exist as such.
Everyone is entitled to free care at the point of need, paid for out of national insurance, that is the NHS.
All hospitals are effectively companies, particularly foundation trusts, whose services are contracted out to the NHS.
If you attend A&E (secondary care) a bill is sent to primary care for £250. If you are admitted then a bill of £450 per day is sent to primary care. Even attendance at a primary care urgent care centre results in a £50 bill.
When I worked in A&E I was employed by the trust, when I moved to the co-located urgent care centre I resigned from the hospital trust and was employed by the trust managing the UCC, I have never been employed by the NHS. My final job before retirement was in an urgent care facility managed by a non profit private company.

Catee
Catee
5 years ago
Reply to  John

My understanding is National insurance was set up and sold to the taxpayers as a ring-fenced tax to pay for the NHS. This was just another lie from the government of the time to introduce a new tax. National insurance goes into the same melting pot as all taxes.
Your post just goes to highlight what a beaurocratic, inefficient, costly and unsustainable service health provision has become in this country.

John
John
5 years ago
Reply to  Catee

What is worse is the cost of procurement, only certain suppliers are used and they can charge whatever they want for their goods. £100 for something that can be bought elsewhere for half that.

KidFury
KidFury
5 years ago
Reply to  John

Indeed. I work for Microsoft and we work a lot with the NHS. The reality is over 14000 trusts each with completely different structures and ways of working. It’s an absolute mess

Mark
Mark
5 years ago

All this scapegoating and sneering contempt for vaccine dissenters is very reminiscent of the elite contempt for the “deplorables” who failed to accept their dogmas on nation, race, gender and climate.

Now they’ve just turbocharged their hatred, with new fear propaganda and health fascism.

CynicalRealist
CynicalRealist
5 years ago
Reply to  Mark

The difference here is that they’ve successfully managed to persuade a gullible proportion of the population that the non-vaxxed present an immediate health risk to the virtuous vaxxed. This will stir up hatred against the non-vaxxed far more than anything more abstract.

Mark
Mark
5 years ago
Reply to  CynicalRealist

Yes, that’s the turbocharging.

One of the many ironies is that elite antiracists and identity lobbyists used to regularly pretend dissidents were “scapegoating” their favoured minorities, or fomenting hatred and violence by blaming or criticising them for anything.

Much as with their pretence at believing in free speech when they weren’t fully in control, they preach a different hymn when their side is wearing the jackboots.

Jonny S.
Jonny S.
5 years ago

As with the covid bollox, now the man made climate
change bollox.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9870031/amp/Judge-orders-quango-claim-1-GDP-hit-net-zero.html?__twitter_impression=true

In the infamous words of Jonny Rotten

‘Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated’

Milos
Milos
5 years ago

The mayor of Boston said the city won’t be following New York’s lead requiring proof of vaccination at many indoor businesses, claiming the move is reminiscent of “slavery” and birtherism.

Acting Mayor Kim Janey — the first woman and black Bostonian to hold the office — said “there’s a long history” in the United States of people “needing to show their papers” when asked Tuesday about the mandate unveiled earlier in the day by Mayor Bill de Blasio that requires proof of vaccination to enter indoor restaurants, entertainment venues and gyms starting on Sept. 13.

“During slavery, post-slavery, as recent as, you know, what the immigrant population has to go through here, we’ve heard Trump with the birth certificate nonsense,” Janey told WCVB. “Here, we want to make sure that we are not doing anything that would further create a barrier for residents of Boston or disproportionally impact BIPOC communities.”

…

Rogerborg
Rogerborg
5 years ago

Morning, rational extremists.

I see Dear Leader Johnson has upgraded the mass criminalisation diktats from “circuit breakers” to “firebreaks”. Given how firebreaks are created (by pre-scorching the earth, and copious beating) that’s an ominous change in tone.

However, perhaps he could adopt a policy of simply announcing that the tyranny will return, since this Chinese Virus is so cunning that it repeatedly goes into hiding several weeks before each tranche of despotism is actually imposed.

Hugh
Hugh
5 years ago
Reply to  Rogerborg

Chinese virus, Chinese government, Peking Piffle, Peking Bidden

Mark
Mark
5 years ago

Senile, corrupt old twat with his finger on the nuclear button can’t even remember how many people there are in his own country:

“106% of Americans are now x-inated and they are still pushing hard for more to get it. Poor Joe.

Quote Tweet
Caleb Hull

@CalebJHull
· 15h
Joe Biden just claimed “350 million” Americans have been vaccinated.

There are only 328 million people in the United States.”

https://twitter.com/InProportion2/status/1423908769348702211

You can thank the Trump haters, who could never just accept his genuine victory, so they winked at big media and big tech lying and cheating and manipulating and covering up, to enable the election of this obviously already senile and evidently corrupt political cipher and his unpopular running mate, who could never have won the election honestly.

And now Americans are paying the price, with the southern border wide open in order to import future Democrat voters en mass and “rub the right’s noses in diversity” (as their UK equivalents had it), and the coronapanic fanatics pushing coerced mask-wearing and vaccination at the federal level.

Phil Shannon
Phil Shannon
5 years ago

ITEM: “No plans for vaccine passports in Wales, says First Minister” – Some good news from Wales, where First Minister Mark Drakeford says there are no plans to introduce vaccine passports.

Don’t get sucked in! Downunder, in locked-down New South Wales, just one day after the state Premier, Gladys Berejiklian, said a Vaccine Passport was not on the agenda, the Minister for Digital Information, Victor Dominello, announced his plan for the introduction of Vaccine Passports – for shopping for food, cafes, restaurants, cinemas, sporting events, travel, children going to school, for employment. They can’t even be honest about their intentions.

How long before the lying Drakeford, or a lackey, comes out and says well, they are going to be happening? One day? A week?
Phil
South Australia

Catee
Catee
5 years ago
Reply to  Phil Shannon

That was my first thought when I read the headline. It’s a sad reflection on our political landscape when politicians are held by so many of the electorate to be less honest than a 1970s used car salesman.

Annie
Annie
5 years ago
Reply to  Catee

And when you automatically disbelieve any ‘good’ news they put out.

iane
iane
5 years ago
Reply to  Phil Shannon

Exactly: never believe a political rumour until it has been denied!

CynicalRealist
CynicalRealist
5 years ago
Reply to  Phil Shannon

Yes, quite. If they specifically say they aren’t going to do something that’s a pretty reliable warning that they will do whatever it is soon, just not today.

ellie-em
ellie-em
5 years ago

‘government draws up contingency plans…firebreak-lockdowns-over-winter…local, regional, national’ –
looks like ghettos are on the way, neighbour against neighbour.

Local paper has been highlighting for months the areas of the town with the lowest injection rate.

isobar
isobar
5 years ago
Reply to  ellie-em

Not just local papers, Daily Mail has been highlighting this, giving post code breakdowns. Stirring things up as usual, despicable rag.

hilarynw
hilarynw
5 years ago

Well more lockdowns a given then! Name me a year when the NHS hasn’t struggled during the winter.

ellie-em
ellie-em
5 years ago
Reply to  hilarynw

1947 – off the top of my head.

Rogerborg
Rogerborg
5 years ago
Reply to  hilarynw

It’s always been Two Weeks from Collapse, and always will be.

Lockdown Sceptic
Lockdown Sceptic
5 years ago

DeSantis TRASHES Biden for Attacking Florida’s Handling of COVID-19
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMbZgbkXafU

Stand in South Hill Park Bracknell every Sunday from 10am meet fellow anti lockdown freedom lovers, keep yourself sane, make new friends and have a laugh.

Join our Stand in the Park – Bracknell – Telegram Group
http://t.me/astandintheparkbracknell

Annie
Annie
5 years ago

‘How hard it is,’ said Mr Sage, ‘to hide the fact from youth
That our vaccines are useless – it is such an obvious truth.’
‘It is!’ said Mr Nudge, ‘but if we offer them some Fun,
We’ll rope them in and jab them up, yes, every single one.’

(Original poem is here if you want it: https://universification.wordpress.com/2012/12/03/hall-and-knight-e-v-rieu/)

Brett_McS
Brett_McS
5 years ago

It appears that Ron DeSantis’ security detail is up to scratch.

Annie
Annie
5 years ago

And my early-morning giggle from the Spectator:

When the NHS was ranked as the best healthcare system by the Commonwealth Fund in 2014, the Guardian wrote up a glowing review of the study, noting unironically that, ‘the only serious black mark against the NHS was its poor record on keeping people alive.’ 

Annie
Annie
5 years ago

A measured comment in response to the poison hag in the DM:

Anti-vaxxers or rather those that have reservations about this particular experimental jab rather than vaccinations in general are of no harm to anyone but themselves and certainly pose no risk to the sanctimonious jabbed who can still catch and spread this virus regardless of the non-jabbed. Are the likes of Aniston and Plattel going to extend their self-righteous principle to smokers or heavy alcohol drinkers or those who choose to overeat then, because their lifestyle choices are self destructive that too could burden the NHS and in fact smokers are actually harming non-smokers with their choices whereas the non-jabbed are not actually harming anyone else over the jabbed that still pose the same infectious risks to others.

HelenaHancart
HelenaHancart
5 years ago
Reply to  Annie

You’d think as a journo they’d kind of done their research, before bleating out their approval of medical apartheid.

CynicalRealist
CynicalRealist
5 years ago
Reply to  HelenaHancart

If it doesn’t fit the narrative they are peddling, they will ignore it.

Annie
Annie
5 years ago

Kavanagh’s article is clear, lucid and damning. It’s come to something when you have to. go to The Sun to read something sensible.

Rogerborg
Rogerborg
5 years ago
Reply to  Annie

The Sun also Sez that we should ditch the Spy-n-Snitch.

They’re going pretty off-script, presumably they’ll be brought to heel and reminded that there’s a revolving door between Fleet and Downing street.

PartyTime
PartyTime
5 years ago
Reply to  Rogerborg

The Mail was also wandering off-script until the last few days, when it’s gone full fascist. Somebody must have given them a large  ̶b̶r̶i̶b̶e̶ grant – perhaps the Sun is holding out for something similar?

PartyTime
PartyTime
5 years ago
Reply to  PartyTime

Also, the Sun’s audience may be sceptical, relative to the general population.

Hugh
Hugh
5 years ago
Reply to  PartyTime

white van man innit, they’re no chin wobblers

charleyfarley
charleyfarley
5 years ago
Reply to  PartyTime

At first sight I found the Sun’s article very encouraging, a possible turning point. Or maybe someone forgot the knighthood Kavanagh had been promised.

GroundhogDayAgain
GroundhogDayAgain
5 years ago

“I’m with Jennifer Aniston – anit-vaxxers are not my real Friends” this site has really lost its mojo. Why regurgitate this crap?

Hugh
Hugh
5 years ago

Know your enemy? so one can write a letter to her pointing out her errors and non sequiturs?

Catee
Catee
5 years ago
Reply to  Hugh

Completely agree, we can hardly complain about there being no balanced view being expressed by those ruining this country if we are unable to also accept alternative views on this site because they don’t fit our narrative.
By reporting the views of the likes of Platell we can at least see who to add to the ‘list’ for those to be held to account in the future.

HelenaHancart
HelenaHancart
5 years ago

“I’m with Jennifer Aniston – anit-vaxxers are not my real Friends” – Far too many people still think they’re invincible – and all too often because they’ve been taken in by the deluded propaganda of the anti-vaxxers, writes Amanda Platell in the Mail. ”

The feeling is completely mutual, dear!

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