Another Computer Simulation, Another Alarmist Prediction
Last week, a paper was published in the Lancet saying that re-opening schools would cause a tsunami-like second wave of Covid deaths unless the Government improved its test-and-trace programme. Based on a similar computer simulation to that used by Neil Ferguson et al, the paper generated headlines across the mainstream media, such as this one in the Sun: “‘NOT GOOD ENOUGH’ Reopening schools in September risks 2nd virus wave unless test & trace improves as ministers say: ‘There’s more to do’.” The story began:
SCHOOL children returning to class in September risks triggering a devastating second wave of COVID-19 unless test and trace improves, a major new study today says.
Scientists said the UK’s test and trace system needed to be drastically improved as ministers today admitted there was “more to do” on making it work better.
IF the low numbers of contact tracing continue, it could result in another peak in December.
The crisis could be avoided, however – with pubs remaining open and no draconian lockdowns needed – if testing is ramped up and the track and trace system is improved.
The study says reopening schools must therefore be combined with a high-coverage test-trace-isolate strategy.
But how reliable is this study? I asked Sue Denim, the Lockdown Sceptics contributor who has written extensively about the flaws in Neil Ferguson’s modelling, to take a look at this paper for us. Regular readers won’t need reminding that Sue Denim is the pseudonym of a senior ex-Google engineer. Not surprisingly, Sue is unimpressed.
The paper argues that the level of testing, tracing and quarantining must be much higher than it is now in order to “avert a large number of COVID-19 cases and deaths” once schools have re-opened. In this case, a “large number” means a second wave of about 2-2.5x the size of the first, ending in about 320,000 cumulative deaths. That’s the worst case they simulate which still assumes a fairly aggressive contact tracing programme.
This number of predicted deaths is in the same sort of range as the ~500,000 predicted by Ferguson et al, which is no surprise given what the model does. The lower value comes from applying a reduction from some fraction of unlucky PCR-positive people being quarantined.
We already know this modelling approach doesn’t work because it failed to predict the course of the epidemic in Sweden. There is no mention in the paper of having identified any flaw in prior models that led to incorrect predictions, or even any recognition that agent-based simulations have yielded incorrect predictions before.
Sweden kept their schools open the entire time and saw no higher rate of infections amongst children than neighbouring Finland.
As we’ve come to expect from a group of epidemiologists, the papers do not perform this kind of cross-check against real world observed outcomes nor attempt to explain prior failures. There is no feedback loop.
I’ve published Sue’s latest article on the right-hand side as another sub-page of “How Reliable is Imperial College’s Modelling?”, beneath the three other pieces he/she’s written for us. Please comment beneath that page, not this one. Worth reading in full.
Stop Press: One of the largest studies in the world on coronavirus in schools was carried out in 100 institutions in the UK. According to Professor Russel Viner, President of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health and a member of SAGE. “A new study that has been done in UK schools confirms there is very little evidence that the virus is transmitted in schools,” Professor Viner tells the Sunday Times. “This is the some of the largest data you will find on schools anywhere. Britain has done very well in terms of thinking of collecting data in schools.” The study, done by Public Health England, is due to be published later this year.
Re-Open Schools, says Harvard Professor of Medicine
The Spectator has published an excellent piece by Martin Kulldorff, a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School who studies infectious disease outbreaks and vaccine safety. He says the way to defeat the virus is to aim for herd immunity and points out that such a strategy poses very little risk to children.
With passionate discussions about opening schools, it is good to step back, take a deep breath, and examine what science tells us. To know the effect of smoking, we study smokers. To know the effects of vaccines, we study those vaccinated. Similarly, to know the effects of keeping schools open during the COVID-19 pandemic, we must study the one place that kept their schools open during the height of the pandemic. That place is Sweden.
Sweden never closed day-care centres or schools for its 1.8 million children ages one to 15. Of these children, zero died from COVID-19. The total number of cases is unknown, but the reported number is 468, which is 25 per 100,000. Of these 468 children, eight were hospitalised in an intensive care unit. This means that, whether schools are open or not, children are less at risk from COVID-19 than from influenza, which kills an average of 40-50 children in England and Wales each year. In contrast to influenza, schools are not driving the Covid-19 pandemic, and in Sweden, teachers had the same COVID-19 risk as the average risk among other professions.
Worth reading in full.
Meanwhile, some bedwetting headteachers are telling parents they’ll only be able to educate their children for half days. Give me strength.
Love in a Covid Climate
I got an interesting email from a reader yesterday:
Am thinking of getting back onto the dating apps, having recently become single. It made me realise that a key criterion for meeting someone like-minded is that they absolutely must be a lockdown sceptic. If they are pro-mask or pro-antisocial distancing, they will be instantly binned. As I begin my journey back into the dating pool, I will be expressing openly my lockdown views and Covid scepticism on my dating profile. I genuinely think that if I can find a girl as sceptical as me, she must therefore be marriage material! That’s how important (and sadly divisive) this issue has now become. I could never date (let alone build a relationship) with a lockdown zealot, such is my disdain for these virtue-signalling bedwetters!
That reminded me that I’d flagged up the idea of creating a Lockdown Sceptics dating site a few weeks ago. Well, we haven’t done that exactly, but we have decided to devote a page in the Forums to people looking for romance. It’s called “Love in a Covid Climate” and you can find it at the bottom here.
Postcard From Whitby
A reader has got in touch to say he and his wife had a pleasant stay in Whitby. A beacon of common sense amidst all the hysteria, as you’d expect in North Yorkshire.
Whitby was the last place my wife and I visited pre-lockdown so we were determined to go back as soon as we were able. A few days before we went we came across a photo doing the rounds on social media showing hundreds of people swarming across Whitby’s famous swing bridge accompanied by the now familiar comments – “Covidiots”, “terrified locals”, etc. I admit, it made us a little uneasy and we’re both arch sceptics!
When we arrived at the B&B we were pleased to find sensible but not ridiculous precautions in place: breakfast sittings spread out a little more, trays outside the rooms to replenish anything we’d used, lots of hand sanitiser available, and so on. I asked the owners about the photos we’d seen and they were disgusted. The photo of the bridge had been taken immediately after the bridge had been shut to let a boat pass, giving a false impression of overcrowding. Other photos in circulation were not from this year at all but from busy days on previous years! The B&B had actually had cancellations on the back of this stuff. They assured us that Whitby wasn’t like that and, if anything, was quieter than usual for the time of year.
Venturing into the town, we found that they were right. Yes, there were plenty of people about but it was easy to keep your distance if you felt that way inclined (though it was refreshing to see most people making the eminently sensible judgement that fleeting contact outdoors on a sunny day was fairly low risk). Walking around the town in the morning or late afternoon/evening was fine and at no point did we see locals leaping into the road in terror.
That night we ate at a very famous fish and chip restaurant and found, again, sensible precautions balanced with an awareness that a meal out needs to be at least a vaguely enjoyable customer experience. So – the tables had been spaced out a little more (actually creating a more intimate atmosphere), card payments were preferred but not insisted on, some staff chose to wear masks, others didn’t, and a separate entrance/exit had been set up. Otherwise, everything was very relaxed and laid back. Not so much the ‘new normal’ more the old normal with a few adjustments. And that was the theme of our whole weekend: grown-up people taking grown-up decisions and behaving in a grown-up way. After six months of hysterical death porn it gave me just a flicker of hope that common sense will eventually win out. We even booked again for October. Though given that I turn 50 before then I guess there’s a fair chance that Boris might have me in solitary confinement; still, at least the wife should enjoy herself.
Face Nappies To Become Mandatory in Northern Ireland
Bad news for the people of Northern Ireland: face nappies will become mandatory in shops from tomorrow. A reader has the story:
A few weeks ago, the local Executive said that they wanted to encourage people to wear masks in shops rather than force them to. Their aim was to achieve 80% voluntary compliance. They proposed reviewing the situation on August 20th and if there wasn’t sufficient mask use then they would make it mandatory.
The “take-up” of mask use since the initial announcement has been fairly poor from the Executive‘s point of view. From being out and about I would guess about 10% of people in shops were wearing them.
So the public here have been largely unimpressed with the arguments for mask wearing and decided there’s not much point in doing so.
However, rather than thinking that the judgement of the people is something they should consider, the Executive brought forward the date for re-consideration and announced that due to the poor voluntary use of masks they will become compulsory in shops from this coming Monday August 10th.
Another example of a government in this crisis having tunnel vision about a particular course of action and not being able to contemplate anything different despite what the people think.
Lockdown Protests Across the UK
Lockdown protests took place in London, Plymouth, Brighton, Norwich, Cardiff, Belfast, Southampton, Bristol, Liverpool, Newcastle, Birmingham, Nottingham, Leeds, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Manchester yesterday. They were organised by an outfit called “Save Our Rights UK“.
A reader reports from the protest in Manchester:
Our turnout in Manc was around 200, which was matched or surpassed in most other locations. It was very uplifting to partake in a microcosm of the best bits of the old normal with hugs and handshake physical greetings, no social distancing and looking out to a sea of unmasked friendly faces! We had no problems with the police (in fact they were quite friendly). Some of the public we passed were receptive to our messages, and a couple even joined in the march!
Croatian Advice
A reader has got in touch to reassure the anxious Americans who emailed yesterday, worried about their forthcoming trip to Croatia. Doesn’t sound too bad.
Currently in croatia you have to fill a form in before departure which they don’t check on arrival. Masks worn in shops and public transport but quite lax. Don’t see anyone wearing masks outside those settings.
Another reader points out that Gabriel Traveler, the YouTuber and travel journalist, is currently in Croatia and having a fine time. You can view his daily updates here.
Round-Up
- ‘Madness in Melbourne‘ – Jeffrey Tucker, Editorial Director for the American Institute for Economic Research, with a strong piece condemning the draconian measures introduced in Melbourne. You can sign an open letter objecting to the measures here
- ‘Diabetic Amputations Soared Amid Italian Pandemic Lockdown‘ – Lack of outpatient wound care for people with diabetic foot ulceration during the Italian lockdown led to a surge in amputations
- ‘Gatwick puts terminal on ice as axe falls on thousands of British Airways staff‘ – Gatwick’s South Terminal could remain closed until next summer
- ‘Knives out for Hancock over Cobra failings‘ – The charge is that Matt Hancock presided over some unfocused Cobra meetings in the early stages of the crisis, leading to mistakes
- ‘Held hostage by fear: This was the week Britain was meant to get back to work – instead, we’re drifting into economic ruin… and it’s the poor who’ll suffer most‘ – Great piece by Dame Helena Morrissey in the Mail
- ‘Confusing and contradictory data is triggering pointless local lockdowns‘ – Good piece by Sarah Knapton, Science Editor of the Telegraph, pointing out how threadbare the evidence is that we’re on the cusp of a second wave
- ‘‘White privilege’: an elite ideology‘ – Hard-hitting polemic by Tom Slater, Deputy Editor of Spiked
- ‘Smoking and COVID-19 – the evidence gets stronger‘ – Nicotine addict Christopher Snowdon is delighted to find the evidence that smoking renders you less susceptible to COVID-19 is getting stronger
- ‘Half of Covid cases in newly-locked down Preston are under 30‘ – In other words, it’s another false alarm
- ‘How bad is covid really? (A Swedish doctor’s perspective)‘ – Sceptical piece by a Swedish emergency doctor
- ‘Coronavirus and the Sun: a Lesson from the 1918 Influenza Pandemic‘ – Richard Hobday reminds us that sunlight helped to fight Spanish flu
- ‘How Nicola Sturgeon has secretly massaged Scotland’s coronavirus record‘ – Claims that the coronavirus rate in England is “five times higher” than in Scotland have been challenged by the UK statistics watchdog
- ‘“Sales went berserk!” Eat out scheme serves much-needed help to hard-hit restaurants‘ – Guardian reports on success of ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ scheme
- ‘It doesn’t take a philosophy degree to see that the Government’s reasoning is dangerously flawed‘ – The redoubtable Janet Daley on fine form in the Telegraph
- ‘What future do we have if the woke warriors destroy our past?‘ – Douglas Murray takes aim at the statue wreckers
- ‘The real COVID-19 threat‘ – Good piece by Prof Carl Heneghan in the Spectator
- ‘We are living in a post-truth society‘ – Rod Liddle nails it as usual
- ‘Covid wards empty as virus death toll plunges‘ – Sunday Times reports that the number of people in hospital with COVID-19 has fallen 96% since the peak of the pandemic, prompting speculation that we may be approaching herd immunity
- ‘Andrew Neil in frame to be new BBC Chairman‘ – If that happens, I might even start paying the license fee again
Theme Tune Suggestions by Readers
It’s a beach bonanza today: “Beach Death” by Car Seat Headrest, “Menace Beach” by Dom Kennedy, “On Evil Beach” by Duran Duran, “I Want To Go To The Beach” by Iggy Pop and “The Beach Is Free” by Billy Bragg.
Small Businesses That Have Re-Opened
A couple of months ago, Lockdown Sceptics launched a searchable directory of open businesses across the UK. The idea is to celebrate those retail and hospitality businesses that have re-opened, as well as help people find out what has opened in their area. But we need your help to build it, so we’ve created a form you can fill out to tell us about those businesses that have opened near you.
Now that non-essential shops have re-opened – or most of them, anyway – we’re now focusing on pubs, bars, clubs and restaurants, as well as other social venues. As of July 4th, many of them have re-opened too, but not all (and some of them are at risk of having to close again). Please visit the page and let us know about those brave folk who are doing their bit to get our country back on its feet – particularly if they’re not insisting on face masks! Don’t worry if your entries don’t show up immediately – we need to approve them once you’ve entered the data.
Forums Back Up and Running
I enjoy reading all your comments and I’m glad I’ve created a “safe space” for lockdown sceptics to share their frustrations and keep each other’s spirits up. But please don’t copy and paste whole articles from papers that are behind paywalls in the comments. I work for some of those papers and if they don’t charge for premium content they won’t survive.
We have created some Lockdown Sceptics Forums that are now open. Initially, they became a spam magnet so we temporarily closed them. However, we’ve found a team of people willing to serve as moderators so the Forums are back up and running. And we’ve added a new dating section – “Love in a Covid Climate”. Any problems, email the Lockdown Sceptics webmaster Ian Rons here.
“Mask Exempt” Lanyards
I thought I’d create a new permanent slot down here for people who want to buy (or make) a “Mask Exempt” lanyard/card. You can print out and laminate a fairly standard one for free here and it has the advantage of not explicitly claiming you have a disability. But if you have no qualms about that (or you are disabled), you can buy a lanyard from Amazon saying you do have a disability/medical exemption here (now showing it will arrive between Sept 23rd to Oct 2nd). The Government has instructions on how to download an official “Mask Exempt” notice to put on your phone here. You can get a “Hidden Disability” tag from eBay here and an “exempt” card that looks like as if it’s been issued by the NHS for just £2.79 from Etsy here.
Don’t forget to sign the petition on the UK Government’s petitions website calling for an end to mandatory face nappies in shops here (now over 27,000).
A reader has started a website that contains some useful guidance about how you can claim legal exemption.
Meanwhile, the public health authorities in Denmark are maintaining that there’s no need to wear masks. This prompted Berlingske, the country’s oldest newspaper, to complain recently that Danes had positioned themselves “to the right of Trump”. Danish health officials responded by reminded the paper that there’s little conclusive evidence that face masks are an effective way to limit the spread of respiratory viruses. Zero Hedge has more.
Shameless Begging Bit
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And Finally…
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Did we know that there’s a ‘million man’ pro-Palestine march organized to take place on Armistice Day? They’re going to have to get it moved to another day. You can imagine the scenes at the Cenotaph if it’s allowed to go ahead can’t you? Police busying themselves telling people to put their England flags away because they’re racist, poppies too because they’re deemed offensive, people arrested if they show even the slightest whiff of patriotism. Meanwhile, the Muslims in the background can sing about eradicating Jews and Israel. Let’s await Khant’s comment on that shall we? Here’s what Nigel Farage thinks;
https://twitter.com/Nigel_Farage/status/1720169228735574042
“plod” will get “their marching orders” as government ministers would say. Disrupting the activities of the intelligence services or their own undercover operatives won’t be one of them unless it’s accidental.
Meanwhile at the Covid inquiry we can see some real extremists and zealots in action. No amount of death and destruction will make them seek the truth.
There’s a war coming to the streets of Britain! REMEMBERANCE DAY!
NEVER in me 60 years of experience would I ever be feeling this unprotected by my own country!
Speaking of poppies being offensive, here’s Starmer;
https://twitter.com/Nigel_Farage/status/1720042811427303714
Wow – embarrassed to wear a poppy when speaking to a British audience. That’s quite revealing…
The interesting item here is that GBN reported that he was selective about when to wear it.They showed a clip of him speaking at Chatham House, where he did wear a poppy, then a cut to one with him not wearing it (and evidently with the same suit, tie etc) on his other output aimed at another group.
NOT British Michael – Muslim.
Starmer is just another puppet following orders to ensure that the fear, hatred & division is sufficiently stoked for civil war to break out in this country. It’s about bringing about the NWO. Problem, reaction & then the parasite class can roll out the pre-planned solution to the masses who are crying out for a solution to a problem which didn’t exist until it was manufactured.
To everyone here – stop falling for the psych ops. Division, fear & hatred based on religion, class, culture is being purposely stoked to destroy the UK, to destroy our culture & bring about a one world totalitarian government.
Joining in that fear mongering, divisive behaviour is helping to usher in this tyranny.
Absolutely spot on BB. Unfortunately I think civil unrest is inevitable and it is a raging certainty on 11/11.
Yes..cue..lockdown (for your safety of course)….banning more protests, banning more speech, and more draconian measures….
Widespread deployment of facial recognition “to keep us safe”, more censorship, more stay at home orders, 24/7 state surveillance of everyone, everywhere- isn’t that always ‘the answer’? And any day now, up will pop Blair with his Hague poodle, extolling the virtues, convenience and safety of digital identity implants with real time location tracking (though he is exempt ‘for security reasons’). We are being played, again.
As Christine Andersen MEP has said numerous times – you cannot comply your way out of tyranny. Resistance, pushback, peaceful civil disobedience is our best weapon. It has to be peaceful as violent unrest is what the parasites want to bring in their tyranny.
Starmer’s hypocrisy is exposed. He would argue that they are British Muslims, yet he removes a hugely important token of British gratitude and pride and history when addressing a “British” audience.
Shape-shifter Starmer can’t stop himself
“The idea that no matter how bad things are, children should always go to school, seems irrevocably compromised by lockdown”
I guess it all really depends upon what happens in the schools – BS lockdowns or no BS lockdowns.
But as far as my primary, secondary and tertiary sources tell me, what really happens in those buildings is an awful lot of “schooling” and very little education.
So glad we took our two out of the mainstream system. We should never have put them there in the first place. Many parents we know have since done the same.
And without wishing to play the victim, I think I’d also be a lot better off if I had never been sent there when I was a child.
Bit of a wake-up moment, this “pandemic”…
Dr Anna Loutfi, UK Barrister spoke to us at MD4CE on Tuesday evening. She’s building a case against the Dept of Education about the lack of access for parents to the content of sex & relationship education syllabus. She confirms that having seen the curriculum courtesy of some whistle-blowers, that what is being taught is child abuse & grooming. She also said that the percentage of children being removed from state schools to be home schooled is the highest in Europe & the highest that it has ever been as more 7 more parents are sick of the emotional, sexual abuse & brainwashing that their children are subjected to by the school system.
Thanks for your update.
“The EU walks back its ruinous proposal to mandate minimum energy efficiency standards for buildings” – ‘Climatism’ is slowly dying,”
That is all very well but in the UK we have the stultifying Climate Change act. We can tinker around a bit but unless that Act is repealed or significantly amended then we seem destined for net-zero immiseration. It is hard to foresee how this will play out in the UK? If few people buy EV’s will they carry on and banish ICE cars and condemn the majority to a future of limited transport? If people do not buy heat pumps will they ban gas and oil; boilers and restrict the sale of gas and oil and just let people freeze in their homes?
It seems to me that it all has to get worse and more messy before there is any chance of it getting better. Meanwhile China, India etc. will smile serenely and carry on to become the dominant players in the world. Do any of our politicians have any vision and understanding as to where this is all heading?
Israel vs Palestine. What an absolute blinder the elites have played. They’ve even managed to get the right of centre sceptics standing shoulder to shoulder with the BBC and the Left. Impressive.
Knowing the evil stunt was probably US coordinated, and understanding the humanitarian crisis unfolding in the region, should be distinct from uncritically opposing Israel and the West. To do that you are opposing Western values and a way of life most Muslims in this region find repulsive. You are emboldening Muslims who long for Jihad everywhere – including the streets of the UK. We’ll see the outcome of that support in London and other major cities over the next couple of weeks I suspect.
In the name of safety….
I went to the O2 on Wednesday. To listen to Peterson, Murray, Lomborg and Shapiro. Quite interesting.
So you are not allowed to bring in drinks or food and have to buy everything at the venue.
I thought I would buy a bottle of water (I know..I know how to live..).
£3.90 for a bottle and then he proceeded to say he could not give me the cap of the bottle…
Why?
Policy…
As I did not fancy carrying an open water bottle around for hours I decided to go thirsty.
I went to the customer service desk and asked them about this policy. The young woman proceeded to tell me this was health and safety. If the cap was on, someone could trip over a fallen full bottle of water.
I asked her if she could hear herself talking. She smiled sheepishly.
Anyway, I guess it is the world we live in.
I was all ready to go to that event. After choosing a seat I got to the checkout only to discover that it was a digital ticket system only i.e. they refused point blank to send paper tickets and you could only attend if you carried a phone into the venue to prove your purchase. I canceled at the checkout. We’ve got to draw a line somewhere haven’t we?
We went to a rugby world cup match. You could take your own bottle in if it was less than 500ml, but it had to have the cap off.
I was told it was to reduce its danger as a projectile if thrown.
Of course, not a single bottle has ever been thrown at a rugby international.
Again, it’s all about treating ordinary people as potentially dangerous, we all start believing it. The reality was that both sets of fans were getting on brilliantly well.
My OH was also going to buy a bottle of water at that event and had the same response as you … I’m thinking maybe spilt water might be a bigger hazard … maybe they just shouldn’t supply drinks, it’s just too dangerous. No chance of that though, it’s just too much of a money spinner.
I think what you describe Myra is simply theft..
Worth clicking on the Vienna waterfountain article – even in these dark times, we need a chuckle (although I did think, I wonder what this rough representation of what look like a bunch of sick and broken people is really saying?)
Here’s a system coming online today in ireland,..I’d describe it as the ‘government point to system’ when needing an excuse to introduce ulez in ireland!
Dublin ,you have been warned!
Ireland’s new national air quality forecast goes live today
https://jrnl.ie/6213252
I’ll wager air quality will be bad to worse for the next few months then ulez will soon follow!
Vienna’s new fountain…
Vienna, you are the world’s laughing stock!
I know, I saw that the other day on Jessica Rose’s Twitter and I thought it looked like a local primary school had done it as an art project! LOL Standards have slipped somewhat over there when it comes to beautiful sculptures in public places.
I thought the vid clip above about signing the ‘Free Palestine’ petition was worth a watch. It’s very well done because it perfectly illustrates that once the useful idiots are faced with some facts and become enlightened as to what they’re actually turning out in their thousands to support on a weekend, they then think twice as realization dawns. I guess ignorance is bliss when you’re in the throws of mass psychosis, supporting the latest thing like some propagandized muppet and maxing out your self-righteousness… until you no longer have ignorance to hide behind.
….all part of the plan to take us back into some kind of mediaeval dark age societally…where nothing real exists, where people don’t make or produce or appreciate anything real or truly beautiful anymore….
….while, at the same time, addling peoples brains with more unreality in the form of attention-span diluting multi-media, ‘games’ and A.I….
Agreed – truth and beauty, two essential elements of “a good life”, are massively under attack.
5g towers digital watchtowers
latest leaflet to print at home or forward to politicians, media, friends online.
There have been many rumblings BTL that the DS has become a limited hangout & that what was a sceptical site on covid is now just yet another voice pushing the official narrative of division, fear & hatred. This post from Telegram makes thought provoking reading:
So let’s see who the people are who are now defending the endless war that both Orwell and Assange warned was always against us, as well as asking for MORE restrictions on our freedoms when we don’t agree with them:
“Allison Pearson wants the army on our streets” – by Niall McCrae
“The British establishment, including its media whores, rushed to license Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to take whatever action it wants against Gaza. Despite his recent exposure as a sex predator, Nick Cohen was rehabilitated by the Spectator to spout his bile. Douglas Murray, a gay advocate of Judaeo-Christian values, and asset of the security services, has jumped at the opportunity to attack Muslims. Laura Dodsworth and Allison Pearson reacted with mesmerised veneration of the Zionist regime.
Dodsworth made her name in the freedom movement, writing State of Fear on the government’s sinister surveillance and psychologically abusive practices during the Covid-19 pseudopandemic. The book drew deserved plaudits, although I found the last chapter revealing: Dodsworth praised the vaccines before they had been properly tested. Not such a critical thinker after all…
Dodsworth, in collaboration with Toby Young, produced the ‘October Declaration’, a petition of support for British Jews in their hour of need. Remember the Islamist terror attacks earlier this century, when the focus immediately shifted to a potential ‘far-right’ backlash? This is not quite the same, as Israeli people were killed and taken hostage by Hamas militia, but there was no doubt by the time this declaration was launched that the Israeli armed forces were doing most of the murders. Yet the main problem is anti-Semitism, and Palestinian victims were not directly mentioned in Dodsworth’s appeal: –
Oh, how badly the supposedly enlightened critics of Covid-19 lockdown have failed this moral test. Thankfully, they are not the majority. Dodsworth’s declaration has amassed about 65 thousand signatures, a quarter of the number signing a petition on the government website for a ceasefire and removal of Israeli occupiers from the West Bank and Gaza. And it pales into insignificance compared with the huge rallies in London and other cities across the UK.
Pearson is enraged by these mass protests. She demands government action to curtail this expression of Palestinian support. Home secretary Suella Braverman wants police to arrest those attending, merely for waving a flag. ‘Hate marches’, according to Braverman. Yet as I have witnessed, the tens of thousands who come to London to demonstrate are mostly ordinary people who are horrified about the massacre in Gaza, and justifiably angry that their taxes are being used to send armaments to Israel. Inevitably a few hotheads get the newspaper headlines, but the marches have shown humanity at its best: Muslims, Christians, atheists and Jews uniting against barbarism.
So, after three years of complaining about Covid-19 authoritarianism, Pearson wants the army on our streets. She wants people calling for an end to violence to be violated by soldiers. Pearson talks up Western values, but these have degraded into tacky, distasteful memes. Apparently Western values put the sensibilities of Jewish people in London above the very survival of inhabitants of Gaza, and allow a genocidal ethno-state to kill kids at will.
Pearson should read the lead opinion piece in the New York Times yesterday, by Megan Stack, who asked about the bombardment of civilians: –
‘What outcome does this strategy avert that would be worse than the outcome it has already created?’”
https://unitynewsnetwork.co.uk/allison-pearson-wants-the-army-on-our-streets/
Right with you, BB.
Seconded.
100%….
I thought the propaganda was pretty bad during Covid…and then through the Ukraine Russia conflict…but I’ve been horrified by people’s comments in regards to the barbaric actions on civilians, women and children..as though their thousands of deaths can be somehow explained by such idiotic things as..well they voted for them..or well they could move? It’s unbelievable to me…
I have no allegiance to either, but the horror that Israel has unleashed on Palestine is, without doubt wrong, and really harming their standing in the world…the Jeffrey Sachs interview I’ve posted is worth a listen, and speaks to this..
ClareDalyMEP
“There will be no hiding behind “we did not know,” when the time comes for European and American leaders to answer for their active role in the atrocities Israel is carrying out.
They know. It is a choice, not a blunder. The whole world can see. We will not forget.”
David Kurten has made a video in which he talks a lot of sense…they are setting the stage..Don’t take the bait….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fc9_SbUkv0
I’ve been stunned by those who I thought knew better yet seem to be defending Israeli action whatever the cost. I’m all for defending Jewish people against attacks, especially in our own country, but not to be aware of the wider geopolitical consequences of taking sides is madness. I think for some people it’s a case of virtue signalling in ignorance from the safety of their settee. There’s a refreshing discussion on the latest Tom Woods show about the US situation and how many commentators including RFKjr have got caught out expressing 20th century views on the topic. Also noting the importance of Christian Zionists in shaping US policy.
https://tomwoods.com/ep-2411-ron-paul-institute-director-on-best-and-worst-middle-east-scenarios/
RFK Jr has pledged allegiance to Israel, like so many other politicians in the US. Doesn’t matter how good he is on other issues, he’s been as bought & paid for as the other candidates. Trump is no better as he too pledged his allegiance to Israel.
The parasite class is well & truly in control though more visible than it has been in the past.
Most likely it’s the easiest line to take for the time being. Shows how hopeless our democratic politics has become – no debate about the reality of what support for Israel means.
A large number of US politicians have made this pledge of allegiance to Israel. They are not neutral & not working for the US citizens who elected them.
No different to the MPs here who are members of WEF – loyalty lies elsewhere & are working to usurp the national state. We no longer have a sovereign state courtesy of being signed up to join the EEC & then the Nice Treaty by the one individual who should have defended that sovereignty as per the Coronation Oath.
QEII was called Head of State as that is all she was, that is all the current incumbent is as when she signed us over to a supranational power, she committed treason & abdicated the throne.
No Monarch, no Regal Parliament, no valid in law Acts or Statutes since 1973 but as the 25 Barons wrote to QEII invoking Article 61 of Magna Carta when she gave assent to the Nice Treaty, we have the hard evidence that we have no Monarch.
TPTB in this country do not want us to know that what passes for government, legal acts, parliament is just a sham to cover up the abuse of power.
Nothing agreed, voted on or passed in parliament, by the executive or signed into law by the fake king has any standing in a court of law.
12 presumptions of law need to be repealed & a stand made with those 25 Barons. The more of us who do this, the greater our power & knowledge is power.
I agree Rachel..but we are being prodded all the time to take side..
News (and horrendous scenes) just happening… Israel had bombed
the main gate of al-Shifa medical compound where over 30,000 refugees are sheltering as well as bombing the immediate vicinity of the al-Quds hospital where over 14,000 people are sheltering…
Reports are saying that several ambulances were damaged as they attempted to transport the critically wounded to the Rafah crossing into Egypt..
It’s just for to stop….
I think I’m missing keys because I’m so wound up….this indefensible shit has just got to stop….
Dr Pierre Kory doing some sterling work on jab shedding over on substack. First of a (currently) 7 part series:
https://pierrekorymedicalmusings.com/p/shedding-of-covid-mrna-vaccine-components
“South Park has burst the woke Hollywood bubble”
Some cracking vids on YT covering this – try Critical Drinker for balance, Nerdrotic for the biting humour. Gina Carano totally rocks!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nygfvI5cZ9w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qCcf7IYXaE
Very good paper on this important matter
https://iea.org.uk/publications/dictating-words-the-culture-control-left-and-the-war-against-free-speech/#Summary
Download, print and read. The very concept of a “hate” crime, or any crime that relies on subjective emotion is beyond degraded, and signifies the end of a core pillar of our law – that we are all equal in the eyes of the law (the secular derivative, natch, of all equal in the eyes of God – we all know where our law comes from, don’t we?
.
Which is a disaster. As we are witnessing.
Another day, another Israeli politician spewing genocidal bile….
….this time it’s Israeli Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu:
“North Gaza, more beautiful than ever.
Blow up and flatten everything, delightful.
After we are done, we allocate the lands of Gaza to the soldiers fighting and the settlers who lived in Gush Katif.”
Of course the ‘settlers’ of Gush Karis forcibly removed the Palestinians who originally lived there and razed their houses to the ground before illegally occupying the land.
But remember these are the democratic civilised one and aren’t to be confused with the terrorists….and calling for everyone to be killed and removed from Gaza is definitely not genocide…
Interesting interview on the ongoing Israeli conflict with Geoffrey Sachs and Judge Neapolitano…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brT0RZRpBEg
Thanks. Will check this out. In return I suggest Tom Woods podcast linked in my response to BB above
…the second part of Richard Medurst’s pieces on Israel and oil….
The Ben Gurion Canal
https://www.bitchute.com/video/pcJpndaY2no4/
..if you missed the first part…
Gaza and Gas
https://www.bitchute.com/video/pcJpndaY2no4/
Cui Bono??
This is why they won’t win the propaganda war…
When all the cynical MSM (and DS) stories are done..the conflating of Palestinians
and Hammas..the twisting of words..just like the Facts for Peace (surely an ironic name!!?)!..video above, asking people a loaded question .….acting like know-all arseholes with no care or compassion…
..the vast majority of the world thinks like ONS Jabeur…
..this isn’t a question of sides..it’s a question of humanity….and your side don’t have it…
https://www.wtatennis.com/news/3763716/emotional-jabeur-donates-wta-finals-prize-money-to-palestinian-aid
Heart breaking
Any one else having trouble with Guido website?
Working OK for me though I don’t visit very often these days.
Robert Spencer of Jihad Watch on the conflict. Notes that this is not about land, but religion, and Islam is hell bent on genocide. Decide for yourself, but read and watch the video. I’d say he’s right.