How It Starts 996


The brevity of this post is out of proportion to the enormous importance of the subject. But I want to let you know I am thinking and working on it.

It is a recognised pattern for dictatorship to commence with emergency measures designed to combat a threat. Those emergency measures then become normalised and people exercising arbitrary power find it addictive. A new threat is then found to justify the continuation

It is by no means clear to me that it is a rational response to covid-19 to tear up all of the civil liberties which were won by the people against authority through centuries of struggle, and for which people died. To say that is not to minimise the threat of covid-19. It is also worth pointing out that a coronavirus pandemic was a widely foreseen eventuality. People keep sending me links to various TV shows or movies based on a coronavirus pandemic, generally claiming this proves it is a man-made event. No, that just proves it is a widely foreseen event. Which it is.

The lack of contingency preparedness is completely indefensible. It is partly a result of the stupidity of Tory austerity that has the NHS permanently operating at 100% capacity with no contingency, and partly the result of the crazed just-in time thinking that permeates management in all spheres and eliminates the holding of stock.

It is incredible to me that the UK is willing to throw away some £220 billion and rising on Trident against a war scenario nobody can sensibly define, but was not willing to spend a few million on holding stock of protective clothing for the NHS against the much more likely contingency of a pandemic. What does that say about our society?

Anyway, we are where we are. Nobody knows how deadly this virus is. There have not been, anywhere, sufficient reliable large general population samples to know what percentage of people who get the virus will die. We just do not know how many people in the UK have had it and not got seriously ill. My suspicion is that in a couple of years time it will be discovered the mortality rate was under 1%. But I do not know, and I do not blame the government for making worst assumptions in the absence of reliable scientific evidence. Personally, I am obeying lockdown and would advise others to do so too until the situation is clearer. But I do not want to see the police harassing people for going on a long walk or posting a letter. It really is a problem to have police empowered to stop and question a citizen for just walking in the street. It is also a problem that Peter Hitchens is being reviled for saying, in essence, little more than that. When you can’t criticise restrictions on liberty, you know society has entered a very dark phase indeed.

I would feel much more comfortable if they were open about what they do not know. All the excuses for not testing people rather than admit they did not have the tests rather rattles trust. The ability of the rich and well-connected to access tests also rattles trust.

But none of this justifies rule by fiat – if Parliament cannot sit, I personally believe it would benefit the nations of the UK to have no new laws for a while. There are too many laws already. It does not justify banning political gathering. I don’t recommend anyone to gather, and I don’t imagine they would gather, but the evil of banning political activity is much more serious than the danger of four lonely people in Solihull getting together to talk about coronavirus restrictions.

It certainly does not justify banning jury trials, which the Scottish government has just dropped from today’s Bill after a revolt led by Joanna Cherry. The bill still weakens the defence in trials by allowing pre-taped video evidence and dispensing with the right to cross-examine. If the accusers had been allowed to get away with their lies in the Alex Salmond trial without cross-examination, the result might have been very different. For God’s sake, if you cannot do justice, suspend it. Do not dispense rough justice.

This article is entirely free to reproduce and publish, including in translation, and I very much hope people will do so actively. Truth shall set us free.

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996 thoughts on “How It Starts

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  • jean Palmer

    Thank you so much for this. You are so very wise and courageous and reassuring. To be able to follow what you are thinking and your writing (especially your staunch defense of Julian Assange) is a privilege I treasure. You actually give me hope.

    I live in the US and have been ashamed to be an American for a long long time. I am now finding others who propose similar questions, but not with your wisdom. Here’s one, in case you haven’t seen it. https://mathbabe.org/2020/03/30/comments-on-covid-19/ Just to share.

  • michael norton

    How It Starts

    This case really brings this home.

    Quote BBC
    Mr Hanstock said frontline officers had since been provided with the latest guidance from the National Police Chiefs’ Council to help them interpret the new legislation.

    “I must remind the public that officers will continue to engage with people and seek to understand their reasons for their journeys,” he said.

    “Where we determine that there is no justifiable purpose for them being on the transport network, we will explain to the public why they should not travel.”
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-52148020

    Chilling
    You will need “wartime” papers soon, just to leave your home.
    They didn’t even shut the pubs or schools during the war or the Spanish Flu Pandemic.

  • CJ

    It’s a bio weapon. Was it released by accident or purpose? If by purpose then an act of war. It’s a weapon. Characteristics appear modified by humans. Western silence appears odd considering Salisbury when they had the script right off the bat. Germ warfare labs know everything that one needs to know about COOEE19 (look over there). Why legislate in criminal matters to a health matter? Using a crisis to set an agenda is despicable and the SNP must be removed for this attack. What do they stand for now anyway? Not their intended purpose.

    If its mild flu then why dress it up. One government purpose is control. They are not in the saving life or telling the truth business. They work for the very wealthy and follow the script when required. That is control and wealth extraction. Far too many laws in force, when no one understands the law there is a problem. There have been various fake programs running the past several years. The White Helmets is one familiar. But this, required massive co-ordination and did not just happen. It is always surprising when people know the government lie endlessly but are happy to believe the COOEE19 information they provide. They have an interest in telling you that. This will cause massive social upheaval, firms bust, lost jobs, you get the picture. When it does there will be others who will swoop in and buy the lot up for cents on the dollar. Plus the massive debt issued. There will be a lot of winners here and none are the ordinary people. But those people will still vote for the same treachery they always have done. Don’t. There is no left or right, communism or capitalism. All global leaders are freemasons. Yes, even the Iranians and Maduro. All control including religion and sports. History told us Adolf Hitler committed suicide in his bunker, that’s false also. Yes, another front man for international finance. And if anyone wondered where this was going this episode will serve as a frightening warning of what those above you are capable of. That means you cannot sit in isolation but you must form groups to defend yourself. In France the police do not go into immigrant areas as they are simply surrounded and beaten up. There is no law there. You all get used over and over. They tell you who the enemy is and off you stomp to deal with them. Neither world war was needed. A society apparently appoints its greatest minds and best people to manage their society. I am sorry, I cannot agree that is what you get. They create the problems.

    • CJ

      The highest point being about 178 metres above sea level. The house he lived in at the end was located higher up possibly not as far as that. The geographical location would be useful. I’m sure Harry Hopkins raised the matter with his Soviet counterpart and said he did not believe he committed suicide.

      You walk in the main entrance then go to the second level. His room was (still is) on the upper right. In the room is a single bed. On the bed the trousers he wore are on top. Directly across from the bed there is an old style dressing table with a mirror insert and the section outside the mirror is carved.

      1966 might be right. Maybe November. He was a prolific writer. Possibly the answers to many questions are there. There is also the matter of what happened when he died. But, someone would have to understand what happens on death. Your comments on American involvement and General Stroessner are interesting and I would suggest anyone not familiar to find out more. In-case anyone had not noticed, we are behind enemy lines.

    • SA

      CJ
      It is not a bioweapon. This particular theory has been debunked many times in this and other fora. I will not repeat the references but if you google for yourself you will be able to find scientific papers and discussions explaining why, that is unless you feel that this propaganda matter is better dealt with by propagandists and counter propagandists.

  • Tatyana

    Yesterday I learned here about the police who catch and fine people on the streets in Russia. Today I decided to risk my own skin and check this.
    Well folks, here’s a fun story for you “The Housewife, an Unexpected Journey or To the Shop and Back Again (through apocalypse).”

    Actually, the app alerted me of chocolate sale. Though this was a perfect pretext, I believe I’m a rational person, so decided to check how serious the situation in the street was. I carefully peeped one eye out from the balcony. The weather was fine, cars drove, people walked, many without masks (crazy people!)
    https://www.instagram.com/p/B-hQdTwH6Fy/

    So I finally dared to walk away from the apartment. Adventure! Here we go!
    I decided to visit post-office on the way. Of course, I put on a mask, but it played a very cruel joke with me. The mask makes the nose itch and the throat dry. I made an unforgivable mistake, namely, I coughed.
    The glance that people in the line gave me was eloquent. And I told to myself, “Tanya, it’s very bad idea to cough now. Your family waits for you to return home today. And you better make sure nobody in the queue notice that you receive a parcel from China. Be on the safe side, Tanya.”

    On the way to the store I downed the glass window and pulled the mask off to feel warm April breeze on my face, while police in black uniforms were not visible, nor were Cossacks with whips 🙂

    In the supermarket, where I usually do my shopping, I immediately realized that something had changed. It was something in the air. As I approached the first point of my shopping list, I realized what was wrong. They packed up all the products and the department no longer had the smell of freshly baked bread, which used to lie in wooden counters and filled the whole store with its aroma. My poor ciabatas and baguettes were packed in plastic! I tried not to chat with people as usual and distance from them. But it was hard to do, because there were a lot of people in the store.
    https://www.instagram.com/p/B-hRUn9noic/

    On the pasta shelf I noticed the words “Il grano di Armando”, and I decided that this would be my housewife’s gesture of support for Italy. So I took two packs of “Il Fusillone” with me. Then I noticed “Temranillo de Castilla” and decided that Spain also needs my support.
    Loading the bags into the car I every minute expected that a policeman in black uniform could appear out of the blue and hit me or other people in the parking lot with his white bat, but this did not happen. Perhaps, they do not patrol and catch people, or maybe I just chose the wrong street – I don’t know. My guess is the police are not interested in people who go shopping, because it is essential need, maybe.

    Anyway, I made a photo for proof and also to share with you the joy of this exciting quest!
    https://www.instagram.com/p/B-hSi3VH07_/
    Greetings from Russia!

    • J Galt

      Thanks for your story!

      Just back from Lidl (20min queue) and Home Bargains (10min queue).

      No bread or toilet rolls at Lidl, but reasonable selection of fresh meat and vegetables, impressed by Home Bargains, they seem to have a well organised supply chain – plenty of toilet roll rationed to one pack which is all I needed anyway.

    • Ort

      Thanks for this story, which is indeed fun to read (and watch).

      I live in a suburb of Philadelphia, PA USA; there are certainly reported cases of COVID-19 in the area, but so far the numbers are not escalating sharply.

      I haven’t taken to wearing a mask outdoors; so far this is an optional personal choice, and in any case I don’t have any on hand. There are reports that the government may issue a directive requiring all persons to wear masks; if the nearby supermarket or shops acquire them– they don’t have them in stock now– I will buy them and wear a mask just to avoid official or unofficial disapproval.

      All that said, I had to laugh when you mentioned that unintentional “fatal” cough. I am healthy, but usually when I walk briskly up to the supermarket in chilly weather I need to blow my nose– this also happens in warmer weather due to minor allergies.

      But nowadays, when I’m in the store I feel as if I dare not reach for that tissue to blot my nose; I already get dirty looks from masked and gloved customers– presently, perhaps half of the total shoppers, if that. And I have seen heads turn in horror or panic when some shopper so much as clears their throat.

      I feel as if I need to announce, “Just normal minor nose-blowing; I’m not the Angel of Death!” Instead, I keep my tissues in my pocket and vulgarly and disgustingly sniff and snort when no one is nearby.

      Fortunately for all, I haven’t made a “selfie” video of this behavior. 😉

      • grafter

        “A surgical mask, also known as a procedure mask, medical mask or simply as a face mask, is intended to be worn by health professionals during surgery and during nursing to catch the bacteria shed in liquid droplets and aerosols from the wearer’s mouth and nose. They are not designed to protect the wearer from inhaling airborne bacteria or virus particles”

        In other words they are useless when worn in public.

    • Tatyana

      Thank you all, folks 🙂
      Tomorrow I’m going to check another remote destination. I’m going to dare even more tomorrow and go by car (they say driving is forbidden) across the whole city for an absolutely necessary reason.
      I’ll see if the police fine me.
      I promise to sing Kumbaya if I reach my destination without fines.
      Stay tuned 🙂

      • N_

        You know this is the end of the Great Satan in North America, right? 🙂
        За ваше здоровье!

  • michael norton

    The new head of the E.U. Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday the European Union’s next budget,
    was a way to create a “Marshall Plan” to stimulate economic recovery following the pandemic, arguing that the bloc will remain strong and weather the crisis together.
    Von der Leyen has previously criticized the decision by E.U. states to close their borders, saying the extreme measures undermine European solidarity.

    • michael norton

      What Ursula may be overlooking, is that, solidarity within the E.U. has all but collapsed.
      The E.U. Elite have been like startled rabbits staring into the headlights of an oncoming juggernaut, known as covid-19.

      • N_

        The E-what? Ursula’s optic goes back further than 1957. Look at her husband’s family. As for a new Marshall Plan, will she be selling EU bonds to Russia?

  • Tony M

    When I read yesterday of the policemen in Russia with the white bats, it didn’t sound as bad as some of the other countries, thought it quite nice really, that he could take his pet to work with him -that it was an actual bat, on the end of a bit of string or collar and leash, white of course because being Russia, even their bats are suspiciously, mysteriously foreign, and that lions and giraffes might well walk the streets too, or it was symbolic of a longing for the return of the Romanovs, maybe even cruelly painted white, like the bat of the Baskervilles. Then realised it would probably have been for some reason, that it might have been a specially-trained bat, a sniffer-bat or something, that could detect maybe illicit vodka, or furry-hats that weren’t exactly regulation size. The author of that ludicrous piece of nonsense should have said baton, and I would have been spared all this confusion, I must just have bats on the brain recently.

  • yesindyref2

    “1. (1) Subject to the provisions of this section, His Majesty may by Order in Council make such Regulations (in this Act referred to as “Defence Regulations”) as appear to him to be necessary or expedient for securing the public safety, the defence of the realm, the maintenance of public order and the efficient prosecution of any war His Majesty may be engaged, and for maintaining supplies and services essential to the life of the community.

    (2) Without prejudice to the generality of the powers conferred by the preceding subsection, Defence Regulations may, so far as appears to His Majesty in Council to be necessary or expedient for any of the purposes mentioned in that subsection:-

    (a) Make provision for the apprehension, trial, and punishment of persons offending against the Regulations and for the detention of persons whose detention appears to the Secretary of State to be expedient in the interests of the public safety or the defence of the realm;

    (b) authorise –

    (i) the taking of possession or control, on behalf of His Majesty, of any property or undertaking;
    (ii) the acquisition, on behalf of His Majesty, of any property other than land;

    (c) authorise the entering and searching of any premises; and

    (d) provide for amending any enactment, for suspending the operation of any enactment, and for applying any enactment with or without modification. ”

    Emergency Powers (Defence) Act 1939 (according to wiki)

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_Powers_(Defence)_Act_1939

    Contrary to one or two posts, we’re not there just yet! And I hope it’s not needed that we are.

    • N_

      We will be there soon. The conditions are already there.

      The 1939 Act was repealed. The extant one is the Civil Contingencies Act 2004.

      According to the 2004 Act (s19), an “emergency” covers “an event or situation which threatens serious damage to human welfare in the United Kingdom or in a Part or region”, and “an event or situation threatens damage to human welfare only if it involves, causes or may cause—
      (a)loss of human life,
      (b)human illness or injury,
      (c)homelessness,
      (d)damage to property,
      (e)disruption of a supply of money, food, water, energy or fuel,
      (f)disruption of a system of communication,
      (g)disruption of facilities for transport, or
      (h)disruption of services relating to health.”

      As for the power to make emergency regulations, s20:
      “(1)Her Majesty may by Order in Council make emergency regulations if satisfied that the conditions in section 21 are satisfied.
      “(2)A senior Minister of the Crown may make emergency regulations if satisfied—
      (a)that the conditions in section 21 are satisfied, and
      (b)that it would not be possible, without serious delay, to arrange for an Order in Council under subsection (1).”

      And the scope of the emergency regulations? S22:
      “Emergency regulations may make any provision which the person making the regulations is satisfied is appropriate for the purpose of preventing, controlling or mitigating an aspect or effect of the emergency in respect of which the regulations are made.”

    • grafter

      *His Majesty *. Wtf kind of country are we living in ?? Is this 2020 or 1620 ?

  • Rosslyn

    “If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—for ever”

    “Until they become conscious they will never rebel, and until after they have rebelled they cannot become conscious.”

    The above quotes from George Orwell’s 1984 have become so poignant.
    Your blogs are a breath of fresh air to me. At last a truthful journalist.

    • Marmite

      Orwell was of course talking about the past as well. But he is sadly right. Look at the way the establishment’s monkey-brained journalists are celebrating the victory of two anti-socialists in Labour. Consider how the media still feels it an urgent task to misrepresent and abuse the Labour party and its leader of the last five years. This is a nation of fools addicted to having its face stamped on. And it is a nation of fools that cannot see how the virus is being used to demolish human rights and pave the way for mass extinction (not from the virus, but from the climate change that is the result of attitudes toward the earth that are the same attitudes of rapists and sexual abusers).

      • SA

        Marmite
        It is very interesting that with the world going to pieces, and the government ruling by diktat, the very future of personal freedom at risk, the corona virus crisis being mismanaged by the Tories, that the very first priority of the new leader is none of the above.

        • Marmite

          This is a white middle-class virus. That is not to say it is not real, or doesn’t kill. But the virus that kills most was always already there for the millions of forced migrants of the world.

          But the priorities of white middle-class American and British trash are still about bashing socialism and environmentalism as much as possible. Consider the rubbish that gets printed, and consider the yahoos that line up to support that vitriole in the comments boxes.

          https://www.ft.com/content/24eab6a0-7583-11ea-95fe-fcd274e920ca

        • Jo Dominich

          SA yep his 1st priority was to write to the BoD requesting a meeting to tackle the non existent and completely fabricated AS shit. Good way to start the purge of left wingers and socialists isn’t it? His priority otherwise appears to be not to be in opposition at all.

  • Rosslyn Wills

    Many on this blog are talking about coronavirus. I have been reading a lot lately on the subject. One particular top medical professional said that test kits that are testing for Covid – 19 only are able to flag up the corona virus which he stated that 80/90% of people already carry to some extent, therefore anyone going to hospital regardless of what actual illness they have will test positive for the virus. The flu virus in 2018 killed many people in the months between December and March. UK 2,921, Spain 10348, Italy 13915. That does not include other illnesses or natural causes! I would have posted the links but they have now been corrupted since yesterday.

  • Tim Rideout

    I can’t be bothered with working through all that. I have no idea of who anyone called Garavelli is. I know one conspirator is Nicola’s chief of staff, another her best friend and another a lady in HQ. They will get their just desserts so don’t go over the top just now and put yourself at risk. Leslie Evans the Perm Sec is well known as a Brit Nat.

    • N_

      Three months in jail! That’s an awfully stiff sentence for going inside a hospital, taking some photos, chatting with staff, and exposing what was going on. He shouldn’t have pleaded guilty.

      Writing in the Heil, Danny Gallagher was too busy copypasting what the police sent him (dreaming of a Pulitzer, Danny?) even to bother reporting how long Mr Stevenson got for each of the two offences (causing a public nuisance and breaching the Coronavirus Act).

    • CJ

      Can’t have that. There have been a few others. If you read the English Daily Mail specifically the comments you will see the state bots attack him without questioning why the apparently busy hospital was quiet. “They were all in the ward treating infected people” 3 months in prison.

  • Louise

    Our population is growing beyond bounds and our world is changing beyond the kind of world our politics was made for. We will see political change; people will need and expect different norms. I don’t think we should feel threatened by that – it’s us having the babies, it’s us contributing to rampant commercialism after all. I agree that the Covid-19 emergency measures are worrying. While we have to accept change, we also could try to understand the kind of world we could be looking at next year and how our politics helps us to manage it. Some measure of democracy may disappear (I never imagined I would write such a thing), and that may actually be the only way to manage these changes. You are right – we must all stay vigilant, but at the same time, we should be open to rational change. That’s hard to do when we no longer trust our politicians to act in the best interests of the country as a whole.

    • grafter

      Louise…….”we should be open to rational change. ” Really ? What is “rational” about this enfolding situation ?

  • David Clixby

    I think we all should be aware of the situation the likes of Blair and Brown involved in the skims. It’s worrying as contributions are concerned at the moment, funds are short. Maybe in the future we will be able to contribute to the fund. Thanks for the information, I will share with all my contacts.

  • michael norton

    The only thing that strikes me a slightly plausible, is the way the grip of China has taken control of such a swathe of manufacturing and world trade, perhaps the West is collapsing, as we make next to nothing and only fiddle with derivatives and ponzi schemes, the game was almost up, anyway.
    Into the mix you had the shale oil/ fracked gas and oil in North America/ Trump Make America Great Again/Trade Wars.

    So, just possibly, and excuse was needed for economic armageddon.
    First they supply a seed, to kick the ball rolling down hill.
    Then the new world out the other side is one where the West makes things again, competitively with Asia,
    this would mean, very, very, low wages for Westerners, and police state apparatus.

    • michael norton

      Another bit slotted into the jigsaw
      Sir Keir Starmer
      KCB QC MP has been elected with over 50% of the ballot to become the supreme leader of Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition.
      Sir Keir is KCB the highest form of knight.
      In February 2009, Starmer approved a decision not to prosecute any police over the controversial shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes.

      Police State, anyone.

  • Jack

    UK is number 5 in the world in terms of deaths and number 8 in terms of cases.
    I think that says alot about the failure of policy, at the same time, the percentage of additional cases is somewhat down from past week.
    Many western european neoliberal states have been struck quite hard while the other part have been doing better…

    Numbers of death:
    Hungary:32 Belarus:4 Czech-rep.:56 Romania:133 Bulgaria, 14 Moldova: 8 Baltic three states:39

          • SA

            Jack
            Don’t argue . Gove has just announced that there were 700+ deaths today, no use to argue with people who just want to argue. You are doing a very good job.

          • Pb

            Some people like to reject facts and argue fake numbers

            “Public Health England (PHE) aims to detect possible outbreaks of disease and epidemics as rapidly as possible. Accuracy of diagnosis is secondary”

            “Complete a notification form immediately on diagnosis of a suspected notifiable disease. Don’t wait for laboratory confirmation of a suspected infection or contamination before notification”

            https://www.gov.uk/guidance/notifiable-diseases-and-causative-organisms-how-to-report

            These are Statutory Requirements

            Only 210 Cases Notified up to 29th March for England and Wales (no cases in Wales)

            https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/notifiable-diseases-weekly-reports-for-2020

            Those are the Facts

            You can’t argue the Facts you can only reject them and prefer to believe the propaganda.

          • SA

            It seems that for some people The fact that many people are dying is not a fact.
            Ah, I forgot, dead people can be ‘stress actors’.

          • Pb

            It seems that for some people the fact that people die should should not be a fact.

            The fact that no more people have died this year than in the previous 5 years averaged should not be a fact.

            Ah I forgot normal death rates can be a pandemic if you want them to be.

          • Pb

            The facts:

            Up to 29th March 2020

            Only 210* Covid-19 Cases had been Notified to HMG as required by Law, (* in England & Wales)

            There is a Statutory Requirement to reports a Notifiable Death through a well established Notification System. Covid-19 is Classed a Notifiable Disease.

            Only 210 Cases Notified yet the MSM reported that there were 19,522 Cases up to 29th March

            Where did the MSM get their figures from?

            Up to the 29th March 2020 England & Wales had 4000+ FEWER Deaths than in the previous 5 years Averaged

            You want Facts those are the Facts

          • Jack

            Pb

            Seasonal flu is less severe, less contagious and ultimately less lethal than Corona.
            Seasonal flu is somewhere 0.1, Corona is at the moment set around 1,5-3,5.
            Besides there is no vaccine compared to seasonal flu.
            Additionally the seasonal flu is much less severe this year it seems.

          • Pb

            Jack you played Spain, I will raise you the Faroe Islands

            The Highest Testing Rate in the World (almost everyone)

            The 6th most infected Population in the World (Spain 8th) (infections / size of population)

            Number of Deaths: None, Zero, Nada, Zilch

          • Jack

            The link about Spain disproved your claim of low death toll when in reality is rather the other way around.

          • Clark

            Pb, 12:48 above:

            “Faroe Islands… The Highest Testing Rate in the World (almost everyone)”

            And there’s the explanation. The countries that have tested most vigorously and performed contact tracing are the ones most successful in preventing further infections. By contrast, the USA neglected testing, doing only one test per million population; the US quickly overtook other countries and shot to the top of the list. MAGA.

            The Faeroe Islands have 82 active cases out of 181 total. At present, one case is critical. They seem to have tested about 10% of their ~50,000 population. Consisting of 18 major islands, and a total of 779 islands, islets, and skerries, they have the advantages of low population density and a naturally compartmentalised society:

            “The Faroese population is spread across most of the area; it was not until recent decades that significant urbanisation occurred. Industrialisation has been remarkably decentralised, and the area has therefore maintained quite a viable rural culture.”

            I think we can all see the contrast with Wuhan and New York.

        • Spencer Eagle

          Pb right behind you on this. The only number of any relevance is from the notified deaths. The other telling statistic is the nationally recorded death rate, it hasn’t fluctuate at all, meaning no more or less people are dying than is the norm, on average around 1600 people die of ‘something’ every single day in England alone. It’s worth remembering that deaths from flu and pneumonia haven’t suddenly disappeared to be replaced by covid-19. It would appear the figures used by MSM and politicians like Gove – eager to play it all up to justify the disastrous lockdown decision, are deaths that ‘may’ be from covid-19, the notifiable ones are the confirmed ones. One of the compounding factors is the testing, a significant proportion of the population will ordinarily show a coronavirus infection (it’s a widespread class of virus – the common cold is one), until the deceased is specifically tested for covid-19 it would appear assumptions are being made by those looking for higher figures through the arbitrary corona test. The lie is in the nomenclature.

          • Pb

            Spencer yes the Notified CASES are crucial in order to see the true and whole picture.

            A Health Professional has a Legal Obligation (a Statutory Duty) to report a Case of a Notifiable Disease.

            Covid-19 is a Notifiable Disease

            The Duty placed upon the Health Professionals is to Report a Suspicion of a Notifiable Case even if they have no confirmation from a Lab test;

            “Public Health England (PHE) aims to detect possible outbreaks of disease and epidemics as rapidly as possible. Accuracy of diagnosis is secondary”

            “Complete a notification form immediately on diagnosis of a suspected notifiable disease. Don’t wait for laboratory confirmation of a suspected infection or contamination before notification”

            There is, in the system, an intrinsic bias that makes the Notified Cases Artificially Higher rather than Lower than Actual Numbers.

            At this time of year (before the seasonal spike) you might expect 11,000 – 11,500 people in England & Wales to die each week (~1,600 per day) when the spike comes, as it does each year considerably more people die.

            https://ibb.co/55sk1vV

            At the moment the number of Confirmed Deaths is Exceeding the Notified Cases by Orders of Magnitude

            One of the problems with the ridiculously reported figures is that if a Notifiable Disease is known (by test result) or even Suspected that must go on the Death Certificate whether or not the virus was present or if it was it need not be a contributory factor to the Death for the Death to be recorded as a Covid-19 Death.

            Covid-19 only has to be “mentioned” on the Death Certificate https://ibb.co/CJ9myCt

            It is worth bearing in mind that the numbers of deaths per year also vary substantially, in the 1990’s there were 10’s of thousands of more deaths than there are now, they didn’t shut down society, they didn’t bomb the economy, nothing happened out of the ordinary, no one noticed.

            https://ibb.co/5MJ9g8B

          • Spencer Eagle

            Don’t mention the 22,000 deaths as a result of medical errors or the 49,000 deaths from hospital acquired infections in UK hospitals..

        • Watt

          I’m aware of a few people who point blank will refuse to believe that the death rate for this year remains lower than for last.

  • Tatyana

    I’m not trying to steal Spielberg’s laurels, I’m just sure the heading “Saving Private Ryan Tits” accurately reflects my emotional experience during this new quest.

    Earlier this year my doctor found the test unsatisfactory, so she arranged consultation of the oncology specialist for me. When the phone reminded me of the scheduled appointment and the Oncology Center confirmed it, I suddenly realized that the most difficult part of the task was TO GET THERE THROUGH THE QUARANTINNED CITY.

    i. My cousin had just called and complained that driving is forbidden in the city, the fines are high!
    ii. City transport is limited and they say one needs a special ‘Ausweis’ to go by tram.
    iii. I thought I could walk there by feet, but Google Maps say it is 2 hours walk one way. Also, some Adam Ramsey of the openDemocracy reported, the Russian police catch and fine people in the streets, the police in black uniforms with white batons, sinister, eh?
    This stupid virus paralyzed normal life and deprived me of my daily activity. I felt already sick of the lemonade I make from lemons that fate brings me. I got pretty angry.

    “Da f*ck”, – I thought. – “I don’t want to miss a cancer issue. Damn it, I got used to this pair of things already. It would be a pity to part with them.”
    Finally, I decided to go by car and let it be.

    “To fine me, they must stop me. And to stop me, they have to catch me.” – I thought to myself – “Catch me if you can. I am f*cking good in driving, many thanks to my instructor.” (Samson Alibekovich, if you read this by chance, thank you very much for your patience with female students!).

    “Not to forget about makeup, to look beautiful in a coffin, in case they shoot me down.” – I thought before going to bed.

    In the morning, my mission began.
    First cautious look out from the balcony… Bingo, there they are! 3 policemen together with a cameraman and a reporter
    https://www.instagram.com/p/B-jkBNQHGW1/

    I sneaked down the stairs, avoiding the elevator camera and crawled through the parking lot to the car. Having started the engine, I regretted that I’m not religious, since a prayer before departure would be appropriate.

    Frankly, I thought that maybe I could make a great video, put it on YouTube and ask for donations, as many bloggers did during the summer Moscow protests. A little money is always good, right? After some consideration, I decided that the proper backstage costs much more than the expected profit. E.g.
    https://www.dialog.ua/images/content/08b8d29dcfa0fcebf54d64632a5e48b6.png
    Where could I find so many friends with professional cameras and microphones to take good pictures of me lying on the pavement? Mind you, I have none who’s able to set a policemen ablaze!
    I realized that I could only rely upon myself alone.
    Like Olga Misik, famous underage girl, boldly confronting police.
    https://cs11.pikabu.ru/post_img/2019/08/05/10/1565026283160515799.jpg
    According to the video
    https://cv1.pikabu.ru/video/2019/08/05/1565026935290162697_640x352.webm
    she is chicken compared to me, ‘couse I know much more obscene words and I can shout “Harassment!” much louder.

    Finally, I hit the road ready to break through the police cordons … That’s how it was:
    https://www.instagram.com/p/B-jnSRrHmFq/

    Actually, I noticed several traffic police cars, no more than usual. Nobody cared to stop me. I reached the destination a little bit upset because my hopes for adventure and earnings have crashed into reality.
    Anyway, here is the song, I promised yesterday 🙂
    https://www.instagram.com/p/B-jpOsTn1kw/

    Bonus, on the way home
    https://www.instagram.com/p/B-jrrOfHe8a/

    * thanks to Angelina Jolie for breast cancer awareness!

    • Laguerre

      Very interesting. I enjoyed seeing the environment and what it’s like under lock-down.

        • michael norton

          Hi Tatyana, we in the United Kingdom are currently permitted to leave our homes, once a day, for a single form of exercise.
          Today I cycled from my house.
          Out for a couple of hours in pleasant sunshine, many, many more people out and about than normal, most people shun outside exercise.
          Yet, no they are out in droves.

          Incidentally, droves is an old word.
          It was the routes that animals were driven through the country to get to the cities.
          Very often there were several inn, close by, the drovers put their animals in the adjacent fields, then went in the inn for their food and drink.
          There were usually several inns together as the animals were driven in large numbers, as protection against robbers, one inn would not be able to cope on its own. I remember as a small child, they still used to drive the animals up through the town where I live, in to the cattle market.
          All gone now, of course.

          • Tatyana

            Hi Michael. Thanks for the sketches from your country, it is very interesting!
            The word ‘drove’ reminded me of the summer as a child in my grandmother’s village. They had cows and sheep, and every day a man from another house served as a shepherd for a common herd. My grandfather took me with him when it was his turn. A lot of thyme grew in the hills. This village (Vorobyevka) would be called ‘Sparrowhill’ in English, I think 🙂

            I wonder what’s next. The quarantine declared by our governor ends tomorrow. I’m sure they’ll prolongue it, I only hope it ends before the chestnuts start blossoming. It’s my favorite time of the spring, we have streets full of chestnut trees.

          • michael norton

            I passed an old Cherry Orchard, today, it used to have cherry trees that were 25 metres tall, nearly all fallen down now, other smaller cherry trees, self-seeded have grown up and were in wonderful flower, today.
            In the old days there would be hand made cherry ladders, these were very long ladders, needed two men to put them up the cherry tree but the climbers/harvesters were children. Very dangerous, sometimes the children would be maimed or killed, they were still doing this up till World War Two.

          • Tatyana

            I’ve never seen so very high cherry trees and I’m awfully upset to know they sent children there. It’s so f*cking terrible!

            Our local trees are low and berry-picking is usually children’s task. Hard-to-reach branches are just cut down and we collect berries from them on the ground.

            Do you have apricots in your place? We have a local semi-wild “gerdela”, small and spotty, everywhere. It falls her fruit under feet and makes a lot of dirt on the pavements. Also we have a lot of acacia, bees take first in the year honey, light and fragrant, from acacia flowers. Bushes are usually lilac and jasmine and in May, all the streets smell great.

          • Clark

            There are old drove roads near where I live (Chelmsford, Essex); two are called Coldhall Lane and Lawford Lane. They consist of a pair of parallel ditches each with a hedge, about ten metre apart, which was enough to keep the herds on track.

  • Pb

    210 CASES of Covid-19 have been reported as a Notifiable Disease, this has been confirmed by HMG’s figures published up to 29th March for England and Wales

    Covid-19 is a Notifiable Disease, it must be reported, Health Professionals have a Statutory duty to report their suspicion of the disease even if they do not have the laboratory test results confirming it. There are strict penalties if Health Professionals do not adhere to the legislation.

    On the 29th March the MSM were reporting 9,522 Cases of Covid-19, HMG 210

    Question: Where were HMG getting their figures from and where were the MSM getting theirs from?

    I know the answer to the first part, HMG get there figures from the UK Health Professionals through a well established notification system.

    Were the MSM lying, making it up, guessing,? I don’t know.

    • Pb

      “On the 29th March the MSM were reporting 9,522 Cases of Covid-19, HMG 210”

      Should read

      On the 29th March the MSM were reporting 19,522 Cases of Covid-19, HMG 210

      https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/notifiable-diseases-weekly-reports-for-2020

      https://www.gov.uk/guidance/notifiable-diseases-and-causative-organisms-how-to-report

      Total Number of Notified Cases of Covid-19 in England & Wales (none in Wales)

      Week 13 (w/e 29 March): 116
      Week 12 (w/e 22 March): 85
      Week 11 (w/e 15 March): 1
      Week 10 (w/e 8 March): 8
      Up to Week 9 (w/e 1 March): 0

      Total: 210

      • Spencer Eagle

        Pb right behind you on this. The only number of any relevance is from the notified deaths. The other telling statistic is the nationally recorded death rate, it hasn’t fluctuate at all, meaning no more or less people are dying than is the norm, on average around 1600 people die of ‘something’ every single day in England alone. It’s worth remember that deaths from flu and pneumonia haven’t suddenly disappeared to be replaced by covid-19. It would appear the figures the MSM and politicians like Gove – eager to play it all up to justify the disastrous lockdown decision, are deaths that ‘may’ be from covid-19, the notifiable ones are the confirmed ones. One of the compounding factors is the testing, a significant proportion of the population will ordinarily show a coronavirus infection (it’s a common class of virus), until the deceased is specifically tested for covid-19 it would appear assumptions are being made by those looking for higher figures through the arbitrary corona test.

  • Dr J L Bem

    Viruses mutating in waves. Sometimes last year waves of mutant inflected many places in the world.
    Puzzeling but not recognized coused firstly local epidemics. One was in Lombardy in October. In China coronavirus was finally identified thanks to they superior medical technology. Massive temperatures measurements, considering that 90% inflected do not have fever resulted in widening infections. Panic resulted in unnecessary hospital admissions where the medical professionals become significant source of infections. Closings of all towns in Italy resulted in total infection. Useless tests make situation worse. From then things get catastrophic.

    • SA

      It is not clear to me what you are trying to say. Could you repeat and explain, preferably with references?
      Thanks.

      • michael norton

        I guess the sense of Dr JL Bern, is that whatever the governments/local administrations/health officials do, seems to be worse than useless.

        I am of the view that Boris Johnson still clings to Herd Immunity as being the country’s only workable option.
        If it takes eighteen months to develop a drug, the prevent the ravages of covid-19, under the present regime, the U.K. would have to stay in Lock-Down for the best part of two years.
        How would that pan out?

        • SA

          Michael
          It has been my opinion, as you know from the other blog page, to which you contribute often, that the government has never abandoned the herd immunity concept, merely stopped talking about it and it has been underlined by all the policies including the preference for ventilators above PPE for frontline staff and widespread testing and prevention by proper quarantine of every case and contact tracing, measures that are obvious to deal with any epidemic. It is as if in this new brave world of Brexit the government wants a new start for the country with a strong stock of immune individuals able to repopulate the earth after the virus has blown over and in its ways having destroyed other countries that were foolish enough to take more severe measures. It is a Darwinian concept and I wonder whether it is a policy reflecting the thoughts of Boris’ advisors. Even yesterday this issue was raised again:
          https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/coronavirus-adviser-pm-wants-herd-21811857

          In some ways I can see the dilemma: doing the full measures would really mean a total lockdown with severe harm to industries and the economy and people’s jobs. But if you did it early, as they did in South Korea and in China, after the realisation of the nature of the epidemic, then you would have a better chance of success. But that train has left the station. When we had 300 cases, these strict measures could have been implemented with a higher chance of success and with less long term economic consequences, again as happened in China. China could mobilise huge industrial and human resources and a centralised government to do this. Our government felt that they cannot implement such measures, because it was ideologically not palatable to do so and interfere with people’s (at least outward) freedoms. But the delay in the west for ideological purposes has meant a sudden rise in cases. Note that this rise is much more common in these outwardly open societies, than in those supposedly repressive ones with more centralized governments.
          But now some people realise that even the government’s half hearted attempts at limiting movement is being flouted they wonder whether it is worth the economic cost because these half hearted measures are not working. Libertarians, left wing individuals and groups that suspect the government’s motives concentrate not on the inadequacy of the response, but on the motifs to curb freedoms. There are even certain individuals who wish to deny that this is a real crisis and the include agents provocateurs, conspiracy theorists as well as some well meaning individuals.

    • Jack

      I sense the death toll would be even higher in Italy if there was no lockdown. One could argue it was imposed too late.

  • Willie

    A most informative article Craig and much of it reinforces how far the current SNP leadership have moved from wanting independence. Cosy and comfortable and with the support of the establishment you can see how they are rotting the independence movement from within.

    Even when it comes to health and the current virus emergency it is not difficult to see how Nicola Sturgeon’s Government was in absolute lockstep with the Boris Johnson / Dominic Cummings ‘ let em die ‘ policy whereby the sacrifice of the elderly was a small price to pay to protect the economy and develop herd immunity.

    At one with the policy until it was realised that it would cause a tidal wave of potentially one million deaths in a very short space of time our country is now in chaos as we try to now throttle back on the virus’s spread. And despite being left without adequate supplies of masks, gowns and ventilators not a chirp of criticism from Gauleiter Sturgeon – not that a chirp at this late stage can undo the past.

    Her time to chirp was months ago but like Brexit, or indyref2, or any other approach to independence, we have been sold short by Westminster’s gal in Scotland.

    • grafter

      “A surgical mask, also known as a procedure mask, medical mask or simply as a face mask, is intended to be worn by health professionals during surgery and during nursing to catch the bacteria shed in liquid droplets and aerosols from the wearer’s mouth and nose. They are not designed to protect the wearer from inhaling airborne bacteria or virus particles”
      In other words they are useless when worn in public.

      • Watt

        Grafter, I’d like to use that quote about the useless masks. Do you have a citation, please? TIA

        • Clark

          The utility of a mask is that it acts as a tactile reminder and barrier to stop you touching your face with your hands.

  • michael norton

    Thirteen residents at a Glasgow care home have died in one week following a suspected outbreak of coronavirus.
    Staff at Burlington Court Care Home, Cranhill, said they were “closely monitoring” the health of other people in their care and
    that “strict protocols” were in place.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-52165397

    I know a woman end of life doctor and she is now at home with suspected covid-19

    All over Europe old peoples homes are absolutely rife with covid-19

    all brought in by care-givers.
    Some care-givers go home to home.
    Some are thought to be super-spreaders.

    Boris, where are the testing regimes, we have been told about?

    • grafter

      . The Corona virus covers a range of viruses including such afflictions as the common cold so if they mean COVID-19 then they should say so.

  • Glenn Crowther

    Very good post Craig.

    You can’t eradicate a virus, you can only treat the illness a virus causes by treating and relieving the symptoms, developing a vaccine for immunization purposes, or in the long run, hope a population develops “herd immunity”.

    This is how the world dealt with small pox, polio and several other viruses.

    I learned this from my specialist whilst bed ridden for two months with Ross River Virus and another tropical virus whose name I can’t pronounce let alone spell. Between them they reduced my immune count to 20 out of 220.

    Sweden seems to have the best approach to dealing with covid-19, quarantining and looking after the needs of those most at risk, self-isolation for mild cases, hospitalized isolation for severe cases and letting people get on with life with as little interference as possible.

    The jackboots and draconian legislation approach screams of governments either panicking or taking advantage of the crisis.

    I’ve read quite a bit of what several leading virologists have had to say on the subject. Of note being governments did not react in this way the 2009 influenza pandemic. “around 700 million to 1.4 billion people (out of a total of 6.8 billion) – contracted the illness. …. about 150,000 to 575,000 fatalities”.
    (Wikipedia so not that a reliable source in itself.)

    The other point a couple of virologist raised is that the probable source of covid-19 is more than likely large land clearances for large scale mono-cultural agribusiness as was the case with Ebola. Land clearances almost certainly led to the mosquitoes which carry Ross River Virus being forced to breed in the small vases of flowers people leave near the graves of loved ones in cemeteries, like the one I lived next to on the central NSW coast which I was told was the most likely way I contracted the virus.

      • Clark

        If “county coronar” were a county coroner, you’d think he’d be able to spell his own job title. We also seem to have fake doctors posting on this thread.

        But maybe English is not his first language, eh? Is it possible that we’re under disinformation attack by hostile foreign powers, attempting to maximise death rates in the English speaking world by encouraging people to disregard social distancing? Now that would be chilling.


        [ Mod: “county coronar” has used a variety of aliases, including “independence”, “mass medical event”, “global dominance”, “please watch”, “pavlov’s dog”, and “stromboli”. ]

    • Watt

      Watched it already. Goodbye free world. Tell your children about those days of freedom, i.e.once upon a time!

      • Clark

        Don’t panic! As soon as covid-19 is endemic, it’ll be “get back to work for bugger all pay, scum. And no, we’re not going to spend the tax we take off you on an adequate healthcare system because we’ve a very important war to fight somewhere where there’s oil”.

  • michael norton

    One law for the Elite and one law for the rest of us.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-52171694
    Scotland’s chief medical officer has apologised “unreservedly” for visiting her “second” home in Fife during the coronavirus lockdown.
    In a statement, Dr Catherine Calderwood said she would continue to focus on her job.
    She faced criticism after pictures of her family trip to Earlsferry were published in The Scottish Sun.
    Then we have

    Exercise outside the home could be banned if people ignore the lockdown rules on staying at home and social distancing, the health secretary said.
    Matt Hancock told the BBC’s Andrew Marr that the government would “take action” if further measures are needed to bring the coronavirus under control.
    It comes after reports of groups of people gathering in parks during sunny weather this weekend.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-52172035

    My take from this is plebs stay in your flats
    while us special people will visit our second homes, Know your place.

  • N_

    On Dominic Cummings, let’s connect some dots.

    1) Cummings thinks Britain is institutionally broken. He thinks he is the Man With Willpower who will fix it. He wants a massive restructuring organised from the top, run from his office.

    2) He is interested in Russia, where he lived doing “business” in 1994-97. According to some accounts he is obsessed with Russia – for example when he was director of strategy for Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith he could hardly stop going on about that country.

    3) Do you know what that combination of 1) and 2) makes me think? It makes me think that he feels that if he were in Gorbachev’s shoes he wouldn’t have been such a “loser” and he would have made perestroika (“restructuring”) a success. Glasnost (“openness”) appears in Cummings’s work too if you look carefully enough. I’ve thought this for a long time.

    4) There is another aspect of it now. Russia in the 1990s experienced an enormous demographic change: many of the elderly people were killed off. Betweeen 1990 and 1994, life expectancy for men fell from 64 to 58, and for women it fell from 74 to 71. On average, for a period of several years it decreased by ONE YEAR PER YEAR.

    5) Such a policy of killing the elderly is now in the process of being applied worldwide, using Covid-19. That Cummings wants to “let the old die” is an open secret. (Never mind that it is dressed up with the “scientific” concept of “herd immunity”. The word “herd” has an appropriate flavour of caste contempt which echoes Malthus and Spencer and gives Tories a frisson of delight but it can of course be passive-aggressively denied by those who saying they are “only applying science”).

    6) There was a BBC film about Dominic Cummings recently. Word is that pressure was exerted to ensure that certain material didn’t go into the final cut, especially regarding Cummings’s time in Russia.

    7) To recap: he was in Russia with the help of Thatcherite MI6 Oxford don Norman Stone, for three years, during which his only known business activity was running an “airline” that had only a single route, from Samara to Vienna. Indeed it didn’t only have a single ROUTE. It had only a single FLIGHT. One can speculate that this man Cummings, whose family owned “Europe’s roughest nightclub” in Durham in northeast England, only wanted to ferry the most law-abiding of citizens and the cleanest of all possible clean cargoes between Austria and Russia. One can also speculate to the contrary.

    8) What business activities were related to those of the airline, and what other business activities was Cummings involved in for those three years?

    9) Researchers reading this article may like to enquire as to whether Cummings was involved, either in Russia or anywhere else, but certainly including in Russia, in anything to do with hospitals, other clinical or residential institutions, pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, the medical and healthcare sector more generally, or chemicals. Why? Here’s why: because most people who are “bad” (to the extent of “kill the old”) in their 40s went bad much younger in life. Think about it!

  • N_

    The British government is threatening to ban people from going for walks and taking other physical exercise outside of the home. BBC: “Exercise outside the home could be banned if people ignore the lockdown rules on staying at home and social distancing, the health secretary [Matt Hancock] said.”

    And all because they care sooooo much about “public health”.

    If they try to stop me going for my daily walks in a rural area, they had better bring a f***ing big policeman.

    • Pb

      It seems to have avoided our leaders that going for walks and enjoying company is an essential feature of normal society.

      Those are not Rights they are Freedoms

      In 1939 millions decided it was better to offer their lives than give up their freedoms.

      Today many scoff at that sacrifice and willingly give up their freedom and advocate the stripping of freedoms form everyone else in the defence of something that has not proved to be real .

      No more people are dying than normal in the UK, the MSM say there are 10’s of thousands of Cases of Covid-19 reported whereas government figures say there are only 210 (as of 29th March) the MSM reported 19,522 cases up to 29th March.

      Anyone wanting to dispute these Facts please provide an explanation with evidence.

      • michael norton

        M.Hancock talks like a turkey.
        He can plead all he likes, they can’t lock up many curfew breakers, they are already letting criminals out of prison, to calm the spread of the killer-virus.
        He is like Cunt the Great
        without the great bit.

        • Pb

          Imagine what the people of the Faroe Islands are feeling right now with the 6th most infected population in the World (per size of population), and they have just cause to believe those figures because they have had the highest number of tests in the world (per size of population) (nearly everyone)

          Except no one has died of the disease, how can that be?

          • Pb

            I suppose they could fine the curfew breakers but they don’t have any money.

            Oh well best shame them, humiliate them, shout at them.

            They can’t disenfranchise them further, they can’t fine them, they can’t imprison them. I know …

            Alienate them, that should do the trick.

          • Jack

            Pb

            Because Faraoe is also the area which test far more than any other nation.
            That is why Faraoe a) easily find people with the virus and b) why they then could to this day have zero death because they have isolated the cases and given appropriate hospital care.

          • Pb

            It is the close knit feature of the community that meant the spread was more rapid

            But knowing precisely who has the disease and who has not means the number of cases can be recorded accurately unlike the UK but more importantly the deaths due Covid-19 as primary cause can be recorded accurately (none)

            In the UK we don’t know how many have died from Covid-19

            In the UK we don’t know how many have the disease.

            We don’t know how many died with the disease in the UK, it only has to be suspected for it to go on the death certificate

            You use the absence of testing in the UK to explain the case & death numbers and the rigorous testing regime in the Faroe Islands to explain the absence of deaths and incredibly high infection rate.

            Give it a rest

          • Jack

            Yes UK numbers arent fulfilling – just because the lack of tests – so you can imagine the numbers being higher than reported (check the link I posted on Spain on this earlier).

          • Pb

            You have no idea what you are talking about The Faroe Islands actual Infection Rate is nearly 6 times that of the UK’s imagined one.
            We don’t know what the Faroe Islands death rate is because no one has died, we don’t know what the UK’s death rate is because no one has measured it.

            You are scaring yourself silly with artificial numbers that have no basis in reality.

            Come back with actual measured figures and not imaginary ones if you want to argue the toss otherwise you have nothing of value to offer

            Faroe island population 49,290 (2017)

            UK population 66.44 million (2018)

            Number cases Faroe islands 181 (measured)

            Number of cases UK 41,903 (imaginary)

            Infection Rate Faroe Islands 0.37% (measured)

            Infection Rate UK 0.063% (imaginary)

          • Jack

            If you read what I said eariler, the more you test the more you cases you find.
            You make the argument that there are lower cases, lower death. Read the link I posted on Spain to realize the number is much higher, not lower, than we estimate right now.

      • Pb

        I don’t want to read your extrapolated artificial numbers, give me real, genuine, measured numbers from anywhere in the world to support you apocalyptic predictions.

        You haven’t done that. Tou can’t do that, there are none

        Why are you choosing the most doom laden unverified figures over actual real populations that have been 100% tested?

        Why do you argue that it will be so bad when you have zero evidence? Except from government advisors who said at the beginning of the week that 500,000 would die and then two days later 20,000 and two days after that 5,700. You are listening to and believing in nonsense. It is designed to scare you and take your freedoms, transfer wealth and impose a police state. It has worked.

        Do you remember the epidemic of 1993?

        No? There’s a reason for that there wasn’t one. It is the year of the highest number of registered deaths in England and Wales for 30 years, no one got hysterical, I could go for a pint, the economy was not bombed by the government and we were not put under house arrest, society wasn’t closed down. No one batted an eyelid.

        In the past 5 years there have been on average 40,000 FEWER deaths per year than at the beginning of the 90’s in England and Wales despite the population having grown over 10% from then to now.

        https://ibb.co/5MJ9g8B

        Now unless you have some real evidence to support your irrational fears then I advise you go and do some research and get some real numbers and you might find that you have overacted to government propaganda as you were meant to.

        • Jack

          Pb

          I use government numbers, no extrapolation here.
          This is what they said today for example:

          As of 9am on 5 April 2020, 195,524 people have been tested, of which 47,806 were confirmed positive.
          As of 5pm on 4 April 2020, of those hospitalised in the UK who tested positive for coronavirus, 4,934 have died.

          • Pb

            Yes Jack and on the 29th March the British government were saying there were 19,522 Cases of Covid-19

            Yet up to 29th March only 210 Cases had been Notified as Statute (Law) demands

            Where did the extra numbers come from?

            On the 29th March the British government said 1,228 deaths had been recorded as the patient dying with Covid-19

            How many of those people 1) Had the disease? 2) Died BECAUSE of it?

            You don’t know! You don’t know for the Spanish numbers and you don’t know for the Italian ones.

            Don’t you get it yet? – You Don’t Know!

            You do know large numbers of people die each day and at this time of year the figures, on average are set to rise by several hundred a day. That average figure is taken from previous years where Covid-19 was not present.

            Hundreds of extra deaths occur everyday at this time of year as a natural trend in annual death rates takes it toll.

            Covid-19 has not had an effect on those past rates

            And today the rates are still lower today than the average for the past 5 years.

            Today With Covid-19 the 2020 Death Rates are lower than they have been for the previous 5 years Averaged.

            Why do you want to cite Italy and Spain and Not the UK and Faroe Islands? Why do you want the worst artificial figures to be true and not the real figures?

          • Spencer Eagle

            Jack, the lie is in the nomenclature, ‘coronavirus’ covers a long list of viruses which have always been around in the population – the common cold is one. Notice how the media and politicians are very careful to say ‘tested for coronavirus’, they never refer to ‘covid-19’ which is the actual notifiable disease – it’s plausible deniability. If you had tested 195,524 people for ‘coronavirus’ in 2019 you would most probably have got 47,806 testing positive then too, it’s about the population ratio you would expect.

          • Jack

            Pb

            Please read what I cited above.

            “… 47,806 were confirmed positive.”
            and
            “…. who tested positive for coronavirus, 4,934 have died.”

            Note the words “confirmed” and “tested positive”. Nothing “artifical”.
            Further on perhaps someone else could perhaps help you. Perhaps you can contact gov, because I can not.
            Take care!

          • Pb

            Spencer the bigger lie is the figures that the government are putting out for Covid-19

            Health Professionals have to report Notifiable Diseases of which Covid-19 is one, that is the Law they can be struck off and attract other penalties if they do not.

            210 Cases of Covid-19 had been reported to government up to and including 29th March

            The Government announced on the 29th march that there had been 19,522 Cases reported.

            Not by the Heath Professionals they hadn’t, where did those figures come?

            The numbers reported to government are true

            The numbers reported by government are a lie

            Why would a government want to do that?

          • Jack

            Spencer Eagle

            They do make difference not to mention there is a differnce between seasonal flu and covid19. Seasonal flu is treatable with vaccine.

          • Pb

            Jack you have seen the proof that the government figures are lies, why do you continue to put faith in them?

            The number of people that have died with Covid-19 is not known because for it to go on the Death Certificate only a suspicion of the virus is needed not a positive lab test.

            “As of 5pm on 4 April 2020, of those hospitalised in the UK who tested positive for coronavirus, 4,934 have died.”

            Actually the figure today on worldometers is 4,932 but no matter. That figure is not for people that tested positive, that is a lie, many deaths have been mentioned on the death certificates that were not tested, it was only suspected.

            4,932 is presumably for how many mentions there has been for Covid-19 on death certificates,.

            How many was the virus a contributory cause? A suspicion rather than a test? The primary Cause? An Asymptomatic feature that had zero influence in the death?

            You don’t know! So go to the average death rates for this time of years and see what influence a novel cause of death is having on the death rates as of today.

            And if you do that you will see that Covid-19, as of today, is having zero impact on the overall death rates, in fact the rates remain lower than average.

            But thank you, you take care also.

    • Marmite

      Not enough that Tory scum blame others for the bad press they are getting from the death tolls. Now we have the good little Aryans of the Henry Jackson Society pointing the finger at China and say it is responsible for what is happening in Britain right now. Just when you thought that Britain under the Conservatives could not become any more outrageously racist.

      • N_

        Who at the HJS is blaming China and what are they saying?

        In the future this may become a textbook case for trainees and experienced officers who are studying geopolitics, strategy, international relations, global economics, warfare, intelligence, and propaganda.

        Meanwhile British general Richard Shirreff, formerly NATO’s deputy supreme allied commander in Europe (DSACEUR) got such publicity for his scribbling about the Baltic states and Russia. I doubt he’ll be asked to come and lecture on the training courses. North Atlan-what? Eur-what?

        (Note: that “defensive” line they were talking about constructing along the eastern edge of the Baltic states, cutting off Kaliningrad – how did that go? LOL)

        Reported deaths per population, US/China: latest figure is 10.8.

        • N_

          What will probably happen is this:

          1) a government of national unity (or “national emergency” as the Daily Express is calling it) will be formed;

          2) that government will then claim that the spread of Covid-19 resulted in large part from deliberate behaviour by a foreign government (also known as war).

          At that point, as well as being antisocial elements and endangerers of public health, those of us who go for walks will become something akin to enemy saboteurs.

          • N_

            Those who are sceptical of this prediction should ask why “Privy Council terms” are even being mentioned with regard to discussions between the government and “opposition” leaders. Yes, they often have private meetings, and those meetings are usually on “Privy Council terms”, but what’s the big secret where Covid-19 is involved?

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