First thoughts today
Listening to Radio 4 Today Programme, as I write. An elderly lady was called by her GP and more or less forced to agree to forgo treatment if she became unwell by reason of bloody Coronavirus! So much for the NHS! All the rabbits “clapping for the NHS” are zombies as far as I am concerned. Yes, the NHS is a very good idea, yes many of the staff —not all— are also very good, but the NHS is not only underfunded but maladministered, and seems to have the corporate attitude “like it or lump it”.
We (i.e. as a society) have had to accept (though many prefer their illusions) that the NHS is actually not better than the health services available to people in most other European countries…Indeed, it is often nowhere near as good.
What is happening in the UK is that all of our cherished illusions about our own society are being tested to destruction. Bluntly, the NHS is letting people suffering from anything other than Coronavirus die, while prioritizing (some of…) those suffering from the virus, which people however cannot actually be cured or even treated (except by administration of oxygen or air).
Other institutions in the UK have also been found wanting. The police, in particular. We have had Derbyshire police using drones, spying on elderly fell walkers and then “shaming” them on Twitter. We have had the police of various forces, including Devon and Cornwall, setting up road blocks to snoop on whether the journeys of motorists are “necessary”. We have even had one particular “muppet”, the Chief Constable of Northamptonshire, saying that his “officers” (police woodentops) may start to rummage through the shopping trolleys of people leaving supermarkets to “check” whether this or that item bought is “essential”! This is not only the behaviour of a police state, but of one that has lost its mind! A Toytown police state and a poundland KGB.
Here’s another police “muppet”:
“In the South West, Chief Superintendent Ian Drummond-Smith, police commander for Cornwall, warned non-residents to stay away from the area.
He said: ‘Our officers will be patrolling this weekend, firstly on the M5 and A30 in an attempt to prevent visitors from entering the force area, and then locally to enforce the restrictions.
‘We will do so in a fair and balanced manner, but travelling down to the West Country is a serious breach of these restrictions and those doing so can expect to receive a fine.‘”
[Daily Mail]
So how long before we need “internal passports”, in the manner of the Soviet Union?
The police are now making up the law, making up their own powers, as they go along. Lord Sumption, former Supreme Court justice, has now remarked about this unlawful arrogation of power by the police.
I was talking a few days ago to a lady of my acquaintance, aged about 90. She likes to drive her little car to a coastal car park, usually (on weekdays) containing about 3 cars, elderly couples sitting in them and gazing at the view, or strolling on the grassy clifftop. Well, now the local council has taped off that car park, and the police have put some kind of stupid “Stay at home, Protect the NHS” bs notice there. Does that in any way stop the spread or supposed spread of the virus? No. So why do it? Petty jobsworth zombie behaviour.
Other long-cherished British illusions have also been cruelly exposed as illusory or exagerrated. One is that the UK is “a society under law”. Courts are either closed or operating as “virtual” courts, in which the justice available is also often “virtual”, meaning more apparent than real. Some district judges (paid magistrates) have been behaving like poundland Judge Jeffreys clones.
Government too. It seems like they too are making it up as they go along. Floundering idiots posing as “statesmen”
There’s a massive scare campaign going on. I myself thought, at first, that Coronavirus was a huge threat to Europe and the world. I have been on a journey (one which most, it seems, have yet to make). I now have a very different view.
Let us look at the deaths from Coronavirus in the UK: so far, about 8,000. That is out of about 70 million inhabitants. In other words, about one person out of every nine thousand, so far.
Coronavirus does not affect all people equally, despite what the government is saying in what amounts to a propaganda campaign. In the 1980s, when AIDS first emerged, the System claimed that it, too, was a threat to “everyone”, when in fact HIV/AIDS was almost entirely confined to a few groups: gays engaging in anal sex, sub-Saharan Africans, persons given contaminated blood, to a lesser extent other blacks and browns. It was thought impolitic to speak the truth, that heterosexual European (white) people, especially persons of Northern European race/ethnicity, were almost certainly not going to get HIV/AIDS no matter what they did in bed or elsewhere (so long as they avoided the groups already mentioned).
At this time of year, in the UK, about 10,000-11,000 people die every week as a norm. Coronavirus has increased that by about 500. In other words the increase, i.e. increase on the norm for this month’s average over the past 5 years, has been —is— about 5%.
The Today Programme had some “expert” on, talking about the “risk” to certain age groups. However, that was the risk of being infected, not the risk of serious illness, let alone death. Most people infected with Coronavirus are unaware of being infected with anything, or have mild symptoms commonly also suffered via other conditions, or have distinct symptoms but recover after a week or two without any medical intervention at all.
At present the risk of being killed in the UK by (or with…) Coronavirus is about 1 in 9,000. For anyone under 70, bar a relative few with particular and serious pre-existing health conditions, the real risk is nearer to 1 in 40,000, if that. For those under 40, the risk of death is vanishingly small. For anyone under 20, we are talking about one chance in a million, or several million. Lightning-strike territory.
Incidentally, the Radio 4 Today Programme bimbo who did its superficial little piece about Oberammergau this morning made a few schoolgirl errors:
- While the “Black Death” was a form of Plague, and basically bubonic plague [ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Death], it was current in the mid-14th Century, peaking around 1347-1351;
- the bubonic plague did recur in Europe and elsewhere [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Death#Recurrences] but
- the Oberammergau Passion Play dates from an outbreak of plague in Bavaria in 1634 and was not, as such, the “Black Death”. Also,
- contrary to what the Today Programme bimbo said (and so thinks), 1634 was not in the “mediaeval” period!
- The international Jew lobby forced the people of Oberammergau (I think around 1990) to take out from the Passion Play the bit of the Gospel text where the Jews choose the robber zealot Barabbas to be granted clemency (instead of Jesus Christ), they then crying out to Pontius Pilate, “let His Blood be on us and upon our children!”
[above: Adolf Hitler says hello to a couple of local young children at Oberammergau, in 1934]
“Lockdown”?
Look at this graph:
As can be seen, the UK will be one of the hardest-hit economies, down by about 27%. Interestingly, Germany is forecast to do even worse. Our time is coming. We’re back!
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2tpj3g
In fact, even the medical or public health questions are not straightforward:
https://twitter.com/Defende98350464/status/1248512886596677632?s=20
No doubt the rabbits and zombies will keep on “clapping for the NHS” as it falls to pieces. Anyone not clapping will be noted and subjected to online “shaming”…
Paranoid? Maybe, but who would have predicted that, in 2020, UK police would be intimidating citizens walking in their own gardens, or in local parks, or stopping people taking a harmless drive or motorbike ride on an early Summer day? Who would have predicted the the police would use loudhailers and/or drones to bully sunbathing girls in parks or on empty beaches, old ladies resting on park benches, middleaged couples walking on deserted moors? Who would have predicted that police would threaten to check people’s shopping to snoop on whether, in the opinion of the police “officer”, the items just bought are “essential”?
It is natural, though mistaken, to assume that those “working in the NHS” know better than, say, me about Coronavirus etc. Mistaken because, though not a medic, health specialist or scientist, I have recently at least read things written or said by leading (real) experts in virology, epidemiology etc, which most people, inc. most NHS people, have not. About 2 million UK residents work “in the NHS”. Everything from lawyers and accountants to cleaners and porters, as well as, obviously, doctors and nurses.
Most of those people, though mostly no doubt competent in their own work, know as little –or less– about “Coronavirus” than I do. The few who have a better claim are the tiny handful who are virologists, epidemiologists and genuine experts in allied fields.
I am not going to be shouted down, either by “me-too” conformists, whether they be the usual Twitter mob or others, or by “people who work in the NHS” (unless, as aforesaid, genuine experts— and who in any case hold differing opinions inter se).
Britain in the political near future
I do not have the means to start a new political-social movement, in fact I have fewer means than almost anyone in the UK in financial terms, but it must be done, and soon. Before very long, by the coming winter, the time will be right, the situation ripe. It will spread like a wildfire once started.
Peter Hitchens is ahead of the curve here. He sees that [what we think of as] “normal” is over, probably permanently. Europe (not just the EU) is heading for a massive depression. In 1945 the USA was able to regenerate Europe in economic terms, using the Marshall Plan, but now the USA may well hit the economic buffers as hard as Europe and so be unable to help (and probably unwilling, to boot).
By the way, many people think that the reason that Germany (West Germany) pulled ahead of the UK after WW2, at least after about 1956, is because Germany had Marshall Plan money and the UK did not. This is, in fact, yet another myth of the period. A very convenient myth for many in the UK.
In fact, the UK not only did have Marshall Plan aid but had more of it than Germany. The greatly undervalued historian Corelli Barnett examined that, inter alia, in his works:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Correlli_Barnett
Barnett has made the point that Britain post-1945 had a choice:
- To maintain its Empire; or
- To regenerate its industry and economy generally; or
- To create a Welfare State.
Barnett’s view is that the UK had the possibility to do one or perhaps two of those things immediately, but not all three. Britain tried to do all three things simultaneously…
One might cavil that a welfare state could only be maintained by a functioning economy anyway. True, but what is a “functioning” economy ? What is a “welfare state”, indeed? Present-day Cuba has at least the bare bones of a welfare state despite being economically a “basket case”. Wriggle room exists. There are questions of definition.
A few more tweets seen:
Public attitudes and government decisions can be simply mad, deluded…
Yes, I am talking about the Coronavirus situation (“crisis”, “scare”, “scam”, “emergency”…you choose).
However, this has happened at various times in human history and not only in relation to “pandemics”. Take the First World War. It is common knowledge (and so probably wrong) to say that WW1 started because, once one empire started to mobilize, the others had to follow suit or be rolled over. Trite. There are elements of truth in that view, to be sure, but when we ask why the war both started and then continued for over 4 years, the answers are absent.
If you read the books of the period, such as the John Buchan stories, Greenmantle etc, you see that there was a panic, an absence of reflection, as well as a moral certainty that the British (or, in their countries, Germans, or Russians) had the moral high ground.
In fact, the First World War need not ever have happened, had people really thought.
Now look at the Coronavirus situation, eg in the UK. No-one knows much about the virus, though scientists are learning now. We know that it is transmitted in water droplets, eg if someone sneezes or even breathes. It is not transmitted in air, as such, so people sunbathing in parks or walking in the Peak District are not going to get it that way, or give it to anyone. Likewise, no-one can transmit the virus by driving around alone or riding a motorcycle. Has that knowledge changed government advice or police actions? Not a jot.
On the other hand, it is known that the UK “lockdown” (same elsewhere) is going to depress the economy and all but kill it for years, decades. Does that change the mind of this government? Not a jot…
Greggs
Here is an example of the madness now abroad:
https://twitter.com/philipproudfoot/status/1248559581275590657?s=20
https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/greggs-gets-150m-keep-afloat-18071223
So…what has happened is that the well-known bakery shop chain has been given the right to draw on £150 million of public funds over a year. Despite it being merely a retail outlet. Despite it having closed all 2,050 of its shops.
Almost all the 24,900 staff have been placed on “furlough”, meaning that the government (and taxpayers) will be paying 80% of their pre-furlough pay; Greggs is allowed to pay the other 20% of their previous pay level but in most cases will not be doing so.
What about the head of the organization, oneRoger Whiteside? Oh, he’s OK, because he is of course not being “furloughed”… and has decided to take 80% of his usual pay of £1,503,440, i.e. £1,202,752! Coronavirus Britain, 2020…
https://gb.wallmine.com/lse/grg/officer/1704952/roger-whiteside
Is this a good use of £150M of central funding? I think not.
Stanley Johnson
Seems that the public have seen through that nasty little con-man, Stanley Johnson, father of Boris-idiot:
https://twitter.com/search?q=%22Stanley%20Johnson%22&src=trend_click
Stanley Johnson tried to get elected as MP, for the second time, in a new constituency, Teignbridge (Devon), in 2005, but failed (he came in a poor second). Voters described his appearance at a hustings with “Boris” as “a couple of public entertainers”, and unimpressive.
Talking of “unimpressive”, news now of that horrible little pissant, Robert Jenrick:
Carrie Symonds
I suppose that the person most pleased that Boris-idiot is recovering is his fiancee. I am sure that her main concern was and is personal, but it must have occurred to her that, should Boris die (from any cause), she would be left dependent on her own resources, though I believe that her father is wealthy anyway.
In fact, Ms. Symond’s situation is a cautionary tale for other young women who, pregnant or not, are not married to what was once termed their “significant other”. Indeed, “Boris” is still, as I write, married to Marina Wheeler (his second wife), I believe, though divorce proceedings were instituted some time ago.
Had Boris Johnson died from Coronavirus his week, Ms. Symonds would have been entitled to not a penny of his estate, unless Boris has made a will in her favour, or a codicil to an existing valid will. In fact, Ms. Symonds would not even be allowed to stay at Downing Street and would be removed fairly swiftly.
I note the above not because I feel sorry for Ms. Symonds, who has wealthy connections and at least some monies of her own, but to caution others who are in similar non-marital relations (perhaps quasi-marital, so be it) and who are poorer than this lady.
When I was at the Bar, though I did almost no directly family law-related work (and in fact never even studied Family Law at university or Bar school), I did encounter the occasional similar story. I even met one lady, aged 40, who had been in a relationship for 20 years, had two or three children and lived with her quasi-husband in a house bought many years before via a mortgage. A married life in all but name (they did marry a few years later) but, had the husband died before the actual marriage, there would have been some headaches, especially financial, for the lady in question.
Priti Patel
“Downing Street is under growing pressure to explain the continued absence of Priti Patel from the government’s daily coronavirus press conferences.” [Daily Mail]
It is quite obvious why her colleagues do not want Priti Patel there. She is as thick as two short planks and, unlike some others (eg Iain Dunce Duncan Smith), unable to conceal the fact.
Police “muppets”, version 2, 3, 4, whatever…
Now Cambridgeshire Police have had to “clarify” why one of their officers “checked” supermarket aisles to see whether the slaves of finance-capitalism, oh, sorry, no wait….the citizens of the UK’s “free country” had been buying “non-essential” items (which, btw, is not unlawful anyway., not even in the new Coronavirus Police State…). The woodentop even tweeted about it! Dumb police woodentop klaxon…
My thoughts about this latest unpleasant absurdity from our uniformed zookeepers…I mean the police:
- Why is a policeman wasting his time on duty “checking” anything lawful on private shop premises?
- Why is that police narcissist tweeting about his activities?
- Does the woodentop actually know any of the law(s) that he is supposed to be enforcing?
- Does the woodentop in question know that he cannot simply make up laws and his own (in this case, non-existent) powers as a police constable?
- Why does Cambridgeshire Police employ someone as a constable (I presume constable…God, could he be a sergeant?!) who a. seems devoid of common sense and b. seems to be power-mad?
Cambridgeshire Police say that the “officer” was “over-exuberant” and “has been spoken to”. Really?…So why are you, you police “muppets”, even employing an “over-exuberant” idiot who also seems to have no idea of a. the law, b. the limits of the law, c. the limits of his own powers as a police employee? Has the “muppet” recently come back from a taxpayer-funded “Common Purpose” course where he was told to “lead beyond authority“?
“Common Purpose is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1989 that develops leaders who can cross boundaries. This enables them to solve complex problems both in organizations and in cities.”
https://commonpurpose.org/about-us/common-purpose/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Purpose_UK
I think that a few things will need to happen down the line. First thing? Find a suitable wall…(make that “walls”…there are 85,000 Common Purpose “alumni” worldwide, many of them in the UK).
More tweets seen
https://twitter.com/KTHopkins/status/1248515706221723649?s=20
https://twitter.com/richmchambers/status/1248585421409443840?s=20
https://twitter.com/MattBirdLabour/status/1248542596550610944?s=20
…and look at this ridiculous police bimbo! [from South Yorkshire Police] [link to video to see said policewoman]
Not only does this (more or less) female police “muppet” from South Yorkshire Police argue with and try to bully people standing in their own garden (!) but approaches them, shouting in their faces, behaviour which really might spread Coronavirus…and yet the idiotic policewoman tries to lecture the householders (incorrectly, at that!) about the virus! One of the householders is standing inside the doorway of his own house!
and this
Watch that too [above]. Stunning. Toytown police, this time from Wales. Three police “muppets” harassing a man out walking his dog in a deserted park. The policewoman (who is leading this farce) tries to claim that the man (fully clothed) is “sunbathing” (which he is not, and that that is illegal (it is not).
https://twitter.com/Yokeronian/status/1248550686868090880?s=20
Anyone for a conspiracy theory?
It occurs to me (usually after a beer) that this Coronavirus thing is being used as an experiment to see how far the public will wear being told to stay in their little boxes and spin…
Another conspiracy theory
The Chinese government started the Coronavirus pandemic in order that the West would shut down its economy. After shutting down one province for a while, China then re-emerges, to take over much of the crippled world.
I suppose that the flaw in the above theory is that, without Western nations to which to export, China’s own economy will fall flat… In other words, China would be cutting its own throat.
Twisting the theory again though, one recalls that someone (Pat Nixon?) asked Chou-en-Lai what he thought of the French Revolution. Answer: “it is too early to say“. Could Pat Nixon really have asked such a question? The point, though, is that, of all peoples in the world, the Chinese take the long view.
As with most conspiracy theories, one ends up in a wilderness of mirrors…
Q&A session, Daily Telegraph:
“Fly fishing is a solitary pastime. Am I allowed to partake of this as part of my exercise regime? I have to drive half an hour to get to the river but once there, I will not see any other people.”
Daily Telegraph: “No. It is not exercise and you have to drive to get there. The Government has been clear that it does not want people to drive anywhere to spend time outdoors.”
Is there no-one in government, police, or the msm with the nous and courage to stand up and say “THIS IS BULLSHIT! DRIVING SOMEWHERE DOES NOT SPREAD ANY VIRUS. FISHING ALONE DOES NOT SPREAD ANY VIRUS! SUNBATHING ON UNCROWDED LAWNS OR BEACHES DOES NOT SPREAD ANY VIRUS!”? Apparently not. We are no more free now than Soviet citizens were, it seems, and there is no “free Press” or radio or TV worth a plugged nickel. Temporary, of course. Or is it?
As for the police, I do not know what is more irritating, the fact that some police are exposing themselves as petty and power-mad bullies, or the fact that Britain’s police (including their commanders or top brass) seem so utterly stupid and devoid of commonsense.
Latest government bs
They are talking about extending the “lockdown” bs for another three weeks! Maybe even longer! I hope that the zombies and rabbits, all clapping etc, think to blame themselves and also this government of incompetents, when they emerge blinking into the sunlight in May, June or July, for the fact that they have lost their jobs and maybe homes because of the unproven “lockdown” policy. I was not completely against it for a brief period, a week or two, but it is now going to destroy the UK economy, society and any remaining civil rights.
Music, to soothe the savage breast…
“A police officer uses a megaphone at Southwark Park, to announce sunbathing is not allowed, but exercise is” [Daily Mail].
Ian Robert Millard 