Editors Comment

The pandemic is one thing, but the rules are creating enormous frustration and very real poverty! Are they justified?

Our take is this - Make the "rules" guidance or warnings at worst - ie: NO FINES. The fines are draconian and especially sickening for hard hit businesses. It is also creating a new tribe of socially divisive jackbooted jobsworths. This is a truly dysfunctional approach to social cohesion.

As Julia Hartley-Brewer here says (update - this video was BANNED - which is ridiculous - we are trying to locate it on a free-speech site - if you can help, pls advise), we are adults. We can govern and mitigate our own risk ourselves. However, some of what Julia said needs a little reigning in... It is certainly a lot worse than 'flu and is regularly killing people between 50 & 60 and even occasionally healthy people under 50's (we know of a cases). It's sad to see otherwise intelligent people saying it is roughly no worse than 'flu but failing to realize they are comparing a controlled outbreak against 'flu which is currently uncontrolled. It is crystal clear from the stats that it is way more contagious and, before measures were imposed, it's spread was unmistakably exponential (doubling at the rate of once a week in affected areas, sometimes dramatically more -- see the graph here from a site that is neutral showing some growths at a rate of over 10x that).

But regardless, it has certainly been exploited for the benefit of bureaucrats, ESPECIALLY in the USA during the election (where Biden's voters were told to use mail-in .. as that's easier to rig? That's for you to decide) and we feel a balanced approach is not being struck.

The Tyranny of Tinpot dictators Everywhere in the West, "scary things" (eg: global warming, disease, pollution, cars, drink, safety, etc) are being used to line the pockets of departments and bureaus, but also scientists, intellectuals and statisticians. These otherwise noble careerists mutate into tyrants with their every word costing others dearly and weakening the West causing another major concern - is saving lives now at the expense of being able to feed ourselves and properly fund our defense and health systems? Could that mean a net "gain" of lives lost in future? Indeed, coming back to the socially divisive jackbooted jobsworths, the strutting penguins (mostly politicians) in charge never seem to take into account the social impact of fines - especially on our youth. It doesn't teach discipline, it teaches rebellion and disrespect for authority, especially in this day and age when appeals processes are routinely abused, flouted, consist of faceless non-functioning websites, or the "victim" will often be threatened out of appealing (eg: you will be "warned" that if you lose your appeal, your fine will be tripled, plus you have to pay ALL legal expenses, plus, if you don't pay, you will eventually have a visit from the bailiff, and ultimately lose your job, house and go to jail). Worse, it is common to find that the departments who write out the fines directly benefit from the proceeds. If we want our youth to act with social responsibly, this "conflict of interest" and uncaring greed is an appalling example to set them.

And finally there is the psychological impact -- how many people have been fined into a state of passive resistance and simply decided not to proactively engage with society? A society with less tinpot dictators, otherwise known as "inspectors" (from meter maids to building inspectors with a few speed traps thrown in), with their "you will do as you you are told!" smirking smugness, is certainly a society we want to see. See examples #1 & #2 - also linked below.

Where's the Plan to ease recession?

Economic Armageddon

On this occasion, this pundit, linked here -- KarlthePoet on  13 Dec 2020 has said it so well, we have copied his comment here..

Massive economic collapse is imminent for the US and Europe. When businesses are prevented from operating at normal capacities, it's only a matter of time until it trickles throughout the entire economy. Vacant storefronts will soon lead to millions of foreclosures, which will make property values all over the US fall dramatically. A stock market crash and a bond market crash will follow, leading to a derivatives market implosion. The world is in for a rude awakening. However, Bill Gates will be fine. Happy Holidays

Misinformation

We lament the misinformation -- From killing people to spite Trump (by denigrating the drug hydroxychloroquine as dangerous, which as most travelers will tell you has been in regular use quite safely, just because Trump suggested it), to nonsense about social distancing (ignoring concentrations, wind direction, the efficacy of masks) and exaggerated claims of it living on surfaces for up to 2 weeks, then allowing the public to be ignorant of the very long life it can have on frozen goods .... we live in a very befuddled blur of conflicting and seemingly stupid advice that makes one wonder what universities do to churn out such incompetence.

Great Barrington Declaration

Finally, it is worth noting that some 40,000 doctors have signed a declaration here that can be summarized as follows... "we have grave concerns about the damaging physical and mental health impacts of the prevailing COVID-19 policies, and recommend an approach we call Focused Protection".