Dear All
That Friday feeling, when you have finished
tidying up the hoose, contemplate the meaning of life and decide whether to do
some dishes, or wait till you finish blogging and nip out to the shops. I think
I will wait till after I come back from the shops because there are some other
bits and bobs I want to crack on with.
Coronavirus is it real?
Well, given the death tolls runs into thousands
in most countries, yes, it’s real, the painful fact is even in Scotland as
elsewhere, we have seen a death toll which is unacceptable. Admittedly our
death toll got a massive push by SNP incompetence. I found a comment by Jeane
Freeman who bizarrely said that ‘there were things she didn’t know at the start
of the virus’, seems more to be about PR management than actual realisation. I find her
epiphany to be nonsense; because very
quickly, I knew and so did everyone else, two key things as the virus raged
across Wuhan:
1/ It kills
2/ It’s contagious and spreads
Given, one and two above, you have to ask
what other pieces of information you need for her to act as Health Sec. Having
failed badly in her job, Freeman is retiring; probably due to the fact her
incompetence would impact the SNP election chances in 2021. Can you imagine the
slogans, ‘Freeman killed your granny’, not exactly the marketing Nicola
Sturgeon wants to hear in the election cycle. As Freeman slips off the SNP rat
ship hoping to enjoy her pensions and leisure time in the short time she has
left, we should remember she has escaped justice. Justice has been denied to
the elderly who died in care homes because under her watch, Freeman wasn’t
looking out for them.
If there is any justice in the world,
Freeman should live with the guilt of what she done until she dies. I really
hope she experiences the same kind of contempt via the medical profession
dished out to the infected elderly. At present however, Freeman can’t run off
to soak in the Sun as she runs the clock down on her career. Ironically as she
leaves, despite what has happened, opposition politicians will wish her well in
her retirement. But not any of the relatives whose elderly patients who died in
care homes, they won’t be joining in the happy retirement narrative.
If you wonder why the public hopes
politicians in contempt, you are reading it here.
Coronavirus is serious, but despite that a Lanarkshire
councillor has been accused of organising two anti-lockdown protests. As I kept
saying anyone can be a politician, but some people stick out more than other.
When they do stick out, usually it is either stupidity or greed which sinks
their boat. North Lanarkshire councillor Paddy Hogg has been arrested and
charged. At times like this, this isn’t a time for ‘Flat Earthers’ which is
what Hogg appears to be. Coronavirus kills, the smart thing to do it limit
contact between people. Why Hogg thought a large-scale demonstration in
Holyrood Park last weekend helps is beyond me. What logic is there in this
gathering, especially when you have read that there have been outbreaks in
schools as kids have been sent back? What Paddy Hogg has done was to organise an
‘infection party’; then once the party breaks up, these people have the
opportunity to go infect others. We are all familiar with the saying ‘with age
brings wisdom’, another less talked about issue is that with age also can bring
stupidity.
To be clear, although Hogg is an independent Cllr, he previously was SNP.
A spokeswoman for Police Scotland said
about the gatherings:
“The first was held during the afternoon of
Saturday, September 5, and the second on Thursday, September 10, outside the
Scottish Parliament and in the surrounding areas. A 60-year-old man has now
been charged in connection with both gatherings, which were held in opposition
to the Covid-19 restrictions, and a report will be submitted to the Procurator
Fiscal.”
Superintendent David Robertson of Edinburgh
Division said:
“Officers attended both of these gatherings
to help ensure the safety of the public and to remind those attending to adhere
to the current guidelines. We engaged with a number of people and encouraged
them to comply with the law. As we have routinely said, enforcement will
be a last resort but we will use the powers at our disposal where required to
do so. We are asking people to take personal responsibility and remember that
the purpose of these measures is to aid the collective effort to stay safe,
protect others and save lives by preventing the virus from spreading."
Freeman is part of the SNP cult, Hogg sits
as an independent cllr, but I wanted to link these two crackpots together
because this is what passes for ‘leaders’ in this country. As we have seen over
the last 21 years since the opening of the failed Holyrood Parliament
experiment, political leadership in this country is a sick joke. The sickness like
the coronavirus has evolved into a strain now called ‘woke’.
Politics has gone from being about logic to
being about emotion, and how we have all suffered because of it. If Cllr Hogg
is guilty, he should be punished, but what about Freeman, who punishes her? Did
you hear any opposition politicians float the idea of corporate manslaughter charges
for what happened in care homes? You might have read this idea on twitter but
not from politicians, because Holyrood is run as a ‘club’, in the club,
everyone has a position which they benefit from, so no one is rocking the boat.
Scotland has produced many political
giants, but not now, and it shows.
Yours sincerely
George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow
University
5 comments:
Devolution has not worked for Scotland
Spot on George~~~once again the inhabitants of Holyrood have failed Scotland.
Al of them.
Mr Working Class Laird. Why dont we host a chat together and I will prove to you that the 7 states who did not close down and Sweden had a slightly LOWER death rate from Covonavirus than all the USA states who did lockdown. Use these 7 states and SWEDEN as your control and you have a science data analysis that tells any person with a functioning brain cell that lockdowns have NO bearing on covid deaths. I am NOT a covid denier. Nor a flat earther. My sister almost died of the damned virus. And a dear friend did. Are you unaware of the Great barrington Declaration? 53k scientists and medics AGAINST lockdown signed this declaration. Are they crackpots? Im happy to debate via skype with you anytime on the science which I have checked in forensic detail. Let's talk about the veracity of Vitamin D in assisting people PREVENT covid. Let's talk on the veracity of PCR testing and see what you really know. I read Dr Kary Mullis's autobiography. He invented the PCR test. Cmon Mr Laird let's hear you and I talk about this and see who knows their subject matter. Email me on patrickscotthogg@hotmail. This is an OPEN CHALLENGE Paddy S Hogg
Mr. Hogg, I note your remarks from The Great Barrington Declaration and also the way you have interpreted it with your "functioning brain", and note that it contains (amongst other things):
"We know that vulnerability to death from COVID-19 is more than a thousand-fold higher in the old and infirm than the young. Indeed, for children, COVID-19 is less dangerous than many other harms, including influenza."
Lockdown helps prevent the spread of this virus to the elderly and the infirm, indeed when lockdowns have been eased (three times as of this writing) by date rather than data, mortality rates have increased. This isn't in doubt. In fact, the lockdown protections have actually reduced in the incidence of influenza to ZERO in the UK. (Not one single case has been detected this year although it will return, I have no doubt.)
As regards herd immunity, a primary feature of the declaration, is not occuring due to the speed this virus is mutating and (something we still don't understand fully) why people can catch Covid-19 more than once - including in some cases, those who have been vaccinated. We simply can't count on herd immunity until around 70-80% of people have been vaccinated to program a longer-lasting protection. I suspect we'll need a booster shot every year though.
Without vaccination, we will not reach herd immunity naturally, unless the death rate succeeds in wiping out all but the least vulnerable: count that in the 100s of millions and as a vulnerable person myself I'm not particularly keen on that idea.
The scientists and medics who authored and co-signed this declaration are positing a "Focused Protection" which is not unlike a lockdown, but more granular.
Further, reading the declaration, it's fairly clear to me that those scientists don't understand how lazy most people are. Hand washing, mask wearing and reducing public gatherings have all shown positive effects, but simply removing a lockdown and letting nature take its course (which is NOT what the scientists here are saying) is key to millions of more deaths.
Indeed, many highly qualified doctors including the WHO and Dr. Antony Fauci have pointed out (in detail) why this approach is wrong. I also note, from the Wikipedia article, that many of the signatories were made up, including one from Dr. Harold Shipman.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Barrington_Declaration
So no, this declaration might have been promoted by prominent scientists, but it's simply a case of confirmation bias - which we are all subject to. As a science writer and promoter, my job is to look at both sides of an argument to see which one holds the best under scrutiny - and key here is that the libertarian sponsored declaration falls very short indeed because it makes assumptions that we know to be wrong.
Sorry to make a second comment, I should have added this to the first, but here are a couple of links which (sorry Mr Hogg) utterly refute your statements and debunk the Barrington Declaration (which was, I'm afraid, just political spin).
Quote: "Proponents suggest [herd immunity] would lead to the development of infection-acquired population immunity in the low-risk population, which will eventually protect the vulnerable.
"This is a dangerous fallacy unsupported by scientific evidence."
Original letter:
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)32153-X/fulltext
Easier link with VERIFIED signatories (unlike the Barrington free-for-all).
https://www.johnsnowmemo.com/
I hope you can consider this Mr Hogg and if you work operate like a scientist, you'll take that information on board and see that your claims are erroneous and moreover, actually dangerous.
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