Society's ChildS


Propaganda

Barbara Kay: Why I'm leaving the National Post

barbara kay national post
In a Canadian media industry that regularly lauds itself for courageous truth-telling, the goal is now to hide one’s true opinion rather than declare it.
It's been two decades since my first byline appeared in the National Post. For a woman who already was well into middle age when her career began, the experience has been a thrill and a privilege. Perhaps more importantly, it's been lively, energizing and fun. The National Post was conceived in 1998 as a safe haven from the stale pieties that dominated (and still dominate) the legacy Canadian media. Unfortunately, the spirit now has gone out of the place. And I've decided to step away from my regular column, at least for now. I've been noticing for a while that much of the best writing about Canada is increasingly taking place on platforms that didn't exist until recently (and in some cases aren't even Canadian). Numerous international writers whom I admire have decided to find new ways to reach their audience. I will now join their ranks.

There's nothing the Canadian media loves more than stories about bitter infighting within its own ranks. And I wish I had a shocking tale of censorship or workplace bullying to supply to those media critics who trade on schadenfreude. Alas, I don't. In fact, I continue to respect and appreciate the Post editors who've worked with me over the years. But the severe pressures they now experience no longer can be compartmentalized within their managerial sphere. They have spilled out into their relationship with their columnists, spoiling the weekly rites of editorial collaboration that once were one of the great joys of this job.

Comment: More from Barbara Kay:


Clipboard

600,000 mistakenly told they've had covid: 'I have not been tested'

Lab test
Tricare, a health care program of the United States Department of Defense Military Health System, mistakenly told more than 600,000 people they have had the China-originated novel coronavirus, asking the "COVID-19 survivors" to consider donating blood for research.

In a mass email sent on July 17, more than 600,000 Tricare users in the military health system's East Region were asked to consider donating blood for research based on their supposed status as COVID-19 "survivors," Military.com reported last week. As noted in the report, "31,000 persons affiliated with the U.S. military have been diagnosed with the coronavirus," showing a clear error in the mass email.

"As a survivor of COVID-19, it's safe to donate whole blood or blood plasma, and your donation could help other COVID-19 patients," the email stated. "Your plasma likely has antibodies (or proteins) present that might help fight the coronavirus infection. Currently, there is no cure for COVID-19. However, there is information that suggests plasma from COVID-19 survivors, like you, might help some patients recover more quickly from COVID-19."

One beneficiary posted to Facebook about the email, highlighting that he was never tested for COVID despite being told he has had the virus by Tricare. "Just wondering [if] anybody [got] an email from Tricare saying since you are a COVID survivor, please donate your plasma.?? I have NOT been tested," the user posted to social media, according to the report. "Just remember all those people inputting data are human and make mistakes."

Comment: This is what makes 'contact tracing' all the more nefarious. If they are (as often is the case) using databases of people that are 'registered' as having covid, and you come into contact with them (despite the fact that they were never tested or it was in error), you will be flagged and subject to whatever other measures they come up with, for no reason at all.


Bullseye

Best of the Web: A classic fallacious argument: "If masks don't work, then why do surgeons wear them?"

face mask
A response to people who use the classic fallacious argument, "Well, if masks don't work, then why do surgeons wear them?"

I'm a surgeon that has performed over 10,000 surgical procedures wearing a surgical mask. However, that fact alone doesn't really qualify me as an expert on the matter. More importantly, I am a former editor of a medical journal. I know how to read the medical literature, distinguish good science from bad, and fact from fiction. Believe me, the medical literature is filled with bad fiction masquerading as medical science. It is very easy to be deceived by bad science.

Since the beginning of the pandemic I've read hundreds of studies on the science of medical masks. Based on extensive review and analysis, there is no question in my mind that healthy people should not be wearing surgical or cloth masks. Nor should we be recommending universal masking of all members of the population. That recommendation is not supported by the highest level of scientific evidence.

First, let's be clear. The premise that surgeons wearing masks serves as evidence that "masks must work to prevent viral transmission" is a logical fallacy that I would classify as an argument of false equivalence, or comparing "apples to oranges."

Shopping Bag

When it comes to economic suffering, some parts of the US are feeling it far more than others

New York City
2020 has been a very tough year for the U.S. as a whole, but some portions of the country have been hit much harder than others. For example, if you live in a rural area that hasn't seen any civil unrest and that hasn't been hit very hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, the way that you are living your life now may seem nearly unchanged from the way you were living your life in 2019. But if you live in an urban area that has experienced endless protests and rioting and that has seen COVID-19 sweep through local neighborhoods like wildfire, your life in 2020 may look radically different from the way it looked in 2019. Unfortunately, conditions in our largest cities are not likely to improve dramatically any time soon.

But many people that live in rural communities are feeling pretty good about things right now. Even though more than 52 million Americans have filed new claims for unemployment benefits over the last 18 weeks, the official unemployment rate in many rural counties is still in the single digits.

I know that may be difficult to believe, but that is what the numbers tell us.

Comment: And the sad fact of the matter is that we ain't seen nothing yet:


Stop

D.C. exempts lawmakers, government employees from new mask order

Mayor Muriel Bowser of Washington, D.C.
© Getty ImagesMayor Muriel Bowser of Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., mayor Muriel Bowser (D.) issued a universal masking order for her city Wednesday but exempted lawmakers, judges, and federal employees.

The order mandates the wearing of masks in all indoor and outdoor settings where social distancing cannot be observed. No other designated profession is exempt from wearing a mask, except when a piece of work equipment would preclude mask use. Consequences for ignoring the order include fines of up to $1,000.

The mayor's office did not respond to a request for comment.

Comment: While the mandating of wearing of masks controversy rages on, one thing is becoming clearer among some of these political types: they hold the authoritarian and incredibly hypocritical "do I say, not as I do" perspective of the rules they seek to impose on others.

See also:


Stock Down

UK's grim economic forecast: Lockdown to depress GDP till 2024, unemployment to double

England people
The EY ITEM Club Summer Forecast has significantly downgraded the near-term economic outlook for the UK with GDP now expected to contract by 11.5% over the course of 2020. This compares to the 8.0% contraction predicted just last month in the EY ITEM Club's Interim Forecast, and almost double the 6.8% contraction expected in April's Spring Forecast.

With hopes of a V-shaped recovery fading, the UK economy is now not expected to match its Q4 2019 size until late-2024 - much later than the early-2023 prediction from the June forecast. Additionally, the EY ITEM Club now expects the Q2 GDP contraction to come in at a record 20% - a sizeable downgrade from the 15% contraction predicted last month.

Positively, growth prospects for 2021 have been raised slightly, with the economy now forecast to grow 6.5% over the year, up from the 5.6% predicted in June's forecast, and up from 4.5% in April's forecast. The EY ITEM Club expects the economy to return to growth in Q3 2020 with expansion around 12% quarter-on-quarter (q/q).

Comment: See also:


Propaganda

US police are wearing imaginary CGI armor to appease Putin, suggests acclaimed Russiagate huckster

police fake armor
© Twitter / @CheriJacobus ; @BrentAllpress
Commentary on Donald Trump's decision to send federal police to riot-stricken cities has taken a creative turn: according to a celebrated Russiagate disciple, Putin has "ordered" US cops to wear cyberpunk armor that doesn't exist.

Cheri Jacobus, a popular #NeverTrump Twitter pundit and Russian collusion peddler, has joined the growing chorus of outrage over the use of federal law enforcement to help maintain order in Portland, Oregon, which has seen two months of increasingly violent demonstrations.

While most critics have focused on allegations that federal officers are too militarized and use excessive force against protesters, Jacobus took aim at the glaring elephant in the room: Trump is equipping law enforcement personnel with terrifying body armor, at the behest of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Green Light

How Russia won race for Covid-19 vaccine: Decades of research, not political power plays

russia vaccine coronavirus
© Russian Defense Ministry / RIAA vial containing a Russian Covid-19 vaccine undergoing human trials
Five months into the pandemic, Russia's first Covid-19 vaccine is in its final development stages, already proven safe. Decades of research - not spying on foreign know-how - led to the breakthrough, a top scientist told RT.

Like their colleagues in the world's other leading nations, Russian scientists have traveled a bumpy road from the discovery of coronavirus to the development of a promising vaccine in record time.

This month, Moscow's famed Sechenov University announced that the first phase of clinical trials for a vaccine had been a success. Some 38 volunteers who took part in human trials have been released with little or no side effects recorded.

Comment: While a vaccine for the vast majority isn't even necessary, it's likely the vaccines from Russia aren't going to be as dodgy as those produced by the blatantly compromised companies in the US: And check out SOTT radio's:


Snakes in Suits

Disgraced doctor Rodchenkov calls for 'blanket Olympic ban' for Russian athletes as he continues to be Western puppet

Rodchenkov
© Global Look Press / Netflix
Former Moscow anti-doping laboratory head Grigory Rodchenkov has called for a blanket ban on Russia from next year's Tokyo Olympics as the doctor re-emerged to speak to the Western media ahead of the publication of a new book.

The fugitive doctor fled Russia six years ago before leveling accusations against former colleagues and claiming he had covered up a state-sponsored doping scheme which helped Russian athletes to win medals for a period including the home Winter Olympic Games in Sochi in 2014.

Rodchenkov's allegations and calls for Russia to be disqualified from major sporting events have appeared on a regular basis before Olympic events, and he was among the most ardent supporters of holding the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio without Russian participation.

Two years later his campaign against Russian competitors was reactivated on the verge of the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea.

Comment: Previously:


Colosseum

SOTT Focus: Two Months Since The Riots, And Still no 'National Conversation'

riots USA minneapolis
© Michael TraceyA boarded-up Vietnamese restaurant in St. Paul, MN
We are now approaching the two-month mark since the riots that erupted across the United States in late May and early June. There is a reasonable argument to be made that these riots were unprecedented in U.S. history — or at the very least, since the 1960s. Yet if one surveyed the national media today, you'd barely even know anything happened. Nor would you likely be aware that those who bore the brunt of the destruction — largely minorities whose sensibilities don't fit into any neatly-delineated ideological category — are still acutely suffering from the fallout.

Yes, civil unrest has of course occurred before. But the riots of 2020 exhibited features which belie any easy historical parallel. For one thing, consider their enormous geographic scope. While the most extreme riots in cities like New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, and particularly Minneapolis did receive considerable attention — however fleeting, incomplete, and unnecessarily inflected with knee-jerk partisanship — there were also smaller-scale riots in surprisingly far-flung places that you hardly would've known about unless you lived in the area, happened to visit, or intentionally sought out what remains of the bare-bones local media coverage. To take just a small sampling: Atlantic City, NJ, Fort Wayne, IN, Green Bay, WI, and Olympia, WA all underwent significant riots, at least per the normal expectations of life in these relatively low-key cities. Did you hear anything about them? Because I hadn't, and I'm abnormally attuned to daily media coverage. Only because I personally visited did I learn of the damage.

These riots exploded with such intensity, across so many jurisdictions, and within such a contained period of time — roughly speaking, a one-week stretch beginning May 28, the day the chaos in Minneapolis/St. Paul reached a grisly apex — that no other instance of past civil unrest seems quite analogous. Complicating matters is that the riots occurred in tandem with a protest movement now believed to be the largest ever in U.S. history — one which saw demonstrations, vigils, and general rancor extend even into the most unassuming expanses of suburban and rural America.