Stoic philosopher Epictetus believed that honorable character and a life of wisdom begin with a clear understanding of one basic principle: "some things are within our control, and some things are not." How we are perceived by others — our popularity — is ultimately outside our control; we should focus on character, not reputation, because "trying to control or change what we can't only results in torment." The year 2020 has revealed this to be true. Many Americans, especially affluent types, prioritize reputation over character, and it has indeed resulted in torment.

In the COVID debate, there is a mainstream, "popular" narrative, and a competing, "unpopular" narrative — a "fringe." The former exploits the common, mediocre desire to be "popular." Joining the movement is easy. It results in back-pats, validation, and requires no uncomfortable confrontations. This narrative states that it is impossible for humanity to survive the COVID19 pandemic without a vaccine, lockdowns, and masks, some combination of which will be required into the indefinite future. The narrative supports blaming others for "infecting you" with diseases, rather than encouraging personal responsibility for immune and general health.

Proponents of the competing narrative, on the other hand, must stand up to massive social forces simply to make their arguments, which are not radical: they support a return to classic pandemic management tools, the same ones used by Sweden and other states and countries which did not lock down for COVID19, which resulted in average mortality for 2020. They do not believe this pandemic warrants a complete overhaul of the economic, social, and educational systems. They believe that every human being should be empowered with truthful information about risk and how to best care for personal health, and to make his or her own choices.

So, according to the corporate media, this is it for Russian-backed Hitler. Game over. The walls are closing in. It's the last days of the Trumpian Reich. Get those vuvuzelas ready!

Yes, apparently, the American people, who were all a bunch of Putin-worshipping, white-supremacist neo-Nazis when they elected Trump in 2016, have come to their senses and are going to deliver a landslide victory to "Slappy" Joe Biden and bring down the curtain on this "Age of Darkness," or save the world from "racial Orwellianism" or the "bottomless pit of facsism," or whatever.

White supremacy will be defeated and globalization will rise from the ashes! Decency will be restored! Love will trump hate! Black lives will matter!

Slappy and Kamala will immediately fly down and liberate the concentration camps. Trump will face some sort of Nuremberg trial, where he will have to answer for mass-murdering six million people with the Coronavirus by taking off his mask on the White House balcony.

Hillary Clinton will be appointed ... something.

Biden family business partner-turned-whistleblower Tony Bobulinski told Fox News' Tucker Carlson Tuesday night that Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is "compromised" by communist China.

"If Joe Biden is elected president, which could very well happen," Carlson said, "how does this constrain his ability to deal with China?"

"So I think Joe Biden and the Biden family is compromised," Bobulinski said. "I just don't see, given the history here and the facts, how Joe can't be influenced in some manner based on the history that they have here with CEFC," a Chinese energy company.

Singapore has temporarily halted the use of two influenza vaccines as a precaution after some people who received them in South Korea died, becoming among the first countries to publicly announce a halt of the vaccines' use.

South Korea reported that 48 have died as of Saturday after getting flu shots but said it would carry on with the state-run vaccination programme as they found no direct link between the deaths and the shots.


No deaths associated with influenza vaccination have been reported in Singapore to date but the decision to halt the use of SKYCellflu Quadrivalent and VaxigripTetra was precautionary, the health ministry and the Health Sciences Authority (HAS) said in a statement late on Sunday.

Thousands of protesters descended on the British capital on Saturday to call for an end to coronavirus lockdowns and restrictions on businesses in the UK, which they described as a form of "tyranny".

In a Breitbart London exclusive video, protesters were seen singing: "I would rather be a human than a slave", "We are the 99 per cent", and "You can shove your New World Order up your ass".

The 'Stop the New Normal' march was organised by the anti-lockdown activist group Stand Up X and was one of the largest rallies against the government's coronavirus restrictions since the beginning of the lockdowns in March.

The large scale act of civil disobedience followed more restrictions being imposed on the people of Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland, as well as the introduction of a 'tier system' by Prime Minister Boris in England, in which local regions and cities are placed under lockdown if spikes in coronavirus cases are recorded.

The whole planet has every reason to be terminally puzzled at how all those lofty Enlightenment ideals Thomas Jefferson embedded in the 1776 Declaration of Independence ended up with... Trump vs. Biden.

Jefferson borrowed freely from Locke, Rousseau, Hume to come up with an eminently quotable Greatest Hits, featuring "self-evident" truths such as "all men are created equal", "unalienable rights", and that searing "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

Well, Baudrillard would have dubbed the exercise a mere simulacrum, because in real life none of this uplifting rhetoric applied to Native Americans and enslaved Africans.

Still, there's something endlessly fascinating about these "self-evident truths". They actually radiated like Spinoza axioms, spawning abstract truths that can be extrapolated at will. Jefferson's "self-evident truths" ended up creating the whole, massive structure of what we define as "Western liberal democracy".

"Treason doth never prosper; what is the reason? Why, if it prosper, none dare call it treason."
- Sir John Harrington.

As Shakespeare would state in his play Hamlet, "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark," like a fish that rots from head to tail, so do corrupt government systems rot from top to bottom.

This is a reference to the ruling system of Denmark and not just the foul murder that King Claudius has committed against his brother, Hamlet's father. This is showcased in the play by reference to the economy of Denmark being in a state of shambles and that the Danish people are ready to revolt since they are on the verge of starving. King Claudius has only been king for a couple of months, and thus this state of affairs, though he inflames, did not originate with him.

Thus, during our time of great upheaval we should ask ourselves; what constitutes the persisting "ruling system," of the United States, and where do the injustices in its state of affairs truly originate from?

Introduction

The British public's widespread compliance with the Government's draconian diktats has arguably been the most remarkable aspect of the coronavirus crisis. The unprecedented restrictions on our basic freedoms - in the form of lockdowns, travel bans and mandatory mask wearing - have been passively accepted by the large majority of people. Despite the lack of evidence for effectiveness of these extreme measures, and the growing recognition of their negative consequences, it seems most of us continue to submit to the ongoing restrictions on our lives. Why have we witnessed such capitulation?

A major contributor to the mass obedience of the British people is likely to have been the activities of government-employed psychologists working as part of the 'Behavioural Insights Team' (BIT). After outlining the structure and stated remit of the BIT, I will describe the strategies deployed by this group of psychological specialists to shape our behaviours in line with the Government's public health approach to coronavirus. In particular, I will highlight the four main tactics used in their COVID-19 communication campaigns to 'nudge' us towards compliance: a focus on the MESSENGER, EGO, AFFECT and NORMS (or 'MEAN' as an acronym), providing specific examples to illustrate how these influencers were put to work so as to get us to obey the Government's directives. Finally, the questionable ethics of resorting to these psychological interventions to promote compliance with an increasingly contested public health policy will be addressed.

The Behavioural Insights Team - structure and remit

The BIT was conceived in the Prime Minister's Office in 2010 as 'the world's first government institution dedicated to the application of behavioural science to policy' (Hallsworth et al., 2018). It is collectively owned by the UK Government, Nesta (a charity that views itself as an 'innovation foundation' and a 'champion of radical thinking'), and BIT's own employees. According to the BIT website, their team has rapidly expanded from a seven person unit working with the UK government to a 'social purpose company' operating in many countries around the world.

Yes, you are right. We have gone quite mad. I know that many people are thinking this, but dare not say so. I will be accused of all kinds of terrible things for taking this view - but that is another aspect of how crazy things are.

Yes, coronavirus poses a risk. No, our response to it is not intelligent or useful. In fact, I think it is increasingly damaging and will soon become more so.

The key word here is proportion. There is nothing wrong with simple, practical precautions.

I have for many years believed that door handles pose one of the greatest threats to health, and try never to touch them with the naked hand. I was taught from my earliest years to wash my hands before eating.

I am a health faddist. I work at a standing desk. For many years I have walked and bicycled wherever I can.

"People like the Bidens — and the Clintons for that matter — they don't have to take formal bribes," explained "The Ingraham Angle" host. "There is no need for any smoking gun. They simply do everything possible while in office to help rich people and to fight off movements ... that would force big business to pay higher wages."

"During the years between 2000 and 2016, a lot of middle-class folks wondered, 'What happened to our good-paying jobs and wages? ... What happened to all the prosperity we were supposed to see from allowing China into the World Trade Organization? If you look at the Bidens and the Clintons' paydays, well, you can see where some of that money went."

Biden has a fundraising advantage over Trump, but much of the Democrat's money is not coming from the average voter.

"Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, Bank of America, CitiGroup [are giving] almost twice as much money going to Biden than it is going to Trump," Ingraham said.