The Online Double-bind

The trap was set at least twenty-five years ago and the mice jumped at the smell of the cheese .
I am referring to the introduction of the computer as a mass necessity and the Internet that followed .
I was slow to enter the trap , “ forced ” finally in 2007 by the college where I was teaching .
Up to that point , I was just a member of The Lead Pencil Club , whose motto was “ a speed bump on the information superhighway ” and whose membership list numbered twenty-three and a half people worldwide @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for the cheese the trap snapped , not on my neck to finish me , but on my head that was half in and half out .
The out part kept thinking .
What follows are that half-head ’ s musings on why I didn ’ t follow my intuition , the whole damn sorry situation we are all in , and what we might do to spring the trap and run free .
I don ’ t like this trapped feeling .
And , by the way , the cheese was American @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
In 1960 the sociologist C. Wright Mills said that there was far too much information for people to assimilate and make sense of and that lucid summations were needed .
He was echoing Thoreau who in 1854 said : Mills said people needed to develop what he called the sociological imagination that would allow them to condense and simplify news and to connect personal and social matters within historical and structural contexts .
That was the long-lost era of newspapers , long-form paper magazines , the reading of books , and minimal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was far too much information then can only make one laugh , now that the digital revolution has buried us in data , information , and “ breaking news ” at warp speed , usually contradictory and lacking context .
The internet has literally made people crazy , created schizoid or split personalities who don ’ t know whether they are coming or going or what world they are in , physical or virtual .
This is the era of social schizophrenia .
It is also the era of Covid-19 lockdowns when a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the necessary future .
If people once felt that all the information was too confusing and they were ending up thinking and doing things ass-backwards as a result , back then they might have understood it if you told them that the only way you can do anything is ass-backwards .
Today , many would probably greet you with a look of bewilderment as they googled it to see if there was a way to swivel their asses to the front to get adjusted to the way they feel while waiting online for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ does an ass go ?
They will be waiting for a long , long time .
The Internet is a double-bind because we are damned if we do and damned if we don ’ t .
News , writing , and information of all sorts is now often not available any other way .
The era of paper newspapers is coming to an end .
This was meant to be .
Other sources of fact and fiction have gradually been eliminated , while the content on the Internet has been dramatically increased and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ open Internet is turning into a nightmare .
If you look at the Internet ’ s creation and development by the US military-intelligence-Silicon Valley network as a tool for social control , propaganda , and total spying , if you grasp this nexus and their intentions , you will come away realizing that the Internet and the total integrated digital world is a dystopian tool designed to make you crazy .
To sow confusion and endless contradictory information from minute to minute .
To “ flood the zone ” ( see Event 201 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ give you a headache , keep you agitated , destroy your genuine human experience in the physical world .
To put you into a state of frenetic passivity while whispering in your ear that there is no escape , while allowing elements of truth to emerge to keep you addicted .
This is the double-bind .
It is what Jacques Ellul in 1964 called the technological society that is ruled by technique in every aspect of its life .
Technique is a way of thinking that emphasizes efficiency ; it is a way @ @ @ @ @ @ @ means to a predetermined end .
It is rational , deliberate , and focused on results .
It is a way of thinking that has penetrated deep into the psychic structures of society and opposes spontaneity and unreflective action .
Machines grow out of technical thinking , and today the computer , the internet , and artificial intelligence are the ideal manifestations of such thinking .
They are the result , not the cause .
As such , digital technology satisfies the technical mindsets that have been created over the decades , which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ softened up to believe these machine dreams .
Efficiency , results , practicality , and speed .
The human body as a wonderful machine .
We have all been so conditioned , even those of us old enough to have lived before the computer era .
Starting particularly in the early 1990s with the rat-a-tat electronic frenzy of the U.S. televised aggressive war against Iraq , euphemistically called the Gulf War and presented live with round-the-clock television coverage by ghoulish announcers more excited than 13-year-old boys with a porn magazine , the speed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you lived through those years and were sensitive to the social drift , you could feel the pace of life pick up year-to-year , as everyone was induced to get in the fast lane .
On the information superhighway , it is the only lane .
Paul Virilio , a French thinker , has focused on this issue of speed in his studies of dromology , from dromos : a race , running .
While his language is perhaps too academic , his insights are profound , as with the following point : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the online life , existence shorn of physical space and time and people .
A world where shaking hands is a dissident act .
A haunted world of specters , words , and images that can appear and disappear in a nanosecond .
A magic show .
A place where , in the words of Charles Manson , you can “ get the fear , ” where fear is king .
A locus where , as we sit at home “ sheltering in place , ” we are no longer there .
Ernest @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Sun Also Rises , he has the protagonist Jake Barnes say no to Robert Cohn , who wants him to travel to South America with him , with these words : “ All countries look like the moving pictures.
” Things have changed a wee bit since then .
But the essence of propaganda and social control remains the same .
“ All those people who seek to control the behavior of large numbers of other people work on the experiences of those other people , ” wrote R.D .
Laing , in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people can be induced to experience a situation in a similar way , they can be expected to behave in similar ways.
” Mystification takes place when people can be convinced that a social construction – e.g .
the Internet and the digital life – is part of “ the natural order of things , ” like the air we breathe .
And that life online is real life , better and more real than physical existence .
I believe the digital revolution has gone a long way toward destroying our experience as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mystery tour that goes nowhere .
It is the ultimate psychodrama conjured by a satanic magician .
Do I exaggerate ?
Perhaps .
But how else explain the spell this medium has cast on billions of people worldwide ?
Did the human race suddenly get smart ?
Or are many more people crazy ?
I ask myself this question , and now I ask you .
Has the Internet and the devices to access it made your life better or worse ?
Has it made the life of humanity better or worse ?
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ for a better world ?
Obviously , there are pluses to the Internet , just as there are pluses to almost everything .
I don ’ t deny that .
The plus side of death is that the thought of it reminds you that you are alive .
The plus side of television is you don ’ t have to turn it on .
Like you , I could rattle off many good things about the Internet ( not cell phones , sorry ) .
But on the scale of good and bad @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Where do I ?
Or is it possible we can ’ t decide because we are too conflicted and caught in a double-bind ?
I am of two minds , or more accurately , two half-heads .
The upper part , pinned in the trap and dead to my situation , can only answer yes , sir , now that I am trapped , my life is better .
I can debate endlessly the minutiae of every issue thrown out like pieces of meat for caged lions .
I can check the weather @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the week , even though I know they will probably be wrong .
I can get directions even though I know you don ’ t need a director to know which way the roads go .
I can research issues quickly and pontificate as if I were an expert on every matter from a to z. I can feel I am informed while feeling deformed by the contradictory information that appears and disappears every few minutes .
Essentially , I can feel in-touch and worthy of respect from friends and neighbors because @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about nothing .
I can feel so very normal and rejoice in that .
I can feel sane .
On the negative side , well , my lower half-head , the one that ’ s still thinking lead-pencil thoughts , the slow and easy stuff , the calm cool breeze oh what a lovely daydreams – you don ’ t really need to hear what it has to bitch about the Internet .
You can probably guess .
In a fine article , Vicious Cycles : Theses on a philosophy of news , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Jackson writes the following about our addiction to so-called “ news ” ( the Internet ) :

Edward Curtin
The trap was set at least twenty-five years ago and the mice jumped at the smell of the cheese. I am referring to the introduction of the computer as a mass necessity and the Internet that followed. I was slow to enter the trap, “forced” finally in 2007 by the college where I was teaching.
Up to that point, I was just a member of The Lead Pencil Club, whose motto was “a speed bump on the information superhighway” and whose membership list numbered twenty-three and a half people worldwide. When I slowly and reluctantly reached for the cheese the trap snapped, not on my neck to finish me, but on my head that was half in and half out.
The out part kept thinking.
What follows are that half-head’s musings on why I didn’t follow my intuition, the whole damn sorry situation we are all in, and what we might do to spring the trap and run free. I don’t like this trapped feeling. And, by the way, the cheese was American, which is not exactly real cheese.
In 1960 the sociologist C. Wright Mills said that there was far too much information for people to assimilate and make sense of and that lucid summations were needed. He was echoing Thoreau who in 1854 said:
If you are acquainted with the principle, what do you care for a myriad instances and applications?”
Mills said people needed to develop what he called the sociological imagination that would allow them to condense and simplify news and to connect personal and social matters within historical and structural contexts.
That was the long-lost era of newspapers, long-form paper magazines, the reading of books, and minimal television stations. To think that there was far too much information then can only make one laugh, now that the digital revolution has buried us in data, information, and “breaking news” at warp speed, usually contradictory and lacking context.
The internet has literally made people crazy, created schizoid or split personalities who don’t know whether they are coming or going or what world they are in, physical or virtual. This is the era of social schizophrenia. It is also the era of Covid-19 lockdowns when a far greater online life is promoted as the necessary future.
If people once felt that all the information was too confusing and they were ending up thinking and doing things ass-backwards as a result, back then they might have understood it if you told them that the only way you can do anything is ass-backwards. Today, many would probably greet you with a look of bewilderment as they googled it to see if there was a way to swivel their asses to the front to get adjusted to the way they feel while waiting online for clear directions to emerge. Which way does an ass go?
They will be waiting for a long, long time.
The Internet is a double-bind because we are damned if we do and damned if we don’t. News, writing, and information of all sorts is now often not available any other way. The era of paper newspapers is coming to an end. This was meant to be.
Other sources of fact and fiction have gradually been eliminated, while the content on the Internet has been dramatically increased and progressively censored. The dream of an open Internet is turning into a nightmare.
If you look at the Internet’s creation and development by the US military-intelligence-Silicon Valley network as a tool for social control, propaganda, and total spying, if you grasp this nexus and their intentions, you will come away realizing that the Internet and the total integrated digital world is a dystopian tool designed to make you crazy. To sow confusion and endless contradictory information from minute to minute. To “flood the zone” (see Event 201) with propaganda and disinformation. To give you a headache, keep you agitated, destroy your genuine human experience in the physical world.
To put you into a state of frenetic passivity while whispering in your ear that there is no escape, while allowing elements of truth to emerge to keep you addicted.
This is the double-bind. It is what Jacques Ellul in 1964 called the technological society that is ruled by technique in every aspect of its life. Technique is a way of thinking that emphasizes efficiency; it is a way of thinking that emphasizes order and standardized means to a predetermined end. It is rational, deliberate, and focused on results. It is a way of thinking that has penetrated deep into the psychic structures of society and opposes spontaneity and unreflective action.
Machines grow out of technical thinking, and today the computer, the internet, and artificial intelligence are the ideal manifestations of such thinking. They are the result, not the cause.
As such, digital technology satisfies the technical mindsets that have been created over the decades, which includes regular people who have been gradually softened up to believe these machine dreams. Efficiency, results, practicality, and speed. The human body as a wonderful machine.
We have all been so conditioned, even those of us old enough to have lived before the computer era. Starting particularly in the early 1990s with the rat-a-tat electronic frenzy of the U.S. televised aggressive war against Iraq, euphemistically called the Gulf War and presented live with round-the-clock television coverage by ghoulish announcers more excited than 13-year-old boys with a porn magazine, the speed of everyday life has increased.
If you lived through those years and were sensitive to the social drift, you could feel the pace of life pick up year-to-year, as everyone was induced to get in the fast lane. On the information superhighway, it is the only lane.
Paul Virilio, a French thinker, has focused on this issue of speed in his studies of dromology, from dromos: a race, running. While his language is perhaps too academic, his insights are profound, as with the following point:
The speed of the new optoelectronic and electroacoustic milieu becomes the final void (the void of the quick), a vacuum that no longer depends on the interval between places or things and so on the world’s extension, but on the interface of an instantaneous transmission of remote appearances, on a geographic and geometric retention in which all volume, all relief vanishes.
This is the world of teleconferencing and the online life, existence shorn of physical space and time and people. A world where shaking hands is a dissident act. A haunted world of specters, words, and images that can appear and disappear in a nanosecond. A magic show. A place where, in the words of Charles Manson, you can “get the fear,” where fear is king. A locus where, as we sit at home “sheltering in place,” we are no longer there.
Ernest Hemingway sniffed the future when in The Sun Also Rises, he has the protagonist Jake Barnes say no to Robert Cohn, who wants him to travel to South America with him, with these words: “All countries look like the moving pictures.”
That was 1926.
Things have changed a wee bit since then. But the essence of propaganda and social control remains the same. “All those people who seek to control the behavior of large numbers of other people work on the experiences of those other people,” wrote R.D. Laing, in The Politics of Experience. “Once people can be induced to experience a situation in a similar way, they can be expected to behave in similar ways.”
Mystification takes place when people can be convinced that a social construction – e.g. the Internet and the digital life – is part of “the natural order of things,” like the air we breathe. And that life online is real life, better and more real than physical existence.
I believe the digital revolution has gone a long way toward destroying our experience as persons. It is the endless magical mystery tour that goes nowhere. It is the ultimate psychodrama conjured by a satanic magician.
Do I exaggerate? Perhaps. But how else explain the spell this medium has cast on billions of people worldwide? Did the human race suddenly get smart? Or are many more people crazy?
I ask myself this question, and now I ask you. Has the Internet and the devices to access it made your life better or worse? Has it made the life of humanity better or worse? Has its essential role in globalization made for a better world?
Obviously, there are pluses to the Internet, just as there are pluses to almost everything. I don’t deny that. The plus side of death is that the thought of it reminds you that you are alive. The plus side of television is you don’t have to turn it on. Like you, I could rattle off many good things about the Internet (not cell phones, sorry). But on the scale of good and bad, where do you come down? Where do I?
Or is it possible we can’t decide because we are too conflicted and caught in a double-bind?
I am of two minds, or more accurately, two half-heads. The upper part, pinned in the trap and dead to my situation, can only answer yes, sir, now that I am trapped, my life is better.
I can debate endlessly the minutiae of every issue thrown out like pieces of meat for caged lions. I can check the weather forecast for every hour of every day of the week, even though I know they will probably be wrong. I can get directions even though I know you don’t need a director to know which way the roads go. I can research issues quickly and pontificate as if I were an expert on every matter from a to z. I can feel I am informed while feeling deformed by the contradictory information that appears and disappears every few minutes.
Essentially, I can feel in-touch and worthy of respect from friends and neighbors because I can exchange empty words with them about nothing. I can feel so very normal and rejoice in that. I can feel sane.
On the negative side, well, my lower half-head, the one that’s still thinking lead-pencil thoughts, the slow and easy stuff, the calm cool breeze oh what a lovely daydreams – you don’t really need to hear what it has to bitch about the Internet. You can probably guess.
In a fine article, Vicious Cycles: Theses on a philosophy of news, in Harper’s Magazine, Greg Jackson writes the following about our addiction to so-called “news” (the Internet):
When we turn away from the news, we will confront a startling loneliness. It is the loneliness of life. The loneliness of thinking, of having no one to think for us, and of uncertainty. It is a loneliness that was always there but that was obscured by an illusion, and we will miss the illusion…. And we will miss tuning in each day to hear that voice that cuts boredom and loneliness in its solution of the present tense, that like Scheherazade assures us the story is still unfolding and always will be. I don’t know whether we can give it up.
Nor do I.


offguardian--2020-05-18--Asking Questions of The Other

Asking Questions of The Other

I belong to one of the historic peace churches .
Where I worship there is a sign in the hallway that has become dear to me .
It is known as the Quaker Peace Testimony , a Declaration to Charles II in 1660 .
It says : It goes on to describe the spirit of Christ , as the writer sees it .
The language is lovely and poetic .
I would never carry a gun to a public protest , and I have been in many public protests and demonstrations , especially against the U.S. government ’ s wars @ @ @ @ @ @ @ screamed in our faces or blocked our way or created a gauntlet through which we had to walk while being screamed at in close proximity .
In one , I wondered afterwards why the DC police stood by and let the screaming and blocking happen .
I have never owned a gun and have no interest in owning one .
I don ’ t remember ever touching a gun .
I know very little about them .
Last week , I watched , along with others in this country , as men , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the open , to the steps of the Michigan state capital and then into the capital building .
If I was a reporter covering the story of that protest and some of the protestors appeared carrying guns , I would want to ask one or two of them , “ Why did you decide to bring a gun to this demonstration , and carry it out in the open ?
” Because they made a decision so different than the one I would make and because this virus and lockdown have created @ @ @ @ @ @ @ amid a storm of daily conflicting opinions and information , I would be genuinely interested in their response .
It may help with understanding .
I would want to include their comments in my story on the protest and others like it , protests that have been written about in various ways all across US and international newspapers with reporters saying the gun-carrying protestors are “ Right-wing extremists , ” “ White Supremacists , ” and “ Nazis.
” I have read of Swastikas and Confederate flags and nooses being present .
* @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , I may ask : “ What are you protesting , and why are you here with a gun ?
” When I was a reporter for a paper in North Carolina years ago , I often knocked on doors in what , many thought , were dangerous neighborhoods , or I talked to people out in the street , so I could learn and get a clearer picture of an incident or a trend .
More recently , while working in rural areas where many people own guns , know about different @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have come to understand that Second Amendment rights advocates may be hunters or sportsmen who use guns , but they also argue that the purpose of the Second Amendment of the Constitution , the right to bear arms , is to protect the citizens against government tyranny .
I may not agree with this .
I may not have thought about it as deeply as many people obviously have .
The gun-carrying man at the Michigan capital may have government over-control , even tyranny , on his mind as the government has recently @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to work .
Some of the signs in various protests have read , “ Let Me Work ” or “ I Want to Work.
” Perhaps the government is becoming or has become what this protestor fears the most ?
I do not think I would be afraid to politely approach him and ask him my questions .
His gun is out in the open , as is legal in that state and others .
I may not agree with that law .
Lately , some gun owners have told me that they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that situation , because they feel that it would scare people and would send the wrong message and may even distract from the message the protestors hope to convey .
And yet , this man with a weapon in the open , has come to the place where he feels so desperate or cornered or emphatic that he has made this decision .
Because he is very different from me , I would want to hear from him .
A friend said that the governor in Michigan prohibited people from fishing on their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not researched whether or not this is true .
But I know from learning about people very different from me , who own guns , maybe farm , hunt and fish , build and fix things , work outdoors a lot , that if the state or federal government told this man he could not work to support himself and his family , maybe his business was forced to close – and we were not sure how long this government control would go on – and , in addition , he could not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ own boat , he would not like it .
At all .
He may even begin to feel desperate and angry and trapped .
He may decide to go to a public protest and carry a weapon openly .
I do not believe I would be afraid to approach this man to ask my questions because his message ( and even his weapon ) are in the open .
The barrel of the gun is pointed downwards , however .
I do not believe I would be afraid of getting shot .
Though @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gun and know almost nothing about them , and may not agree with the laws that allow some people to have them , in rural areas where I have worked , I have known many men who own guns and who do know a lot about them .
They may collect them , clean them , build them , use them safely for hunting or other sports .
They may believe guns are needed for protection .
I am not entirely sure what they do with their guns .
However , I have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would shoot me or someone I care about .
I know many to be kind-hearted men , law-biding people engaging in lawful activities , laws that I did not create , may not agree with or even fully understand .
And yet , I have often felt safer with some of these men , who have become friends , than I have felt in the past with some people I have known , sadly , people who do not own guns , never have , but who do their malice in cowardice and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people gathered in Richmond in January to support Second Amendment rights .
I read that there were no injuries , no arrests , and that participants even picked up their own trash .
I thought that was admirable .
As for Confederate flags in Michigan ( not sure about the Swastika or why it would be singled out for a picture on the news ) , a flag is just that – a flag .
Some people may be wrong about it , but who am I to interpret its meaning to someone @ @ @ @ @ @ @ someone .
A person does .
I may think it ’ s inappropriate to carry a Confederate flag to a protest , but it is not against the law .
Similarly , I could stand on a street corner with a sign that says , “ All wars are wrong ” or “ This war is wrong .
End it ” and someone could scream in my face that I was unpatriotic , hated this country , was a traitor , or was helping to get their son killed , their son who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was protesting .
In the early days of the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan , wars most of the public now agree were horrible mistakes , I remember a news commentator criticizing protestors aggressively on TV : “ Once troops are committed , you shut up !
” he said .
He would have not liked me standing on that corner with my sign .
Others critics may say I was not supporting the soldier , for instance , or I was lowering the morale of the troops because those troops may @ @ @ @ @ @ @ while American soldiers were getting shot at in another country .
If troop morale is low , troops may be more vulnerable to getting shot and killed , critics may argue ( or shout in my face ) .
All these charges have been leveled against peace activists who protest the money and lives spent on the government ’ s wars .
Some have said that soldiers fight in wars so that I am able to stand there with my sign .
Some have said that conscientious objectors were wrong to object while @ @ @ @ @ @ @ others volunteered .
I may not agree with or understand this thinking .
Those who oppose the government ’ s wars have been accused of getting more people killed ; anti-lockdown protestors are recently accused of getting more people killed from this virus .
If some guy wants to show up at an anti-lockdown protest with a Confederate flag , I may think he ’ s wrong , may not like the flag or its history .
The guy may be racist , or he may not be racist at all .
He @ @ @ @ @ @ @ flag ’ s history or its meaning to some people ; however , I can not jump inside his head and know what that flag means to him at that time when he decided to bring it to carry .
It ’ s a flag .
It doesn ’ t shoot someone any more than my anti-war sign shoots someone .
He has a right to carry as dumb a sign or flag as he wants to .
He has the right to think that my sign is dumb or naive or misguided @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a protest with a sign that says , “ Jesus is My Vaccine , ” but I have seen that sign in a picture of an anti-lockdown protest .
I could be wrong or deluded or not have enough information , but I get a flu shot most years and take my teenaged son to get them too .
I took my children to get all doctor-recommended vaccines .
I know that many people feel strongly about vaccines and their risks or harms .
I often question government and mainstream media information and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ being overwhelmed and sad at Target recently , trying to pick water bottles for my sons that were good quality and did not have BPA , which I read could cause cancer or other health problems .
I wondered why in a country with expensive bureaucracies , tasked with testing products and ingredients for public safety , would a mom like me have to stand there for almost an hour , worrying about which water bottle would be safe to buy for my sons .
Some men at anti-lockdown protests are wearing desert @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the middle of spring in the U.S. because they bought it at an army supply store , or are they vets who were they sent to fight the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan ?
I could ask them .
Most of the population in this country acquiesced , or even rallied support , while both Democrat and Republican politicians voted year after year to fund those wars , sending about 8 percent of the population , mostly men , to multiple combat tours , some as many as 8 or 10 tours @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
That many deployments caused immeasurable harm and often permanent mental and physical injuries .
The U.S. government ’ s Stop Loss policy forced many service members to stay in the military past the terms of their original contracts and many to go to war repeatedly .
In DC with a mother of an Iraq War veteran and thousands of others , I protested the government ’ s Stop Loss policy , which many thought was tyrannical .
I still remember the looks of contempt of people who shouted at us .
They @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sent men into combat once , sometimes twice ; those 8-10 multiple deployments were unprecedented .
At Fort Bragg , one of the largest military bases in the world , I learned recently that most of the population at the base and the surrounding town voted for Trump – and probably will again .
I have wondered why this is .
We could ask and listen .
This issue may be worth thinking about and reading about in our newspapers and magazines as we are entering another presidential election in several months .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ few or no black or brown people present .
I was pleased to hear an NPR story this past weekend on who is doing the so-called essential jobs during the government lockdowns .
The answer is black and brown people , mostly women .
They are changing bedpans and giving baths in nursing homes , working in chicken factories , checking groceries , working at drive-through fast food places .
I see many Mexican men laying pipe , repairing roads , running power lines .
Black and brown people may not be attending @ @ @ @ @ @ @ than most people in ordinary times and even harder now , or they are exhausted , working at jobs others often do not want to do now – and did not want to do before lockdown .
This virus panic exposes important socio-economic , race , and class issues .
I hope we continue examining these issues as time and panic passes .
Highly-paid TV or large media journalists , politicians , and bureaucrats still have incomes and are able to work from home computers .
When they question where black and brown @ @ @ @ @ @ @ may wonder – who is cleaning their houses , taking care of their elderly parents , doing their hair and make-up and nails ( if they are on TV ) , tending their yards and gardens , nannying their children ?
Who is doing the farm work and working in the dairy plants ?
In this time of crisis , panic , and confusion , we have a lot to learn from people different from us who probably want many of the same things all of us do .
I would not carry @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that guy in Michigan and I may have common concerns .
I also dislike government over-control , lockdown and widespread panic and confusion .
Further , I have protested the government ’ s control over war-making with its ensuing waste , losses , and destruction .
The guy with a gun in Michigan and I may both have old parents and children in school .
We may share worries about sickness and death , getting the information we need to care for ourselves and our families , being able to make decisions about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and provide for children as they need us .
In this time of worldwide panic and confusion , with information changing every day , we may learn by thinking independently , by talking and questioning dominant narratives that too-often pit us against each other .
Christine E. Black ’ s work has been published in The American Journal of Poetry , New Millennium Writings , Nimrod International , The Virginia Journal of Education , Friends Journal , Sojourners Magazine , English Journal , Amethyst Review , and other publications .
Her poetry has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Pablo Neruda Prize .
Her essays have been published in Off-Guardian , Cold Type , Global Research , Joyful Dissent , and other publications .

Christine E. Black
I belong to one of the historic peace churches. Where I worship there is a sign in the hallway that has become dear to me. It is known as the Quaker Peace Testimony, a Declaration to Charles II in 1660. It says:
We utterly deny all outward wars and strife and fightings with outward weapons, for any end, or under any pretence whatsoever; and this is our testimony to the whole world.”
It goes on to describe the spirit of Christ, as the writer sees it.
The language is lovely and poetic.
I would never carry a gun to a public protest, and I have been in many public protests and demonstrations, especially against the U.S. government’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Sometimes counter-protestors screamed in our faces or blocked our way or created a gauntlet through which we had to walk while being screamed at in close proximity. In one, I wondered afterwards why the DC police stood by and let the screaming and blocking happen.
I have never owned a gun and have no interest in owning one. I don’t remember ever touching a gun. I know very little about them. Last week, I watched, along with others in this country, as men, and some women, carried guns, in the open, to the steps of the Michigan state capital and then into the capital building.
If I was a reporter covering the story of that protest and some of the protestors appeared carrying guns, I would want to ask one or two of them, “Why did you decide to bring a gun to this demonstration, and carry it out in the open?” Because they made a decision so different than the one I would make and because this virus and lockdown have created such a climate of fear and panic amid a storm of daily conflicting opinions and information, I would be genuinely interested in their response. It may help with understanding.
I would want to include their comments in my story on the protest and others like it, protests that have been written about in various ways all across US and international newspapers with reporters saying the gun-carrying protestors are “Right-wing extremists,” “White Supremacists,” and “Nazis.” I have read of Swastikas and Confederate flags and nooses being present.*
If I was there with my notepad, I may ask: “What are you protesting, and why are you here with a gun?”
When I was a reporter for a paper in North Carolina years ago, I often knocked on doors in what, many thought, were dangerous neighborhoods, or I talked to people out in the street, so I could learn and get a clearer picture of an incident or a trend.
More recently, while working in rural areas where many people own guns, know about different types, perhaps collect them, I have come to understand that Second Amendment rights advocates may be hunters or sportsmen who use guns, but they also argue that the purpose of the Second Amendment of the Constitution, the right to bear arms, is to protect the citizens against government tyranny.
I may not agree with this. I may not have thought about it as deeply as many people obviously have.
The gun-carrying man at the Michigan capital may have government over-control, even tyranny, on his mind as the government has recently ordered businesses closed, rendering many unable to work. Some of the signs in various protests have read, “Let Me Work” or “I Want to Work.” Perhaps the government is becoming or has become what this protestor fears the most?
I do not think I would be afraid to politely approach him and ask him my questions.
His gun is out in the open, as is legal in that state and others. I may not agree with that law. Lately, some gun owners have told me that they would not carry a gun openly in that situation, because they feel that it would scare people and would send the wrong message and may even distract from the message the protestors hope to convey.
And yet, this man with a weapon in the open, has come to the place where he feels so desperate or cornered or emphatic that he has made this decision.
Because he is very different from me, I would want to hear from him.
A friend said that the governor in Michigan prohibited people from fishing on their boats during this lockdown. I have not researched whether or not this is true.
But I know from learning about people very different from me, who own guns, maybe farm, hunt and fish, build and fix things, work outdoors a lot, that if the state or federal government told this man he could not work to support himself and his family, maybe his business was forced to close – and we were not sure how long this government control would go on – and, in addition, he could not fish on a public lake in his own boat, he would not like it. At all.
He may even begin to feel desperate and angry and trapped. He may decide to go to a public protest and carry a weapon openly.
I do not believe I would be afraid to approach this man to ask my questions because his message (and even his weapon) are in the open. The barrel of the gun is pointed downwards, however. I do not believe I would be afraid of getting shot. Though I have no interest in owning a gun and know almost nothing about them, and may not agree with the laws that allow some people to have them, in rural areas where I have worked, I have known many men who own guns and who do know a lot about them.
They may collect them, clean them, build them, use them safely for hunting or other sports. They may believe guns are needed for protection. I am not entirely sure what they do with their guns.
However, I have never been afraid that one of them would shoot me or someone I care about. I know many to be kind-hearted men, law-biding people engaging in lawful activities, laws that I did not create, may not agree with or even fully understand. And yet, I have often felt safer with some of these men, who have become friends, than I have felt in the past with some people I have known, sadly, people who do not own guns, never have, but who do their malice in cowardice and in secret.
More than 20 thousand people gathered in Richmond in January to support Second Amendment rights. I read that there were no injuries, no arrests, and that participants even picked up their own trash. I thought that was admirable.
As for Confederate flags in Michigan (not sure about the Swastika or why it would be singled out for a picture on the news), a flag is just that – a flag. Some people may be wrong about it, but who am I to interpret its meaning to someone else? A flag does not shoot someone. A person does. I may think it’s inappropriate to carry a Confederate flag to a protest, but it is not against the law.
Similarly, I could stand on a street corner with a sign that says, “All wars are wrong” or “This war is wrong. End it” and someone could scream in my face that I was unpatriotic, hated this country, was a traitor, or was helping to get their son killed, their son who was fighting in a war that I was protesting.
In the early days of the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, wars most of the public now agree were horrible mistakes, I remember a news commentator criticizing protestors aggressively on TV: “Once troops are committed, you shut up!” he said.
He would have not liked me standing on that corner with my sign.
Others critics may say I was not supporting the soldier, for instance, or I was lowering the morale of the troops because those troops may see Americans carrying signs against the war while American soldiers were getting shot at in another country. If troop morale is low, troops may be more vulnerable to getting shot and killed, critics may argue (or shout in my face).
All these charges have been leveled against peace activists who protest the money and lives spent on the government’s wars.
Some have said that soldiers fight in wars so that I am able to stand there with my sign. Some have said that conscientious objectors were wrong to object while some men were drafted to fight and others volunteered. I may not agree with or understand this thinking.
Those who oppose the government’s wars have been accused of getting more people killed; anti-lockdown protestors are recently accused of getting more people killed from this virus.
If some guy wants to show up at an anti-lockdown protest with a Confederate flag, I may think he’s wrong, may not like the flag or its history. The guy may be racist, or he may not be racist at all. He may be wrong or misinformed about the flag’s history or its meaning to some people; however, I cannot jump inside his head and know what that flag means to him at that time when he decided to bring it to carry.
It’s a flag. It doesn’t shoot someone any more than my anti-war sign shoots someone. He has a right to carry as dumb a sign or flag as he wants to. He has the right to think that my sign is dumb or naive or misguided.
I would never show up at a protest with a sign that says, “Jesus is My Vaccine,” but I have seen that sign in a picture of an anti-lockdown protest.
I could be wrong or deluded or not have enough information, but I get a flu shot most years and take my teenaged son to get them too. I took my children to get all doctor-recommended vaccines. I know that many people feel strongly about vaccines and their risks or harms. I often question government and mainstream media information and regularly seek alternative sources.
I remember being overwhelmed and sad at Target recently, trying to pick water bottles for my sons that were good quality and did not have BPA, which I read could cause cancer or other health problems. I wondered why in a country with expensive bureaucracies, tasked with testing products and ingredients for public safety, would a mom like me have to stand there for almost an hour, worrying about which water bottle would be safe to buy for my sons.
Some men at anti-lockdown protests are wearing desert camo. Do they have desert camo in the middle of spring in the U.S. because they bought it at an army supply store, or are they vets who were they sent to fight the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan?
I could ask them.
Most of the population in this country acquiesced, or even rallied support, while both Democrat and Republican politicians voted year after year to fund those wars, sending about 8 percent of the population, mostly men, to multiple combat tours, some as many as 8 or 10 tours, which is physical and psychological savagery.
That many deployments caused immeasurable harm and often permanent mental and physical injuries. The U.S. government’s Stop Loss policy forced many service members to stay in the military past the terms of their original contracts and many to go to war repeatedly.
In DC with a mother of an Iraq War veteran and thousands of others, I protested the government’s Stop Loss policy, which many thought was tyrannical. I still remember the looks of contempt of people who shouted at us. They saddened and confused me.
Previous wars sent men into combat once, sometimes twice; those 8-10 multiple deployments were unprecedented. At Fort Bragg, one of the largest military bases in the world, I learned recently that most of the population at the base and the surrounding town voted for Trump – and probably will again.
I have wondered why this is. We could ask and listen. This issue may be worth thinking about and reading about in our newspapers and magazines as we are entering another presidential election in several months.
Journalists have noted that anti-lockdown protests have few or no black or brown people present. I was pleased to hear an NPR story this past weekend on who is doing the so-called essential jobs during the government lockdowns. The answer is black and brown people, mostly women.
They are changing bedpans and giving baths in nursing homes, working in chicken factories, checking groceries, working at drive-through fast food places. I see many Mexican men laying pipe, repairing roads, running power lines. Black and brown people may not be attending protests because they are working, harder than most people in ordinary times and even harder now, or they are exhausted, working at jobs others often do not want to do now – and did not want to do before lockdown. This virus panic exposes important socio-economic, race, and class issues. I hope we continue examining these issues as time and panic passes.
Highly-paid TV or large media journalists, politicians, and bureaucrats still have incomes and are able to work from home computers. When they question where black and brown people are at anti-lockdown protests, I may wonder – who is cleaning their houses, taking care of their elderly parents, doing their hair and make-up and nails (if they are on TV), tending their yards and gardens, nannying their children? Who is doing the farm work and working in the dairy plants?
In this time of crisis, panic, and confusion, we have a lot to learn from people different from us who probably want many of the same things all of us do. I would not carry a gun to a protest, but that guy in Michigan and I may have common concerns. I also dislike government over-control, lockdown and widespread panic and confusion.
Further, I have protested the government’s control over war-making with its ensuing waste, losses, and destruction. The guy with a gun in Michigan and I may both have old parents and children in school.
We may share worries about sickness and death, getting the information we need to care for ourselves and our families, being able to make decisions about work and having enough money to survive and provide for children as they need us.
In this time of worldwide panic and confusion, with information changing every day, we may learn by thinking independently, by talking and questioning dominant narratives that too-often pit us against each other.
Christine E. Black’s work has been published in The American Journal of Poetry, New Millennium Writings, Nimrod International, The Virginia Journal of Education, Friends Journal, Sojourners Magazine, English Journal, Amethyst Review, and other publications. Her poetry has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and the Pablo Neruda Prize. Her essays have been published in Off-Guardian, Cold Type, Global Research, Joyful Dissent, and other publications.


offguardian--2020-05-18--WATCH: Bill Gates and the Population Control Grid

The takeover of public health that we have documented in How Bill Gates Monopolized Global Health and the remarkably brazen @ @ @ @ @ the planet that we have documented in Bill Gates ’ Plan to Vaccinate the World @ @ @ @ @ , about money .
The unimaginable wealth that Gates has accrued is now being used @ @ @ @ @ useful : control .
Control not just of the global health bodies that can coordinate @ @ @ @ @ or the governments that will mandate such an unprecedented campaign , but control over the @ @ @ @

The takeover of public health that we have documented in How Bill Gates Monopolized Global Health and the remarkably brazen push to vaccinate everyone on the planet that we have documented in Bill Gates’ Plan to Vaccinate the World was not, at base, about money.
The unimaginable wealth that Gates has accrued is now being used to purchase something much more useful: control. Control not just of the global health bodies that can coordinate a worldwide vaccination program, or the governments that will mandate such an unprecedented campaign, but control over the global population itself.


offguardian--2020-05-17--This Week in the Guardian #7

This Week in the Guardian #7

The increasing diversity of the 1 % , toxic mask-ulinity and not all authoritarians were created equal Every week ( or , rather , most weeks , since the coronavirus torpedoed our schedule ) , we like to highlight three or four stories that go full-Guardian , but don ’ t require an entire article of refutation .
We encourage reader-participation here , so if you come across something you feel should be included in the next edition either post a link below , or send us an e-mail .
“ Johnson and Starmer both know a true exit plan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ thinks both Boris Johnson and Keir Starmer need to overcome their natural “ liberal instincts ” and get used to the fact they are going to have to impose some pretty tight mass surveillance laws if the UK ever wants to come out of lockdown .
This would be the same Johnson and Starmer who have never voted against mass surveillance once .
We could breakdown the incredibly flawed argument line by line , but that ’ s not what TWitG is for .
And , frankly , I have neither the time @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be paid to this insidious line of thought : An entirely false re-alignment of reality , painting the public as desperate to be surveilled at all times , ruled over by the reluctant MPs who just can ’ t bring themselves to compromise their principles .
Suffice to say , it ’ s nonsense .
“ Under cover of coronavirus , the world ’ s bad guys are wreaking havoc “ There was a brief window – when we were all encouraged to feel sorry for Iran , and telling Trump to stop @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coronavirus roll-out really did feel like full-on globalism .
The Russia-baiting disappeared , and Guaido was side-lined and Gordon Brown was calling for a global government .
All of that is pretty obviously over now .
Maybe there were deals going behind the scenes which fell through .
Maybe promises were made and are now being broken .
Whatever the cause , the crosshairs have been re-calibrated and they ’ re once again trained on the usual suspects .
They actually call them “ bad guys ” , which speaks for itself as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the content goes .
In China , apparently , Xi Jinping is trying to make sure Uyghur Muslims get infected with the coronavirus .
In Syria , Bashar al Assad is supposedly doing the same thing to rebels in Idlib .
Both these “ tyrants ” are , apparently , trying to effect genocide using a virus that , everyone admits , kills less than 1 % of the population .
The equivalent of terror-bombing a city with peanuts , in the hope everyone dies of a peanut allergy .
These claims are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Center for International Strategic Studies , a Washington DC-based think-tank funded by the US State Department ( although Freedland doesn ’ t mention that part ) .
In Hungary , we are told , Viktor Orban is undermining parliamentary democracy .
But Freedland doesn ’ t mention that the UK ( and many other places around the world , are doing the exact same thing .
“ Necessary measures ” when we do it , “ brutal opportunism ” when designated “ enemies ” do the same .
There are clips of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the public for simply not wearing a mask in public .
But because Merkel is a “ good guy ” , these are not admissible evidence .
Throw in standard references to Trump and Bolsonaro and you get a very much a pre-coronavirus feel to the whole thing .
Add this to the Russia-related articles from last week , and there ’ s a definitely a shift away from the global consensus that existed just a couple of weeks ago .
Something to keep an eye on .
Damned if you do , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ really underline that , as far as geo-political journalism is concerned , normal service has been resumed , we cap off this week with a classic case of “ damned if he does , damned if he doesn ’ t. ” In this article , Shaun Walker bemoans “ strongman ” leaders refusing to wear masks because it makes them look weak .
He singles out Putin for special mention ( of course ) .
While in this article , Simon Tisdall also singles out Putin for special criticism…but this time for the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t know what great globalist dream is fueling the coronavirus narrative , but it ’ s certainly increasingly apparent it won ’ t involve Russia , and especially not Vladimir Putin .
Arwa Mahdawi doesn ’ t get many mentions here .
She doesn ’ t warrant any .
But as the author of the “ This week in the Patriarchy ” series , she might have a claim to be the most “ Guardian ” of all Guardian columnists .
This week she ’ s talking about how men wear masks less @ @ @ @ @ @ @ masculinity ” is killing people .
( In peak hypocrisy mode , Last week she wrote a column all about Adele ’ s weight loss , with the headline “ Can we please stop talking about Adele ’ s body ?
” ) .
Elsewhere we ’ re treated to an article about how “ botanical sexism ” means city planners use male trees more than female ones , and this makes hay fever worse .
All part of the Patreearchy I suppose .
All told a busy week for The Guardian .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the improving gender diversity of the 1 % or the latest totally real story about how Jacinda Ardern is so down to earth and just like us .
Did we miss any others ?
Tell us about them in the comments below , and keep an eye out for articles that should go in the next issue .

The increasing diversity of the 1%, toxic mask-ulinity and not all authoritarians were created equal
Every week (or, rather, most weeks, since the coronavirus torpedoed our schedule), we like to highlight three or four stories that go full-Guardian, but don’t require an entire article of refutation.
We encourage reader-participation here, so if you come across something you feel should be included in the next edition either post a link below, or send us an e-mail.
Stephen Bush thinks both Boris Johnson and Keir Starmer need to overcome their natural “liberal instincts” and get used to the fact they are going to have to impose some pretty tight mass surveillance laws if the UK ever wants to come out of lockdown.
This would be the same Johnson and Starmer who have never voted against mass surveillance once.
We could breakdown the incredibly flawed argument line by line, but that’s not what TWitG is for. And, frankly, I have neither the time nor the inclination.
Special attention should be paid to this insidious line of thought:
British people are not liberals, instinctive or otherwise. It’s easy to forget that while New Labour’s ID cards scheme was unpopular within the party and in parliament, it enjoyed majority support in the country as a whole. The great British public has enthusiastically embraced CCTV
An entirely false re-alignment of reality, painting the public as desperate to be surveilled at all times, ruled over by the reluctant MPs who just can’t bring themselves to compromise their principles. Suffice to say, it’s nonsense.
There was a brief window – when we were all encouraged to feel sorry for Iran, and telling Trump to stop being mean to China – where the coronavirus roll-out really did feel like full-on globalism. The Russia-baiting disappeared, and Guaido was side-lined and Gordon Brown was calling for a global government.
All of that is pretty obviously over now. Maybe there were deals going behind the scenes which fell through. Maybe promises were made and are now being broken.
Whatever the cause, the crosshairs have been re-calibrated and they’re once again trained on the usual suspects.
They actually call them “bad guys”, which speaks for itself as far as the balance and subtlety of the content goes.
In China, apparently, Xi Jinping is trying to make sure Uyghur Muslims get infected with the coronavirus. In Syria, Bashar al Assad is supposedly doing the same thing to rebels in Idlib. Both these “tyrants” are, apparently, trying to effect genocide using a virus that, everyone admits, kills less than 1% of the population.
The equivalent of terror-bombing a city with peanuts, in the hope everyone dies of a peanut allergy.
These claims are based on an a memo released by the Center for International Strategic Studies, a Washington DC-based think-tank funded by the US State Department (although Freedland doesn’t mention that part).
In Hungary, we are told, Viktor Orban is undermining parliamentary democracy. But Freedland doesn’t mention that the UK (and many other places around the world, are doing the exact same thing. “Necessary measures” when we do it, “brutal opportunism” when designated “enemies” do the same. There are clips of German police beating and restraining members of the public for simply not wearing a mask in public. But because Merkel is a “good guy”, these are not admissible evidence.
Throw in standard references to Trump and Bolsonaro and you get a very much a pre-coronavirus feel to the whole thing.
Add this to the Russia-related articles from last week, and there’s a definitely a shift away from the global consensus that existed just a couple of weeks ago. Something to keep an eye on.
In fact…
Damned if you do, damned if you don’t
To really underline that, as far as geo-political journalism is concerned, normal service has been resumed, we cap off this week with a classic case of “damned if he does, damned if he doesn’t.”
In this article, Shaun Walker bemoans “strongman” leaders refusing to wear masks because it makes them look weak. He singles out Putin for special mention (of course).
While in this article, Simon Tisdall also singles out Putin for special criticism…but this time for the total opposite reason:
Putin’s decision to shield himself from harm, isolating away from Moscow, has badly dented his image as fearless tough-guy leader.
I don’t know what great globalist dream is fueling the coronavirus narrative, but it’s certainly increasingly apparent it won’t involve Russia, and especially not Vladimir Putin.
BONUS – Sexism and self-parody
Arwa Mahdawi doesn’t get many mentions here. She doesn’t warrant any. But as the author of the “This week in the Patriarchy” series, she might have a claim to be the most “Guardian” of all Guardian columnists. This week she’s talking about how men wear masks less than women do, so “toxic masculinity” is killing people. (In peak hypocrisy mode, Last week she wrote a column all about Adele’s weight loss, with the headline “Can we please stop talking about Adele’s body?”).
Elsewhere we’re treated to an article about how “botanical sexism” means city planners use male trees more than female ones, and this makes hay fever worse. All part of the Patreearchy I suppose.
All told a busy week for The Guardian. And we didn’t even touch on the improving gender diversity of the 1% or the latest totally real story about how Jacinda Ardern is so down to earth and just like us.
Did we miss any others? Tell us about them in the comments below, and keep an eye out for articles that should go in the next issue.


offguardian--2020-05-19--10 Steps to Turn a Pandemic into the Brave New Normal

Now , dear reader , I know you ’ re not a member of an institutionally sociopathic elite caste , trying to extend your power back to the good old days of supreme monarchs ordained by God himself .
But imagine you were .
Imagine you were one of the richest people to ever exist , and your vast network of wealth and influence was based on some imaginary money and the widely cultivated belief that “ there is no alternative ” .
Now imagine the lies which secure your position are suddenly and violently challenged .
Imagine Yellow Vested @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an independence referendum in Catalonia .
Anti-globalists , on the left and right , surging in popularity all around the world .
Imagine Brexit and Bitcoin and PirateBay and the myriad tiny ways people won ’ t do what they ’ re told .
What you ’ re suffering from is a loss of control of the narrative .
What you need , really , is a new story .
Something to instil everyone with a sense of common purpose .
To frighten them , and distract them and keep them busy .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ will make everyone “ come together ” .
To put aside “ divisions ” and “ hate ” and all work together to face a “ common enemy ” And enemies , like cakes and lemonade , are always far more satisfying when you make them yourself .
Here are the 10 steps you should employ , if you want to turn an unthreatening virus into a global power grab .
• Start with a poorly defined virus , add an inaccurate test for it , and encourage as many terminally or critically @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tested until they test positive .
• Report your inevitably very high death rates and get vague about whether these people died OF the virus or simply WITH it .
• Create a ‘ response ’ to the ‘ crisis ’ that rolls out a vast network of authoritarian measures , some of which have been in planning for a long while , and only a minority of which have any possible application to pandemic-prevention .
( Make sure to cancel elections until further notice and to hugely increase police powers of arrest @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hospitals to all but ‘ covid cases ’ .
Cancel elective surgeries , kidney dialysis , cancer treatments , normal GP consultations and all “ non-emergency healthcare ” .
Thus inevitably increasing all-cause mortality .
• Change your laws in numerous ways to allow almost all of these new deaths to bypass normal checks and balances and be easily diagnosed as ‘ covid-19 related ’ , either with the inaccurate test or simply by ‘ clinical presentation ’ .
• In case some attending medics are reluctant to go along with this , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ MD , who may never even have seen the patient in question , to diagnose covid19 at his/her own discretion .
• Report the startling numbers of ‘ new cases ’ you find as a result of these various manipulations , as evidence for how essential the new authoritarian measures are for ‘ saving lives ’ .
• With no sense of irony introduce mandatory Do Not Resuscitate ( DNR ) s for any demographic you consider useless eaters .
( If challenged talk about human suffering , limited healthcare resources and ventilators @ @ @ @ @ @ @ add any ensuing deaths to the covid19 totals .
• Make sure the media calls anyone who questions any part of this a ‘ conspiracy theorist ’ .
Not only will these ten steps allow you to create a quasi-fascist police state , but the chattering classes will actually criticise you for not being enough of a police state and beg for more .
No doubt some will say this is excessively cynical , maybe even ‘ conspiratorial ’ .
But is it ?
Since February 2020 we have dedicated this site to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ entity called the “ covid19 pandemic ” .
We have done this using official statistics and data , and the ignored testimony of experts in the field .
What has the orthodox story brought , in the same time frame ?
The claim for this being a unique pathology requiring unique levels of intervention is being made every day , in virtually every mainstream outlets , many alt news outlets and by virtually every major government and health-related NGO .
It ’ s a deafening cacophony , a 24/7 bullhorn of fear and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ speculation and ‘ what ifs ’ and ‘ some experts claim ’ and forests of unsourced or unexplained numbers .
But what is it based on ?
What data , what statistics , what observations are forming the basis of this narrative ?
Is there anything solid behind the noise ?
Despite the atmosphere of panic being generated , and despite frequent usage of epithets like ‘ deadly virus ’ in the popular press , no one is claiming covid19 kills a lot of people .
In fact quite the opposite , as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ same sources that are promoting the need for unique action over this virus will tell you in the next breath that there is nothing uniquely dangerous about it at all .
According to the UK ’ s chief medical officer , 80 % of those infected will get no symptoms or a mild cold , only a tiny minority will even need treatment in hospital , and even of those , the vast majority will survive .
So , what , in actual real-world terms , is being claimed ?
If the problem @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a lot of people , what is the problem ?
The only response to that is to talk about health services being overrun due to the ‘ R0 ’ .
As if you can take that number in isolation and have it mean something .
It ’ s nonsense .
A high R0 is not concerning if the virus is harmless to most people who encounter it .
The common cold has an R0 of between 2-3 , pretty much the same as SARSCOV2 .
It also can kill vulnerable people , sometimes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this argument makes sense we should be locked down permanently for fear of catching a sniffle .
The R0 argument used to get additional cred from referring to the Imperial model and its prediction that the health service would be overrun if some kind of lockdown was not enforced .
But this is more than problematic .
The Imperial model has now been widely discredited , and its author , Neil Ferguson , exposed as a serial incompetent , or serial data-fudger for the govt or the Gates Foundation .
It can no @ @ @ @ @ @ @ claim for uniqueness or the argument for lockdown .
There is nothing to show it does either very well if at all .
Which means the entire ‘ flatten the curve ’ meme is also discredited , by the way .
Far from being overrun , the NHS is virtually shut down , apart from those almost empty covid19 wards .
Yet apparently it ’ s going to take the UK govt 12 months to get elective surgeries back .
Because , you know , reasons .
NOT an opportunistic bid to finally @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the NHS .
Seriously though , people .
If you think there is any coherence , rational thought or data behind the global , Gatesian official position – please tell me where it is .

Catte Black
Now, dear reader, I know you’re not a member of an institutionally sociopathic elite caste, trying to extend your power back to the good old days of supreme monarchs ordained by God himself.
But imagine you were.
Imagine you were one of the richest people to ever exist, and your vast network of wealth and influence was based on some imaginary money and the widely cultivated belief that “there is no alternative”.
Now imagine the lies which secure your position are suddenly and violently challenged. Imagine Yellow Vested protests in the streets of Paris, an independence referendum in Catalonia. Anti-globalists, on the left and right, surging in popularity all around the world.
Imagine Brexit and Bitcoin and PirateBay and the myriad tiny ways people won’t do what they’re told.
What you’re suffering from is a loss of control of the narrative. What you need, really, is a new story. Something to instil everyone with a sense of common purpose. To frighten them, and distract them and keep them busy.
You need a threat, something that will make everyone “come together”. To put aside “divisions” and “hate” and all work together to face a “common enemy”
And enemies, like cakes and lemonade, are always far more satisfying when you make them yourself.
Here are the 10 steps you should employ, if you want to turn an unthreatening virus into a global power grab.
Not only will these ten steps allow you to create a quasi-fascist police state, but the chattering classes will actually criticise you for not being enough of a police state and beg for more.
No doubt some will say this is excessively cynical, maybe even ‘conspiratorial’. But is it?
Since February 2020 we have dedicated this site to bringing you the factual reality of the entity called the “covid19 pandemic”. We have done this using official statistics and data, and the ignored testimony of experts in the field.
What has the orthodox story brought, in the same time frame?
The claim for this being a unique pathology requiring unique levels of intervention is being made every day, in virtually every mainstream outlets, many alt news outlets and by virtually every major government and health-related NGO.
It’s a deafening cacophony, a 24/7 bullhorn of fear and certitude, a fog of headlines and speculation and ‘what ifs’ and ‘some experts claim’ and forests of unsourced or unexplained numbers.
But what is it based on? What data, what statistics, what observations are forming the basis of this narrative?
Is there anything solid behind the noise?
Despite the atmosphere of panic being generated, and despite frequent usage of epithets like ‘deadly virus’ in the popular press, no one is claiming covid19 kills a lot of people.
In fact quite the opposite, as we pointed out recently. The very same sources that are promoting the need for unique action over this virus will tell you in the next breath that there is nothing uniquely dangerous about it at all.
According to the UK’s chief medical officer, 80% of those infected will get no symptoms or a mild cold, only a tiny minority will even need treatment in hospital, and even of those, the vast majority will survive.
So, what, in actual real-world terms, is being claimed? If the problem isn’t that this virus kills a lot of people, what is the problem?
The only response to that is to talk about health services being overrun due to the ‘R0’. As if you can take that number in isolation and have it mean something.
It’s nonsense. A high R0 is not concerning if the virus is harmless to most people who encounter it. The common cold has an R0 of between 2-3, pretty much the same as SARSCOV2. It also can kill vulnerable people, sometimes in large numbers.
So, if this argument makes sense we should be locked down permanently for fear of catching a sniffle.
The R0 argument used to get additional cred from referring to the Imperial model and its prediction that the health service would be overrun if some kind of lockdown was not enforced.
But this is more than problematic. The Imperial model has now been widely discredited, and its author, Neil Ferguson, exposed as a serial incompetent, or serial data-fudger for the govt or the Gates Foundation. It can no longer be used to support either the claim for uniqueness or the argument for lockdown. There is nothing to show it does either very well if at all.
Which means the entire ‘flatten the curve’ meme is also discredited, by the way. Far from being overrun, the NHS is virtually shut down, apart from those almost empty covid19 wards. Yet apparently it’s going to take the UK govt 12 months to get elective surgeries back.
Because, you know, reasons.
Covid19 reasons.
NOT an opportunistic bid to finally shut down and privatise or otherwise commandeer the NHS.
That’s definite.
Seriously though, people. If you think there is any coherence, rational thought or data behind the global, Gatesian official position – please tell me where it is.