offguardian--2020-03-31--Open Letter from Prof Sucharit Bhakdi to Chancellor Merkel

Translated from the German by Swiss Propaganda Research An Open Letter from Dr. Sucharit Bhakdi , Professor Emeritus of Medical Microbiology at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz , to the German Chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel .
Professor Bhakdi calls for an urgent reassessment of the response to Covid-19 and asks the Chancellor five crucial questions .
The letter is dated March 26 .
This is an unofficial translation .
As Emeritus of the Johannes-Gutenberg-University in Mainz and longtime director of the Institute for Medical Microbiology , I feel obliged to critically question the far-reaching restrictions on public life that we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus .
It is expressly not my intention to play down the dangers of the virus or to spread a political message .
However , I feel it is my duty to make a scientific contribution to putting the current data and facts into perspective – and , in addition , to ask questions that are in danger of being lost in the heated debate .
The reason for my concern lies above all in the truly unforeseeable socio-economic consequences of the drastic containment measures which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Europe and which are also already being practiced on a large scale in Germany .
My wish is to discuss critically – and with the necessary foresight – the advantages and disadvantages of restricting public life and the resulting long-term effects .
To this end , I am confronted with five questions which have not been answered sufficiently so far , but which are indispensable for a balanced analysis .
I would like to ask you to comment quickly and , at the same time , appeal to the Federal Government to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ without restricting public life across the board and sow the seeds for an even more intensive polarization of society than is already taking place .
In infectiology – founded by Robert Koch himself – a traditional distinction is made between infection and disease .
An illness requires a clinical manifestation .
[ 1 ] Therefore , only patients with symptoms such as fever or cough should be included in the statistics as new cases .
In other words , a new infection – as measured by the COVID-19 test – does not necessarily @ @ @ @ @ @ @ newly ill patient who needs a hospital bed .
However , it is currently assumed that five percent of all infected people become seriously ill and require ventilation .
Projections based on this estimate suggest that the healthcare system could be overburdened .
My question : Did the projections make a distinction between symptom-free infected people and actual , sick patients – i.e .
people who develop symptoms ?
A number of coronaviruses have been circulating for a long time – largely unnoticed by the media .
[ 2 ] If it should @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not be ascribed a significantly higher risk potential than the already circulating corona viruses , all countermeasures would obviously become unnecessary .
The internationally recognized International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents will soon publish a paper that addresses exactly this question .
Preliminary results of the study can already be seen today and lead to the conclusion that the new virus is NOT different from traditional corona viruses in terms of dangerousness .
The authors express this in the title of their paper “ SARS-CoV-2 : Fear versus Data.
” [ 3 ] My @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of intensive care units with patients with diagnosed COVID-19 compare to other coronavirus infections , and to what extent will this data be taken into account in further decision-making by the federal government ?
In addition : Has the above study been taken into account in the planning so far ?
Here too , of course , „ diagnosed “ means that the virus plays a decisive role in the patient ’ s state of illness , and not that previous illnesses play a greater role .
According to a report in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Robert Koch Institute knows exactly how much is tested for COVID-19 .
It is a fact , however , that a rapid increase in the number of cases has recently been observed in Germany as the volume of tests increases .
[ 4 ] It is therefore reasonable to suspect that the virus has already spread unnoticed in the healthy population .
This would have two consequences : firstly , it would mean that the official death rate – on 26 March 2020 , for example , there were 206 deaths from around @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 5 ] – is too high ; and secondly , it would mean that it would hardly be possible to prevent the virus from spreading in the healthy population .
My question : Has there already been a random sample of the healthy general population to validate the real spread of the virus , or is this planned in the near future ?
The fear of a rise in the death rate in Germany ( currently 0.55 percent ) is currently the subject of particularly intense media attention .
Many people are worried @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Italy ( 10 percent ) and Spain ( 7 percent ) if action is not taken in time .
At the same time , the mistake is being made worldwide to report virus-related deaths as soon as it is established that the virus was present at the time of death – regardless of other factors .
This violates a basic principle of infectiology : only when it is certain that an agent has played a significant role in the disease or death may a diagnosis be made .
The Association of the Scientific @ @ @ @ @ @ @ its guidelines : „ In addition to the cause of death , a causal chain must be stated , with the corresponding underlying disease in third place on the death certificate .
Occasionally , four-linked causal chains must also be stated.
“ [ 6 ] At present there is no official information on whether , at least in retrospect , more critical analyses of medical records have been undertaken to determine how many deaths were actually caused by the virus .
My question : Has Germany simply followed this trend of a COVID-19 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ intended to continue this categorisation uncritically as in other countries ?
How , then , is a distinction to be made between genuine corona-related deaths and accidental virus presence at the time of death ?
The appalling situation in Italy is repeatedly used as a reference scenario .
However , the true role of the virus in that country is completely unclear for many reasons – not only because points 3 and 4 above also apply here , but also because exceptional external factors exist which make these regions particularly vulnerable .
One @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pollution in the north of Italy .
According to WHO estimates , this situation , even without the virus , led to over 8,000 additional deaths per year in 2006 in the 13 largest cities in Italy alone .
[ 7 ] The situation has not changed significantly since then .
[ 8 ] Finally , it has also been shown that air pollution greatly increases the risk of viral lung diseases in very young and elderly people .
[ 9 ] Moreover , 27.4 percent of the particularly vulnerable population in this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Spain as many as 33.5 percent .
In Germany , the figure is only seven percent [ 10 ] .
In addition , according to Prof. Dr. Reinhard Busse , head of the Department of Management in Health Care at the TU Berlin , Germany is significantly better equipped than Italy in terms of intensive care units – by a factor of about 2.5 [ 11 ] .
My question : What efforts are being made to make the population aware of these elementary differences and to make people understand that scenarios @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not realistic here ?
OffGuardian has received requests from some readers seeking contact information for Prof Bhakdi , we apologise but we are not able to satisfy those requests .
Professor Bhakdi has no affiliation nor contact with OffGuardian , and as such we are not in the position to forward e-mails or share contact information .
We would suggest anyone seeking to contact him attempt to do so through his youtube channel , or ResearchGate .

Translated from the German by Swiss Propaganda Research
An Open Letter from Dr. Sucharit Bhakdi, Professor Emeritus of Medical Microbiology at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, to the German Chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel. Professor Bhakdi calls for an urgent reassessment of the response to Covid-19 and asks the Chancellor five crucial questions. The letter is dated March 26. This is an unofficial translation.
Dear Chancellor,
As Emeritus of the Johannes-Gutenberg-University in Mainz and longtime director of the Institute for Medical Microbiology, I feel obliged to critically question the far-reaching restrictions on public life that we are currently taking on ourselves in order to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
It is expressly not my intention to play down the dangers of the virus or to spread a political message. However, I feel it is my duty to make a scientific contribution to putting the current data and facts into perspective – and, in addition, to ask questions that are in danger of being lost in the heated debate.
The reason for my concern lies above all in the truly unforeseeable socio-economic consequences of the drastic containment measures which are currently being applied in large parts of Europe and which are also already being practiced on a large scale in Germany.
My wish is to discuss critically – and with the necessary foresight – the advantages and disadvantages of restricting public life and the resulting long-term effects.
To this end, I am confronted with five questions which have not been answered sufficiently so far, but which are indispensable for a balanced analysis.
I would like to ask you to comment quickly and, at the same time, appeal to the Federal Government to develop strategies that effectively protect risk groups without restricting public life across the board and sow the seeds for an even more intensive polarization of society than is already taking place.
With the utmost respect,
Prof. em. Dr. med. Sucharit Bhakdi
1. Statistics
In infectiology – founded by Robert Koch himself – a traditional distinction is made between infection and disease. An illness requires a clinical manifestation. [1] Therefore, only patients with symptoms such as fever or cough should be included in the statistics as new cases.
In other words, a new infection – as measured by the COVID-19 test – does not necessarily mean that we are dealing with a newly ill patient who needs a hospital bed. However, it is currently assumed that five percent of all infected people become seriously ill and require ventilation. Projections based on this estimate suggest that the healthcare system could be overburdened.
My question: Did the projections make a distinction between symptom-free infected people and actual, sick patients – i.e. people who develop symptoms?
2. Dangerousness
A number of coronaviruses have been circulating for a long time – largely unnoticed by the media. [2] If it should turn out that the COVID-19 virus should not be ascribed a significantly higher risk potential than the already circulating corona viruses, all countermeasures would obviously become unnecessary.
The internationally recognized International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents will soon publish a paper that addresses exactly this question. Preliminary results of the study can already be seen today and lead to the conclusion that the new virus is NOT different from traditional corona viruses in terms of dangerousness. The authors express this in the title of their paper “SARS-CoV-2: Fear versus Data.” [3]
My question: How does the current workload of intensive care units with patients with diagnosed COVID-19 compare to other coronavirus infections, and to what extent will this data be taken into account in further decision-making by the federal government? In addition: Has the above study been taken into account in the planning so far? Here too, of course, „diagnosed“ means that the virus plays a decisive role in the patient’s state of illness, and not that previous illnesses play a greater role.
3. Dissemination
According to a report in the Süddeutsche Zeitung, not even the much-cited Robert Koch Institute knows exactly how much is tested for COVID-19. It is a fact, however, that a rapid increase in the number of cases has recently been observed in Germany as the volume of tests increases. [4]
It is therefore reasonable to suspect that the virus has already spread unnoticed in the healthy population. This would have two consequences: firstly, it would mean that the official death rate – on 26 March 2020, for example, there were 206 deaths from around 37,300 infections, or 0.55 percent [5] – is too high; and secondly, it would mean that it would hardly be possible to prevent the virus from spreading in the healthy population.
My question: Has there already been a random sample of the healthy general population to validate the real spread of the virus, or is this planned in the near future?
4. Mortality
The fear of a rise in the death rate in Germany (currently 0.55 percent) is currently the subject of particularly intense media attention. Many people are worried that it could shoot up like in Italy (10 percent) and Spain (7 percent) if action is not taken in time.
At the same time, the mistake is being made worldwide to report virus-related deaths as soon as it is established that the virus was present at the time of death – regardless of other factors. This violates a basic principle of infectiology: only when it is certain that an agent has played a significant role in the disease or death may a diagnosis be made. The Association of the Scientific Medical Societies of Germany expressly writes in its guidelines: „In addition to the cause of death, a causal chain must be stated, with the corresponding underlying disease in third place on the death certificate. Occasionally, four-linked causal chains must also be stated.“ [6]
At present there is no official information on whether, at least in retrospect, more critical analyses of medical records have been undertaken to determine how many deaths were actually caused by the virus.
My question: Has Germany simply followed this trend of a COVID-19 general suspicion? And: is it intended to continue this categorisation uncritically as in other countries? How, then, is a distinction to be made between genuine corona-related deaths and accidental virus presence at the time of death?
5. Comparability
The appalling situation in Italy is repeatedly used as a reference scenario. However, the true role of the virus in that country is completely unclear for many reasons – not only because points 3 and 4 above also apply here, but also because exceptional external factors exist which make these regions particularly vulnerable.
One of these factors is the increased air pollution in the north of Italy. According to WHO estimates, this situation, even without the virus, led to over 8,000 additional deaths per year in 2006 in the 13 largest cities in Italy alone. [7] The situation has not changed significantly since then. [8] Finally, it has also been shown that air pollution greatly increases the risk of viral lung diseases in very young and elderly people. [9]
Moreover, 27.4 percent of the particularly vulnerable population in this country live with young people, and in Spain as many as 33.5 percent. In Germany, the figure is only seven percent [10]. In addition, according to Prof. Dr. Reinhard Busse, head of the Department of Management in Health Care at the TU Berlin, Germany is significantly better equipped than Italy in terms of intensive care units – by a factor of about 2.5 [11].
My question: What efforts are being made to make the population aware of these elementary differences and to make people understand that scenarios like those in Italy or Spain are not realistic here?
References: [1] Fachwörterbuch Infektionsschutz und Infektionsepidemiologie. Fachwörter – Definitionen – Interpretationen. Robert Koch-Institut, Berlin 2015. (abgerufen am 26.3.2020) [2] Killerby et al., Human Coronavirus Circulation in the United States 2014–2017. J Clin Virol. 2018, 101, 52-56 [3] Roussel et al. SARS-CoV-2: Fear Versus Data. Int. J. Antimicrob. Agents 2020, 105947 [4] Charisius, H. Covid-19: Wie gut testet Deutschland? Süddeutsche Zeitung. (abgerufen am 27.3.2020) [5] Johns Hopkins University, Coronavirus Resource Center. 2020. (abgerufen am 26.3.2020) [6] S1-Leitlinie 054-001, Regeln zur Durchführung der ärztlichen Leichenschau. AWMF Online (abgerufen am 26.3.2020) [7] Martuzzi et al. Health Impact of PM10 and Ozone in 13 Italian Cities. World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe. WHOLIS number E88700 2006 [8] European Environment Agency, Air Pollution Country Fact Sheets 2019, (abgerufen am 26.3.2020) [9] Croft et al. The Association between Respiratory Infection and Air Pollution in the Setting of Air Quality Policy and Economic Change. Ann. Am. Thorac. Soc. 2019, 16, 321–330. [10] United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Living Arrangements of Older Persons: A Report on an Expanded International Dataset (ST/ESA/SER.A/407). 2017 [11] Deutsches Ärzteblatt, Überlastung deutscher Krankenhäuser durch COVID-19 laut Experten unwahrscheinlich, (abgerufen am 26.3.2020)
OffGuardian has received requests from some readers seeking contact information for Prof Bhakdi, we apologise but we are not able to satisfy those requests. Professor Bhakdi has no affiliation nor contact with OffGuardian, and as such we are not in the position to forward e-mails or share contact information. We would suggest anyone seeking to contact him attempt to do so through his youtube channel, or ResearchGate.


offguardian--2020-03-30--Covid19 yet to impact Europe’s overall mortality

Covid19 yet to impact Europe ’ s overall mortality The official figures for 24 countries across Europe show , not only that overall mortality is not increasing , but – so far – it is actually well below recent averages .
The statistics were gathered by the European Monitoring of Excess Mortality for Public Health Action ( EuroMOMO ) , an international partnership of agencies from 24 European nations aiming to promote preparedness for public health emergencies .
They track “ excess mortality ” , meaning the number of officially recorded deaths vs the average death rate .
We recommend @ @ @ @ @ @ @ country is broken down by age demographics .
Today , we ’ re focusing on their maps .
Here is the map showing Europe ’ s excess mortality for Week 12 of 2020 ( 19th-25th March ) : As you can see , currently , the vast majority of Europe shows “ no excess ” .
That means deaths are either at or below expected levels .
Italy is the one obvious exception .
But note it is only on “ high ” , not “ very high ” .
For some context @ @ @ @ @ @ @ previous years .
Here is week 6 of 2019 : As you can see , it ’ s generally much worse .
Several countries in “ above average ” , Spain and Portugal on “ high ” , and France is even “ very high ” .
We didn ’ t have a global lockdown in 2019 .
Here are weeks 1 & 2 of 2018 : This was the height of the huge 2017/18 flu season .
As you can see , Europe was greatly affected .
We didn ’ t have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2 of 2017 was even worse : The whole of Western Europe experienced a huge spike in excess mortality , especially bad in all the Mediterranean countries .
We didn ’ t have a global lockdown in 2017 .
Obviously , things may change ( week 13 ’ s results are due tomorrow ) , but – as it stands – the 2020 figures are substantially lower than the previous three years .
So , the question is , if we didn ’ t have a lockdown in 2017 , and we didn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and we didn ’ t have a lockdown in 2019….why do we have a lockdown now ?

Covid19 yet to impact Europe’s overall mortality
The official figures for 24 countries across Europe show, not only that overall mortality is not increasing, but – so far – it is actually well below recent averages.
The statistics were gathered by the European Monitoring of Excess Mortality for Public Health Action (EuroMOMO), an international partnership of agencies from 24 European nations aiming to promote preparedness for public health emergencies.
They track “excess mortality”, meaning the number of officially recorded deaths vs the average death rate.
We recommend you check their website, where each country is broken down by age demographics. Today, we’re focusing on their maps.
Here is the map showing Europe’s excess mortality for Week 12 of 2020 (19th-25th March):
As you can see, currently, the vast majority of Europe shows “no excess”. That means deaths are either at or below expected levels. Italy is the one obvious exception. But note it is only on “high”, not “very high”.
For some context, maybe we should compare it to previous years.
Here is week 6 of 2019:
As you can see, it’s generally much worse. Several countries in “above average”, Spain and Portugal on “high”, and France is even “very high”.
We didn’t have a global lockdown in 2019.
Here are weeks 1 & 2 of 2018:
This was the height of the huge 2017/18 flu season. As you can see, Europe was greatly affected.
We didn’t have a global lockdown in 2018.
Week 2 of 2017 was even worse:
The whole of Western Europe experienced a huge spike in excess mortality, especially bad in all the Mediterranean countries.
We didn’t have a global lockdown in 2017.
Obviously, things may change (week 13’s results are due tomorrow), but – as it stands – the 2020 figures are substantially lower than the previous three years.
So, the question is, if we didn’t have a lockdown in 2017, and we didn’t have a lockdown in 2018, and we didn’t have a lockdown in 2019….why do we have a lockdown now?


offguardian--2020-03-29--WATCH: Perspectives on the Pandemic

WATCH: Perspectives on the Pandemic

As the coronavirus pandemic takes hold , we are making decisions without reliable data Journeyman Pictures sits down with Dr John P.A .
Ioannidis to discuss Covid19 ( Sars-Cov-2 ) , epidemiology , and the need for reliable data .
The Interviewer : John Kirby is the director of FOUR DIED TRYING , a feature documentary and series on the major assassinations of the 1960 ’ s and their calamitous impact on the country .
To join the struggle for justice for Dr. King , Malcolm X , and John and Robert Kennedy .
The Interviewee : Dr Ioannidis is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ epidemiology and population health , as well as professor by courtesy of biomedical data science at Stanford University School of Medicine , professor by courtesy of statistics at Stanford University School of Humanities and Sciences , and co-director of the Meta-Research Innovation Center at Stanford ( METRICS ) at Stanford University .
He wrote an article on the response to this novel coronavirus for Statnews , and is included in our list of 12 experts critiquing government responses to the pandemic .
His calm , fact-based approach is in stark contrast to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Follow Journeyman Pictures on youtube or visit their website for more of their award-winning factual content .

As the coronavirus pandemic takes hold, we are making decisions without reliable data
Journeyman Pictures sits down with Dr John P.A. Ioannidis to discuss Covid19 (Sars-Cov-2), epidemiology, and the need for reliable data.
The Interviewer: John Kirby is the director of FOUR DIED TRYING, a feature documentary and series on the major assassinations of the 1960’s and their calamitous impact on the country. To join the struggle for justice for Dr. King, Malcolm X, and John and Robert Kennedy.
The Interviewee: Dr Ioannidis is a professor of medicine and professor of epidemiology and population health, as well as professor by courtesy of biomedical data science at Stanford University School of Medicine, professor by courtesy of statistics at Stanford University School of Humanities and Sciences, and co-director of the Meta-Research Innovation Center at Stanford (METRICS) at Stanford University.
He wrote an article on the response to this novel coronavirus for Statnews, and is included in our list of 12 experts critiquing government responses to the pandemic.
His calm, fact-based approach is in stark contrast to the vast majority of the press coverage.
Follow Journeyman Pictures on youtube or visit their website for more of their award-winning factual content.


offguardian--2020-03-28--10 MORE Experts Criticising the Coronavirus Panic

Following on from our previous list , here are ten more expert voices , drowned out or disregarded by the mainstream narrative , offering their take on the coronavirus outbreak .
Dr. Sunetra Gupta et al .
are an Oxford-based research team constructing an epidemiological model for the coronavirus outbreak , their paper has yet to be peer-reviewed , but the abstract is available online .
Dr Gupta is a Professor of Theoretical Epidemiology at the University of Oxford with an interest in infectious disease agents that are responsible for malaria , HIV , influenza and bacterial meningitis .
She @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Award , the Scientific Medal by the Zoological Society of London and the Royal Society Rosalind Franklin Award for her scientific research .
What they say : Importantly , the results we present here suggest the ongoing epidemics in the UK and Italy started at least a month before the first reported death and have already led to the accumulation of significant levels of herd immunity in both countries .
There is an inverse relationship between the proportion currently immune and the fraction of the population vulnerable to severe disease .
– Fundamental @ @ @ @ @ @ @ need for large-scale serological surveys to assess the stage of the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic , 24th March 2020 The research presents a very different view of the epidemic to the modelling at Imperial College London [ … ] “ I ’ m surprised that there has been such unqualified acceptance of the Imperial model ” , Dr Gupta said .
The Oxford results would mean the country had already acquired substantial her immunity through the unrecognised spread of covid19 over more than two months .
Although some experts have shed doubt on the strength @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the virus , Prof Gupta said the emerging evidence made her confident that humanity would build up herd immunity against Covid19 – “ Coronavirus may have infected halt the population ” , Financial Times , 24th March 2020 Dr Karin Mölling is a German virologist whose research focused on retroviruses , particularly human immunodeficiency virus ( HIV ) .
She was a full professor and director of the Institute of Medical Virology at the University of Zurich from 1993 until her retirement in 2008 and received multiple honours and awards for her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are now told every morning how many SARS-Corona 2 deaths there are .
But they don ’ t tell you how many people already are infected with influenza this winter and how many deaths it has caused .
This winter , the flu is not severe , but around 80,000 are infected .
You don ’ t get these numbers at all .
Something similar occurred two years ago .
This is not put into the right context .
Every week a person dies in Berlin from multi-resistant germs .
That adds up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ This is not mentioned at all .
I believe that we have had situations like this several times and that the measures are now being taken too far .
I am of the opinion that maybe one should not do so much against young people having parties together and infecting each other .
We have to build immunity somehow .
How can that be possible without contacts ?
The younger ones handle the infection much better .
But we have to protect the elderly , and protect them in a way that can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we are doing now , to stretch out the epidemic in a way that almost paralyzes the entire world economy ?
The Robert Koch Institute provides the figures .
Then you sit there as a listener or spectator : 20 dead again , how terrible !
Do you know when I would start to panic ?
If there are 20,000 .
Then we get close to what went on completely quietly two years ago .
The 2018 influenza epidemic , with 25,000 deaths , never disconcerted the press .
The clinics had to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which was no problem in the clinics either !
That is the main fear : the disease is presented as a terrible disease .
The disease per se is like the flu in a normal winter .
It is even weaker in the first week .
Dr Anders Tegnell is a Swedish physician and civil servant who has been State Epidemiologist of the Public Health Agency of Sweden since 2013 .
Dr Tegnell graduated from medical school in 1985 , specialising in infectious disease .
He later obtained a PhD in Medical Science @ @ @ @ @ @ @ MSc in 2004 .
What he says : Dr Pablo Goldschmidt is an Argentine-French virologist specializing in tropical diseases , and Professor of Molecular Pharmacology at the Université Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris .
He is a graduate of the Faculty of Pharmacy and Biochemistry of the University of Buenos Aires and Faculty of Medicine of the Hospital Center of Pitié-Salpetrière , Paris .
He currently resides in France , where he has worked for almost 40 years as a researcher in clinical laboratories developing diagnostic technology .
What he says : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , replicated by the media and social networks repeat the unnecessary panic that we have previously experienced .
The coronavirus identified in China in 2019 caused nothing less than a strong cold or flu , with no difference so far with cold or flu as we know , ” Respiratory viral conditions are numerous and are caused by several viral families and species , among which the respiratory syncytial virus ( especially in infants ) , influenza ( influenza ) , human metapneumoviruses , adenoviruses , rhinoviruses , and various coronaviruses , already @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that earlier this year global health alerts have been triggered as a result of infections by a coronavirus detected in China , COVID-19 , knowing that each year there are 3 million newborns who die in the world of pneumonia and 50,000 adults in the United States for the same cause , without alarms being issued .
Our planet is the victim of a new sociological phenomenon , scientific-media harassment , triggered by experts only on the basis of laboratory molecular diagnostic analysis results .
Communiqués issued from China and Geneva were replicated @ @ @ @ @ @ @ point of view and , above all , without stressing that coronaviruses have always infected humans and always caused diarrhoea and what people call a banal cold or common cold .
Absurd forecasts were extrapolated , as in 2009 with the H1N1 influenza virus .
There is no evidence to show that the 2019 coronavirus is more lethal than respiratory adenoviruses , influenza viruses , coronaviruses from previous years , or rhinoviruses responsible for the common cold .
Dr Eran Bendavid and Dr Jay Bhattacharya are professors of medicine and public health at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Dr Tom Jefferson is a British epidemiologist , based in Rome .
He works for the Cochrane Collaboration , where he is an author and editor of the Cochrane Collaboration ’ s acute respiratory infections group , as well as part of four other Cochrane groups .
He is also an advisor to the Italian National Agency for Regional Health Services .
What he says : So I can not answer my nagging doubts , there does not seem to be anything special about this particular epidemic of influenza-like illness .
There are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ situation that bother me .
The first is the lack of institutional credibility as perceived by my friends .
They range from firefighters , policemen , and even a GP — not the kind of people you would want to alienate in an emergency .
A restaurant owner told me he would never report himself to the health authority as that would mean at least two weeks of closure and his business would go to the wall .
The second is that once the limelight has moved on , will there be a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the causes and origins of influenza-like illnesses and the life cycle of its agents ?
Past form tells me not , and we will go back to pushing influenza as a universal plague under the roof of the hot house of commercial interest .
Note the difference : Influenza ( caused by influenza A and B viruses , for which we have licensed vaccines and drugs ) , not influenza-like illnesses against which we should wash our hands all the year round , not just now .
Meanwhile , I still can not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s different this time ?
Dr Michael Levitt is Professor of biochemistry at Stanford University .
He is a Fellow of the Royal Society ( FRS ) , a member of the National Academy of Sciences and received the 2013 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the development of multiscale models for complex chemical systems .
In February this year , he correctly modelled that the China outbreak was coming to an end , predicting around 80,000 cases and 3250 deaths .
What he says : I don ’ t believe the numbers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ re made up , but because the definition of a case in Israel keeps changing and it ’ s hard to evaluate the numbers that way… There is a lot of unjustified panic in Israel .
I don ’ t believe the numbers here , everything is politics , not math .
I will be surprised if number of deaths in Israel surpasses ten , and even five now with the restrictions .
To put things in proportion , the number of deaths of coronavirus in Italy is 10 % of the number @ @ @ @ @ @ @ between 2016-2017 .
Even in China it ’ s hard to look at the number of patients because the definition of “ patient ” varies , so I look at number of deaths .
In Israel there are none , so that ’ s why it ’ s not even on the world map for the disease.
” – “ Nobel laureate : surprised if Israel has more than 10 coronavirus deaths ” , Jerusalem Post , 20th March 2020 [ Levitt ] analyzed data from 78 countries that reported more than 50 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sees “ signs of recovery ” in many of them .
He ’ s not focusing on the total number of cases in a country , but on the number of new cases identified every day — and , especially , on the change in that number from one day to the next .
“ Numbers are still noisy , but there are clear signs of slowed growth.
” “ What we need is to control the panic , ” he said .
In the grand scheme , “ we ’ re going @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this Nobel laureate predicts a quicker coronavirus recovery : ‘ We ’ re going to be fine ' ” , Los Angeles Times , 22nd March 2020 German Network for Evidence-Based Medicine is an association of German scientists , researchers and medical professionals .
The network was founded in 2000 to disseminate and further develop concepts and methods of evidence-based and patient-oriented medicine in practice , teaching and research , and today has around 1000 members .
What they say : In the majority of cases , COVID-19 takes the form of a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Therefore , it is highly unlikely that all cases of infection are recorded , in contrast with deaths which are almost completely recorded .
This leads to an overestimation of the CFR .
According to a study of 565 Japanese people evacuated from Wuhan , all of whom were tested ( regardless of symptoms ) , only 9.2 % of infected people were detected with currently used symptom-oriented COVID-19 monitoring [ 5 ] .
This would mean that the number of infected people is likely to be about 10 times greater than the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would then only be about one tenth of that currently measured .
Others assume an even higher number of unreported cases , which would further reduce the CFR .
The widespread availability of SARS-CoV-2 tests is limited .
In the USA , for example , an adequate , state-funded testing facility for all suspected cases has only been available since 11.3.2020 [ 6 ] .
In Germany as well , there were occasional bottlenecks which contribute to an overestimation of the CFR .
As the disease spreads , it becomes increasingly difficult to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ As a result , common colds in people who unknowingly had contact with a COVID-19 patient are not necessarily associated with COVID-19 and those affected do not go to the doctor at all .
An overestimation of the CFR also occurs when a deceased person is found to have been infected with SARS-CoV-2 , but this was not the cause of death .
[ T ] he CFR of 0.2 % currently measured for Germany is below the Robert Koch-Institute ’ s ( RKI ) calculated influenza CFRs of 0.5 % in 2017/18 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ above the widely accepted figure of 0.1 % for which there is no reliable evidence .
Beyond the ( rather questionable ) conclusions drawn from the historical example , there is little evidence that NPIs for COVID-19 actually lead to a reduction in overall mortality .
A Cochrane Review from 2011 found no robust evidence for the effectiveness of border control screenings or social distancing .
A systematic review from 2015 found moderate evidence that school closures delay the spread of an influenza epidemic , but at high cost .
Isolation at home @ @ @ @ @ @ @ leads to increased infection of family members .
It is questionable whether these findings can be transferred from influenza to COVID-19 .
It is completely unclear how long the NPIs must be maintained and what effects could be achieved depending on their duration and intensity .
The number of deaths might only be postponed to a later point in time , without any change in the total number .
Many questions remain unanswered .
On the one hand , the media confronts us daily with alarming reports of an exponentially increasing number of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the other hand , the media coverage in no way considers our required criteria for evidence-based risk communication .
The media is currently communicating raw data , for example , there have been “ X ” infected persons and “ Y ” deaths to date .
However , this presentation fails to distinguish between diagnoses and infections .
– “ Covid19 : Where is the evidence ?
” , statement on their website , March 20th 2020 Dr Richard Schabas is the former Chief Medical Officer of Ontario , Medical Officer of Hastings @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Staff at York Central Hospital .
What he says : [ F ] ar more cases are out there than are being reported .
This is because many cases have no symptoms and testing capacity has been limited .
There have been about 100,000 cases reported to date , but , if we extrapolate from the number of reported deaths and a presumed case-fatality rate of 0.5 per cent , the real number is probably closer to two million – the vast majority mild or asymptomatic .
Likewise , the actual rate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 10,000 a day .
If these numbers sound large , though , remember that the world is a very big place .
From a global perspective , these numbers are very small .
Second , the Hubei outbreak – by far the largest , and a kind of worst-case scenario – appears to be winding down .
How bad was it ?
Well , the number of deaths was comparable to an average influenza season .
That ’ s not nothing , but it ’ s not catastrophic , either , and it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ competent health-care system .
Not even close .
I am not preaching complacency .
This disease is not going away any time soon ; we should expect more cases and more local outbreaks .
And COVID-19 still has the potential to become a major global health problem , with an overall burden comparable to that of influenza .
We need to be vigilant in our surveillance .
But we also need to be sensible .
Quarantine belongs back in the Middle Ages .
Save your masks for robbing banks .
Stay calm and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ make our attempted cures worse than the disease .
– “ Strictly by the numbers , the coronavirus does not register as a dire global crisis ” , Globe and Mail , 11th March 2020 Another thank you to Swiss Propaganda Research for their excellent work , as well as to all the commenters who provided names and suggestions BTL on the previous piece .
They are not all included , for various reasons , but it was all useful information .
We also acknowledge voices from other fields , be they philosophers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the response to the outbreak , but we made the decision to limit these lists solely to those experts in medicine or biological science .

Following on from our previous list, here are ten more expert voices, drowned out or disregarded by the mainstream narrative, offering their take on the coronavirus outbreak.
* * *
Dr. Sunetra Gupta et al. are an Oxford-based research team constructing an epidemiological model for the coronavirus outbreak, their paper has yet to be peer-reviewed, but the abstract is available online.
Dr Gupta is a Professor of Theoretical Epidemiology at the University of Oxford with an interest in infectious disease agents that are responsible for malaria, HIV, influenza and bacterial meningitis. She is a recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award, the Scientific Medal by the Zoological Society of London and the Royal Society Rosalind Franklin Award for her scientific research.
What they say:
Importantly, the results we present here suggest the ongoing epidemics in the UK and Italy started at least a month before the first reported death and have already led to the accumulation of significant levels of herd immunity in both countries. There is an inverse relationship between the proportion currently immune and the fraction of the population vulnerable to severe disease. – Fundamental principles of epidemic spread highlight the immediate need for large-scale serological surveys to assess the stage of the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic, 24th March 2020 – – – The research presents a very different view of the epidemic to the modelling at Imperial College London […] “I’m surprised that there has been such unqualified acceptance of the Imperial model”, Dr Gupta said. […] The Oxford results would mean the country had already acquired substantial her immunity through the unrecognised spread of covid19 over more than two months. Although some experts have shed doubt on the strength and length of the human immune response to the virus, Prof Gupta said the emerging evidence made her confident that humanity would build up herd immunity against Covid19 – “Coronavirus may have infected halt the population”, Financial Times, 24th March 2020
*
Dr Karin Mölling is a German virologist whose research focused on retroviruses, particularly human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). She was a full professor and director of the Institute of Medical Virology at the University of Zurich from 1993 until her retirement in 2008 and received multiple honours and awards for her work.
What she says:
You are now told every morning how many SARS-Corona 2 deaths there are. But they don’t tell you how many people already are infected with influenza this winter and how many deaths it has caused. This winter, the flu is not severe, but around 80,000 are infected. You don’t get these numbers at all. Something similar occurred two years ago. This is not put into the right context. […] Every week a person dies in Berlin from multi-resistant germs. That adds up to 35,000 a year in Germany. This is not mentioned at all. I believe that we have had situations like this several times and that the measures are now being taken too far. I am of the opinion that maybe one should not do so much against young people having parties together and infecting each other. We have to build immunity somehow. How can that be possible without contacts? The younger ones handle the infection much better. But we have to protect the elderly, and protect them in a way that can be scrutinized; is it reasonable what we are doing now, to stretch out the epidemic in a way that almost paralyzes the entire world economy? […] The Robert Koch Institute provides the figures. Then you sit there as a listener or spectator: 20 dead again, how terrible! Do you know when I would start to panic? If there are 20,000. Then we get close to what went on completely quietly two years ago. The 2018 influenza epidemic, with 25,000 deaths, never disconcerted the press. The clinics had to deal with an additional 60,000 patients, which was no problem in the clinics either! […] That is the main fear: the disease is presented as a terrible disease. The disease per se is like the flu in a normal winter. It is even weaker in the first week. – Interview on Anti-Empire.com, 23rd March 2020
*
Dr Anders Tegnell is a Swedish physician and civil servant who has been State Epidemiologist of the Public Health Agency of Sweden since 2013. Dr Tegnell graduated from medical school in 1985, specialising in infectious disease. He later obtained a PhD in Medical Science from Linköping University in 2003 and an MSc in 2004.
What he says:
“All measures that we take must be feasible over a longer period of time.” Otherwise, the population will lose acceptance of the entire corona strategy. Older people or people with previous health problems should be isolated as much as possible. So no visits to children or grandchildren, no journeys by public transport, if possible no shopping. That is the one rule. The other is: Anyone with symptoms should stay at home immediately, even with the slightest cough. “If you follow these two rules, you don’t need any further measures, the effect of which is only very marginal anyway,” – “The World Stands Still…Except for Sweden”, Zeit.de, 24th March 2020
*
Dr Pablo Goldschmidt is an Argentine-French virologist specializing in tropical diseases, and Professor of Molecular Pharmacology at the Université Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris. He is a graduate of the Faculty of Pharmacy and Biochemistry of the University of Buenos Aires and Faculty of Medicine of the Hospital Center of Pitié-Salpetrière, Paris.
He currently resides in France, where he has worked for almost 40 years as a researcher in clinical laboratories developing diagnostic technology.
What he says:
The ill-founded opinions expressed by international experts, replicated by the media and social networks repeat the unnecessary panic that we have previously experienced. The coronavirus identified in China in 2019 caused nothing less than a strong cold or flu, with no difference so far with cold or flu as we know , ” […] Respiratory viral conditions are numerous and are caused by several viral families and species, among which the respiratory syncytial virus (especially in infants), influenza (influenza), human metapneumoviruses, adenoviruses, rhinoviruses, and various coronaviruses, already described years ago. It is striking that earlier this year global health alerts have been triggered as a result of infections by a coronavirus detected in China, COVID-19, knowing that each year there are 3 million newborns who die in the world of pneumonia and 50,000 adults in the United States for the same cause, without alarms being issued. […] Our planet is the victim of a new sociological phenomenon, scientific-media harassment , triggered by experts only on the basis of laboratory molecular diagnostic analysis results. Communiqués issued from China and Geneva were replicated, without being confronted from a critical point of view and, above all, without stressing that coronaviruses have always infected humans and always caused diarrhoea and what people call a banal cold or common cold. Absurd forecasts were extrapolated, as in 2009 with the H1N1 influenza virus. […] There is no evidence to show that the 2019 coronavirus is more lethal than respiratory adenoviruses, influenza viruses, coronaviruses from previous years, or rhinoviruses responsible for the common cold. – Interview on Clarin.com, 9th March 2020
*
Dr Eran Bendavid and Dr Jay Bhattacharya are professors of medicine and public health at Stanford University.
What they say:
[P]rojections of the death toll could plausibly be orders of magnitude too high […] The true fatality rate is the portion of those infected who die, not the deaths from identified positive cases. The latter rate is misleading because of selection bias in testing. The degree of bias is uncertain because available data are limited. But it could make the difference between an epidemic that kills 20,000 and one that kills two million. […] A universal quarantine may not be worth the costs it imposes on the economy, community and individual mental and physical health. We should undertake immediate steps to evaluate the empirical basis of the current lockdowns. “Is the Coronavirus as Deadly as They Say?”, Wall Street Journal, 24th March 2020
*
Dr Tom Jefferson is a British epidemiologist, based in Rome. He works for the Cochrane Collaboration, where he is an author and editor of the Cochrane Collaboration’s acute respiratory infections group, as well as part of four other Cochrane groups. He is also an advisor to the Italian National Agency for Regional Health Services.
What he says:
So I cannot answer my nagging doubts, there does not seem to be anything special about this particular epidemic of influenza-like illness. There are, however, two consequences of this situation that bother me. The first is the lack of institutional credibility as perceived by my friends. They range from firefighters, policemen, and even a GP — not the kind of people you would want to alienate in an emergency. A restaurant owner told me he would never report himself to the health authority as that would mean at least two weeks of closure and his business would go to the wall. The second is that once the limelight has moved on, will there be a serious and concentrated international effort to understand the causes and origins of influenza-like illnesses and the life cycle of its agents? Past form tells me not, and we will go back to pushing influenza as a universal plague under the roof of the hot house of commercial interest. Note the difference: Influenza (caused by influenza A and B viruses, for which we have licensed vaccines and drugs), not influenza-like illnesses against which we should wash our hands all the year round, not just now. Meanwhile, I still cannot answer Mario’s question: what’s different this time? – “Covid 19—many questions, no clear answers”, British Medical Journal, 2nd March 2020
*
Dr Michael Levitt is Professor of biochemistry at Stanford University. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS), a member of the National Academy of Sciences and received the 2013 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the development of multiscale models for complex chemical systems.
In February this year, he correctly modelled that the China outbreak was coming to an end, predicting around 80,000 cases and 3250 deaths.
What he says:
I don’t believe the numbers in Israel, not because they’re made up, but because the definition of a case in Israel keeps changing and it’s hard to evaluate the numbers that way… There is a lot of unjustified panic in Israel. I don’t believe the numbers here, everything is politics, not math. I will be surprised if number of deaths in Israel surpasses ten, and even five now with the restrictions. […] To put things in proportion, the number of deaths of coronavirus in Italy is 10% of the number of deaths of influenza in the country between 2016-2017. Even in China it’s hard to look at the number of patients because the definition of “patient” varies, so I look at number of deaths. In Israel there are none, so that’s why it’s not even on the world map for the disease.” – “Nobel laureate: surprised if Israel has more than 10 coronavirus deaths”, Jerusalem Post, 20th March 2020 – – – [Levitt] analyzed data from 78 countries that reported more than 50 new cases of COVID-19 every day and sees “signs of recovery” in many of them. He’s not focusing on the total number of cases in a country, but on the number of new cases identified every day — and, especially, on the change in that number from one day to the next. “Numbers are still noisy, but there are clear signs of slowed growth.” “What we need is to control the panic,” he said. In the grand scheme, “we’re going to be fine.” – “Why this Nobel laureate predicts a quicker coronavirus recovery: ‘We’re going to be fine'”, Los Angeles Times, 22nd March 2020
*
German Network for Evidence-Based Medicine is an association of German scientists, researchers and medical professionals.
The network was founded in 2000 to disseminate and further develop concepts and methods of evidence-based and patient-oriented medicine in practice, teaching and research, and today has around 1000 members.
What they say:
In the majority of cases, COVID-19 takes the form of a mild cold or is even symptom-free. Therefore, it is highly unlikely that all cases of infection are recorded, in contrast with deaths which are almost completely recorded. This leads to an overestimation of the CFR. According to a study of 565 Japanese people evacuated from Wuhan, all of whom were tested (regardless of symptoms), only 9.2% of infected people were detected with currently used symptom-oriented COVID-19 monitoring [5]. This would mean that the number of infected people is likely to be about 10 times greater than the number of registered cases. The CFR would then only be about one tenth of that currently measured. Others assume an even higher number of unreported cases, which would further reduce the CFR. The widespread availability of SARS-CoV-2 tests is limited. In the USA, for example, an adequate, state-funded testing facility for all suspected cases has only been available since 11.3.2020 [6]. In Germany as well, there were occasional bottlenecks which contribute to an overestimation of the CFR. As the disease spreads, it becomes increasingly difficult to identify a suspected source of infection. As a result, common colds in people who unknowingly had contact with a COVID-19 patient are not necessarily associated with COVID-19 and those affected do not go to the doctor at all. An overestimation of the CFR also occurs when a deceased person is found to have been infected with SARS-CoV-2, but this was not the cause of death. […] [T]he CFR of 0.2% currently measured for Germany is below the Robert Koch-Institute’s (RKI) calculated influenza CFRs of 0.5% in 2017/18 and 0.4% in 2018/19, but above the widely accepted figure of 0.1% for which there is no reliable evidence. […] Beyond the (rather questionable) conclusions drawn from the historical example, there is little evidence that NPIs for COVID-19 actually lead to a reduction in overall mortality. A Cochrane Review from 2011 found no robust evidence for the effectiveness of border control screenings or social distancing. […] A systematic review from 2015 found moderate evidence that school closures delay the spread of an influenza epidemic, but at high cost. Isolation at home slows down the spread of influenza but leads to increased infection of family members. It is questionable whether these findings can be transferred from influenza to COVID-19. It is completely unclear how long the NPIs must be maintained and what effects could be achieved depending on their duration and intensity. The number of deaths might only be postponed to a later point in time, without any change in the total number. […] Many questions remain unanswered. On the one hand, the media confronts us daily with alarming reports of an exponentially increasing number of ill and dead people worldwide. On the other hand, the media coverage in no way considers our required criteria for evidence-based risk communication. The media is currently communicating raw data, for example, there have been “X” infected persons and “Y” deaths to date. However, this presentation fails to distinguish between diagnoses and infections. – “Covid19: Where is the evidence?”, statement on their website, March 20th 2020
*
Dr Richard Schabas is the former Chief Medical Officer of Ontario, Medical Officer of Hastings and Prince Edward Public Health and Chief of Staff at York Central Hospital.
What he says:
[F]ar more cases are out there than are being reported. This is because many cases have no symptoms and testing capacity has been limited. There have been about 100,000 cases reported to date, but, if we extrapolate from the number of reported deaths and a presumed case-fatality rate of 0.5 per cent, the real number is probably closer to two million – the vast majority mild or asymptomatic. Likewise, the actual rate of new cases is probably at least 10,000 a day. If these numbers sound large, though, remember that the world is a very big place. From a global perspective, these numbers are very small. Second, the Hubei outbreak – by far the largest, and a kind of worst-case scenario – appears to be winding down. How bad was it? Well, the number of deaths was comparable to an average influenza season. That’s not nothing, but it’s not catastrophic, either, and it isn’t likely to overwhelm a competent health-care system. Not even close. […] I am not preaching complacency. This disease is not going away any time soon; we should expect more cases and more local outbreaks. And COVID-19 still has the potential to become a major global health problem, with an overall burden comparable to that of influenza. We need to be vigilant in our surveillance. […] But we also need to be sensible. Quarantine belongs back in the Middle Ages. Save your masks for robbing banks. Stay calm and carry on. Let’s not make our attempted cures worse than the disease. – “Strictly by the numbers, the coronavirus does not register as a dire global crisis”, Globe and Mail, 11th March 2020
Another thank you to Swiss Propaganda Research for their excellent work, as well as to all the commenters who provided names and suggestions BTL on the previous piece. They are not all included, for various reasons, but it was all useful information. We also acknowledge voices from other fields, be they philosophers or human rights lawyers, have criticised the response to the outbreak, but we made the decision to limit these lists solely to those experts in medicine or biological science.


offguardian--2020-03-28--The Propaganda of Terror and Fear: A Lesson from Recent History

The ongoing and unfolding reactions to the Corona Virus look set to have wide-ranging and long-lasting effect on politics , society and economics .
The drive to close down all activities is extraordinary as are the measures being promoted to isolate people from each other .
The deep-rooted fear of contagious disease , hardwired into the collective consciousness by historical events such as the ‘ Black/Bubonic Plague ’ and maintained through popular culture ( e.g .
the Hollywood movies Outbreak and Contagion ) , means that people are without question highly susceptible to accepting extreme emergency measures whether or not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The New York Times called for America to be put on a war footing in order to deal with Corona whilst former Army General Stanley McChrystal has been invoking his 9/11 experience in order to prescribe lessons for today ’ s leaders .
At the same time , political actors are fully aware that these conditions of fear and panic provide a critical opportunity that can be exploited in order to pursue political , economic and societal objectives .
It is very likely , however , that the dangers posed by the potential @ @ @ @ @ @ @ economic and societal objectives latter far outweigh the immediate threat to life and health from the virus .
A lesson from recent history is instructive here .
9/11 and the global ‘ War on terror ’ The events of September 11 2001 represent a key moment in contemporary history .
The destruction of three skyscrapers in New York after the impact of two airliners and an attack on the Pentagon , killing around 3000 civilians , shocked both American and global publics .
The horror of seeing aircraft being flown into buildings , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ high rise buildings within a matter of seconds , and the spectre of a shadowy band of Islamic fundamentalists ( Al Qaeda ) having pulled off such devastating attacks , gripped the imagination of many in the Western world .
It was in this climate of paranoia and fear that extraordinary policies were implemented .
The USA Patriot Act led to significant civil liberty restrictions whilst the mass surveillance of the digital environment became normalized .
In the United States torture was authorized in the name of preventing terrorism whilst the Guantanamo Bay @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which accused individuals have been held without any adequate legal protection or due process .
Remarkably , the individual accused of leading the alleged 9/11 plot , Khalid Sheikh Mohammed , who ‘ confessed ’ to CIA interrogators after being ‘ waterboarded ’ 183 times , has recently received his trial date , set for January 11 2021 and 20 years after 9/11 .
Civil liberty restrictions , mass surveillance and torture were only a sub-strand of the major war-fighting-policy that was enabled by 9/11 .
Presented at the time as America ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 9/11 provided the conditions for a series of major regime-change wars which persist until today .
Critically , these wars have not been primarily about combatting ‘ Islamic fundamentalist terrorism ’ /Al Qaeda , but rather attacking ‘ enemy ’ states .
Indeed , the evidence that the 9/11 event and the alleged threat of ‘ Islamic fundamentalist ’ was then exploited in order to pursue a geo-politically motivated set of regime-change wars which had little connection to the purported Al Qaeda threat is well established .
Former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in 2006/7 stating that immediately after 9/11 he had been informed that the US was intending to attack seven countries within five years including Iraq , Syria , Lebanon , Somalia , Sudan and Iran .
Clark stated : Clark ’ s claims have recently been corroborated by retired Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson ( chief of staff to Colin Powell and Iraq War planner ) who stated that he had actually seen the same plans Clark was referring to many months prior to 9/11 : Documentary evidence for these claims has come by way @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2003 Iraq War .
For example , a report quoted a British embassy cable , dated 15 September 2001 , explained that ‘ [ t ] he “ regime-change hawks ” in Washington are arguing that a coalition put together for one purpose [ against international terrorism ] could be used to clear up other problems in the region.
’ Another document released by Chilcot shows British Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President George Bush discussing phases one and two of the ‘ war on terror ’ and when to hit particular @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wars that have flowed directly and indirectly from 9/11 continue to this day .
War and conflict continues in Afghanistan and Iraq whilst the nine-year-long war in Syria has borne witness to extensive and illegal policies pursued by Western governments including the funding and arming of extremist groups coupled with support for groups actually aligned with Al Qaeda .
Iran continues to be subjected to US hybrid warfare tactics including sanctions and covert operations whilst the threat of military action is very clear and present .
The human cost of these wars , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fear of terrorism in order to pursue multiple ‘ regime-change ’ wars , has been huge .
According to the Brown University ‘ Costs of War Project ’ , the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have killed a combined 480,000 to 507,000 civilians , coalition military members , and foreign fighters , with an untold number having been maimed and disfigured .
IPPNW estimated that the first ten years of the ‘ war on terror ’ in Afghanistan , Iraq and Pakistan killed 1.3 million people .
Since 2011 , in Syria alone @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a result of war .
The numbers of people displaced as a result of these conflicts are also extremely high ; wars in Afghanistan , Iraq , Pakistan , and Syria have wrought a combined 9.39 million refugees , 10.78 million internally displaced peoples , and 830,000 asylum seekers .
In addition , there are persisting and very serious concerns with respect to the possible involvement of state actors with the event of 9/11 .
Recent and critical developments regarding the events of 9/11 include the publication this week of the University of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ confirms that the official US government investigation was wrong if not plain fraudulent .
Other important developments include publication last year of the 9/11 Consensus Panel evidence and increasing scrutiny of the official narrative from mainstream academics .
Overall , the 9/11 global ‘ war on terror ’ is increasingly coming to be understood particularly across the world as , first and foremost , a remarkable propaganda campaign designed to enable violent conflict in the international system and with its effects and objectives being far wider and deeper than had been suggested by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Al Qaeda .
The lesson of 9/11 is that major events can become what scholar Peter Dale Scott describes as deep events which are exploited by political actors in order to precipitate and manage major political , economic and social shifts .
9/11 became , in effect , the deep event that enabled 20 years of unfettered Western warfare abroad and severe civil liberty restrictions and extensive surveillance at home .
At the time of 9/11 many people in the West were terrified of terrorism .
Public opposition to the invasion of Afghanistan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ within months of 9/11 ) was almost impossible without being accused of being reckless in the ‘ fight against terrorism ’ or of being an ‘ Al Qaeda ’ sympathizer .
Muslims throughout the West were widely despised .
US President George Bush declared that ‘ you are either with us or against us ’ .
The parallels with what is happening today are obvious .
Is the Corona Virus a new 9/11 , a new deep event ?
We can not yet be sure , as of this writing .
Perhaps the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ work to effectively eliminate all threats posed by the virus .
Governments will then restore the civil liberties currently being suspended and all will fairly quickly return to the way things were before .
Perhaps the economy will confidently weather the fallout from the ‘ lockdowns ’ and everything will return to business as usual .
And perhaps a sober ‘ lessons learned ’ review will lead to public health officials developing reasonable and balanced plans , such as developing sufficient capacity for rapid testing and tracing , which can be deployed the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to spread thus avoiding terrifying publics and implementing draconian measures that inflict significant damage to the social and economic fabric of society .
Or perhaps not .
It may be that , as British journalist Peter Hitchens has been warning , the loss of liberty and basic rights will continue indefinitely as governments greedily hold on to their increased powers of control over their citizenry .
Similarly , Italian journalist Stefania Maurizi has warned about the risks in Italy of state authorities , hostile to open societies and the political left , exploiting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
An obvious concern here is whether there will be a permanent impact on mass gatherings and protests .
James Corbett warns of a permanent state of ‘ medical martial law ’ and there is certainly the very real possibility of the normalization of government-imposed quarantine and other freedom of movement restrictions .
Margaret Kimberley of the US-based Black Agenda Report warns that Corona may be used as a way of covering up both economic crisis and collapse .
She notes that the Federal Reserve ‘ recently threw Wall Street a $ 1.5 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ down the road .
The can has been kicked ever since the Great Recession of 2008 ’ .
The likely destruction of small businesses might allow for ever greater corporate choke-hold on the economy with more people forced into the corporate workforce .
There is certainly the danger that Corona will be exploited in order to distract from severe economic problems whilst also enabling the pursuit of new economic strategies which worsen rather than mitigate the social inequalities that already tarnish Western countries .
And , of course those actors behind the regime-change @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Corona Virus to increase pressure on the countries they have been targeting for the last 20 years and those they wish to target in the future .
Already we have seen the regime-change advocate John Bolton blaming China for the Corona Virus whilst the New York Times reported that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and national security adviser Robert C. O ’ Brien were ‘ arguing that tough action while Iran ’ s leaders were battling the corona virus ravaging the country could finally push then into direct negotiations ’ .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Corona Virus , US and UAE troops have held a major military exercise ‘ that saw forces seize a sprawling model Mideast city ’ .
It is also worth nothing here the recent US assassination of Iranian General Solemeni and the on-going proxy battles between US forces and Iranian-backed groups in Iraq .
The possibility of Corona being exploited in order to further the regime change wars we have seen over the last 20 years is extremely likely and it would be naïve in the extreme to think otherwise .
Whatever the Corona @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the fundamental lesson of the last 20 years is that governments can and do exploit , even manipulate , events in order to pursue political , social , military and economic objectives .
Fearful populations are frequently irrational ones , vulnerable and malleable .
Now is not the time for deference to authority and reluctance to speak out .
It is time for publics to get informed , think calmly and rationally , and to robustly scrutinize and challenge what their governments are doing .
The dangers of failing to do this likely @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Corona Virus .

Dr Piers Robinson, Co-Director Organisation for Propaganda Studies
The ongoing and unfolding reactions to the Corona Virus look set to have wide-ranging and long-lasting effect on politics, society and economics. The drive to close down all activities is extraordinary as are the measures being promoted to isolate people from each other.
The deep-rooted fear of contagious disease, hardwired into the collective consciousness by historical events such as the ‘Black/Bubonic Plague’ and maintained through popular culture (e.g. the Hollywood movies Outbreak and Contagion), means that people are without question highly susceptible to accepting extreme emergency measures whether or not such measures are rational or justified. The New York Times called for America to be put on a war footing in order to deal with Corona whilst former Army General Stanley McChrystal has been invoking his 9/11 experience in order to prescribe lessons for today’s leaders.
At the same time, political actors are fully aware that these conditions of fear and panic provide a critical opportunity that can be exploited in order to pursue political, economic and societal objectives. It is very likely, however, that the dangers posed by the potential exploitation of Corona for broader political, economic and societal objectives latter far outweigh the immediate threat to life and health from the virus. A lesson from recent history is instructive here.
9/11 and the global ‘War on terror’
The events of September 11 2001 represent a key moment in contemporary history. The destruction of three skyscrapers in New York after the impact of two airliners and an attack on the Pentagon, killing around 3000 civilians, shocked both American and global publics. The horror of seeing aircraft being flown into buildings, followed by the total destruction of three high rise buildings within a matter of seconds, and the spectre of a shadowy band of Islamic fundamentalists (Al Qaeda) having pulled off such devastating attacks, gripped the imagination of many in the Western world.
It was in this climate of paranoia and fear that extraordinary policies were implemented. The USA Patriot Act led to significant civil liberty restrictions whilst the mass surveillance of the digital environment became normalized.
In the United States torture was authorized in the name of preventing terrorism whilst the Guantanamo Bay facility in Cuba became a site in which accused individuals have been held without any adequate legal protection or due process.
Remarkably, the individual accused of leading the alleged 9/11 plot, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who ‘confessed’ to CIA interrogators after being ‘waterboarded’ 183 times, has recently received his trial date, set for January 11 2021 and 20 years after 9/11. Civil liberty restrictions, mass surveillance and torture were only a sub-strand of the major war-fighting-policy that was enabled by 9/11.
Presented at the time as America’s ‘New Pearl Harbour’, 9/11 provided the conditions for a series of major regime-change wars which persist until today.
Critically, these wars have not been primarily about combatting ‘Islamic fundamentalist terrorism’/Al Qaeda, but rather attacking ‘enemy’ states. Indeed, the evidence that the 9/11 event and the alleged threat of ‘Islamic fundamentalist’ was then exploited in order to pursue a geo-politically motivated set of regime-change wars which had little connection to the purported Al Qaeda threat is well established.
Former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, Wesley Clark, famously went public in 2006/7 stating that immediately after 9/11 he had been informed that the US was intending to attack seven countries within five years including Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Somalia, Sudan and Iran. Clark stated:
He [the Joint Staff officer] picked up a piece of paper, he said I just got this down from upstairs, from the Secretary of Defence’s office today, and he said this is a memo that describes how we are gonna take out seven countries in five years, starting with Iraq and then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and finishing off Iran.
Clark’s claims have recently been corroborated by retired Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson (chief of staff to Colin Powell and Iraq War planner) who stated that he had actually seen the same plans Clark was referring to many months prior to 9/11:
My first briefing in the Pentagon from an Air Force three-star general in February of 2001 I almost fell of my chair because their briefing included on the one hand the Air Force’s ability to take out 80 to 90% of the targets in North Korea in the first few hours of an aerial strike on that country to hey when we do Iraq we’re gonna do Syria and Lebanon and we’re going to do Iran and maybe Egypt … but this was more than that [just contingency planning] Wes Clark is right they had these plans they were going to go right through all these countries that they felt threatened Israel all through those countries that they felt threatened 25-30% of the world’s oil passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
Documentary evidence for these claims has come by way of the UK Chilcot Inquiry into the 2003 Iraq War. For example, a report quoted a British embassy cable, dated 15 September 2001, explained that ‘[t]he “regime-change hawks” in Washington are arguing that a coalition put together for one purpose [against international terrorism] could be used to clear up other problems in the region.’ Another document released by Chilcot shows British Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President George Bush discussing phases one and two of the ‘war on terror’ and when to hit particular countries. Blair writes:
If toppling Saddam is a prime objective, it is far easier to do it with Syria and Iran in favour or acquiescing rather than hitting all three at once.
The regime-change wars that have flowed directly and indirectly from 9/11 continue to this day. War and conflict continues in Afghanistan and Iraq whilst the nine-year-long war in Syria has borne witness to extensive and illegal policies pursued by Western governments including the funding and arming of extremist groups coupled with support for groups actually aligned with Al Qaeda. Iran continues to be subjected to US hybrid warfare tactics including sanctions and covert operations whilst the threat of military action is very clear and present.
The human cost of these wars, built upon the ruthless exploitation of public fear of terrorism in order to pursue multiple ‘regime-change’ wars, has been huge. According to the Brown University ‘Costs of War Project’, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have killed a combined 480,000 to 507,000 civilians, coalition military members, and foreign fighters, with an untold number having been maimed and disfigured. IPPNW estimated that the first ten years of the ‘war on terror’ in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan killed 1.3 million people.
Since 2011, in Syria alone, over 400,000 people have died as a result of war. The numbers of people displaced as a result of these conflicts are also extremely high; wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, and Syria have wrought a combined 9.39 million refugees, 10.78 million internally displaced peoples, and 830,000 asylum seekers. In addition, there are persisting and very serious concerns with respect to the possible involvement of state actors with the event of 9/11.
Recent and critical developments regarding the events of 9/11 include the publication this week of the University of Alaska study of the WTC7 Collapse which confirms that the official US government investigation was wrong if not plain fraudulent. Other important developments include publication last year of the 9/11 Consensus Panel evidence and increasing scrutiny of the official narrative from mainstream academics.
Overall, the 9/11 global ‘war on terror’ is increasingly coming to be understood particularly across the world as, first and foremost, a remarkable propaganda campaign designed to enable violent conflict in the international system and with its effects and objectives being far wider and deeper than had been suggested by official narratives regarding the need to combat Al Qaeda.
Corona Virus: A New 9/11?
The lesson of 9/11 is that major events can become what scholar Peter Dale Scott describes as deep events which are exploited by political actors in order to precipitate and manage major political, economic and social shifts. 9/11 became, in effect, the deep event that enabled 20 years of unfettered Western warfare abroad and severe civil liberty restrictions and extensive surveillance at home.
At the time of 9/11 many people in the West were terrified of terrorism. Public opposition to the invasion of Afghanistan (the first regime war to flow within months of 9/11) was almost impossible without being accused of being reckless in the ‘fight against terrorism’ or of being an ‘Al Qaeda’ sympathizer. Muslims throughout the West were widely despised. US President George Bush declared that ‘you are either with us or against us’. The parallels with what is happening today are obvious.
Is the Corona Virus a new 9/11, a new deep event? We cannot yet be sure, as of this writing. Perhaps the current strategy of suspending basic liberties will work to effectively eliminate all threats posed by the virus. Governments will then restore the civil liberties currently being suspended and all will fairly quickly return to the way things were before. Perhaps the economy will confidently weather the fallout from the ‘lockdowns’ and everything will return to business as usual.
And perhaps a sober ‘lessons learned’ review will lead to public health officials developing reasonable and balanced plans, such as developing sufficient capacity for rapid testing and tracing, which can be deployed the next time a sufficiently dangerous virus starts to spread thus avoiding terrifying publics and implementing draconian measures that inflict significant damage to the social and economic fabric of society.
Or perhaps not. It may be that, as British journalist Peter Hitchens has been warning, the loss of liberty and basic rights will continue indefinitely as governments greedily hold on to their increased powers of control over their citizenry.
Similarly, Italian journalist Stefania Maurizi has warned about the risks in Italy of state authorities, hostile to open societies and the political left, exploiting Corona in order to increase their control.
An obvious concern here is whether there will be a permanent impact on mass gatherings and protests. James Corbett warns of a permanent state of ‘medical martial law’ and there is certainly the very real possibility of the normalization of government-imposed quarantine and other freedom of movement restrictions.
Margaret Kimberley of the US-based Black Agenda Report warns that Corona may be used as a way of covering up both economic crisis and collapse. She notes that the Federal Reserve ‘recently threw Wall Street a $1.5 trillion lifeline which only kicked the can down the road. The can has been kicked ever since the Great Recession of 2008’. The likely destruction of small businesses might allow for ever greater corporate choke-hold on the economy with more people forced into the corporate workforce.
There is certainly the danger that Corona will be exploited in order to distract from severe economic problems whilst also enabling the pursuit of new economic strategies which worsen rather than mitigate the social inequalities that already tarnish Western countries.
And, of course those actors behind the regime-change wars that flowed from 9/11 may use the Corona Virus to increase pressure on the countries they have been targeting for the last 20 years and those they wish to target in the future.
Already we have seen the regime-change advocate John Bolton blaming China for the Corona Virus whilst the New York Times reported that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and national security adviser Robert C. O’Brien were ‘arguing that tough action while Iran’s leaders were battling the corona virus ravaging the country could finally push then into direct negotiations’.
ABC news report that, despite the Corona Virus, US and UAE troops have held a major military exercise ‘that saw forces seize a sprawling model Mideast city’. It is also worth nothing here the recent US assassination of Iranian General Solemeni and the on-going proxy battles between US forces and Iranian-backed groups in Iraq. The possibility of Corona being exploited in order to further the regime change wars we have seen over the last 20 years is extremely likely and it would be naïve in the extreme to think otherwise.
Whatever the Corona event may or may not be, the fundamental lesson of the last 20 years is that governments can and do exploit, even manipulate, events in order to pursue political, social, military and economic objectives. Fearful populations are frequently irrational ones, vulnerable and malleable. Now is not the time for deference to authority and reluctance to speak out.
It is time for publics to get informed, think calmly and rationally, and to robustly scrutinize and challenge what their governments are doing. The dangers of failing to do this likely far surpass the immediate threat posed by the Corona Virus.


offguardian--2020-03-27--The War on Death

The War on Death

OK , I ’ ve got some good news and I ’ ve got some bad news .
The good news is mainly for authoritarians who missed all the fun during the War on Terror .
The news is … welcome to the War on Death !
Yes , that ’ s right , global capitalism ( a/k/a “ the world ” ) is now at war with Death … which is great news for authoritarians !
No more bothersome critical thinking .
The time for questioning our leaders is over .
It ’ s time to shut up and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a global state of emergency , folks !
We ’ re talking lockdowns , soldiers in the streets , abrogation of our constitutional rights , arbitrary arrests , indefinite detentions , round-the-clock media fear-propaganda … the whole totalitarian megillah !
What , you ’ re probably asking , is the War on Death ?
Well … for those who remember the War on Terror , the War on Death is just like that , except this time the evil enemy is Death … or , all right , maybe not exactly like that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ striking similarities .
For one thing , just like the War on Terror , we didn ’ t start it .
Death attacked us !
There we were , peacefully going about our global capitalist business , quelling a worldwide “ populist ” rebellion orchestrated by Russian-backed Nazis , when Death attacked us with a coronavirus … more or less exactly the way that the terrorists attacked us in 2001 .
And , just like after those terrorist attacks , the world has united and forcefully responded .
No , we haven ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ actually , we did bomb them a little ) , but we have locked down almost the entire planet , virtually shut down the global economy , and are scaring the masses into a state of unprecedented mass hysteria .
Police are patrolling the streets of Europe , checking people ’ s “ permission-to-go-outside ” papers .
In the U.K. , soldiers are standing by to assist with “ protecting possible quarantine zones , ” or to “ cope with the breakdown of civil society.
” Israel is tapping its formerly secret collection @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to identify people who might be infected , and assorted “ others who need to be quarantined.
” Macron ( now relieved of his Gilets Jaunes problem ! )
is ready to “ rule by decree ” if necessary .
California is “ prepared to enact martial law.
” The U.S. military is “ prepared to deploy in support of potential extraordinary missions , ” including “ quelling civil disturbances.
” The U.S. Department of Justice is asking Congress for the power to detain people indefinitely .
The British Parliament is on the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Bill ” that will ( among other unsettling provisions ) grant authorities the power to arrest and indefinitely quarantine anyone they deem a “ potentially infectious person ” … or , in other words , pretty much anyone they want .
As if that wasn ’ t dystopian enough , according to a report in Politico : But wait , it gets even better than that .
In Missouri , prosecutors have charged an idiot who licked some items at Walmart as a “ terrorist.
” I kid you not , a Coronavirus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but I think you get the picture ( if you need more examples , check this Twitter thread ) .
The point is , the global capitalist empire ( for whatever reasons , real or imagined ) has turned on the MINDLESS HYSTERIA machine , and dialed it up as high as it goes .
People are in full-blown headless chicken mode .
No one ( or hardly anyone ) is thinking , or listening to dissenting opinions , or paying attention to official statistics , or common sense , or anything else @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The British tabloids are publishing horror stories about “ doctors ” standing by and helplessly watching as patients slowly suffocate to death .
According to such stories , not only are these “ doctors ” unable to treat roughly 400 patients with any of the UK ’ s over 8,000 ventilators , but , apparently , patients whose hearts have stopped ( and who are therefore unconscious ) are also now capable of “ dying in agony ” with “ terror in their eyes.
” According to The New York Times , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ where the authorities have called in the refrigerator trucks to haul away the mountains of corpses , after 13 people who “ had tested positive ” died ( of something ) in the course of one day .
The rest of the corporate media are running moment-by-moment deathometer updates , apocalyptic prognostications of the millions or billions who are possibly going to die , and of course the latest on which celebrities have been infected and are clinging to life , or experiencing mild , cold-like symptoms , or absolutely no symptoms whatsoever @ @ @ @ @ @ @ infected !
Prince Charles !
Colton Underwood ( whoever that is ) , Tom Hanks , and even Idris Elba !
Just the other night , celebrated playwright Terrence McNally ( who was 81 , and had a history of lung cancer and COPD ) was struck down in the prime of his life !
In short , the authorities have whipped the masses into an orgy of shrieking , white-eyed FEAR of this new , evil , “ invisible enemy ” that is coming to kill them and their families .
Millions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ homes ) have taken to the Internet to pump up the hysteria , share totally un-sourced personal accounts of the horrors their therapists ’ accountants ’ doctors have personally witnessed on the war ’ s “ front lines , ” and hunt down any infected persons , or potentially infected persons ( or otherwise uncooperative persons ) who might have gone outside for some air .
So , that ’ s the good news for you authoritarians !
For the rest of us … yeah , not so good .
Oh , I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bad news is … well , the bad news is Death .
The bad news is , you are going to die .
I ’ m going to die .
We are all going to die .
All of us .
We are going to die .
We are going to die of … well , something .
Cancer .
A heart attack .
A stroke .
The flu .
Diabetes .
Alzheimer ’ s disease .
Possibly a coronavirus .
Maybe even this coronavirus .
In fact , a lot of us @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Internet , around a hundred per minute … which , it goes without saying , is unacceptable , and a tragedy , and something we need to take drastic action to prevent at all costs .
We can ’ t let these Russian dissension sowers , neo-Nazi accelerationists , and coronavirus-sympathizers confuse us .
They want to convince us that Death is , yes , scary , and sad , but inevitable , and natural .
How utterly heartless and insane is that ?
!
No , we need to close our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dying !
This is not normal !
Death is our enemy !
We have to defeat it !
We need to hunt down and neutralize Death !
Root it out if its hidey hole and hang it like we did with Saddam !
I ’ m not kidding .
There is a war on , people !
GloboCap is taking the gloves off again .
( You remember what happens when the gloves come off , don ’ t you ? )
So get your mind right and get with the program or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Relax , I ’ m not referring to all these tanks ( 2:34 in the NBC video ) .
I ’ m referring to other consequences .
I am not some crazy conspiracy theorist .
Plus , Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has assured us there ’ s no cause for concern : See ?
Everything is perfectly fine .
No one is preparing for martial law .
Those tanks just returned from the Middle East and are “ being sent back home to Texas.
” This kind of thing happens all the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with the global lockdown .
I don ’ t know about you , but I ’ m extremely relieved … for a moment there I thought we were in trouble .
CJ Hopkins is an award-winning American playwright , novelist and political satirist based in Berlin .
His plays are published by Bloomsbury Publishing and Broadway Play Publishing , Inc. His dystopian novel , Zone 23 , is published by Snoggsworthy , Swaine & Cormorant .
Volume I of his Consent Factory Essays is published by Consent Factory Publishing , a wholly-owned subsidiary @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can be reached at cjhopkins.com or consentfactory.org .

CJ Hopkins
OK, I’ve got some good news and I’ve got some bad news. The good news is mainly for authoritarians who missed all the fun during the War on Terror. The news is … welcome to the War on Death!
Yes, that’s right, global capitalism (a/k/a “the world”) is now at war with Death … which is great news for authoritarians! No more bothersome critical thinking. The time for questioning our leaders is over. It’s time to shut up and follow orders. We’re in a global state of emergency, folks!
We’re talking lockdowns, soldiers in the streets, abrogation of our constitutional rights, arbitrary arrests, indefinite detentions, round-the-clock media fear-propaganda … the whole totalitarian megillah!
What, you’re probably asking, is the War on Death? Well … for those who remember the War on Terror, the War on Death is just like that, except this time the evil enemy is Death … or, all right, maybe not exactly like that, but there are a number of striking similarities.
For one thing, just like the War on Terror, we didn’t start it. Death attacked us! There we were, peacefully going about our global capitalist business, quelling a worldwide “populist” rebellion orchestrated by Russian-backed Nazis, when Death attacked us with a coronavirus … more or less exactly the way that the terrorists attacked us in 2001.
And, just like after those terrorist attacks, the world has united and forcefully responded. No, we haven’t invaded Iraq again (well, actually, we did bomb them a little), but we have locked down almost the entire planet, virtually shut down the global economy, and are scaring the masses into a state of unprecedented mass hysteria.
Police are patrolling the streets of Europe, checking people’s “permission-to-go-outside” papers.
In the U.K., soldiers are standing by to assist with “protecting possible quarantine zones,” or to “cope with the breakdown of civil society.” Israel is tapping its formerly secret collection of everyone’s mobile phone records to identify people who might be infected, and assorted “others who need to be quarantined.”
Macron (now relieved of his Gilets Jaunes problem!) is ready to “rule by decree” if necessary. California is “prepared to enact martial law.” The U.S. military is “prepared to deploy in support of potential extraordinary missions,” including “quelling civil disturbances.”
The U.S. Department of Justice is asking Congress for the power to detain people indefinitely. The British Parliament is on the brink of passing an emergency “Coronavirus Bill” that will (among other unsettling provisions) grant authorities the power to arrest and indefinitely quarantine anyone they deem a “potentially infectious person” … or, in other words, pretty much anyone they want.
As if that wasn’t dystopian enough, according to a report in Politico:
Counter-terrorism troops have been redeployed across Italy to beef up police forces throughout Italian cities. Patrol cars are now circulating in every major city in Italy with a monotone male voice warning citizens over a loudspeaker not to leave their residences or risk a ticket. ‘GO BACK INTO YOUR HOMES,’ the voice warns.”
But wait, it gets even better than that. In Missouri, prosecutors have charged an idiot who licked some items at Walmart as a “terrorist.” I kid you not, a Coronavirus Terrorist. I could go on, but I think you get the picture (if you need more examples, check this Twitter thread).
The point is, the global capitalist empire (for whatever reasons, real or imagined) has turned on the MINDLESS HYSTERIA machine, and dialed it up as high as it goes. People are in full-blown headless chicken mode. No one (or hardly anyone) is thinking, or listening to dissenting opinions, or paying attention to official statistics, or common sense, or anything else that contradicts the War on Death narrative.
The British tabloids are publishing horror stories about “doctors” standing by and helplessly watching as patients slowly suffocate to death. According to such stories, not only are these “doctors” unable to treat roughly 400 patients with any of the UK’s over 8,000 ventilators, but, apparently, patients whose hearts have stopped (and who are therefore unconscious) are also now capable of “dying in agony” with “terror in their eyes.”
According to The New York Times, the Coronapocalypse has begun in Elmhurst, where the authorities have called in the refrigerator trucks to haul away the mountains of corpses, after 13 people who “had tested positive” died (of something) in the course of one day.
The rest of the corporate media are running moment-by-moment deathometer updates, apocalyptic prognostications of the millions or billions who are possibly going to die, and of course the latest on which celebrities have been infected and are clinging to life, or experiencing mild, cold-like symptoms, or absolutely no symptoms whatsoever.
Greta suspects she might have been infected! Prince Charles! Colton Underwood (whoever that is), Tom Hanks, and even Idris Elba! Just the other night, celebrated playwright Terrence McNally (who was 81, and had a history of lung cancer and COPD) was struck down in the prime of his life!
In short, the authorities have whipped the masses into an orgy of shrieking, white-eyed FEAR of this new, evil, “invisible enemy” that is coming to kill them and their families. Millions of people (now confined in their homes) have taken to the Internet to pump up the hysteria, share totally un-sourced personal accounts of the horrors their therapists’ accountants’ doctors have personally witnessed on the war’s “front lines,” and hunt down any infected persons, or potentially infected persons (or otherwise uncooperative persons) who might have gone outside for some air.
So, that’s the good news for you authoritarians! For the rest of us … yeah, not so good.
Oh, I almost forgot the bad news. The bad news is … well, the bad news is Death. The bad news is, you are going to die. I’m going to die. We are all going to die. All of us. We are going to die. We are going to die of … well, something. Cancer. A heart attack. A stroke. The flu. Diabetes. Alzheimer’s disease. Possibly a coronavirus. Maybe even this coronavirus.
In fact, a lot of us are dying right now, according to the Internet, around a hundred per minute … which, it goes without saying, is unacceptable, and a tragedy, and something we need to take drastic action to prevent at all costs.
We can’t let these Russian dissension sowers, neo-Nazi accelerationists, and coronavirus-sympathizers confuse us. They want to convince us that Death is, yes, scary, and sad, but inevitable, and natural. How utterly heartless and insane is that?!
No, we need to close our minds to that nonsense. People are dying! This is not normal! Death is our enemy! We have to defeat it! We need to hunt down and neutralize Death! Root it out if its hidey hole and hang it like we did with Saddam!
I’m not kidding. There is a war on, people! GloboCap is taking the gloves off again. (You remember what happens when the gloves come off, don’t you?) So get your mind right and get with the program or get ready to face the consequences.
Relax, I’m not referring to all these tanks (2:34 in the NBC video). I’m referring to other consequences. I am not some crazy conspiracy theorist. Plus, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has assured us there’s no cause for concern:
“If and when National Guard or military units are deployed to the streets of L.A., trust me, I’ll let you know.”
See? Everything is perfectly fine. No one is preparing for martial law. Those tanks just returned from the Middle East and are “being sent back home to Texas.” This kind of thing happens all the time. It has nothing to do with the global lockdown.
I don’t know about you, but I’m extremely relieved … for a moment there I thought we were in trouble.
CJ Hopkins is an award-winning American playwright, novelist and political satirist based in Berlin. His plays are published by Bloomsbury Publishing and Broadway Play Publishing, Inc. His dystopian novel, Zone 23, is published by Snoggsworthy, Swaine & Cormorant. Volume I of his Consent Factory Essays is published by Consent Factory Publishing, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Amalgamated Content, Inc. He can be reached at cjhopkins.com or consentfactory.org.