lewrockwell--2020-11-14--Bilge to the Right, Bilge to the Left, and Not a Drop to Drink

That wretched virus has spawned great gushing waves of confusion regarding what is really happening .
This column , a reliable journalistic source of a high order , has therefore gathered from other reliable sources what we genuinely know about the epidemic .
Henceforth you will need to read nothing more on the matter .
It is all here .
Every morning I read percipient sites that , unlike the major media , are not in the pay of George Soros .
The following is a compendium of purely factual findings , devoid of spin or agenda .
The interested @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and find large amounts of corroborative content .
The virus was invented in a biowarfare laboratory in Wuhan or , alternatively , in some other kind of lab ( or perhaps simultaneously in both kinds of lab ) and escaped , presumably yearning for freedom .
It also came about because the Chinese were eating infected bats .
It was also deliberately planted in the US by Beijing to destroy the American economy , decimate the population , and make us into Communist slaves .
Further , it is being used by the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ let the government make us into federal slaves .
The Phantom Virus - Ho ... Paul L. Williams Buy New $ 19.95 Less plausibly , which is saying something , it was a bio attack on China by the United States , which sent it to China using an infected soccer team as vector .
This seems odd , since the American biowarriors who would have had to grow it would have known that it would come back to the US immediately on the hundreds of monthly flights , and also that the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they were distracted and didn ’ t think of this .
None of the above matters since the virus in fact does not exist .
Yes , that ’ s right .
There is no virus , and in any event it is no worse than the seasonal flu .
The plandemic , or panicdemic , is a fairy tale concocted by the Davos crowd ( the familiar tone is to persuade you that I get drunk with presidents and prime ministers on Saturday nights to destroy world economies so that Bill Gates @ @ @ @ @ @ @ freedoms , impose socialism , which is very bad , and make us into communist slaves .
It is also intended to depopulate the world , doubtless a hard slog for a virus that doesn ’ t exist , but it may be a very robust nonexistent virus .
Since if the number of dead reached two million , which it hasn ’ t , this would be four percent of the fifty million croakees attributed to the Spanish flu , and essentially zero percent of the world ’ s population of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Coronavirus needs work under warranty .
Anyway , the dead supposedly killed by the virus actually died of underlying causes , such as traffic accidents , diabetes , and obesity .
The alleged dead in truth died not of Covid but of underlying causes , such as motorcycle crashes , diabetes , and obesity .
Also of vitamin D deficiency caused by staying inside because of the lockdowns .
These made them cranky and depressed , further lowering their defenses , so that , apparently , the mere thought of a virus killed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stored in refrigerated morgue trucks , which are fake news .
Actually , the virus is a plot to let Big Pharma make a killing , so to speak .
The columnist Pepe Escobar ( no relation to Pablo ) ( probably ) says that ( unimpeachable ) sources in Paris revealed that the French government knows that hydroxyquinone ( HCQ ) is a miracle cure but that the government is suppressing this information so the Pharma companies can find a vaccine and get rich .
Richer .
If I were a reporter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ government ?
All of it , hundreds of thousands of people ?
Only some of them ?
Which ones ?
How do you know ?
Evidence ?
Phone numbers ?
” But I am not a reporter .
A VOYAGE IN IMAGINATIO ... Holmes , Dr Joel S Buy New $ 9.95 The reader unfamiliar with the dread depths of the demonic darkness lurking behind the façade of international finance capitalism may find it implausible that Paris would let tens of thousands of Frenchmen die and the economy collapse to benefit drug companies @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Behind all of this is Microsoft .
Do not underestimate the evil in the heart of Bill Gates , the Redmond Sauron , a geek of a thousand envenomed claws , who wants to make us all into Communist slaves and switch to Bing .
Now consider hydroxyquinone , Cipro , and zinc .
These have been shown by numerous studies to be a miracle cure for Covid when used together .
A google search will easily find these studies .
The former President of the United States , than whom there can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has endorsed HCQ .
HCQ is a well-known , cheap , easily produce prophylaxis against malaria .
Uninformed skeptics might wonder why Cipro , an anti-bacterial , and HCQ , an antiplasmodial , would work as antivirals .
But it works , as many sites say , but doesn ’ t , according to medical authorities , probably in the pay of Bill Gates .
Zinc was once widely used in making flashlight batteries .
Anyway , that all the world ’ s governments , knowing of this proven research , do not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can only mean that they are all working for Big Pharma .
There is evidence that those advocating the use of zinc want to make us all into Communist flashlight batteries , but even libertarians view this with skepticism .
Some fear that the government may force us all to have voltage checks .
Now we come to countermeasures .
A quick web search reveals that masks are ineffective , actually increase vulnerability to the virus , which in any case does not exist , and reduce the flow of oxygen to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ insistence by government that we wear them instills reflexive obedience to government , thus facilitating our conversion into Communist slaves .
Vitamin D3 by Nature & r ... Buy New $ 20.80 ( $ 0.09 / Count ) Vaccines , though , are the real threat to liberty .
Vaccines are known to have lethal effects , for example having been used by government to wipe out smallpox and polio .
Critics point out that with minor modification they could be used to depopulate the world , presumably so that Big Pharma could @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one site has revealed that a vaccine potentially could actually reprogram our DNA , having I ’ m not sure just what effects but perhaps making us into reptiles or infected bats .
Other articles , mostly by actual doctors or men who say they are , point out that we have no way of knowing what is in the vaccines .
One insidious possibility is said to be nanoparticles .
I don ’ t know just what these are , but they must be very small , and they are said to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will .
In many people this would not be noticeable , so you can see the deviousness .
These authors urge the population under no circumstances to use masks or accept the vaccine .
Other experts say that vaccines might contain computer chips .
These could be used to track us , say some , or others say to control us , making us into socialist slaves .
My own theory is that if zinc made us into flashlight batteries , the resulting current could power the chips , but I don ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ spent my working life in journalism , I still have ( unimpeachable ) sources .
They tell me that to their certain knowledge Bill Gates has built an underground factory to make injectable chips .
The factory is about midway on his tunnel from Area 51 to Roswell .
It reportedly uses the labor of undocumented aliens .
Note that the mainstream media have not uttered a single word about this factory .
Only tightly organized collusion of the media can explain this perfectly maintained silence .
Things are worse than we think @ @ @ @ @ @ @ now .
Reprinted with permission from The Unz Review .
Drug Wars : How Big Pha ... Robin Feldman , Evan Fr ... Best Price : $ 16.12 Buy New $ 8.21 Face Masks In One Lesson Stevo , Allan Buy New $ 4.99 The Best of Fred Reed

That wretched virus has spawned great gushing waves of confusion regarding what is really happening. This column, a reliable journalistic source of a high order, has therefore gathered from other reliable sources what we genuinely know about the epidemic. Henceforth you will need to read nothing more on the matter. It is all here.
Every morning I read percipient sites that, unlike the major media, are not in the pay of George Soros. The following is a compendium of purely factual findings, devoid of spin or agenda. The interested reader can search on any of them and find large amounts of corroborative content.
The virus was invented in a biowarfare laboratory in Wuhan or, alternatively, in some other kind of lab (or perhaps simultaneously in both kinds of lab) and escaped, presumably yearning for freedom. It also came about because the Chinese were eating infected bats. It was also deliberately planted in the US by Beijing to destroy the American economy, decimate the population, and make us into Communist slaves. Further, it is being used by the Deep State to destroy the economy and let the government make us into federal slaves. The Phantom Virus - Ho... Paul L. Williams Buy New $19.95 (as of 04:43 UTC - Details)
Less plausibly, which is saying something, it was a bio attack on China by the United States, which sent it to China using an infected soccer team as vector. This seems odd, since the American biowarriors who would have had to grow it would have known that it would come back to the US immediately on the hundreds of monthly flights, and also that the US was defenseless against plagues. Maybe they were distracted and didn’t think of this.
None of the above matters since the virus in fact does not exist. Yes, that’s right. There is no virus, and in any event it is no worse than the seasonal flu. The plandemic, or panicdemic, is a fairy tale concocted by the Davos crowd (the familiar tone is to persuade you that I get drunk with presidents and prime ministers on Saturday nights to destroy world economies so that Bill Gates and George Soros can take away our freedoms, impose socialism, which is very bad, and make us into communist slaves. It is also intended to depopulate the world, doubtless a hard slog for a virus that doesn’t exist, but it may be a very robust nonexistent virus. Since if the number of dead reached two million, which it hasn’t, this would be four percent of the fifty million croakees attributed to the Spanish flu, and essentially zero percent of the world’s population of the earth, it would seem that the Coronavirus needs work under warranty. Anyway, the dead supposedly killed by the virus actually died of underlying causes, such as traffic accidents, diabetes, and obesity.
The alleged dead in truth died not of Covid but of underlying causes, such as motorcycle crashes, diabetes, and obesity. Also of vitamin D deficiency caused by staying inside because of the lockdowns. These made them cranky and depressed, further lowering their defenses, so that, apparently, the mere thought of a virus killed them. The alleged dead are being stored in refrigerated morgue trucks, which are fake news.
Actually, the virus is a plot to let Big Pharma make a killing, so to speak. The columnist Pepe Escobar (no relation to Pablo) (probably) says that (unimpeachable) sources in Paris revealed that the French government knows that hydroxyquinone (HCQ) is a miracle cure but that the government is suppressing this information so the Pharma companies can find a vaccine and get rich. Richer. If I were a reporter, I would ask, “The government? All of it, hundreds of thousands of people? Only some of them? Which ones? How do you know? Evidence? Phone numbers?” But I am not a reporter. A VOYAGE IN IMAGINATIO... Holmes, Dr Joel S Buy New $9.95 (as of 04:21 UTC - Details)
The reader unfamiliar with the dread depths of the demonic darkness lurking behind the façade of international finance capitalism may find it implausible that Paris would let tens of thousands of Frenchmen die and the economy collapse to benefit drug companies. Plausibility is an overrated virtue. Behind all of this is Microsoft. Do not underestimate the evil in the heart of Bill Gates, the Redmond Sauron, a geek of a thousand envenomed claws, who wants to make us all into Communist slaves and switch to Bing.
Now consider hydroxyquinone, Cipro, and zinc. These have been shown by numerous studies to be a miracle cure for Covid when used together. A google search will easily find these studies. The former President of the United States, than whom there can be no more sober and trustworthy source has endorsed HCQ. HCQ is a well-known, cheap, easily produce prophylaxis against malaria. Uninformed skeptics might wonder why Cipro, an anti-bacterial, and HCQ, an antiplasmodial, would work as antivirals. But it works, as many sites say, but doesn’t, according to medical authorities, probably in the pay of Bill Gates. Zinc was once widely used in making flashlight batteries. Anyway, that all the world’s governments, knowing of this proven research, do not launch massive distribution of the miracle cure can only mean that they are all working for Big Pharma.
There is evidence that those advocating the use of zinc want to make us all into Communist flashlight batteries, but even libertarians view this with skepticism. Some fear that the government may force us all to have voltage checks.
Now we come to countermeasures. A quick web search reveals that masks are ineffective, actually increase vulnerability to the virus, which in any case does not exist, and reduce the flow of oxygen to the brain, causing cognitive damage. The insistence by government that we wear them instills reflexive obedience to government, thus facilitating our conversion into Communist slaves. Vitamin D3 by Nature&r... Buy New $20.80 ($0.09 / Count) (as of 02:47 UTC - Details)
Vaccines, though, are the real threat to liberty. Vaccines are known to have lethal effects, for example having been used by government to wipe out smallpox and polio. Critics point out that with minor modification they could be used to depopulate the world, presumably so that Big Pharma could do something or other. At least one site has revealed that a vaccine potentially could actually reprogram our DNA, having I’m not sure just what effects but perhaps making us into reptiles or infected bats.
Other articles, mostly by actual doctors or men who say they are, point out that we have no way of knowing what is in the vaccines. One insidious possibility is said to be nanoparticles. I don’t know just what these are, but they must be very small, and they are said to migrate to the brain and diminish free will. In many people this would not be noticeable, so you can see the deviousness. These authors urge the population under no circumstances to use masks or accept the vaccine.
Other experts say that vaccines might contain computer chips. These could be used to track us, say some, or others say to control us, making us into socialist slaves. My own theory is that if zinc made us into flashlight batteries, the resulting current could power the chips, but I don’t want to speculate irresponsibly.
Having spent my working life in journalism, I still have(unimpeachable) sources. They tell me that to their certain knowledge Bill Gates has built an underground factory to make injectable chips. The factory is about midway on his tunnel from Area 51 to Roswell. It reportedly uses the labor of undocumented aliens. Note that the mainstream media have not uttered a single word about this factory. Only tightly organized collusion of the media can explain this perfectly maintained silence.
Things are worse than we think. But anyway you understand the virus now.
Reprinted with permission from The Unz Review.
Drug Wars: How Big Pha... Robin Feldman, Evan Fr... Best Price: $16.12 Buy New $8.21 (as of 06:35 UTC - Details) Face Masks In One Lesson Stevo, Allan Buy New $4.99 (as of 03:58 UTC - Details)
The Best of Fred Reed


lewrockwell--2020-11-14--Why Covid-19 Testing Is a Tragic Waste

Why Covid-19 Testing Is a Tragic Waste

From the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic , the clarion call has been to test , test and test some more .
However , right from the start , serious questions arose about the tests being used to diagnose this infection , and questions have only multiplied since then .
Positive reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction ( RT-PCR ) tests have been used as the justification for keeping large portions of the world locked down for the better part of 2020 .
This , despite the fact that PCR tests have proven remarkably unreliable with high false result rates , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ used as a diagnostic tool in the first place as they can not distinguish between inactive viruses and “ live ” or reproductive ones .
Dr. Mike Yeadon , former vice president and scientific director of Pfizer , has even gone on record stating1 that false positive results from unreliable PCR tests are being used to “ manufacture a ‘ second wave ’ based on ‘ new cases , ' ” when in fact a second wave is highly unlikely .
Before his death , the inventor of the PCR test , Kary @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this test should not be used as a diagnostic tool for the simple reason that it ’ s incapable of diagnosing disease .
A positive test does not actually mean that an active infection is present .
As noted in a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and prevention publication on coronavirus and PCR testing dated July 13 2020:2 • Detection of viral RNA may not indicate the presence of infectious virus or that 2019-nCoV is the causative agent for clinical symptoms .
• The performance of this test has not been established for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ This test can not rule out diseases caused by other bacterial or viral pathogens .
Dancing Naked in the M ... Mullis , Kary Best Price : $ 5.52 Buy New $ 15.17 So , what does the PCR test actually tell us ?
The PCR swab collects RNA from your nasal cavity .
This RNA is then reverse transcribed into DNA .
However , the genetic snippets are so small they must be amplified in order to become discernible .
Each round of amplification is called a cycle .
Amplification over 35 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , yet Drosten tests and tests recommended by the World Health Organization are set to 45 cycles .
What this does is amplify any , even insignificant sequences of viral DNA that might be present to the point that the test reads “ positive , ” even if the viral load is extremely low or the virus is inactive .
As a result of these excessive cycle thresholds , you end up with a far higher number of positive tests than you would otherwise .
We ’ ve also had problems with faulty @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the genetic sequence for SARS-CoV-2 became available in January 2020 , German researchers quickly developed a PCR test for the virus .
In March 2020 , The New York Times3 reported the initial test kits developed by the CDC had been found to be flawed .
The Verge also reported4 that this flawed CDC test in turn became the basis for the WHO ’ s test , which the CDC ended up refusing to use .
Perhaps most importantly of all , the PCR tests can not distinguish between inactive viruses and “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that means is that PCR tests can not detect infection .
Period .
It can not tell you whether you ’ re currently ill , whether you ’ ll develop symptoms in the near future , or whether you ’ re contagious .
The tests may pick up dead debris or inactive viral particles that pose no risk whatsoever to the patient and others .
What ’ s more , the test can pick up the presence of other coronaviruses , so a positive result may simply indicate that you ’ ve recuperated @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
An “ infection ” is when a virus penetrates into a cell and replicates .
As the virus multiplies , symptoms set in .
A person is only infectious if the virus is actually replicating .
As long as the virus is inactive and not replicating , it ’ s completely harmless both to the host and others .
The Corona Conspiracy : ... Visser , Frank Buy New $ 7.99 Chances are , if you have no symptoms , a positive test simply means it has detected inactive viral DNA in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that you are not contagious and pose no risk to anyone .
For all of these reasons , a number of highly respected scientists around the world are now saying that what we have is not a COVID-19 pandemic but a PCR test pandemic .
In his September 20 , 2020 , article5 “ Lies , Damned Lies and Health Statistics — The Deadly Danger of False Positives , ” Yeadon explains why basing our pandemic response on positive PCR tests is so problematic .
In short , it appears millions of people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ viral DNA that pose no risk to anyone , yet these test results are being used by the global technocracy to implement a brand new economic and social system based on draconian surveillance and totalitarian controls .
As reported by The Vaccine Reaction , September 29 , 2020:6 Covid-19 : The Greatest ... Coleman , Dr Vernon Buy New $ 14.71 Again , medical experts agree any cycle threshold over 35 cycles makes the test too sensitive , as at that point it starts picking up harmless inactive DNA fragments .
Mina believes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or less .
According to The New York Times,9 the CDC ’ s own calculations show it ’ s extremely unlikely to detect live viruses in samples that have gone through more than 33 cycles , and research10 published in April 2020 concluded patients with positive PCR tests that had a cycle threshold above 33 were not contagious and could safely be discharged from the hospital or home isolation .
Importantly , when officials at the New York state laboratory , the Wadsworth Center , reanalyzed testing data at The Times ’ request @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from 40 cycles to 35 cycles eliminated about 43 % of the positive results .
Limiting it to 30 cycles eliminated a whopping 63 % .11 The Vaccine Reaction adds:12 As noted by Dr. Tom Jefferson and professor Carl Henegan in an October 31 , 2020 , article in the Daily Mail,16 mass PCR testing has been a massive waste or resources , as it doesn ’ t provide us with the information we actually need to know — who ’ s infectious , how far is the virus spreading and how fast @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on ... Betrus , Michael Buy New $ 16.99 Instead , it has led to economic devastation from business shutdowns and isolating noninfectious people in their homes for weeks and months on end .
Jefferson and Henegan claim they shared their pandemic response plan with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson over a month ago , and just presented it to him again .
“ We urge him to pay attention and embrace it , ” they write , adding : These four areas are : • Addressing the problems in the government ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ isolate the vulnerable — primarily the elderly , but also hospitalized patients in general and staff — while allowing the rest to maintain “ some semblance of normal life ” • Inform the public about the true and quantifiable costs of lockdown that “ kill people just as surely as COVID-19 ” “ If we do these things , there is real hope that we can learn to live with the virus .
That , after all , was supposed to be the plan , ” Jefferson and Henegan note .
With regard @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for a national program of testing quality control to ensure that results are accurate , precise and consistent.
” Importantly , we must not rely on positive/negative readings alone .
The results must be assessed in relation to other factors , such as the age of the subject and whether they are symptomatic , to determine who actually poses an infectious risk .
You can review the full details of their proposed plan at the end of their Daily Mail article.17 Lockdown Dangers Have Been Kept Out of Public Discussion Jefferson and Henegan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the fact that the global lockdown strategy is causing more harm and destruction than the virus itself .
In a June 16 , 2020 article in The Federalist , James Lucas , a New York City attorney , wrote:18 How does the “ lockdown therapy ” affect public safety ?
In his article , Lucas highlights the following:22 •Increased chronic disease rates due to unemployment , poverty and putting non-COVID medical care on hold — Research23 by the Veterans Administration has shown delaying cancer treatment for just one month led to a 20 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ found each one-month delay in breast cancer diagnosis increased mortality by 10 % •Increased rates of mental health problems due to unemployment and isolation •Increased mortality rates from suicide — In one study,25 being unemployed was associated with a twofold to threefold higher relative risk of suicide .
A more recent study26 estimates “ deaths of despair ” linked to lockdowns may be around 75,000 in the U.S. •Reduced collective life span — Extended unemployment is also associated with shorter , unhealthier lives .
Hannes Schwandt , a health economics researcher at Northwestern @ @ @ @ @ @ @ could shorten the lifespan of 6.4 million Americans entering the job market by an average of about two years.27 Lucas notes : Lack of education is also associated with significantly shorter life spans and poorer health .
High school drop-outs die on average nine years sooner than college graduates,29 and school closings disproportionally affect poorer students .
Who Pays the Most ?
As noted by Lucas , in addition to calculating the overall costs on society , modelers must also determine “ on whom those costs fall , ” because the costs are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ consequences of the lockdowns disproportionally affect those who are already the most vulnerable — financially and health wise — such as those living near the poverty line , the chronically ill , people with mental illness and minorities in general .
An October 28 , 2020 , article featured by the Ron Paul Institute points out that:32 Nine facts that can be backed up with data “ paints a very different picture from the fear and dread being relentlessly drummed into the brains of unsuspecting citizens , ” the article states .
In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is practically useless , for all the reasons already mentioned , these data-backed facts include : 1.A positive test is NOT a “ case ” — As explained by Dr. Lee Merritt in her August 2020 Doctors for Disaster Preparedness33 lecture , featured in “ How Medical Technocracy Made the Plandemic Possible , ” media and public health officials appear to have purposefully conflated “ cases ” or positive tests with the actual illness .
Medically speaking , a “ case ” refers to a sick person .
It never ever referred to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Now all of a sudden , this well-established medical term , “ case , ” has been completely and arbitrarily redefined to mean someone who tested positive for the presence of viral RNA .
As noted by Merritt , “ That is not epidemiology .
That ’ s fraud.
” 2.According to the CDC34 and other research data,35 the COVID-19 survival rate is over 99 % , and the vast majority of deaths occur in those over 70 , which is close to normal life expectancy .
3.CDC analysis reveals 85 % @ @ @ @ @ @ @ face masks “ often ” or “ always ” in the two weeks preceding their positive test .
As noted in the Ron Paul article,36 “ The only rational conclusion from this study is that cloth face masks offer little if any protection from Covid-19 infection.
” 4.There are inexpensive , proven successful therapies for COVID-19 — Examples include various regimens involving hydroxychloroquine with zinc and antibiotics , quercetin-based protocols , the MATH+ protocol and nebulized hydrogen peroxide .
5.The death rate has not risen despite pandemic deaths — Data37,38 show the overall @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and doesn ’ t veer from the norm .
In other words , COVID-19 has not killed off more of the population than would have died in any given year anyway .
As noted in the Ron Paul article,39 “ According to the CDC as of early May 2020 the total number of deaths in the US was 944,251 from January 1 — April 30th .
This is actually slightly lower than the number of deaths during the same period in 2017 when 946,067 total deaths were reported.
” 15,000 Doctors and Scientists @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all , there are many reasons to suspect that continued lockdowns , social distancing and mask mandates are completely unnecessary and will not significantly alter the course of this pandemic illness , or the final death count .
And , with regard to universal PCR testing where individuals are tested every two weeks or even more frequently , whether they have symptoms or not , this is clearly a pointless effort that yields useless data .
It ’ s just a tool to spread fear , which in turn allows for the rapid @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to pull off The Great Reset .
Fortunately , more and more people are now starting to see through this plot .
About 45,000 scientists and doctors worldwide have already signed the Great Barrington Declaration,40 which calls for the end to all lockdowns and implementation of a herd immunity approach to the pandemic , meaning governments should allow people who are not at significant risk of serious COVID-19 illness to go back to normal life , as the lockdown approach is having a devastating effect on public health — far worse than the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ points out that current lockdown policies will result in excess mortality in the future , primarily among younger people and the working class .
As of November 5 , 2020 , The Great Barrington Declaration44 had been signed by 11,791 medical and public health scientists , 33,903 medical practitioners and 617,685 “ concerned citizens.
” 45 The Best of Joseph Mercola

From the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the clarion call has been to test, test and test some more. However, right from the start, serious questions arose about the tests being used to diagnose this infection, and questions have only multiplied since then.
Positive reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests have been used as the justification for keeping large portions of the world locked down for the better part of 2020.
This, despite the fact that PCR tests have proven remarkably unreliable with high false result rates, and aren’t designed to be used as a diagnostic tool in the first place as they cannot distinguish between inactive viruses and “live” or reproductive ones.
Dr. Mike Yeadon, former vice president and scientific director of Pfizer, has even gone on record stating1 that false positive results from unreliable PCR tests are being used to “manufacture a ‘second wave’ based on ‘new cases,'” when in fact a second wave is highly unlikely.
Understanding PCR Tests
Before his death, the inventor of the PCR test, Kary Mullis, repeatedly yet unsuccessfully stressed that this test should not be used as a diagnostic tool for the simple reason that it’s incapable of diagnosing disease. A positive test does not actually mean that an active infection is present. As noted in a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and prevention publication on coronavirus and PCR testing dated July 13 2020:2
Detection of viral RNA may not indicate the presence of infectious virus or that 2019-nCoV is the causative agent for clinical symptoms.
The performance of this test has not been established for monitoring treatment of 2019-nCoV infection.
This test cannot rule out diseases caused by other bacterial or viral pathogens.
Dancing Naked in the M... Mullis, Kary Best Price: $5.52 Buy New $15.17 (as of 02:58 UTC - Details) So, what does the PCR test actually tell us? The PCR swab collects RNA from your nasal cavity. This RNA is then reverse transcribed into DNA. However, the genetic snippets are so small they must be amplified in order to become discernible. Each round of amplification is called a cycle.
Amplification over 35 cycles is considered unreliable and scientifically unjustified, yet Drosten tests and tests recommended by the World Health Organization are set to 45 cycles.
What this does is amplify any, even insignificant sequences of viral DNA that might be present to the point that the test reads “positive,” even if the viral load is extremely low or the virus is inactive. As a result of these excessive cycle thresholds, you end up with a far higher number of positive tests than you would otherwise.
We’ve also had problems with faulty and contaminated tests. As soon as the genetic sequence for SARS-CoV-2 became available in January 2020, German researchers quickly developed a PCR test for the virus.
In March 2020, The New York Times3 reported the initial test kits developed by the CDC had been found to be flawed. The Verge also reported4 that this flawed CDC test in turn became the basis for the WHO’s test, which the CDC ended up refusing to use.
PCR Tests Cannot Detect Infection
Perhaps most importantly of all, the PCR tests cannot distinguish between inactive viruses and “live” or reproductive ones. What that means is that PCR tests cannot detect infection. Period. It cannot tell you whether you’re currently ill, whether you’ll develop symptoms in the near future, or whether you’re contagious.
The tests may pick up dead debris or inactive viral particles that pose no risk whatsoever to the patient and others. What’s more, the test can pick up the presence of other coronaviruses, so a positive result may simply indicate that you’ve recuperated from a common cold in the past.
An “infection” is when a virus penetrates into a cell and replicates. As the virus multiplies, symptoms set in. A person is only infectious if the virus is actually replicating. As long as the virus is inactive and not replicating, it’s completely harmless both to the host and others. The Corona Conspiracy:... Visser, Frank Buy New $7.99 (as of 05:07 UTC - Details)
Chances are, if you have no symptoms, a positive test simply means it has detected inactive viral DNA in your body. This would also mean that you are not contagious and pose no risk to anyone.
For all of these reasons, a number of highly respected scientists around the world are now saying that what we have is not a COVID-19 pandemic but a PCR test pandemic. In his September 20, 2020, article5 “Lies, Damned Lies and Health Statistics — The Deadly Danger of False Positives,” Yeadon explains why basing our pandemic response on positive PCR tests is so problematic.
In short, it appears millions of people are simply being found to carry inactive viral DNA that pose no risk to anyone, yet these test results are being used by the global technocracy to implement a brand new economic and social system based on draconian surveillance and totalitarian controls.
Artificially Created Justifications for Totalitarian Controls
As reported by The Vaccine Reaction, September 29, 2020:6
“The test’s threshold is so high that it detects people with the live virus as well as those with a few genetic fragments left over from a past infection that no longer poses a risk. It’s like finding a hair in a room after a person left it, says Michael Mina, MD, an epidemiologist at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.7
In three sets of testing data that include cycle thresholds compiled by officials in Massachusetts, New York and Nevada, up to 90% of people testing positive carried barely any virus, a review by The New York Times found8 …
‘We’ve been using one type of data for everything, and that is just plus or minus — that’s all,’ Dr. Mina said. ‘We’re using that for clinical diagnostics, for public health, for policy decision-making.’
But ‘yes’ or ‘no’ isn’t good enough, he added. It’s the amount of virus that should dictate the infected patient’s next steps. ‘It’s really irresponsible, I think, to forgo the recognition that this is a quantitative issue,’ Dr. Mina said.”
Covid-19: The Greatest... Coleman, Dr Vernon Buy New $14.71 (as of 04:43 UTC - Details) Again, medical experts agree any cycle threshold over 35 cycles makes the test too sensitive, as at that point it starts picking up harmless inactive DNA fragments. Mina believes a more reasonable cutoff would be 30 or less.
Changing the cycle threshold from 40 cycles to 35 cycles eliminated about 43% of the positive results. Limiting it to 30 cycles eliminated a whopping 63%.
According to The New York Times,9 the CDC’s own calculations show it’s extremely unlikely to detect live viruses in samples that have gone through more than 33 cycles, and research10 published in April 2020 concluded patients with positive PCR tests that had a cycle threshold above 33 were not contagious and could safely be discharged from the hospital or home isolation.
Importantly, when officials at the New York state laboratory, the Wadsworth Center, reanalyzed testing data at The Times’ request, they found that changing the threshold from 40 cycles to 35 cycles eliminated about 43% of the positive results. Limiting it to 30 cycles eliminated a whopping 63%.11 The Vaccine Reaction adds:12
“In Massachusetts, from 85 to 90% of people who tested positive in July with a cycle threshold of 40 would have been deemed negative if the threshold were 30 cycles, Dr. Mina said. ‘I would say that none of those people should be contact-traced, not one,’ he said.
‘I’m really shocked that it could be that high — the proportion of people with high CT value results,’ said Ashish Jha, MD, director of the Harvard Global Health Institute. ‘Boy, does it really change the way we need to be thinking about testing’13 …
In late August, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first rapid coronavirus test that doesn’t need any special computer equipment. Made by Abbot Laboratories, the 15-minute test [BinaxNOW] will sell for U.S. $5 but still requires a nasal swab to be taken by a health worker.14
The Abbot test is the fourth rapid point-of-care test that looks for the presence of antigens rather than the virus’s genetic code as the PCR molecular tests do.15“
Massive Waste of Resources
As noted by Dr. Tom Jefferson and professor Carl Henegan in an October 31, 2020, article in the Daily Mail,16 mass PCR testing has been a massive waste or resources, as it doesn’t provide us with the information we actually need to know — who’s infectious, how far is the virus spreading and how fast does it spread? COVID-19: Lockdowns on... Betrus, Michael Buy New $16.99 (as of 03:38 UTC - Details)
Instead, it has led to economic devastation from business shutdowns and isolating noninfectious people in their homes for weeks and months on end. Jefferson and Henegan claim they shared their pandemic response plan with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson over a month ago, and just presented it to him again. “We urge him to pay attention and embrace it,” they write, adding:
“There are only two things about which we can be certain: first, that lockdowns do not work in the long term … The idea that a month of economic hardship will permit some sort of ‘reset’, allowing us a brighter future, is a myth. What, when it ends, do we think will happen? Meanwhile, ever-increasing restrictions will destroy lives and livelihoods.
The second certainty is this: that we need to find a way out of the mess that does no more damage than the virus itself … Our strategy would be to tackle the four key failings.”
These four areas are:
Addressing the problems in the government’s mass testing program Addressing “the blight of confused and contradictory statistics” Protect and isolate the vulnerable — primarily the elderly, but also hospitalized patients in general and staff — while allowing the rest to maintain “some semblance of normal life” Inform the public about the true and quantifiable costs of lockdown that “kill people just as surely as COVID-19”
“If we do these things, there is real hope that we can learn to live with the virus. That, after all, was supposed to be the plan,” Jefferson and Henegan note. With regard to testing, the pair call “for a national program of testing quality control to ensure that results are accurate, precise and consistent.”
Importantly, we must not rely on positive/negative readings alone. The results must be assessed in relation to other factors, such as the age of the subject and whether they are symptomatic, to determine who actually poses an infectious risk. You can review the full details of their proposed plan at the end of their Daily Mail article.17
Lockdown Dangers Have Been Kept Out of Public Discussion
Jefferson and Henegan aren’t the only ones highlighting the fact that the global lockdown strategy is causing more harm and destruction than the virus itself. In a June 16, 2020 article in The Federalist, James Lucas, a New York City attorney, wrote:18
“If we’re going to allow models and modelers to dictate the entire nature of our society, one would hope that the models are as complete as possible. Yet the epidemiological models that have so transformed our world are seriously incomplete, and therefore fundamentally inadequate.
Any medical therapy is supposed to be tested for both efficacy and safety. There have been several studies19 examining the effectiveness of the lockdowns in combating the spread of the COVID-19 virus, with mixed conclusions.
So far, however, none of these studies or models have analyzed the safety side of the lockdown therapy. In response to questions from physician Sens. Rand Paul and Bill Cassidy, Dr. Anthony Fauci admits20 this side of the equation has not been accounted for in the models now driving our world.
As noted in an open letter21 recently signed by more than 600 health-care professionals, the public health costs from the lockdowns — described as a ‘mass casualty incident’ are real and growing.
These models are estimations based on existing research. The constantly changing projections of coronavirus deaths are extrapolations from research on previous epidemics. Yet modelers have no excuse for leaving evaluations of the lockdowns’ massive costs to public health out of their models.”
The Hidden Costs of Lockdowns
How does the “lockdown therapy” affect public safety? In his article, Lucas highlights the following:22
•Increased chronic disease rates due to unemployment, poverty and putting non-COVID medical care on hold — Research23 by the Veterans Administration has shown delaying cancer treatment for just one month led to a 20% increase in mortality. Another study24 found each one-month delay in breast cancer diagnosis increased mortality by 10%
•Increased rates of mental health problems due to unemployment and isolation
•Increased mortality rates from suicide — In one study,25 being unemployed was associated with a twofold to threefold higher relative risk of suicide. A more recent study26 estimates “deaths of despair” linked to lockdowns may be around 75,000 in the U.S.
•Reduced collective life span — Extended unemployment is also associated with shorter, unhealthier lives. Hannes Schwandt, a health economics researcher at Northwestern University, estimates an extended economic shutdown could shorten the lifespan of 6.4 million Americans entering the job market by an average of about two years.27 Lucas notes:
“If epidemiologists don’t care to take account of this toll, another profession must. A study28 just released by a group of South African actuaries estimates that the net reduction in lifespan from increased unemployment and poverty due to a national lockdown will exceed the increased lifespan due to lives saved from COVID-19 by the lockdown by a factor of 30 to 1.
In other words, each year of additional life attributable to isolating potential coronavirus victims in the lockdown comes at a cost of 30 years lost due to the negative public health effects of a lockdown …”
Lack of education is also associated with significantly shorter life spans and poorer health. High school drop-outs die on average nine years sooner than college graduates,29 and school closings disproportionally affect poorer students.
Who Pays the Most?
As noted by Lucas, in addition to calculating the overall costs on society, modelers must also determine “on whom those costs fall,” because the costs are not borne equally by all. The consequences of the lockdowns disproportionally affect those who are already the most vulnerable — financially and health wise — such as those living near the poverty line, the chronically ill, people with mental illness and minorities in general.
“Contrary to the PR slogan, we are NOT all in this together,” Lucas writes.30 “We need less insipid pro-lockdown propaganda extolling the virtues of the ‘essential’ workers, and more serious analysis of the enormous public health toll the lockdowns are imposing on them. Otherwise, we may come to see the era of coronavirus as simply the time where pro-lockdown elites sacrificed the working class31 to protect themselves.”
A Pandemic of Fearmongering
An October 28, 2020, article featured by the Ron Paul Institute points out that:32
“Ever since the alleged pandemic erupted this past March the mainstream media has spewed a non-stop stream of misinformation that appears to be laser focused on generating maximum fear among the citizenry.
But the facts and the science simply don’t support the grave picture painted of a deadly virus sweeping the land. Yes, we do have a pandemic, but it’ a pandemic of ginned up pseudo-science masquerading as unbiased fact.”
Nine facts that can be backed up with data “paints a very different picture from the fear and dread being relentlessly drummed into the brains of unsuspecting citizens,” the article states. In addition to the fact that PCR testing is practically useless, for all the reasons already mentioned, these data-backed facts include:
1.A positive test is NOT a “case” — As explained by Dr. Lee Merritt in her August 2020 Doctors for Disaster Preparedness33 lecture, featured in “How Medical Technocracy Made the Plandemic Possible,” media and public health officials appear to have purposefully conflated “cases” or positive tests with the actual illness.
Medically speaking, a “case” refers to a sick person. It never ever referred to someone who had no symptoms of illness. Now all of a sudden, this well-established medical term, “case,” has been completely and arbitrarily redefined to mean someone who tested positive for the presence of viral RNA. As noted by Merritt, “That is not epidemiology. That’s fraud.”
2.According to the CDC34 and other research data,35 the COVID-19 survival rate is over 99%, and the vast majority of deaths occur in those over 70, which is close to normal life expectancy.
3.CDC analysis reveals 85% of patients testing positive for COVID-19 wore face masks “often” or “always” in the two weeks preceding their positive test. As noted in the Ron Paul article,36 “The only rational conclusion from this study is that cloth face masks offer little if any protection from Covid-19 infection.”
4.There are inexpensive, proven successful therapies for COVID-19 — Examples include various regimens involving hydroxychloroquine with zinc and antibiotics, quercetin-based protocols, the MATH+ protocol and nebulized hydrogen peroxide.
5.The death rate has not risen despite pandemic deaths — Data37,38 show the overall all-cause mortality has remained steady during 2020 and doesn’t veer from the norm. In other words, COVID-19 has not killed off more of the population than would have died in any given year anyway.
As noted in the Ron Paul article,39 “According to the CDC as of early May 2020 the total number of deaths in the US was 944,251 from January 1 — April 30th. This is actually slightly lower than the number of deaths during the same period in 2017 when 946,067 total deaths were reported.”
15,000 Doctors and Scientists Call for End to Lockdowns
All in all, there are many reasons to suspect that continued lockdowns, social distancing and mask mandates are completely unnecessary and will not significantly alter the course of this pandemic illness, or the final death count.
And, with regard to universal PCR testing where individuals are tested every two weeks or even more frequently, whether they have symptoms or not, this is clearly a pointless effort that yields useless data. It’s just a tool to spread fear, which in turn allows for the rapid implementation of the totalitarian control mechanisms required to pull off The Great Reset. Fortunately, more and more people are now starting to see through this plot.
About 45,000 scientists and doctors worldwide have already signed the Great Barrington Declaration,40 which calls for the end to all lockdowns and implementation of a herd immunity approach to the pandemic, meaning governments should allow people who are not at significant risk of serious COVID-19 illness to go back to normal life, as the lockdown approach is having a devastating effect on public health — far worse than the virus itself.41,42 The declaration states:43
“Coming from both the left and right, and around the world, we have devoted our careers to protecting people. Current lockdown policies are producing devastating effects on short and long-term public health …
The most compassionate approach that balances the risks and benefits of reaching herd immunity, is to allow those who are at minimal risk of death to live their lives normally to build up immunity to coronavirus through natural infection, while better protecting those who are at highest risk. We call this focused protection.”
The declaration points out that current lockdown policies will result in excess mortality in the future, primarily among younger people and the working class. As of November 5, 2020, The Great Barrington Declaration44 had been signed by 11,791 medical and public health scientists, 33,903 medical practitioners and 617,685 “concerned citizens.”45
Sources and References
The Best of Dr. Joseph Mercola


lewrockwell--2020-11-16--Not the First Time a Vitamin Deficiency Was Confused for a Viral Epidemic

I recently had occasion to forward an email to others about the “ casedemic , ” the fact new cases of COVID-19 remain high because of excessive testing but deaths are down considerably .
The report shows how a panic can be caused by news reports citing an increase in cases which spawn draconian lockdown measures .
Thereafter I received a response from a leading respiratory disease specialist on my email list who responded : “ You should visit our ICU and those across the country … patients are dying from this most awful disease .
Others are trapped on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ studies show that 50 % of patients who have recovered have structural brain damage .
This disease is no joke.
” Nature Made Vitamin B1 ... Buy New $ 4.83 ( $ 0.05 / Count ) This caused me to dig deeper into answering the question : if COVID-19 is not more deadly than the flu ( only 6 % of COVID-19 deaths are from COVID-19 only ) and out of 12,000 COVID-19 throat swab tests , only 15 are positive for the virus while 14 of these 15 positives turn out to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is causing all the deaths ?
An answer to that question is my recent report entitled NOT COVID that identifies a fear-induced vitamin B1 shortage as the cause .
Not the first time a vitamin deficiency has been confused with a virus This isn ’ t the first-time beriberi ( vitamin B1 deficiency ) has been confused for an infectious disease outbreak .
A disease outbreak in 1897 was thought to be caused by an infectious agent ( bacteria , virus , fungus ) until it vanished when unpolished rice was substituted for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
of Clinical Epidemiology , Leiden University Hospital , The Netherlands , 2012 ] .
Beriberi produces symptoms of fever and infection that is confused with real microbe-induced infectious disease .
Beriberi may be misdiagnosed as a viral infection and accompanying pneumonia .
The account of Nobel-Prize winner ( 1928 ) Christiaan Eijkman is instructive .
In 1886 , with the germ theory of disease being prominent among physicians , the Dutch assembled a commission to determine which bacterium causes the symptoms of beri beri in preparation for creating a vaccine .
However @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Eijkman noticed chickens had trouble breathing and showed other signs of beriberi .
Initially Eijkkman thought this disease was transferred from sick chicken to healthy chicken .
He isolated the animals in separate cages , similar to present-day lockdowns of human populations .
However , the chickens still got sick .
Eijkman was bewildered .
Now Supplements , Vitam ... Buy New $ 4.28 Eijkman eventually found chickens that were “ immune ” from the disease were fed unpolished rice , the rice that had the B1-thiamine ( B1 being in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ chickens fed half-polished rice that were not showing signs of illness .
Eijkman learned to make the chickens sick almost at will by controlling their diet .
But microbiologists , narrowed focused on the germ theory of disease , doggedly continued to search for the microbe that was causing this disease .
Between 1885-1906 seventeen different researchers claimed to have found the microorganism that causes beriberi .
It took till 1925 for vitamin B1 ( thiamine ) to be isolated from food .
Then a theoretically infectious disease took a back seat to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ needed .
If COVID-19 deaths are being caused by a vitamin deficiency , then what are the upcoming vaccines creating antibodies against ?
It is investigator Peter Doshi who alerts us to the fact only 16 % of flu cases are found to be influenza positive .
Doshi writes : “ most flu appears to have nothing to do with influenza.
” [ British Medical Journal , Volume 346 , page 13037 , 2013 ] .
So , 84 % of subjects inoculated with the flu vaccine are only being exposed to vaccine @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from vaccination .
This fraud was reported seven years ago .
So , what level of confidence can the public have in the COVID-19 vaccines under development ?
Only the derelict news media continues to false prop vaccination .
Bronson Super B Vitami ... Buy New $ 19.97 ( $ 0.20 / Count ) A terrible fate could await human populations who will be forced to immunize against COVID-19 .
If just 1/10th of one-percent of the world ’ s 7.9 billion human population experiences serious side effects that result in hospitalization following @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fill hospital beds globally .
The pro-vaccine news media , serving as a propaganda agent that will likely attribute these vaccine-induced illnesses to the COVID-19 coronavirus .
In the meantime , vitamin B1 pills are in order .
Alcohol , coffee , tea , sugar , tobacco , block its absorption .
Water pills ( diuretics ) , acid-blocker heartburn medications , the anti-diabetic drug metformin , deplete B1 .
What does this say about the credibility of modern medicine ?
Public health officials ?
Vaccine makers ?
We are also supposed to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ experience any symptoms .
That is another fabrication .
The test is bogus and you certainly never had COVID-19 and therefore , no symptoms !

I recently had occasion to forward an email to others about the “casedemic,” the fact new cases of COVID-19 remain high because of excessive testing but deaths are down considerably. The report shows how a panic can be caused by news reports citing an increase in cases which spawn draconian lockdown measures.
Thereafter I received a response from a leading respiratory disease specialist on my email list who responded:
“You should visit our ICU and those across the country … patients are dying from this most awful disease.
Others are trapped on ventilators from permanent lung damage.
MRI studies show that 50% of patients who have recovered have structural brain damage. This disease is no joke.”
Nature Made Vitamin B1... Buy New $4.83 ($0.05 / Count) (as of 03:02 UTC - Details) This caused me to dig deeper into answering the question: if COVID-19 is not more deadly than the flu (only 6% of COVID-19 deaths are from COVID-19 only) and out of 12,000 COVID-19 throat swab tests, only 15 are positive for the virus while 14 of these 15 positives turn out to be false positives on re-testing, what is causing all the deaths?
An answer to that question is my recent report entitled NOT COVID that identifies a fear-induced vitamin B1 shortage as the cause.
Not the first time a vitamin deficiency has been confused with a virus
This isn’t the first-time beriberi (vitamin B1 deficiency) has been confused for an infectious disease outbreak. A disease outbreak in 1897 was thought to be caused by an infectious agent (bacteria, virus, fungus) until it vanished when unpolished rice was substituted for vitamin B1-deficient polished rice. [Dept. of Clinical Epidemiology, Leiden University Hospital, The Netherlands, 2012].
Beriberi produces symptoms of fever and infection that is confused with real microbe-induced infectious disease. Beriberi may be misdiagnosed as a viral infection and accompanying pneumonia.
The account of Nobel-Prize winner (1928) Christiaan Eijkman is instructive.
In 1886, with the germ theory of disease being prominent among physicians, the Dutch assembled a commission to determine which bacterium causes the symptoms of beri beri in preparation for creating a vaccine. However, the germ could not be isolated.
Eijkman noticed chickens had trouble breathing and showed other signs of beriberi.
Initially Eijkkman thought this disease was transferred from sick chicken to healthy chicken. He isolated the animals in separate cages, similar to present-day lockdowns of human populations. However, the chickens still got sick. Eijkman was bewildered. Now Supplements, Vitam... Buy New $4.28 (as of 09:50 UTC - Details)
Eijkman eventually found chickens that were “immune” from the disease were fed unpolished rice, the rice that had the B1-thiamine (B1 being in the rice hull).
Eijkman learned of chickens fed half-polished rice that were not showing signs of illness. Eijkman learned to make the chickens sick almost at will by controlling their diet.
But microbiologists, narrowed focused on the germ theory of disease, doggedly continued to search for the microbe that was causing this disease. Between 1885-1906 seventeen different researchers claimed to have found the microorganism that causes beriberi.
It took till 1925 for vitamin B1 (thiamine) to be isolated from food. Then a theoretically infectious disease took a back seat to a dietary deficiency disease. No vaccine needed.
If COVID-19 deaths are being caused by a vitamin deficiency, then what are the upcoming vaccines creating antibodies against?
It is investigator Peter Doshi who alerts us to the fact only 16% of flu cases are found to be influenza positive. Doshi writes: “most flu appears to have nothing to do with influenza.” [British Medical Journal, Volume 346, page 13037, 2013]. So, 84% of subjects inoculated with the flu vaccine are only being exposed to vaccine side effects and cannot categorically benefit from vaccination. This fraud was reported seven years ago.
So, what level of confidence can the public have in the COVID-19 vaccines under development? Only the derelict news media continues to false prop vaccination. Bronson Super B Vitami... Buy New $19.97 ($0.20 / Count) (as of 03:02 UTC - Details)
A terrible fate could await human populations who will be forced to immunize against COVID-19. If just 1/10th of one-percent of the world’s 7.9 billion human population experiences serious side effects that result in hospitalization following vaccination, then 7.9 million people will fill hospital beds globally. The pro-vaccine news media, serving as a propaganda agent that will likely attribute these vaccine-induced illnesses to the COVID-19 coronavirus.
In the meantime, vitamin B1 pills are in order. Alcohol, coffee, tea, sugar, tobacco, block its absorption. Water pills (diuretics), acid-blocker heartburn medications, the anti-diabetic drug metformin, deplete B1.
What does this say about the credibility of modern medicine? Public health officials? Vaccine makers?
We are also supposed to believe you can get COVID-19 and not experience any symptoms. That is another fabrication. The test is bogus and you certainly never had COVID-19 and therefore, no symptoms!


lewrockwell--2020-11-16--A Time for Reflection

A Time for Reflection

Armenia , Azerbaijan and Russia have signed an agreement to end military conflict over the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh .
( BBC ) After six weeks of fighting , Russia has brokered an agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan regarding the disputed region of Nagorno Karabagh ( Artsakh ) .
I have previously offered some historical background regarding this conflict , so will not go further into it here .
In this most recent fighting , Azerbaijan was joined by Turkey against Artsakh and , at least on some level , Armenia .
Perhaps 100 million people against 3 million .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ to Azerbaijan had given Baku a decisive advantage against Armenian forces in the conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave .
Armenia Culture Pullov ... Buy New $ 31.98 Further , Azerbaijan was directly supported by Israel with weapons ; indirectly , by the United States , who had to at minimum given a wink to its NATO partner , Turkey .
At least in terms of manpower , financial capacity , and military means , it was never a fair fight .
Azerbaijan was successful in taking significant territory in these last six weeks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ around Artsakh and territory within Artsakh itself .
From all reports , Azerbaijan was on the verge of taking the largest city , Stepanakert , having already taken the strategic city of Shushi .
It seems quite likely that had the deal not been finalized when it was , the rest of Artsakh would have been lost .
As it is , the two sides are to stand down in place .
Russia is sending close to 2,000 peacekeepers for at least five years , to stand in between the parties .
Additionally @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Armenian control , are to be handed over to Azerbaijan .
Finally , road corridors are to be opened between Armenian and Artsakh on the one hand , and Nakhichevan and Azerbaijan on the other .
In Armenia , and for many Armenians around the world , this is a crushing blow – and understandably so .
The haunt of the genocide one hundred years ago hangs over this war and these events .
Consider what is lost .
For example , the Amaras Monastery , dating back to the fourth century , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Armenian alphabet .
The monastery was founded by St. Gregory , the saint who would bring the Armenian king to Christianity in 301 A.D. Dadivank is another monastery in a region now to be turned over to the Azeris .
The monastery was founded in the first century by St. Dadi , a disciple of Thaddeus the Apostle ; current structures were bult as early as the ninth century .
By legend , it was Thaddaeus and Bartholomew who brought Christianity to the Armenians after the Resurrection .
By Ширяевы Игорь и Лариса.Original @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Transferred from ru.wikipedia ( Original text here ) , CC BY-SA 3.0 There are two khachkars ( stone-crosses as grave markers ) at this monastery , dating to the thirteenth century .
Father Hovhannes Hovhannisyan ( John Johnson ) is abbot of the monastery .
You will like this guy : In this video ( don ’ t bother , unless you understand Eastern Armenian ) , he states that he will be removing these khachkars – after 800 years – to protect these from the Azeri takeover .
To give some idea @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Armenian isn ’ t great , so forgive any errors ) : Our khachkars are our life , our Christianity ; we have two or three days before the ungodly ones come to take over this place .
You will see after what kind of condition they offer to this place .
Armenia Armenian gifts ... Buy New $ 12.95 Perhaps watch the video .
You will see his pain , knowing that he will be the one , after 800 years , that will remove these khachkars from their place .
There @ @ @ @ @ @ @ within the region to be controlled by Armenia and Russia .
Father Hovhannes has more recently stated that he will not be moving ; the fog of war has given way to the fog of peace .
This is not the case for Amaras .
It is apparently in the region to be handed over to Azerbaijan .
For Amaras to be retained , diplomatic skill by the Armenian side is required – but more on this below .
News of this agreement hit Armenians like a stone .
In Yerevan , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ marching on the square , on Parliament .
I found myself wondering : why are so many men so angry in Yerevan ?
If it was so important to them , why were they not on the front ?
The situation was truly desperate from the start .
With Turkey , perhaps the most powerful non-nuclear military in the world , joining Azerbaijan , there was little hope for the Armenian side to succeed militarily , and certainly not without major resources from Armenia proper and elsewhere .
But absent true diplomatic skill @ @ @ @ @ @ @ situation , the long game was against Armenia in any case .
Armenian Culture Famil ... Buy New $ 16.99 In the aftermath of the fall of the Soviet Union , Armenia was victorious in the fight for Artsakh .
Yet , it was Azerbaijan with time on its hands .
Oil .
Baku was flooded in oil .
Armenia , on the other hand , was a land-locked nation with no meaningful natural resources , and working to dig out from under both the collapse of the Soviet Union and the devastating @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the time of that empire .
Since the time of that victory , more than 25 years ago , Baku spent considerably more on its military than Armenia did .
It had the resources to do so .
Since the time of that victory , more than 25 years ago , the process of reaching a final settlement went nowhere .
A group headed by the United States , France , and Russia was mediating this dispute , with no progress to show for it .
Two weeks ago , Vladimir Putin stressed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ changed .
He offered : “ We proceeded from the fact that we need to talk about the possibility of transferring five plus two regions to Azerbaijan with the provision of a certain regime of the Karabakh zone , its interaction with Armenia.
” Russia ’ s position has not changed .
For how long ?
This is quite curious to me .
Has this been Russia ’ s position all along ?
I have no way to know , or maybe I just wasn ’ t that close to it .
However @ @ @ @ @ @ @ saying that Russia ’ s view is that Karabagh holds some protected status , Armenia returns the buffer provinces around Karabagh , and a physical road connection is maintained between Armenia and Karabagh .
It sounds to me just like the situation of West Berlin and West Germany , with a highway connecting the two through East Germany .
It worked then , and in a case where the stakes were much higher , albeit , perhaps , not as passionate .
It also sounds exactly like the deal that has now been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a few important distinctions : first , thousands of people died on both sides of the conflict ; second , the region of Karabagh that has been retained by Armenians is much smaller than it was before the fighting .
In other words , a lose-lose for the Armenian side .
At least in exchange for the deaths , Azerbaijan also gained territory .
Artsakh Strong Noteboo ... press , historyArts Buy New $ 6.99 In 2018 , in what was called a victory for democracy , Armenians took to the streets to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Pashinyan as Prime Minister .
It was called a blow against the corruption of the oligarchy .
I recall attending a discussion during that time , just after these events .
Besides being interested as an Armenian , I was considering a trip that summer to Armenia ( I ended up not going , for different reasons ) .
I had concerns : I knew the results of such color revolutions in Ukraine , Syria , Georgia , and elsewhere .
Violence , war , and bloodshed followed each .
Sure , this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : it was quite peaceful .
But Armenia is different : no ethnic or religious factions between which one can set a wedge .
Still , I could not accept the story at face value .
Boy , was I pooh-poohed at the meeting : why can ’ t I just accept good news ?
Just think good thoughts and good things will happen ( I kid you not ) .
Well , I wasn ’ t buying it – it was all too familiar .
Sure , bloodshed and violence did not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ smelled right to me .
Yet , the Armenian people on the streets were joyous , throwing off the corrupt oligarchy .
My view on internal Armenian politics : I don ’ t live there ; I didn ’ t suffer through the time of the earthquake or the collapse of the Soviet Union or those first freezing winters with no heat .
I have some thoughts , but I am quite reserved about voicing these .
As I do not suffer the direct consequences – good or bad – I remain somewhat @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have publicly spoken out about the situation ; I do it because the wrong steps by Armenia could be fatal .
Since then , much has been speculated about this Velvet Revolution being another western-backed event , designed to cause turmoil along the near-abroad of Russia .
Now , to take a step back : despite all of the strength of the Armenian diaspora in the West , I have known for many years that Armenia ’ s only hope for some level of stability would be through Russia .
Armenian Culture Famil @ @ @ @ @ @ @ some time did a decent job of balancing East and West , but in the case of difficulties , there was absolutely zero chance that America or the West would ever help Armenia .
Not that Russia owed Armenia anything ; only that stability in Armenia was far more relevant to Russia than it was to the West .
Appo Jabarian , publisher and editor of USA Armenia Life , said it perfectly : “ As far as many in the Western official circles , Armenia can go to hell !
!
!
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ to discontinue to have any wishful expectations from the United States.
” Yet , with the rise of Pashinyan in the aftermath of this Velvet Revolution , Armenia apparently swung away from Russia and toward the West .
Kevork Almassyan writes the following : The Armenians removed the pro-Russian oligarchies through a colour revolution and they installed a man who is not only anti-Russian but also wants to re-direct Armenia ’ s geopolitical position into NATO , the EU and the US .
In the last two decades , a few former Soviet @ @ @ @ @ @ @ colour revolutions and they lost territories .
Some Armenians didn ’ t learn the lesson and they declared the Velvet revolution in 2018 and they lost most of Artsakh in 2020 .
Armenia is located in the Caucasus and not in Western Europe or North America .
Deal with this fact .
…the revolution in Armenia in 2018 raised anti-Russian slogans and Pashinyan opened the country entirely for Soros , USAID , The National Endowment for Democracy , etc.
, etc .
You can ’ t simply open your country to these organizations @ @ @ @ @ @ @ doesn ’ t work that way .
Therefore , the Armenians should blame themselves before blaming anyone else .
[ Armenians ] brought a person who angered Russia and therefore we have paid a huge price .
Whatever one believes about the value of attachment to the West , the reality on the ground dictates a certain course .
As I said , it has been clear to me for some time that Armenia ’ s only hope for a long-term stable future was via good relations with Russia .
Apparently , two @ @ @ @ @ @ @ taken .
It was a costly decision .
Super Soft Armenian Fl ... Buy New $ 15.88 Many Armenians are protesting this agreement .
Without Russia ’ s involvement on terms reasonably satisfactory to Russia , what is the alternative ?
The Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has rebuked the anti-government protests in Yerevan .
Lavrov , perhaps the most capable foreign diplomat in the world today , is the son of an Armenian father and a Russian mother .
I do not say this to suggest that he will favor Armenia to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ suggest that if anyone of importance on the world stage will have a sympathetic ear for Armenians , it will be him .
Russian involvement will only go so far without cooperation from Armenia .
The downside of losing Russia ?
“ Turkey has consistently taken the position to approve a military operation , ” [ Kremlin spokesman Dmitry ] Peskov explained .
“ We seriously disagreed , and still disagree about this with our Turkish colleagues .
But this does not prevent us from continuing close interaction at all levels , including @ @ @ @ @ @ @ conceivable that Armenia and Artsakh are in a position today to stand in front of Turkey and Azerbaijan with further weapons from Israel , while at the same time receiving no military support from the West ?
I do not question the bravery of those who fight .
I question the sanity of any who would send them to such a fight .
Artsakh President and Prime Minister , Arayik Harutyunyan , cited a Russian analyst as saying that to win in the war the Armenian side had to mobilize 80-100 thousand people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ He went further : “ Had the hostilities continued at the same pace , we would have lost the whole of Artsakh in a matter of days.
” “ …there were no resources to continue the fight.
” From what I have gathered , Armenians are stunned .
The crowds who want Pahinyan ’ s head today are the same crowds that cheered him on during the Velvet Revolution yesterday .
Emotions are running very high…and very low .
Dr. Yevgenya Paturyan , Assistant Professor of the Political Science and International Affairs Program @ @ @ @ @ @ @ writing after news of this signed agreement : Don ’ t ask me how I am .
Don ’ t ask me to think , to analyse , to reflect .
Just grieve with me .
Grieve for the lives lost , for an entire generation lost to hope , faith .
My beloved Independence Generation , the dreamers , the makers of the Velvet Revolution… Somehow I have to bring them back from the brink .
They feel betrayed by their own government , betrayed by the international community .
Grieve for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nation to heal .
This is the first stage , the darkest stage .
I have read too many accounts that come across as gloating : how dumb are the Armenian people , etc.
, etc .
Not only from Turk or Azeri supporters ( as this is expected ) , but from elsewhere .
This , to me , is unconscionable .
Like all politics everywhere , from the United States to China and everywhere in between , I keep in mind that the people are pawns .
It is the people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ die .
Like all people everywhere , we are victims of such political , military , and business leaders .
There are many speculations about the game being played behind the scenes in this war .
Whatever is the truth , the people almost everywhere always lose .
Plenty of Blame to go Around But it is too easy to blame this all on Pashinyan .
For over twenty years after the end of the last war in 1994 , there were other Armenian leaders , in somewhat better standing with Moscow , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ As Putin offered , he has held the same position : Karabagh maintains some independent or autonomous status , the surrounding provinces are returned to Azerbaijan .
If this is true – and I have read nothing elsewhere to indicate it isn ’ t – then why was this offer not taken ?
Keep in mind : Azerbaijan was not going to grow weaker ; it was only going to grow stronger .
Throw in Turkish support , Israeli weapons , and US indifference ( at best ) , and the odds would @ @ @ @ @ @ @ position militarily .
Were Armenian leaders too cowardly to properly prepare the people for this ?
Were they falsely wooed by the Americans ?
Was Azerbaijan against it ?
Perhaps one answer is found here , offered by Dr. Razmik Panossian , who is the Director of the Armenian Communities Department of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation : I followed the debates on Karabakh quite closely between the 1994 ceasefire and the year 2000 .
There was a very clear logic : the lands under Armenian military control outside of Artsakh proper – except @ @ @ @ @ @ @ chips ” to be “ traded ” for a peace settlement that assured the status and security of Karabakh ( the use of the name “ Artsakh ” was not that common back then ) .
This sounds precisely like what Putin said he was after .
So , what happened ?
In the 2000s this logic changed .
The Azerbaijani territories outside of Karabakh started to be considered as historic Armenian regions , as liberated territories and lands to be settled on .
Maps changed from showing Armenia , NK and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ showing one continuous territory or country with different regions .
Even souvenirs – from fridge magnets to posters – reflected the new discourse .
We created an illusion of peace , and came to believe in it… And illusions don ’ t last , as we found out on 27 September 2020 .
What I can say : I know that too many died – by one report , more people died in this war on both sides than the Soviet Union lost in Afghanistan in ten years .
Illusions are painfully shattered @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , a thought from Bishop Daniel Findikyan , Primate of the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church .
I have met Bishop Daniel a few times , and had the pleasure of dinner with him twice – all before he became the primate .
The Armenian Church needs many leaders like Bishop Daniel .
In any case , his thoughts : By now , every Armenian in the world has received the heavy news from our homeland , about the outcome of the war in Artsakh .
By now , every Armenian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ came together instinctively as one , when our very existence was threatened by violence from a cruel , amoral enemy .
But my dear people , the struggle for our existence has not stopped .
Our unity with one another will be just as critical in the days and years to come , as it was thirty years ago , in the time of the earthquake , and the earliest days of our homeland ’ s independence .
In this troubling time , the purposes of God are very hard to discern .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ through the past centuries to see us fracture and fragment in this most critical moment .
Let us live in the spirit of unity—and in that spirit , ask our Father in Heaven to reveal His will for us .
What Armenia needs now , more than anything , is for its churches to be opened for liturgy and communion , our sourp badarag .
The Armenian Church has been the one place , throughout the centuries , where Armenians could come together through all times of trouble and difficulty .
Easter has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lose Christmas as well ?
if this continues , Armenia will lose its soul .
This burden belongs squarely on the church .
The cost of opening for liturgy might be high ; the cost of remaining closed is certainly incalculable .
We have lost lands before ; through the Church , we have always held onto our soul .
Let us not also suffer this shame in our generation .
Further , Armenia needs political leaders and skilled diplomats that understand and appreciate the reality of Armenia ’ s place in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , very near to Russia .
The Western governments pay lip service to Armenia , for the sake of the votes and political donations of diaspora Armenians .
Hopefully the only choices for Armenia are not limited to corrupt leaders who understand the reality of its geographical location vs. leaders who are naïve ( at best ) or tools of the West ( at worst ) .
Armenian diplomacy has failed this country and nation , it has betrayed its soldiers , it has cost a portion of the homeland .
Further failures @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Daniel Ajamian

Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia have signed an agreement to end military conflict over the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh. (BBC)
After six weeks of fighting, Russia has brokered an agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan regarding the disputed region of Nagorno Karabagh (Artsakh). I have previously offered some historical background regarding this conflict, so will not go further into it here.
In this most recent fighting, Azerbaijan was joined by Turkey against Artsakh and, at least on some level, Armenia. Perhaps 100 million people against 3 million.
Ankara’s supply of advanced weaponry to Azerbaijan had given Baku a decisive advantage against Armenian forces in the conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave.
Armenia Culture Pullov... Buy New $31.98 (as of 03:04 UTC - Details) Further, Azerbaijan was directly supported by Israel with weapons; indirectly, by the United States, who had to at minimum given a wink to its NATO partner, Turkey. At least in terms of manpower, financial capacity, and military means, it was never a fair fight.
What Was Lost
Azerbaijan was successful in taking significant territory in these last six weeks – both territory of the buffer zone around Artsakh and territory within Artsakh itself. From all reports, Azerbaijan was on the verge of taking the largest city, Stepanakert, having already taken the strategic city of Shushi. It seems quite likely that had the deal not been finalized when it was, the rest of Artsakh would have been lost.
As it is, the two sides are to stand down in place. Russia is sending close to 2,000 peacekeepers for at least five years, to stand in between the parties. Additionally, regions surrounding Artsakh, still in Armenian control, are to be handed over to Azerbaijan. Finally, road corridors are to be opened between Armenian and Artsakh on the one hand, and Nakhichevan and Azerbaijan on the other.
In Armenia, and for many Armenians around the world, this is a crushing blow – and understandably so. The haunt of the genocide one hundred years ago hangs over this war and these events.
Consider what is lost. For example, the Amaras Monastery, dating back to the fourth century, and the first school to teach the Armenian alphabet. The monastery was founded by St. Gregory, the saint who would bring the Armenian king to Christianity in 301 A.D.
Dadivank is another monastery in a region now to be turned over to the Azeris. The monastery was founded in the first century by St. Dadi, a disciple of Thaddeus the Apostle; current structures were bult as early as the ninth century. By legend, it was Thaddaeus and Bartholomew who brought Christianity to the Armenians after the Resurrection.
By Ширяевы Игорь и Лариса.Original uploader was Armen hay at ru.wikipedia – Transferred from ru.wikipedia(Original text here), CC BY-SA 3.0
There are two khachkars (stone-crosses as grave markers) at this monastery, dating to the thirteenth century. Father Hovhannes Hovhannisyan (John Johnson) is abbot of the monastery. You will like this guy:
In this video (don’t bother, unless you understand Eastern Armenian), he states that he will be removing these khachkars – after 800 years – to protect these from the Azeri takeover. To give some idea of his words (and my Eastern Armenian isn’t great, so forgive any errors): Our khachkars are our life, our Christianity; we have two or three days before the ungodly ones come to take over this place. You will see after what kind of condition they offer to this place. Armenia Armenian gifts... Buy New $12.95 (as of 03:04 UTC - Details)
Perhaps watch the video. You will see his pain, knowing that he will be the one, after 800 years, that will remove these khachkars from their place.
There is some possibility that this monastery is within the region to be controlled by Armenia and Russia. Father Hovhannes has more recently stated that he will not be moving; the fog of war has given way to the fog of peace.
This is not the case for Amaras. It is apparently in the region to be handed over to Azerbaijan. For Amaras to be retained, diplomatic skill by the Armenian side is required – but more on this below.
The Reaction
News of this agreement hit Armenians like a stone. In Yerevan, the protests were immediate and violent. Thousands marching on the square, on Parliament. I found myself wondering: why are so many men so angry in Yerevan? If it was so important to them, why were they not on the front?
The Reality
The situation was truly desperate from the start. With Turkey, perhaps the most powerful non-nuclear military in the world, joining Azerbaijan, there was little hope for the Armenian side to succeed militarily, and certainly not without major resources from Armenia proper and elsewhere. But absent true diplomatic skill and an honest acceptance of the geopolitical situation, the long game was against Armenia in any case. Armenian Culture Famil... Buy New $16.99 (as of 03:04 UTC - Details)
In the aftermath of the fall of the Soviet Union, Armenia was victorious in the fight for Artsakh. Yet, it was Azerbaijan with time on its hands. Oil. Baku was flooded in oil. Armenia, on the other hand, was a land-locked nation with no meaningful natural resources, and working to dig out from under both the collapse of the Soviet Union and the devastating earthquake that struck at the end of the time of that empire.
Since the time of that victory, more than 25 years ago, Baku spent considerably more on its military than Armenia did. It had the resources to do so. Since the time of that victory, more than 25 years ago, the process of reaching a final settlement went nowhere. A group headed by the United States, France, and Russia was mediating this dispute, with no progress to show for it.
Two weeks ago, Vladimir Putin stressed that Russia’s position has not changed. He offered:
“We proceeded from the fact that we need to talk about the possibility of transferring five plus two regions to Azerbaijan with the provision of a certain regime of the Karabakh zone, its interaction with Armenia.”
Russia’s position has not changed. For how long? This is quite curious to me. Has this been Russia’s position all along? I have no way to know, or maybe I just wasn’t that close to it. However, it sounds as if he is saying that Russia’s view is that Karabagh holds some protected status, Armenia returns the buffer provinces around Karabagh, and a physical road connection is maintained between Armenia and Karabagh.
It sounds to me just like the situation of West Berlin and West Germany, with a highway connecting the two through East Germany. It worked then, and in a case where the stakes were much higher, albeit, perhaps, not as passionate.
It also sounds exactly like the deal that has now been reached between Armenia and Azerbaijan, with a few important distinctions: first, thousands of people died on both sides of the conflict; second, the region of Karabagh that has been retained by Armenians is much smaller than it was before the fighting. In other words, a lose-lose for the Armenian side.
At least in exchange for the deaths, Azerbaijan also gained territory. Artsakh Strong Noteboo... press, historyArts Buy New $6.99 (as of 03:04 UTC - Details)
The Velvet Revolution
In 2018, in what was called a victory for democracy, Armenians took to the streets to overthrow the existing government and install Nikol Pashinyan as Prime Minister. It was called a blow against the corruption of the oligarchy.
I recall attending a discussion during that time, just after these events. Besides being interested as an Armenian, I was considering a trip that summer to Armenia (I ended up not going, for different reasons). I had concerns: I knew the results of such color revolutions in Ukraine, Syria, Georgia, and elsewhere. Violence, war, and bloodshed followed each. Sure, this one in Armenia had a different tone: it was quite peaceful. But Armenia is different: no ethnic or religious factions between which one can set a wedge. Still, I could not accept the story at face value.
Boy, was I pooh-poohed at the meeting: why can’t I just accept good news? Just think good thoughts and good things will happen (I kid you not). Well, I wasn’t buying it – it was all too familiar. Sure, bloodshed and violence did not follow, but nothing about this revolution smelled right to me.
Yet, the Armenian people on the streets were joyous, throwing off the corrupt oligarchy. My view on internal Armenian politics: I don’t live there; I didn’t suffer through the time of the earthquake or the collapse of the Soviet Union or those first freezing winters with no heat. I have some thoughts, but I am quite reserved about voicing these. As I do not suffer the direct consequences – good or bad – I remain somewhat muted. This is the most I have publicly spoken out about the situation; I do it because the wrong steps by Armenia could be fatal.
Since then, much has been speculated about this Velvet Revolution being another western-backed event, designed to cause turmoil along the near-abroad of Russia.
Russia
Now, to take a step back: despite all of the strength of the Armenian diaspora in the West, I have known for many years that Armenia’s only hope for some level of stability would be through Russia. Armenian Culture Famil... Buy New $22.99 (as of 03:04 UTC - Details)
Armenia for some time did a decent job of balancing East and West, but in the case of difficulties, there was absolutely zero chance that America or the West would ever help Armenia. Not that Russia owed Armenia anything; only that stability in Armenia was far more relevant to Russia than it was to the West. Appo Jabarian, publisher and editor of USA Armenia Life, said it perfectly:
“As far as many in the Western official circles, Armenia can go to hell!!!!” “I plead with you to discontinue to have any wishful expectations from the United States.”
Yet, with the rise of Pashinyan in the aftermath of this Velvet Revolution, Armenia apparently swung away from Russia and toward the West. Kevork Almassyan writes the following:
The Armenians removed the pro-Russian oligarchies through a colour revolution and they installed a man who is not only anti-Russian but also wants to re-direct Armenia’s geopolitical position into NATO, the EU and the US.
In the last two decades, a few former Soviet countries tried the same Soros recipe of colour revolutions and they lost territories.
Some Armenians didn’t learn the lesson and they declared the Velvet revolution in 2018 and they lost most of Artsakh in 2020.
Armenia is located in the Caucasus and not in Western Europe or North America. Deal with this fact.
…the revolution in Armenia in 2018 raised anti-Russian slogans and Pashinyan opened the country entirely for Soros, USAID, The National Endowment for Democracy, etc., etc.
You can’t simply open your country to these organizations and later expect Russian help. It doesn’t work that way. Therefore, the Armenians should blame themselves before blaming anyone else.
[Armenians] brought a person who angered Russia and therefore we have paid a huge price.
Whatever one believes about the value of attachment to the West, the reality on the ground dictates a certain course. As I said, it has been clear to me for some time that Armenia’s only hope for a long-term stable future was via good relations with Russia. Apparently, two years ago, a different approach was taken. It was a costly decision. Super Soft Armenian Fl... Buy New $15.88 (as of 03:04 UTC - Details)
The Alternative
Many Armenians are protesting this agreement. Without Russia’s involvement on terms reasonably satisfactory to Russia, what is the alternative?
The Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has rebuked the anti-government protests in Yerevan.
Lavrov, perhaps the most capable foreign diplomat in the world today, is the son of an Armenian father and a Russian mother. I do not say this to suggest that he will favor Armenia to the detriment of Russia; I do suggest that if anyone of importance on the world stage will have a sympathetic ear for Armenians, it will be him.
Russian involvement will only go so far without cooperation from Armenia. The downside of losing Russia?
“Turkey has consistently taken the position to approve a military operation,” [Kremlin spokesman Dmitry] Peskov explained. “We seriously disagreed, and still disagree about this with our Turkish colleagues. But this does not prevent us from continuing close interaction at all levels, including at the highest level.”
Is it conceivable that Armenia and Artsakh are in a position today to stand in front of Turkey and Azerbaijan with further weapons from Israel, while at the same time receiving no military support from the West?
I do not question the bravery of those who fight. I question the sanity of any who would send them to such a fight.
Artsakh President and Prime Minister, Arayik Harutyunyan, cited a Russian analyst as saying that to win in the war the Armenian side had to mobilize 80-100 thousand people. Nothing like this was done. He went further:
“Had the hostilities continued at the same pace, we would have lost the whole of Artsakh in a matter of days.” “…there were no resources to continue the fight.”
Grief
From what I have gathered, Armenians are stunned. The crowds who want Pahinyan’s head today are the same crowds that cheered him on during the Velvet Revolution yesterday. Emotions are running very high…and very low. Dr. Yevgenya Paturyan, Assistant Professor of the Political Science and International Affairs Program at the American University of Armenia, writing after news of this signed agreement:
Don’t ask me how I am. Don’t ask me to think, to analyse, to reflect. Just grieve with me. Grieve for the lives lost, for an entire generation lost to hope, faith. My beloved Independence Generation, the dreamers, the makers of the Velvet Revolution… Somehow I have to bring them back from the brink. They feel betrayed by their own government, betrayed by the international community.
Grieve for Armenia with me. We have a nation to heal. This is the first stage, the darkest stage.
I have read too many accounts that come across as gloating: how dumb are the Armenian people, etc., etc. Not only from Turk or Azeri supporters (as this is expected), but from elsewhere. This, to me, is unconscionable.
Like all politics everywhere, from the United States to China and everywhere in between, I keep in mind that the people are pawns. It is the people who suffer, who grieve, who die. Like all people everywhere, we are victims of such political, military, and business leaders.
There are many speculations about the game being played behind the scenes in this war. Whatever is the truth, the people almost everywhere always lose.
Plenty of Blame to go Around
But it is too easy to blame this all on Pashinyan. For over twenty years after the end of the last war in 1994, there were other Armenian leaders, in somewhat better standing with Moscow, that did not resolve this issue. As Putin offered, he has held the same position: Karabagh maintains some independent or autonomous status, the surrounding provinces are returned to Azerbaijan.
If this is true – and I have read nothing elsewhere to indicate it isn’t – then why was this offer not taken? Keep in mind: Azerbaijan was not going to grow weaker; it was only going to grow stronger. Throw in Turkish support, Israeli weapons, and US indifference (at best), and the odds would only grow further against Armenians sustaining this position militarily.
Were Armenian leaders too cowardly to properly prepare the people for this? Were they falsely wooed by the Americans? Was Azerbaijan against it?
Perhaps one answer is found here, offered by Dr. Razmik Panossian, who is the Director of the Armenian Communities Department of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation:
I followed the debates on Karabakh quite closely between the 1994 ceasefire and the year 2000. There was a very clear logic: the lands under Armenian military control outside of Artsakh proper – except the Lachin corridor – were “bargaining chips” to be “traded” for a peace settlement that assured the status and security of Karabakh (the use of the name “Artsakh” was not that common back then).
This sounds precisely like what Putin said he was after. So, what happened?
In the 2000s this logic changed. The Azerbaijani territories outside of Karabakh started to be considered as historic Armenian regions, as liberated territories and lands to be settled on. Maps changed from showing Armenia, NK and the Azerbaijani territories as separate entities, to showing one continuous territory or country with different regions. Even souvenirs – from fridge magnets to posters – reflected the new discourse.
We created an illusion of peace, and came to believe in it… And illusions don’t last, as we found out on 27 September 2020.
What I can say: I know that too many died – by one report, more people died in this war on both sides than the Soviet Union lost in Afghanistan in ten years. Illusions are painfully shattered, right where discovery starts.
Our Church
Finally, a thought from Bishop Daniel Findikyan, Primate of the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church. I have met Bishop Daniel a few times, and had the pleasure of dinner with him twice – all before he became the primate. The Armenian Church needs many leaders like Bishop Daniel. In any case, his thoughts:
By now, every Armenian in the world has received the heavy news from our homeland, about the outcome of the war in Artsakh. By now, every Armenian heart is cracked with grief.
We came together instinctively as one, when our very existence was threatened by violence from a cruel, amoral enemy. But my dear people, the struggle for our existence has not stopped. Our unity with one another will be just as critical in the days and years to come, as it was thirty years ago, in the time of the earthquake, and the earliest days of our homeland’s independence.
In this troubling time, the purposes of God are very hard to discern. But surely He has not sustained us through the past centuries to see us fracture and fragment in this most critical moment. Let us live in the spirit of unity—and in that spirit, ask our Father in Heaven to reveal His will for us.
What is Needed
What Armenia needs now, more than anything, is for its churches to be opened for liturgy and communion, our sourp badarag. The Armenian Church has been the one place, throughout the centuries, where Armenians could come together through all times of trouble and difficulty.
Easter has already been lost; are we to lose Christmas as well? if this continues, Armenia will lose its soul. This burden belongs squarely on the church. The cost of opening for liturgy might be high; the cost of remaining closed is certainly incalculable. We have lost lands before; through the Church, we have always held onto our soul. Let us not also suffer this shame in our generation.
Further, Armenia needs political leaders and skilled diplomats that understand and appreciate the reality of Armenia’s place in the world. Armenia is in the Caucasus, very near to Russia. The Western governments pay lip service to Armenia, for the sake of the votes and political donations of diaspora Armenians.
Hopefully the only choices for Armenia are not limited to corrupt leaders who understand the reality of its geographical location vs. leaders who are naïve (at best) or tools of the West (at worst).
Armenian diplomacy has failed this country and nation, it has betrayed its soldiers, it has cost a portion of the homeland. Further failures like this are unsustainable.
The Best of Daniel Ajamian