Bunessan

In a hymnal , every song represents someone who took hours to craft it — maybe weeks , maybe months — who then spent even more time sharing it with others .
Many others went through this process , failing along the way .
Text was added and changed , tunes were tweaked .
A great deal of human effort and sacrifice later , it appeared in a hymnal to be sung by you .
Someone forsook other activity for the activity it took to make that hymn a reality .
Imagine the amount of passion represented by one of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hoist each Sunday .
This process , by-and-large , is not a well structured process .
There is no right way to get it done .
Many pieces of writing you read — articles , essays , poems — go through a similar process .
While our era is one that acts to “ professionalize ” every human activity , writing largely remains an exception .
Why We Drive : Toward a ... Crawford , Matthew B Best Price : $ 20.98 Buy New $ 16.08 In a hymnbook hundreds of hymns in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who have ten hymns to their credit .
Each hymnal you pick up therefore represents the work of hundreds of people who were so moved that they put in the effort to make each of those hymns a reality .
Bunessan is the name of a small Scottish village .
A tune was sung there .
Someone sang that tune first .
Long after that , someone put words to that tune that were different from the original .
A translator , Lachlan Macbean , affixed the name Bunessan to the tune in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ became the tune for a widely known church hymn , a beloved one at that .
Imagine what it would be like for the long-deceased person who first sang that tune to a crying baby to be able to see a full church singing that song .
Imagine what it would be like for that person hearing Cat Stevens sing it to a full stadium alongside the words for “ Morning Has Broken.
” Imagine what it would be like to know that millions a day sing that song in churches .
There @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to make your dreams a reality .
In our lives , we are called on to do our best and work our hardest and smartest for as long as we can .
That is the very best we can do .
We have no idea where the ripples set in motion by our life may come to an end .
Nor can we know which decisions in our lives will make the most ripples .
Anyone who has attended a funeral in memory of a life well-lived knows how true that is .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Two powerful ideologies are in conflict with one another .
A level of conflict never seen in the United States in time of peace .
The outcome of this moment will decide many moments hence .
Medical doctors and epidemiologists , statisticians and modelers have opinions , but their opinions matter fairly little .
Not one .
Not a committee full .
Not dozens of committees full .
The committees don ’ t matter .
Their PhDs don ’ t matter .
Their credentials don ’ t matter .
They can ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It is the philosopher who must be turned to .
It is the writer .
It is the thinker .
They may have something to offer .
The World Beyond Your ... Crawford , Matthew B .
Best Price : $ 3.99 Buy New $ 10.23 But more importantly it is you who matter .
Between your ears , developed over years of struggle , redrafting , learning , trialing , erring , and learning some more , has your life philosophy been developed — and dare I say praying .
If you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hidden corner of life where this piece of writing lives , then I have little question about the next : the world needs to hear more from you and less from the people who can offer little more than data .
Data divorced from wisdom is futile .
America in the spring of 2020 is futile .
Turning the country over to Silicon Valley is futile .
Letting public health officials , econometricians , and modelers of omniscient algorithms command the details of life is futile .
All they offer is data divorced @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lives seeking wisdom , people who have lived lives giving themselves time to learn , people who have sought space to learn from the world , are the people most needed right now .
If the best you can offer the world in a moment of crisis is a spreadsheet , then you aren ’ t the right answer .
In our increasingly specialized world , it is infrequent to see the data gather also be a student of wisdom .
As many data gatherers have learned in the spring of 2020 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will not be tolerated .
The more rural , the better .
Not everyone rural gets it .
The more religious , the better .
Not everyone religious gets it .
The more relaxed , the better .
Not everyone relaxed gets it .
The older , the better .
Not everyone old gets it .
The more you combine these characteristics , and a few others , the more likely you are to find wisdom .
If you want wisdom , go back and find the woman who first sang the tune @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her be subjected to a moment of media fear or pharmaceutical promises to save the world .
Tell her “ A sickness is spreading .
Some people are falling ill .
Some are even dying .
What do I do ?
” In the midst of her answer , you are promised more wisdom than any type-A , young or young-wannabe , urban , well-diplomaed , intellectual will be able to offer you .
All they can offer you , with few exceptions , are data , and the mistaken belief that enough @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are not precedent to one another .
The two are differing concepts .
Just like claiming that enough guns will bring justice , or enough medical procedures will bring health , or enough sex will bring love .
The two — data and wisdom — can travel together , but the former will not suffice at bringing the latter .
The Case for Working w ... Matthew B. Crawford Best Price : $ 12.30 Buy New $ 19.75 You do the best you can with what you have .
You do it as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ emerge as treasures in the world .
But it ’ s not data that gets you there .
In A Moveable Feast , Hemingway described a type of person one could find at the Louvre : “ the measuring worm.
” Shop Class as Soulcraf ... Matthew B. Crawford Best Price : $ 0.99 Buy New $ 8.21 We live in an era that elevates the measuring worm .
Under their unchallenged guidance , spring 2020 reminded us why that should never again happen .
If the lesson did not register with enough @ @ @ @ @ @ @ repeated until it does .
One of the most commonly mentioned promises of our modern era is that of artificial intelligence .
At the root of this promise is that data can bring wisdom .
It can ’ t .
Artificial intelligence assures us that enough data will eventually provide wisdom .
The reality is , you will only end up with a computer with a great deal of data about you , and perhaps , as a result , a lot of power and influence , but ultimately missing “ what it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this thinking about AI , similar thinking in our modern era says that more guns in the hands of more government will bring about justice .
The same wisdom assures us that more sex , earlier in life , later in life , sooner after an introduction , and with more people , will bring more love .
In all three examples , the two are qualitatively different .
Quantity will not bridge that gap .
Artificial intelligence is one of the many examples of quantitative-qualitative inversions in our era .
Quantitative-qualitative inversions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ questions , and consequently missing “ what it ’ s all about ” : How do we have more Bunessan ?
How do we live better ?
How do we love more and do better for others around us ?
Allowing ourselves to be swept up in our era ’ s blind drive for data at the hands of disaffected nerds who demand influence over our lives ensures that we will miss what it ’ s all about .
As the Ides of March 2020 arrived , the country where some believe the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be found , the United States , has shown the world how much more concerned so many are with data than wisdom .
Do you happen to know the way to Bunessan ?
I assure you this road we are on is not it .
The Best of Allan Stevo

In a hymnal, every song represents someone who took hours to craft it — maybe weeks, maybe months — who then spent even more time sharing it with others. Many others went through this process, failing along the way.
Text was added and changed, tunes were tweaked. A great deal of human effort and sacrifice later, it appeared in a hymnal to be sung by you.
Someone forsook other activity for the activity it took to make that hymn a reality. Imagine the amount of passion represented by one of those hymns in that heavy book you hoist each Sunday.
This process, by-and-large, is not a well structured process. There is no right way to get it done.
Many pieces of writing you read — articles, essays, poems — go through a similar process. While our era is one that acts to “professionalize” every human activity, writing largely remains an exception. Why We Drive: Toward a... Crawford, Matthew B Best Price: $20.98 Buy New $16.08 (as of 06:02 UTC - Details)
In a hymnbook hundreds of hymns in length, you might have some people who have ten hymns to their credit. Each hymnal you pick up therefore represents the work of hundreds of people who were so moved that they put in the effort to make each of those hymns a reality.
Bunessan is the name of a small Scottish village. A tune was sung there. Someone sang that tune first. Long after that, someone put words to that tune that were different from the original. A translator, Lachlan Macbean, affixed the name Bunessan to the tune in the 1880s. In time, it became the tune for a widely known church hymn, a beloved one at that.
Imagine what it would be like for the long-deceased person who first sang that tune to a crying baby to be able to see a full church singing that song.
Imagine what it would be like for that person hearing Cat Stevens sing it to a full stadium alongside the words for “Morning Has Broken.”
Imagine what it would be like to know that millions a day sing that song in churches.
There are activities that work better than others to make your dreams a reality.
In our lives, we are called on to do our best and work our hardest and smartest for as long as we can. That is the very best we can do. We have no idea where the ripples set in motion by our life may come to an end. Nor can we know which decisions in our lives will make the most ripples. Anyone who has attended a funeral in memory of a life well-lived knows how true that is.
We are in a historical moment. Two powerful ideologies are in conflict with one another. A level of conflict never seen in the United States in time of peace. The outcome of this moment will decide many moments hence.
Medical doctors and epidemiologists, statisticians and modelers have opinions, but their opinions matter fairly little. Not one. Not a committee full. Not dozens of committees full.
The committees don’t matter. Their PhDs don’t matter. Their credentials don’t matter. They can’t offer what the moment calls for.
It is the philosopher who must be turned to. It is the writer. It is the thinker. They may have something to offer. The World Beyond Your ... Crawford, Matthew B. Best Price: $3.99 Buy New $10.23 (as of 06:02 UTC - Details)
But more importantly it is you who matter. Between your ears, developed over years of struggle, redrafting, learning, trialing, erring, and learning some more, has your life philosophy been developed — and dare I say praying. If you’ve found your way to this hidden corner of life where this piece of writing lives, then I have little question about the next: the world needs to hear more from you and less from the people who can offer little more than data.
Data divorced from wisdom is futile. America in the spring of 2020 is futile. Turning the country over to Silicon Valley is futile. Letting public health officials, econometricians, and modelers of omniscient algorithms command the details of life is futile. All they offer is data divorced from wisdom.
People who have lived lives seeking wisdom, people who have lived lives giving themselves time to learn, people who have sought space to learn from the world, are the people most needed right now. If the best you can offer the world in a moment of crisis is a spreadsheet, then you aren’t the right answer.
In our increasingly specialized world, it is infrequent to see the data gather also be a student of wisdom. As many data gatherers have learned in the spring of 2020, using unapproved wisdom to interpret the data will not be tolerated.
The more rural, the better. Not everyone rural gets it. The more religious, the better. Not everyone religious gets it. The more relaxed, the better. Not everyone relaxed gets it. The older, the better. Not everyone old gets it. The more you combine these characteristics, and a few others, the more likely you are to find wisdom.
If you want wisdom, go back and find the woman who first sang the tune of Bunessan. Don’t let her be subjected to a moment of media fear or pharmaceutical promises to save the world. Tell her “A sickness is spreading. Some people are falling ill. Some are even dying. What do I do?” In the midst of her answer, you are promised more wisdom than any type-A, young or young-wannabe, urban, well-diplomaed, intellectual will be able to offer you.
All they can offer you, with few exceptions, are data, and the mistaken belief that enough data can provide wisdom.
The two are not precedent to one another. The two are differing concepts. Just like claiming that enough guns will bring justice, or enough medical procedures will bring health, or enough sex will bring love. The two — data and wisdom — can travel together, but the former will not suffice at bringing the latter. The Case for Working w... Matthew B. Crawford Best Price: $12.30 Buy New $19.75 (as of 04:47 UTC - Details)
You do the best you can with what you have. You do it as much as possible.
Eventually the Bunessans emerge as treasures in the world.
But it’s not data that gets you there.
In A Moveable Feast, Hemingway described a type of person one could find at the Louvre: “the measuring worm.”
“About a week afterwards I met Miss Stein and told her I’d met Wyndham Lewis and asked her if she had ever met him. “’I call him the Measuring Worm’,’ she said. ‘He comes over from London and he sees a good picture and takes a pencil out of his pocket and you watch him measuring it on the pencil with his thumb. Sighting on it and measuring it and seeing exactly how it is done. Then he goes back to London and does it and it doesn’t come out right. He’s missed what it’s all about.’ “So I thought of him as the Measuring Worm. It was a kinder and more Christian term than what I had thought about him myself.”
Shop Class as Soulcraf... Matthew B. Crawford Best Price: $0.99 Buy New $8.21 (as of 09:45 UTC - Details) We live in an era that elevates the measuring worm. Under their unchallenged guidance, spring 2020 reminded us why that should never again happen. If the lesson did not register with enough people, it is sure to be repeated until it does.
One of the most commonly mentioned promises of our modern era is that of artificial intelligence. At the root of this promise is that data can bring wisdom. It can’t. Artificial intelligence assures us that enough data will eventually provide wisdom. The reality is, you will only end up with a computer with a great deal of data about you, and perhaps, as a result, a lot of power and influence, but ultimately missing “what it’s all about.”
Akin to this thinking about AI, similar thinking in our modern era says that more guns in the hands of more government will bring about justice. The same wisdom assures us that more sex, earlier in life, later in life, sooner after an introduction, and with more people, will bring more love.
In all three examples, the two are qualitatively different. Quantity will not bridge that gap. Artificial intelligence is one of the many examples of quantitative-qualitative inversions in our era. Quantitative-qualitative inversions are examples of people asking the wrong questions, and consequently missing “what it’s all about”:
How do we have more Bunessan?
How do we live better?
How do we love more and do better for others around us?
These are fundamental questions.
Allowing ourselves to be swept up in our era’s blind drive for data at the hands of disaffected nerds who demand influence over our lives ensures that we will miss what it’s all about.
As the Ides of March 2020 arrived, the country where some believe the pinnacle of human advancement to date can be found, the United States, has shown the world how much more concerned so many are with data than wisdom.
Do you happen to know the way to Bunessan?
I assure you this road we are on is not it.
The Best of Allan Stevo


lewrockwell--2020-07-01--The Majority of People Are Already Resistant to SARS-CoV-2

According to research1 conducted in Switzerland , SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies are only found in the most severe cases — about 1 in 5 .
That suggests COVID-19 may in fact be five times more prevalent than suspected .
It also means it may be five times less deadly than predicted .
The study,2 “ Systemic and Mucosal Antibody Secretion Specific to SARS-CoV-2 During Mild Versus Severe COVID-19 , ” was posted on the prepublication server bioRxiv , May 23 , 2020 .
According to the authors : The Swiss study,3 which sought to investigate SARS-CoV-2-specific antibody responses , found that even @ @ @ @ @ @ @ infected individuals had SARS-CoV-2-specific immunoglobulin A ( IgA ) antibodies in their mucosa , there were no virus-specific antibodies in their blood .
Over the Counter Natur ... Ellison , Shane Best Price : $ 5.81 Buy New $ 9.56 IgA is an antibody that plays a crucial role in the immune function of your mucous membranes , while IgG is the most common antibody that protects against bacterial and viral infections and is found in blood and other bodily fluids .
As explained by the authors:4 In COVID-19-positive patients with mild symptoms @ @ @ @ @ @ @ average of eight days after onset of symptoms and were mostly transient .
In some cases , however , IgA were completely absent .
Serum IgG levels either remained negative , or reached positive values nine to 10 days after symptom onset .
The Optimal Dose : Rest ... Judson Somerville MD Best Price : $ 9.96 Buy New $ 9.98 In patients with severe symptoms , a “ highly significant ” increase of both SARS-CoV-2-specific serum IgA titers were found on day three or four , and even more pronounced IgG titers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Both were independent of age or comorbidities .
Only in severe cases of acute respiratory distress syndrome ( ARDS ) were “ very high ” levels of IgA found .
According to the authors:5 The Young Have Greater Mucosal Immunity Than the Old The Swiss researchers suggest these findings could be “ a reflection of increased mucosal immunity in the young or decreased mucosal immunity in the old.
” They point out previous data showing HKU1-specific IgG — antibodies responding to another type of coronavirus that causes the common cold — are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 20 , while higher levels of these antibodies are found in older people .
Extrapolation suggests infants and children “ have primed mucosal innate and IgA antibody responses due to their frequent upper respiratory tract infections and , therefore , respond preferentially in this manner to SARS-CoV-2 infection , ” the researchers state .
Zinc Lozenges - Fruit ... Buy New $ 16.98 ( $ 0.17 / Count ) On the other hand , studies have shown the strength of antiviral immune responses , including T cell activation and proliferation , slows with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ older people are vastly more susceptible to severe COVID-19 illness and death .
Other factors like vitamin D levels and immunosenescence that increases in the elderly are also likely important .
Mortality Is a Fraction of What Was Predicted As noted in an article on Off-Guardian.com , which reported the results of the Swiss study:6 For clarity , it ’ s important to realize you have two types of immunity .
Your innate immune system is primed and ready to attack foreign invaders at any moment and is your first line of defense @ @ @ @ @ @ @ other hand , “ remembers ” previous exposure to a pathogen and mounts a response when an old foe is recognized .
Your adaptive immune system is further divided into two arms : humoral immunity ( B cells ) and cell mediated immunity ( T cells ) .
The B cells and T cells are manufactured as needed from specialized stem cells .
The graphs below are from my Vitamin D document and will help you understand the components of these systems and their timing .
If you have never been exposed to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ someone who got sick and recovered , you can gain humoral immunity against that disease .
Your humoral immune system can also kick in if there ’ s cross-reactivity with another very similar pathogen .
The 30-Minute Autoimmu ... Thompson , Connor Buy New $ 17.99 In the case of COVID-19 , there ’ s evidence11 to suggest exposure to other coronaviruses that cause the common cold can confer immunity against SARS-CoV-2 .
Majority Resistant to COVID-19 Even Without Exposure One such study12,13 was published May 14 , 2020 , in the journal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ samples obtained by the La Jolla Institute for Immunology from patients who had recovered from mild cases of COVID-19 had resistance to SARS-CoV-2 on the T-cell level .
Curiously , 40 % to 60 % of people who had not been exposed to SARS-CoV-2 also had resistance to the virus on the T-cell level .
According to the authors , this suggests there ’ s “ cross-reactive T cell recognition between circulating ‘ common cold ’ coronaviruses and SARS-CoV-2.
” In other words , if you ’ ve recovered from a common cold @ @ @ @ @ @ @ humoral immune system may activate when you encounter SARS-CoV-2 , thus rendering you resistant to COVID-19 .
May 14 , 2020 , Science magazine reported14 these Cell findings , drawing parallels to another earlier paper15 by German investigators that had come to a similar conclusion .
That German paper,16 the preprint of which was posted April 22 , 2020 , on Medrxiv , found helper T cells that targeted the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein in 15 of 18 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 .
As reported by Science:17 Now , if it ’ s true @ @ @ @ @ @ @ COVID-19 due to previous exposure to other coronaviruses , then we ’ ve probably already reached the threshold for herd immunity , and vaccinating every human on the planet ( or close to it ) will not be necessary .
In fact , it ’ s starting to look as though a vaccine may be entirely moot .
Regenerate : Unlocking ... Ji , Sayer Best Price : $ 31.66 Buy New $ 20.82 This research also hints at the possibility that herd immunity isn ’ t what we think it is .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ seen with SARS-CoV-2 and other coronaviruses may also exist for other viruses .
On the flip side , there ’ s a phenomenon known as viral interference , where exposure to one virus makes you more susceptible to another virus .
Research20 has found that those who received the influenza vaccine were 36 % more susceptible to coronavirus infection .
This too may be playing a role in COVID-19 deaths among the elderly , since most who reside in nursing homes are given the flu vaccine each year .
Yet another study,21,22,23 this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ common colds caused by the betacoronaviruses OC43 and HKU1 might make you more resistant to SARS-CoV-2 infection , and that the resulting immunity might last as long as 17 years .
In addition to the common cold , OC43 and HKU1 — two of the most commonly encountered betacoronaviruses24 — are also known to cause bronchitis , acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and pneumonia in all age groups.25 As reported by the Daily Mail:26 In other words , if you ’ ve beat a common cold caused by a OC43 or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ may have a 50/50 chance of having defensive T-cells that can recognize and help defend against SARS-CoV-2 , the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 .
According to the researchers:27 All of these studies add support to the latest COVID-19 mortality models suggesting there is in fact widespread resistance and prior immunity .
Freddie Sayers , executive editor of UnHerd , recently interviewed professor Karl Friston , a statistician whose expertise is mathematical modeling , who believes prior immunity across the global population might be as high as 80 % .28 Friston is credited @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , which is now the standard for understanding brain imaging .
As the pandemic erupted , he began applying this method of analysis ( which he refers to as “ dynamic causal modelling ” ) to COVID-19 data , coming up with a model that predicts far lower mortality rates than earlier models .
The reason for this is because the “ effective susceptible population , ” meaning those who are not already immune to COVID-19 and therefore at risk of infection , was never 100 % .
At most , it was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 20 % .
Friston ’ s model effectively vaporizes claims that social distancing is necessary , because once sensible behaviors such as staying home when sick are entered into it , the positive effect of lockdown efforts on “ flattening the curve ” simply vanish .
In all likelihood , the global lockdowns were completely unnecessary , and certainly should not continue , now or in the future .
Support for Friston ’ s model comes from Michael Levitt,29 a professor of structural biology at the Stanford School of Medicine who received the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of multiscale models for complex chemical systems .
EZ Melts C for Immune ... Buy New $ 17.99 ( $ 0.30 / Count ) According to Levitt , statistical data reveal a mathematical pattern that has stayed consistent regardless of the government interventions implemented .
While early models predicted an exponential explosion of COVID-19 deaths , those predictions never materialized .
As reported by Sayers in the video above : Levitt believes prior immunity plays a significant role in why we simply don ’ t see an exponential growth pattern of COVID-19 deaths @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sense in light of the studies reviewed above .
A majority of people simply aren ’ t ( and weren ’ t ) susceptible to COVID-19 .
According to Levitt , the indiscriminate lockdowns implemented around the world were “ a huge mistake.
” He believes a more rational approach would have been to protect and isolate the elderly , who are by far the most vulnerable and make up the bulk of COVID-19 deaths around the world .
The Best of Joseph Mercola

According to research1 conducted in Switzerland, SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies are only found in the most severe cases — about 1 in 5. That suggests COVID-19 may in fact be five times more prevalent than suspected. It also means it may be five times less deadly than predicted.
The study,2 “Systemic and Mucosal Antibody Secretion Specific to SARS-CoV-2 During Mild Versus Severe COVID-19,” was posted on the prepublication server bioRxiv, May 23, 2020. According to the authors:
“When symptomatic, COVID-19 can range from a mild flu-like illness in about 81% to a severe and critical disease in about 14% and 5% of affected patients, respectively.”
The Swiss study,3 which sought to investigate SARS-CoV-2-specific antibody responses, found that even though people who had been exposed to infected individuals had SARS-CoV-2-specific immunoglobulin A (IgA) antibodies in their mucosa, there were no virus-specific antibodies in their blood. Over the Counter Natur... Ellison, Shane Best Price: $5.81 Buy New $9.56 (as of 03:17 UTC - Details)
IgA is an antibody that plays a crucial role in the immune function of your mucous membranes, while IgG is the most common antibody that protects against bacterial and viral infections and is found in blood and other bodily fluids. As explained by the authors:4
“As with other coronaviruses, symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 disease causes an acute infection with activation of the innate and adaptive immune systems. The former leads to the release of several pro-inflammatory cytokines, including interleukin-6 …
Subsequently, B and T cells become activated, resulting in the production of SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies, comprising immunoglobulin M (IgM), immunoglobulin A (IgA), and immunoglobulin G (IgG).
Whereas coronavirus-specific IgM production is transient and leads to isotype switch to IgA and IgG, these latter antibody subtypes can persist for extended periods in the serum and in nasal fluids. Whether SARS-CoV-2-specific IgG antibodies correlate with virus control is a matter of intense discussions.”
Antibody Response Dependent on Severity
In COVID-19-positive patients with mild symptoms, SARS-CoV-2-specific IgA titers turned positive an average of eight days after onset of symptoms and were mostly transient. In some cases, however, IgA were completely absent. Serum IgG levels either remained negative, or reached positive values nine to 10 days after symptom onset.
The Optimal Dose: Rest... Judson Somerville MD Best Price: $9.96 Buy New $9.98 (as of 06:05 UTC - Details) In patients with severe symptoms, a “highly significant” increase of both SARS-CoV-2-specific serum IgA titers were found on day three or four, and even more pronounced IgG titers were present on day four or five. Both were independent of age or comorbidities. Only in severe cases of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) were “very high” levels of IgA found. According to the authors:5
“Interestingly, some of the SARS-CoV-2-exposed healthcare workers with negative SARS-CoV-2-specific IgA and IgG serum titers had detectable SARS-CoV-2-specific IgA antibodies in their nasal fluids and tears. Moreover, SARS-CoV-2-specific IgA levels in nasal fluids of these healthcare workers were inversely correlated with patient age.
These data show that systemic IgA and IgG production against SARS-CoV-2 develops mainly in severe COVID-19, with very high IgA levels seen in patients with severe ARDS, whereas mild disease may be associated with transient serum titers of SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies but stimulate mucosal SARS-CoV-2-specific IgA secretion. The findings suggest four grades of antibody responses dependent on COVID-19 severity …
We think these findings suggest a model where the extent and duration of SARS-CoV-2-related clinical symptoms, which likely correlates with virus replication, dictates the level of virus-specific humoral immunity.
This hypothesis is consistent with previous publications demonstrating that the magnitude of the humoral response toward SARS-CoV-2 is dependent on the duration and magnitude of viral antigen exposure.
Low antigen exposure will elicit mucosal IgA-mediated responses, which can be accompanied by systemic IgA production; however, systemic virus-specific IgA responses can also be absent, transient or delayed. This type of ‘mucosal IgA’ antibody response seemed to be particularly prevalent in younger individuals with mild SARS-CoV-2 infection without evidence of pneumonia.”
The Young Have Greater Mucosal Immunity Than the Old
The Swiss researchers suggest these findings could be “a reflection of increased mucosal immunity in the young or decreased mucosal immunity in the old.” They point out previous data showing HKU1-specific IgG — antibodies responding to another type of coronavirus that causes the common cold — are absent in people under the age of 20, while higher levels of these antibodies are found in older people.
Your humoral immune system can kick in if there’s cross-reactivity with another very similar pathogen. In the case of COVID-19, there’s evidence to suggest exposure to other coronaviruses that cause the common cold can confer immunity against SARS-CoV-2.
Extrapolation suggests infants and children “have primed mucosal innate and IgA antibody responses due to their frequent upper respiratory tract infections and, therefore, respond preferentially in this manner to SARS-CoV-2 infection,” the researchers state. Zinc Lozenges - Fruit ... Buy New $16.98 ($0.17 / Count) (as of 04:49 UTC - Details)
On the other hand, studies have shown the strength of antiviral immune responses, including T cell activation and proliferation, slows with age. This can partially explain why older people are vastly more susceptible to severe COVID-19 illness and death. Other factors like vitamin D levels and immunosenescence that increases in the elderly are also likely important.
Mortality Is a Fraction of What Was Predicted
As noted in an article on Off-Guardian.com, which reported the results of the Swiss study:6
“… if the authors are indeed correct in their estimation, this might mean SARS-COV-2’s infection rate (IFR) would need to be revised downward yet again. If 80% of those infected really do not produce antibodies then there is a live possibility the virus is present in many more people than usually supposed. Which would in turn potentially reduce the IFR, possibly considerably.
In the early stages, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated the virus’ IFR to be as high as 3.4%. The models based on those numbers have, however, been shown to be wildly inaccurate …
Dissenting experts7 appear to have been vindicated by the serological studies, using blood tests looking for Sars-Cov-2 antibodies done across different populations all over the world, which routinely suggest that the IFR is closer to 0.3%8 than the WHO’s initial figure of 3.4%.
From Japan to Iceland to Los Angeles, the numbers returned were between 0.06 and 0.4. Within the range of seasonal influenza. As a result of these studies, the U.S. CDC’s most recent ‘estimated IFR’ is between 0.26% and 0.4%.9 Roughly 1/10th of the initial estimates.”
Innate and Adaptive Immunity
For clarity, it’s important to realize you have two types of immunity. Your innate immune system is primed and ready to attack foreign invaders at any moment and is your first line of defense. Your adaptive immune system,10 on the other hand, “remembers” previous exposure to a pathogen and mounts a response when an old foe is recognized.
Your adaptive immune system is further divided into two arms: humoral immunity (B cells) and cell mediated immunity (T cells). The B cells and T cells are manufactured as needed from specialized stem cells. The graphs below are from my Vitamin D document and will help you understand the components of these systems and their timing.
If you have never been exposed to a disease but are given antibodies from someone who got sick and recovered, you can gain humoral immunity against that disease. Your humoral immune system can also kick in if there’s cross-reactivity with another very similar pathogen. The 30-Minute Autoimmu... Thompson, Connor Buy New $17.99 (as of 02:51 UTC - Details)
In the case of COVID-19, there’s evidence11 to suggest exposure to other coronaviruses that cause the common cold can confer immunity against SARS-CoV-2.
Majority Resistant to COVID-19 Even Without Exposure
One such study12,13 was published May 14, 2020, in the journal Cell. It found 70% of samples obtained by the La Jolla Institute for Immunology from patients who had recovered from mild cases of COVID-19 had resistance to SARS-CoV-2 on the T-cell level.
Curiously, 40% to 60% of people who had not been exposed to SARS-CoV-2 also had resistance to the virus on the T-cell level. According to the authors, this suggests there’s “cross-reactive T cell recognition between circulating ‘common cold’ coronaviruses and SARS-CoV-2.” In other words, if you’ve recovered from a common cold caused by a particular coronavirus, your humoral immune system may activate when you encounter SARS-CoV-2, thus rendering you resistant to COVID-19.
May 14, 2020, Science magazine reported14 these Cell findings, drawing parallels to another earlier paper15 by German investigators that had come to a similar conclusion. That German paper,16 the preprint of which was posted April 22, 2020, on Medrxiv, found helper T cells that targeted the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein in 15 of 18 patients hospitalized with COVID-19. As reported by Science:17
“The teams also asked whether people who haven’t been infected with SARS-CoV-2 also produce cells that combat it. Thiel and colleagues18 analyzed blood from 68 uninfected people and found that 34% hosted helper T cells that recognized SARS-CoV-2.
The La Jolla team19 detected this crossreactivity in about half of stored blood samples collected between 2015 and 2018, well before the current pandemic began …
The results suggest ‘one reason that a large chunk of the population may be able to deal with the virus is that we may have some small residual immunity from our exposure to common cold viruses,’ says viral immunologist Steven Varga of the University of Iowa. However, neither of the studies attempted to establish that people with crossreactivity don’t become as ill from COVID-19.
Before these studies, researchers didn’t know whether T cells played a role in eliminating SARS-CoV-2, or even whether they could provoke a dangerous immune system overreaction. ‘These papers are really helpful because they start to define the T cell component of the immune response,’ [Columbia University virologist Angela] Rasmussen says.”
Herd Immunity Theory May Need Revision
Now, if it’s true that a majority are already resistant to COVID-19 due to previous exposure to other coronaviruses, then we’ve probably already reached the threshold for herd immunity, and vaccinating every human on the planet (or close to it) will not be necessary. In fact, it’s starting to look as though a vaccine may be entirely moot. Regenerate: Unlocking ... Ji, Sayer Best Price: $31.66 Buy New $20.82 (as of 03:35 UTC - Details)
This research also hints at the possibility that herd immunity isn’t what we think it is. The cross-reactivity on the T cell level seen with SARS-CoV-2 and other coronaviruses may also exist for other viruses.
On the flip side, there’s a phenomenon known as viral interference, where exposure to one virus makes you more susceptible to another virus. Research20 has found that those who received the influenza vaccine were 36% more susceptible to coronavirus infection. This too may be playing a role in COVID-19 deaths among the elderly, since most who reside in nursing homes are given the flu vaccine each year.
Long-Term Immunity Against COVID-19 Appears Prevalent
Yet another study,21,22,23 this one by researchers in Singapore, found common colds caused by the betacoronaviruses OC43 and HKU1 might make you more resistant to SARS-CoV-2 infection, and that the resulting immunity might last as long as 17 years.
In addition to the common cold, OC43 and HKU1 — two of the most commonly encountered betacoronaviruses24 — are also known to cause bronchitis, acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and pneumonia in all age groups.25 As reported by the Daily Mail:26
“They share many genetic features with the coronaviruses Covid-19, MERS and SARS, all of which passed from animals to humans. Coronaviruses are thought to account for up to 30 percent of all colds but it is not known specifically how many are caused by the betacoronavirus types.
Now scientists have found evidence that some immunity may be present for many years due to the body’s ‘memory’ T-cells from attacks by previous viruses with a similar genetic make-up — even among people who have had no known exposure to Covid-19 or SARS …
Blood was taken from 24 patients who had recovered from Covid-19, 23 who had become ill from SARS and 18 who had never been exposed to either SARS or Covid-19 …
Half of patients in the group with no exposure to either Covid-19 or SARS possessed T-cells which showed immune response to the animal betacoronaviruses, Covid-19 and SARS. This suggested patients’ immunity developed after exposure to common colds caused by betacoronavirus or possibly from other as yet unknown pathogens.”
In other words, if you’ve beat a common cold caused by a OC43 or HKU1 betacoronavirus in the past, you may have a 50/50 chance of having defensive T-cells that can recognize and help defend against SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19. According to the researchers:27
“These findings demonstrate that virus-specific memory T-cells induced by betacoronavirus infection are long-lasting, which supports the notion that Covid-19 patients would develop long-term T-cell immunity. Our findings also raise the intriguing possibility that infection with related viruses can also protect from or modify the pathology caused by SARS-Cov-2.”
Support Offered by Updated Statistical Models

All of these studies add support to the latest COVID-19 mortality models suggesting there is in fact widespread resistance and prior immunity. Freddie Sayers, executive editor of UnHerd, recently interviewed professor Karl Friston, a statistician whose expertise is mathematical modeling, who believes prior immunity across the global population might be as high as 80%.28
Friston is credited with inventing the statistical parametric mapping technique, which is now the standard for understanding brain imaging. As the pandemic erupted, he began applying this method of analysis (which he refers to as “dynamic causal modelling”) to COVID-19 data, coming up with a model that predicts far lower mortality rates than earlier models.
The reason for this is because the “effective susceptible population,” meaning those who are not already immune to COVID-19 and therefore at risk of infection, was never 100%. At most, it was 50% and most likely only around 20%.
Friston’s model effectively vaporizes claims that social distancing is necessary, because once sensible behaviors such as staying home when sick are entered into it, the positive effect of lockdown efforts on “flattening the curve” simply vanish. In all likelihood, the global lockdowns were completely unnecessary, and certainly should not continue, now or in the future.
COVID-19 Growth Projections Were All Wrong

Support for Friston’s model comes from Michael Levitt,29 a professor of structural biology at the Stanford School of Medicine who received the Nobel Prize in 2013 for his development of multiscale models for complex chemical systems. EZ Melts C for Immune ... Buy New $17.99 ($0.30 / Count) (as of 09:06 UTC - Details)
According to Levitt, statistical data reveal a mathematical pattern that has stayed consistent regardless of the government interventions implemented. While early models predicted an exponential explosion of COVID-19 deaths, those predictions never materialized. As reported by Sayers in the video above:
“After around a two-week exponential growth of cases (and, subsequently, deaths) some kind of break kicks in, and growth starts slowing down. The curve quickly becomes ‘sub-exponential.’ This may seem like a technical distinction, but its implications are profound.
The ‘unmitigated’ scenarios modelled by (among others) Imperial College, and which tilted governments across the world into drastic action, relied on a presumption of continued exponential growth …
But Professor Levitt’s point is that that hasn’t actually happened anywhere, even in countries that have been relatively lax in their responses.”
Levitt believes prior immunity plays a significant role in why we simply don’t see an exponential growth pattern of COVID-19 deaths, and that certainly seems to make sense in light of the studies reviewed above. A majority of people simply aren’t (and weren’t) susceptible to COVID-19.
According to Levitt, the indiscriminate lockdowns implemented around the world were “a huge mistake.” He believes a more rational approach would have been to protect and isolate the elderly, who are by far the most vulnerable and make up the bulk of COVID-19 deaths around the world.
Sources and References
The Best of Dr. Joseph Mercola


lewrockwell--2020-07-02--When in the Course of Human Events

When in the Course of Human Events

“ Government requires make-believe .
Make believe that the king is divine , make believe that he can do no wrong or make believe that the voice of the people is the voice of God .
Make believe that the people have a voice or make believe that the representatives of the people are the people .
Make believe that governors are the servants of the people .
Make believe that all men are created equal or make believe that they are not.
” — Edmund S. Morgan ( 1916-2013 ) In the summer of 1776 , revolution was in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Philadelphia , and it was impatient .
Bloody skirmishes between colonial militias and British troops were upsetting the countryside .
More British troops were on their way .
Congress sensed it needed to do something .
It wanted to vote for secession from Great Britain , and it needed a compelling document setting forth the reasons for doing so .
Suicide Pact : The Radi ... Napolitano , Andrew P. Best Price : $ 0.25 Buy New $ 2.84 Historians have estimated from reading letters , pamphlets , sermons , essays , newspaper @ @ @ @ @ @ @ only about one-third of the colonists favored using force to secede .
But that one-third whipped the winds of change .
At hand was the decision to revolt and to make an understandable argument in its support .
Congress represented the radicals who wanted the British government gone .
Neither the one-third of the public that wanted it to stay nor the one-third that didn ’ t care had a voice in Philadelphia .
In the late spring of the year of revolution , Congress appointed a committee of five to compose a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mother country .
One was Thomas Jefferson , and he was assigned the task by the other four of drafting the document .
He wrote four drafts , the final of which the committee presented to Congress .
Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 2 , 1776 .
It was dated July 4th and not fully signed until later that summer .
The vote was unanimous .
The word went forth to the 13 colonies that they were now free and independent .
The word also went forth to the king @ @ @ @ @ @ @ divinely chosen to rule over them — who interpreted the Declaration as an act of treason and an invitation to war .
The Declaration ’ s essence is that all persons have equal natural rights that no government can take away by legislation or command .
Those rights can be used freely to pursue and defend life , liberty and happiness .
Those rights can also be used to consent or not to consent to a government .
And the only legitimate role of government is to protect the rights of those who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ crafted , was the most radical theory of government at the time .
No king , no ruler , no edicts crushing personal freedom — just a popular government born in the consent of the governed and limited to protecting their rights .
The government would not come about , of course , until the bloody war was completed .
In reality , the real revolution was completed by July 4 , 1776 because it was a revolution of minds more than of government .
The colonists were not trying to kill the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ do — they just wanted him gone .
The Freedom Answer Boo ... Napolitano , Andrew P. Best Price : $ 0.10 Buy New $ 3.70 Ah , but the revolution of men ’ s minds — the idea that the government was not legitimate unless consented to and limited , that individual personal freedom , not government power , is the default position ; all of this was stirred up by the radicals , articulated by Jefferson , embraced by Congress , achieved by blood and acquiesced by the king — was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as was the violence against the British .
They were free .
The revolutionary spirit of maximum individual liberty and minimum government embraced and personified America in July 1776 .
Where did it go ?
Today , we have government — at the local , state and federal levels — that claims authority to right any wrong , regulate any behavior , tax any event and transfer any wealth so long as it can find public support .
What once was a government that needed the consent of the governed not only to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ now one that requires of us its permission to do nearly everything .
What once were liberties guaranteed are now liberties mocked .
How is it that men and women take oaths to uphold the liberties that the founders risked all to achieve and then enter office and ignore them ?
If I can legally refuse health care , why can ’ t I legally take the chance of exercising my rights to travel and assemble whether that exposes me to contagion or not ?
Is not among the freedoms Jefferson wrote about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ laws written to preserve liberty or to enforce order ?
Is the concept of the consent of the governed real or is it make-believe ?
Does liberty expand in each generation or does it shrink ?
It Is Dangerous to Be ... Andrew P. Napolitano Best Price : $ 1.10 Buy New $ 5.51 Does the government really believe that our liberties are natural and it lacks legitimacy without our individual consent ?
Has any living person actually consented to the government we now have or is the belief that we have consented @ @ @ @ @ @ @ When Jefferson and his buddies revolted from the king , they , too , engaged in a little myth .
They coined a popular phrase that they didn ’ t really mean but caught fire with the colonists : “ Taxation without representation is tyranny.
” They didn ’ t mean it , because they didn ’ t really want to send representatives to Parliament .
They wanted their own small government , and they wanted it here .
But the colonists were sick of taxes imposed by London aristocrats .
Are all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ?
Does the government have our consent or does it not ?
Are our liberties natural to our existence or are they not ?
The Best of Andrew P. Napolitano

Shop all books by Judge Napolitano
“Government requires make-believe. Make believe that the king is divine, make believe that he can do no wrong or make believe that the voice of the people is the voice of God. Make believe that the people have a voice or make believe that the representatives of the people are the people. Make believe that governors are the servants of the people. Make believe that all men are created equal or make believe that they are not.”
— Edmund S. Morgan (1916-2013)
In the summer of 1776, revolution was in the air. Congress was meeting in Philadelphia, and it was impatient. Bloody skirmishes between colonial militias and British troops were upsetting the countryside. More British troops were on their way. Congress sensed it needed to do something. It wanted to vote for secession from Great Britain, and it needed a compelling document setting forth the reasons for doing so.
Suicide Pact: The Radi... Napolitano, Andrew P. Best Price: $0.25 Buy New $2.84 (as of 04:15 UTC - Details) Historians have estimated from reading letters, pamphlets, sermons, essays, newspaper editorials and speeches from that era that only about one-third of the colonists favored using force to secede. But that one-third whipped the winds of change.
At hand was the decision to revolt and to make an understandable argument in its support. Congress represented the radicals who wanted the British government gone. Neither the one-third of the public that wanted it to stay nor the one-third that didn’t care had a voice in Philadelphia.
In the late spring of the year of revolution, Congress appointed a committee of five to compose a document stating the reasons for leaving the mother country. One was Thomas Jefferson, and he was assigned the task by the other four of drafting the document. He wrote four drafts, the final of which the committee presented to Congress.
Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 2, 1776. It was dated July 4th and not fully signed until later that summer. The vote was unanimous. The word went forth to the 13 colonies that they were now free and independent.
The word also went forth to the king — whom the British people believed was divinely chosen to rule over them — who interpreted the Declaration as an act of treason and an invitation to war.
The Declaration’s essence is that all persons have equal natural rights that no government can take away by legislation or command. Those rights can be used freely to pursue and defend life, liberty and happiness. Those rights can also be used to consent or not to consent to a government. And the only legitimate role of government is to protect the rights of those who consented.
This theory, which Jefferson crafted, was the most radical theory of government at the time. No king, no ruler, no edicts crushing personal freedom — just a popular government born in the consent of the governed and limited to protecting their rights.
The government would not come about, of course, until the bloody war was completed. In reality, the real revolution was completed by July 4, 1776 because it was a revolution of minds more than of government. The colonists were not trying to kill the king — as the French would soon do — they just wanted him gone. The Freedom Answer Boo... Napolitano, Andrew P. Best Price: $0.10 Buy New $3.70 (as of 02:50 UTC - Details)
Ah, but the revolution of men’s minds — the idea that the government was not legitimate unless consented to and limited, that individual personal freedom, not government power, is the default position; all of this was stirred up by the radicals, articulated by Jefferson, embraced by Congress, achieved by blood and acquiesced by the king — was as much a change for our forbearers as was the violence against the British.
They were free. The revolutionary spirit of maximum individual liberty and minimum government embraced and personified America in July 1776.
Where did it go?
Today, we have government — at the local, state and federal levels — that claims authority to right any wrong, regulate any behavior, tax any event and transfer any wealth so long as it can find public support.
What once was a government that needed the consent of the governed not only to exist but also to do anything is now one that requires of us its permission to do nearly everything. What once were liberties guaranteed are now liberties mocked.
How is it that men and women take oaths to uphold the liberties that the founders risked all to achieve and then enter office and ignore them? If I can legally refuse health care, why can’t I legally take the chance of exercising my rights to travel and assemble whether that exposes me to contagion or not? Is not among the freedoms Jefferson wrote about the freedom to take chances?
Are laws written to preserve liberty or to enforce order? Is the concept of the consent of the governed real or is it make-believe? Does liberty expand in each generation or does it shrink?
It Is Dangerous to Be ... Andrew P. Napolitano Best Price: $1.10 Buy New $5.51 (as of 11:50 UTC - Details) Does the government really believe that our liberties are natural and it lacks legitimacy without our individual consent? Has any living person actually consented to the government we now have or is the belief that we have consented to the government merely a myth?
When Jefferson and his buddies revolted from the king, they, too, engaged in a little myth. They coined a popular phrase that they didn’t really mean but caught fire with the colonists: “Taxation without representation is tyranny.”
They didn’t mean it, because they didn’t really want to send representatives to Parliament. They wanted their own small government, and they wanted it here. But the colonists were sick of taxes imposed by London aristocrats.
Are all men created equal or are they not? Does the government have our consent or does it not? Are our liberties natural to our existence or are they not?
Reprinted with the author’s permission.
The Best of Andrew P. Napolitano


lewrockwell--2020-07-02--Murder by Lockdown: Details From a Dozen Countries

The reference here is a stunning May 23 article by John Pospichal , “ Questions for lockdown apologists , ” posted at medium.com .
Pospichal examined overall mortality numbers for Austria , Belgium , Denmark , England and Wales , France , Italy , Netherlands , Portugal , Spain , Sweden , Switzerland , Ecuador , and New York City .
Supported by charts , here are excerpts from his article : “ We now have mortality data for the first few months of 2020 for many countries , and , as you might expect , there were steep increases @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pandemic in each one.
” “ Surprisingly , however , these increases did not begin before the lockdowns were imposed , but after .
Moreover , in almost every case , they began immediately after .
Often , mortality numbers were on a downward trend before suddenly reversing course after lockdowns were decreed.
” Unreported Truths abou ... Berenson , Alex Buy New $ 5.99 “ You will notice that only after each country ( or city ) was locked down did the increases begin .
Moreover , they began immediately , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ All this leads us to the following questions , which we pose to all those who continue to defend the use of lockdowns as an effective means to prevent excess deaths.
” “ Q : Why was there no significant increase in overall mortality , in any country we have good data for , before the start of lockdowns ?
” “ Q : Why does a precise and exact correlation exist between the start of lockdowns and significant rises in overall mortality ?
” “ Q : How is it that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ precisely the same time relative to the future precipitous rise in their populations ’ overall mortality rate ?
” “ Q : How is it , moreover , that this moment in time [ i.e.
, the imposition of lockdowns ] happened to fall immediately before that precipitous rise ?
” “ Q : If health authorities vastly underestimated the prevalence of the virus at the beginning of the pandemic , why did the virus nevertheless wait until lockdowns were imposed to suddenly start killing at levels which exceeded normal deaths ?
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ respond : No virus would wait .
We ’ re not talking about a virus at all .
We ’ re talking about the sudden effects of the lockdowns .
And those sudden death-effects would come crashing down , first , and immediately , on the most vulnerable people in these countries : The elderly , who were already ill for years .
THE LOCKDOWNS FORCED THE PREMATURE DEATHS OF OLD PEOPLE .
PEOPLE WHO HAD BEEN SUFFERING FROM MULTIPLE HEALTH CONDITIONS FOR YEARS , WHO HAD BEEN TREATED WITH TOXIC MEDICAL DRUGS @ @ @ @ @ @ @ COMPROMISED… AND WHO ARE SUDDENLY TERRIFIED BY TWO MORE FACTORS—THE POSSIBILITY OF A COVID-19 DIAGNOSIS , AND ISOLATION FROM FRIENDS AND FAMILY .
THESE TWO FACTORS PUSH THEM OVER THE EDGE AND THEY DIE .
Psychological Warfare ... Gonzalez , Servando Best Price : $ 22.00 Buy New $ 19.95 Especially in nursing homes ; but also in hospitals , and in their homes .
This is the true face of “ COVID.
” This is how the case numbers and the death numbers are being propped up all over the world , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the loose .
Without those huge numbers , the whole vicious charade of a pandemic would be exposed and rejected at once .
The lockdowns are a method of killing .
The governors and mayors and presidents and prime ministers who imposed the lockdowns—and behind them , the planners of “ COVID ” — have been killing old people .
The Best of Jon Rappoport

The reference here is a stunning May 23 article by John Pospichal, “Questions for lockdown apologists,” posted at medium.com.
(This is part-4 in the series, “Killing Old People”. For part-3, click here.)
Pospichal examined overall mortality numbers for Austria, Belgium, Denmark, England and Wales, France, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ecuador, and New York City.
Supported by charts, here are excerpts from his article:
“We now have mortality data for the first few months of 2020 for many countries, and, as you might expect, there were steep increases associated with the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in each one.”
“Surprisingly, however, these increases did not begin before the lockdowns were imposed, but after. Moreover, in almost every case, they began immediately after. Often, mortality numbers were on a downward trend before suddenly reversing course after lockdowns were decreed.” Unreported Truths abou... Berenson, Alex Buy New $5.99 (as of 03:17 UTC - Details)
“This is an astonishing finding…”
“You will notice that only after each country (or city) was locked down did the increases begin. Moreover, they began immediately, and in nearly every case, precipitously.”
“All this leads us to the following questions, which we pose to all those who continue to defend the use of lockdowns as an effective means to prevent excess deaths.”
“Q: Why was there no significant increase in overall mortality, in any country we have good data for, before the start of lockdowns?”
“Q: Why does a precise and exact correlation exist between the start of lockdowns and significant rises in overall mortality?”
“Q: How is it that governments in every country imposed lockdowns at precisely the same time relative to the future precipitous rise in their populations’ overall mortality rate?”
“Q: How is it, moreover, that this moment in time [i.e., the imposition of lockdowns] happened to fall immediately before that precipitous rise?”
“Q: If health authorities vastly underestimated the prevalence of the virus at the beginning of the pandemic, why did the virus nevertheless wait until lockdowns were imposed to suddenly start killing at levels which exceeded normal deaths?”
—To that last question, I would respond: No virus would wait. We’re not talking about a virus at all. We’re talking about the sudden effects of the lockdowns.
And those sudden death-effects would come crashing down, first, and immediately, on the most vulnerable people in these countries:
The elderly, who were already ill for years.
THE LOCKDOWNS FORCED THE PREMATURE DEATHS OF OLD PEOPLE.
PEOPLE WHO HAD BEEN SUFFERING FROM MULTIPLE HEALTH CONDITIONS FOR YEARS, WHO HAD BEEN TREATED WITH TOXIC MEDICAL DRUGS, WHOSE IMMUNE SYSTEMS WERE ALREADY SEVERELY COMPROMISED…
AND WHO ARE SUDDENLY TERRIFIED BY TWO MORE FACTORS—THE POSSIBILITY OF A COVID-19 DIAGNOSIS, AND ISOLATION FROM FRIENDS AND FAMILY. THESE TWO FACTORS PUSH THEM OVER THE EDGE AND THEY DIE. Psychological Warfare ... Gonzalez, Servando Best Price: $22.00 Buy New $19.95 (as of 04:13 UTC - Details)
Especially in nursing homes; but also in hospitals, and in their homes.
This is the true face of “COVID.”
This is how the case numbers and the death numbers are being propped up all over the world, to yield the impression of a virus on the loose.
Without those huge numbers, the whole vicious charade of a pandemic would be exposed and rejected at once.
The lockdowns are a method of killing.
The governors and mayors and presidents and prime ministers who imposed the lockdowns—and behind them, the planners of “COVID”— have been killing old people.
Reprinted with permission from Jon Rappoport’s blog.
The Best of Jon Rappoport


lewrockwell--2020-07-02--America in Crisis: Correcting the Narrative

Last week we wrote about the endemic dysfunction in our institutional system to draw attention to something that is becoming increasingly obvious to ever more Americans : Our country is in the grip of existential crisis .
We also said that this crisis represents an opportunity for laying a foundation for better times to come .
But to seize this opportunity fully , we must first understand what out trouble is about and what are the forces that have brought us to the situation we are in now .
The official narrative pushed by the Left – which includes the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the education system , high-tech elites , and corporate and financial coteries – is that our crisis is due to systemic racism which is deeply and inextricably embedded in the fabric of American society .
This narrative , however , is simply not true .
Nothing , in fact , could be further from the truth .
Even though some people may harbor racial prejudice – including blacks themselves ( read here , here and here ) – American society and institutions most certainly do not discriminate against black people .
Quite @ @ @ @ @ @ @ black people in America genuinely enjoy all the rights and constitutional protections in the fullest sense of the term , they also have special benefits and privileges that are unavailable to the rest .
We wrote previously about this here , but rather than repeating the points already made , we quote an exquisitely worded and succinct dismantling of the racism canard by the writer Fred Reed .
This is what he recently wrote : Gods of Money : Wall St ... Engdahl , F. William Best Price : $ 8.98 Buy New @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : Never in history has one race made a more genuine , concentrated and costly effort to uplift and help another race .
White Americans not only laid down their lives in the hundreds of thousands in a war that ended slavery , they expanded trillions of dollars since the 1950s to render financial and material assistance to the black community .
And as if this was not enough , they even instituted reverse discrimination against themselves in a sincere effort to help black people .
The contention that America suffers from systemic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is propagated by the demagogues on the Left who peddle this lie for political and financial gain .
It is remarkable that they have been able to get away so easily with a claim which is so obviously untrue and absurd .
And the fact that so many of us roll over so easily before the shameless lie and kneel whenever asked to also defies comprehension .
Be that as it may , systemic racism – given its complete lack of existence – can not be the explanation for America ’ s present @ @ @ @ @ @ @ then , have the burning cities , paralyzed law enforcement and institutions that are falling apart at the seams ?
Since this crisis has obviously not arisen due to the reasons given by the official narrative , it must have been brought on by something else .
The great question is : What is the real cause of America ’ s crisis .
Collusion Prins , Nomi Best Price : $ 11.54 Buy New $ 11.29 This we need to know , because if we let the demagogues control the narrative our society @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , chaos and confusion that their lies have unleashed .
Only if we know the true causes of our predicament can we hope to take effective steps to see us through .
The story of our era To understand the forces that have brought violence to our streets and turmoil into our society , we need to briefly step back from the immediate drama so that we can see our place in history .
Since Colonial times , America has lived through several distinct phases which can be thought of as periods or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ character and mindset as well as a set of values that was reflective of that time .
The character of each era was embodied in its institutions which were fashioned and configured in a way that enabled American society to lead its existence in accordance with the ethos of the given period .
The era in which live at this moment – and which is now drawing to an end – began at the close of World War 2 .
Toward the end of that conflict – after some fifteen years of hardship @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a global war – American society suddenly went through a deep Reset in which the institutional dross of the previous period was shaken out and a new order was put into place .
Even though the new institutional configuration was not perfect ( it never is ) , it proved to be vastly more efficient than the previous one .
This new order carried America on a period of unprecedented growth , expansion and prosperity which lasted for nearly three decades and continued at somewhat slower pace and with fluctuations until the early @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that time America became the richest , most dominant and powerful country on the planet .
In the early decades of the post second World War era , a large portion of the American population achieved a standard of living , material affluence , freedom and security not previously seen or even thought possible .
This historically incomparable level of prosperity and wealth that most American came to expect for themselves and their children were captured by the phrase “ the American Dream.
” America became , in a real way , a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a model and a magnet for peoples from all over the world .
It Takes a Pillage : An ... Prins , Nomi Best Price : $ 5.11 Buy New $ 14.95 But it was America ’ s very success and prosperity that laid the seeds of the crisis we find ourselves in today .
Human nature being what it , there are certain psychological tendencies and traits that almost invariably develop in those who live – and especially those who come of age – in affluence and plenty .
Such is our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the more we want , and the more we get the more we expect .
Nothing is more conducive to the proliferation of desires than the ability to satisfy those desires .
This holds true on personal as well as collective level and pertains to money , material possessions as well as pleasure .
Abundance rarely breeds thrift , modesty or prudence and affluent societies almost always overreach their bounds and means .
The plenty creates the illusion that the means are inexhaustible and the ability to do things unlimited .
Of even @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been often observed that plentitude and easy life tend to breed moral loosening , especially in those who did not have to work for their comforts .
People who are born into ease do not need to grapple with the world in order to survive or live well , and as a result they have a surplus of time and energy .
Since there is not much to worry about externally , such people tend to direct their attention inward to themselves and become self-focused and self-absorbed .
And from there is only @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and selfishness .
Not surprisingly , these qualities became evident across the swathes of the baby boom generation .
Perhaps the most cuddled and sheltered young cohort in America ’ s history , they grew up in the post war boom of prosperity , watched over by their dotting and increasingly affluent parents who sought to insulate their offspring from the hardships of life they had themselves endured during the Great Depression and the War .
Feeling secure from birth , the boomers did not inherit the work ethic , modesty and moral @ @ @ @ @ @ @ opposite , many of them openly rebelled against it and instead made the satisfaction of their own desires the goal of their lives .
So much so that one commentator observed that “ the baby boomers are the most spoiled , most self-centered , most narcissistic generation the country ’ s ever produced.
” Calling the boomers “ the children of plenty , ” a writer for Time magazine described their general attitude in his 1969 article as follows : The Road to Ruin : The ... James Rickards Best Price : $ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ come of age in droves in the second half of the sixties , the sheer pressure of their numbers began pushing this attitude into American culture and mindset .
Self-focus and self-pursuit became so palpable and prevalent in the United States in the 1970s that the whole period was dubbed the “ Me Decade.
” With this kind of thinking on the rise people naturally began to feel a sense of entitlement to things , pleasures and benefits of all kinds .
To meet all these demands , however , required money… lots @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rich , it was not rich enough to satisfy all those wants and desires be it on private or collective level .
What America needed was more money .
Pressured by the ever-increasing financial demands – both on the domestic and foreign policy fronts – America ’ s leaders did something that would enable them to obtain easy access to much-needed funds .
In 1971 the United States came off the gold standard thus making the dollar a fiat currency .
This was without question the most significant change to America ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at the time fully appreciated the dangers and the far-reaching significance of this action .
One of the reasons for it was that the move was skillfully portrayed as an effort to ward off speculators who allegedly sought to unduly benefit at the expense of the US dollar .
The true motive behind it , however , was to get rid of the restraint that the gold standard imposed on borrowing and money creation .
With the gold standard out of the way , America gained access to seemingly unlimited quantities of money @ @ @ @ @ @ @ government has been able to inflate the money supply at will .
This it does in two major ways : through increased borrowing and subsequent buying of debt , and through infusion of money into the financial system via the manipulation of interest rates and related mechanisms .
The ability to obtain this easy money came at a steep price , however .
Even though we had more money in relative terms , we did not grow correspondingly better off in the long run .
Quite to the contrary , since the day @ @ @ @ @ @ @ began its long steady decline .
Real wages began stagnating and today the salaries of many workers carry less purchasing power than those of their parents or grandparents 45 years ago .
The infusions of easy money lent itself to misallocation of capital in what is called malinvestments .
Various asset bubbles developed over time and their bursting sent shockwaves through the economy .
Since our money was no longer tied to anything real , the need to produce real things also diminished .
This , combined with our ability to borrow easily @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our manufacturing base and the loss of tens of millions of jobs .
Over time we went from being the world ’ s largest producer to the world ’ s largest debtor .
Furthermore , the power to manipulate money gave those connected with government and the institutions tasked with this manipulation opportunities to game the financial system in ways that would benefit themselves .
Given keys to the treasure box and driven by natural human greed , they twisted and exploited the system to the point of destruction even as they themselves @ @ @ @ @ @ @ misconduct came into full view during the global financial crisis of 2007-2008 .
Needless to say , the culprits responsible for this disaster – both in government and in the “ private sector ” – managed not only to walk away scot free , but forced middle class Americans to pick up the tab for their recklessness and greed .
Fictitious Capital : Ho ... Durand , Cu00e9dric Best Price : $ 13.50 Buy New $ 18.18 Hammered by the excesses , misdirection and misdeeds of the power players in government , finance @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has grown increasingly anemic , providing ever fewer opportunities for working Americans .
At the same time , the gap between the rich and the poor has grown to untenable proportions .
We have sought to fix and redresses the misbalances , inefficiencies and wrongdoing through various rules , regulations and taxation but with little success .
In fact , such measures often further compounded the very problems they sought to remedy .
The depth and extent of our trouble is there for everyone to see : skyrocketing public debt , wage stagnation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ out of control healthcare and higher education costs , diminishing opportunities and falling standards of living for many Americans , especially the common man .
There are those who contend that this represents a failure of capitalism , but the truth is that we have not had free-market capitalism in this country for some time .
What we are seeing now is , in fact , the inevitable consequence of government interventionism .
The hubris , excesses and misbalances that followed our decision to throw off fiscal restraints in 1971 have now brought @ @ @ @ @ @ @ brink of collapse .
As almost every other wealthy nation or civilization of the past , we fell into the trap of thinking that those who have plenty should have plenty ever more even if it should come at the expense of doing things right .
America ’ s current financial and economic decline , which has its roots in the attitudinal change wrought – paradoxically enough – by the success and boom of the early decades of the post-war era , is one of the three major trends that have brought on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Systemic racism – a phenomenon which is quite imaginary and completely non-demonstrable – is certainly not one of them despite the impassioned assertions to the contrary .
We will discuss the other two trends soon as we attempt to put forth a more accurate and realistic narrative of our present woe .
The Best of Vasko Kohlmayer

Last week we wrote about the endemic dysfunction in our institutional system to draw attention to something that is becoming increasingly obvious to ever more Americans: Our country is in the grip of existential crisis. We also said that this crisis represents an opportunity for laying a foundation for better times to come. But to seize this opportunity fully, we must first understand what out trouble is about and what are the forces that have brought us to the situation we are in now.
The official narrative pushed by the Left – which includes the mainstream media, the Democrat political establishment, the education system, high-tech elites, and corporate and financial coteries – is that our crisis is due to systemic racism which is deeply and inextricably embedded in the fabric of American society.
This narrative, however, is simply not true. Nothing, in fact, could be further from the truth. Even though some people may harbor racial prejudice – including blacks themselves (read here, here and here) – American society and institutions most certainly do not discriminate against black people. Quite to the contrary, not only do black people in America genuinely enjoy all the rights and constitutional protections in the fullest sense of the term, they also have special benefits and privileges that are unavailable to the rest. We wrote previously about this here, but rather than repeating the points already made, we quote an exquisitely worded and succinct dismantling of the racism canard by the writer Fred Reed. This is what he recently wrote: Gods of Money: Wall St... Engdahl, F. William Best Price: $8.98 Buy New $29.95 (as of 03:42 UTC - Details)
“In truth, America has made the greatest effort ever essayed by one race to uplift another. Reflect: In 1954 an entirely white Supreme Court unanimously ended segregation. Later it found the use of IQ tests by employers illegal because blacks scored poorly, then found “affirmative action,” racial discrimination against whites, legal (hardly oppression of blacks, this). An overwhelmingly white Congress passed the Civil Rights Act in 1964, the Voting Rights Act the next year. A white President sent troops to Little Rock to enforce desegregation. There has been an enormous flow of charity to blacks: Section Eight Housing, AFDC, Head Start, hiring quotas, set-asides, sharply lowered standards in police and fire departments. We now have free breakfasts for black children, then free lunches, in addition to outright welfare. In aggregate they resemble a distributed guaranteed basic income.”
Fred Reed is exactly right: Never in history has one race made a more genuine, concentrated and costly effort to uplift and help another race. White Americans not only laid down their lives in the hundreds of thousands in a war that ended slavery, they expanded trillions of dollars since the 1950s to render financial and material assistance to the black community. And as if this was not enough, they even instituted reverse discrimination against themselves in a sincere effort to help black people.
The contention that America suffers from systemic racism is a complete myth. It is propagated by the demagogues on the Left who peddle this lie for political and financial gain. It is remarkable that they have been able to get away so easily with a claim which is so obviously untrue and absurd. And the fact that so many of us roll over so easily before the shameless lie and kneel whenever asked to also defies comprehension.
Be that as it may, systemic racism – given its complete lack of existence – cannot be the explanation for America’s present crisis. But why do we, then, have the burning cities, paralyzed law enforcement and institutions that are falling apart at the seams? Since this crisis has obviously not arisen due to the reasons given by the official narrative, it must have been brought on by something else.
The great question is: What is the real cause of America’s crisis. Collusion Prins, Nomi Best Price: $11.54 Buy New $11.29 (as of 05:02 UTC - Details)
This we need to know, because if we let the demagogues control the narrative our society will be completely engulfed by the mayhem, chaos and confusion that their lies have unleashed. Only if we know the true causes of our predicament can we hope to take effective steps to see us through.
The story of our era
To understand the forces that have brought violence to our streets and turmoil into our society, we need to briefly step back from the immediate drama so that we can see our place in history.
Since Colonial times, America has lived through several distinct phases which can be thought of as periods or eras. Each era had its peculiar character and mindset as well as a set of values that was reflective of that time. The character of each era was embodied in its institutions which were fashioned and configured in a way that enabled American society to lead its existence in accordance with the ethos of the given period.
The era in which live at this moment – and which is now drawing to an end – began at the close of World War 2. Toward the end of that conflict – after some fifteen years of hardship brought on by the Great Depression and a global war – American society suddenly went through a deep Reset in which the institutional dross of the previous period was shaken out and a new order was put into place. Even though the new institutional configuration was not perfect (it never is), it proved to be vastly more efficient than the previous one.
This new order carried America on a period of unprecedented growth, expansion and prosperity which lasted for nearly three decades and continued at somewhat slower pace and with fluctuations until the early years of the 21st century. During that time America became the richest, most dominant and powerful country on the planet. In the early decades of the post second World War era, a large portion of the American population achieved a standard of living, material affluence, freedom and security not previously seen or even thought possible. This historically incomparable level of prosperity and wealth that most American came to expect for themselves and their children were captured by the phrase “the American Dream.” America became, in a real way, a shining city on the global hill, a model and a magnet for peoples from all over the world. It Takes a Pillage: An... Prins, Nomi Best Price: $5.11 Buy New $14.95 (as of 05:02 UTC - Details)
But it was America’s very success and prosperity that laid the seeds of the crisis we find ourselves in today. Human nature being what it, there are certain psychological tendencies and traits that almost invariably develop in those who live – and especially those who come of age – in affluence and plenty. Such is our nature that the more we have, the more we want, and the more we get the more we expect. Nothing is more conducive to the proliferation of desires than the ability to satisfy those desires. This holds true on personal as well as collective level and pertains to money, material possessions as well as pleasure.
Abundance rarely breeds thrift, modesty or prudence and affluent societies almost always overreach their bounds and means. The plenty creates the illusion that the means are inexhaustible and the ability to do things unlimited. Of even greater concern is the fact which has been often observed that plentitude and easy life tend to breed moral loosening, especially in those who did not have to work for their comforts. People who are born into ease do not need to grapple with the world in order to survive or live well, and as a result they have a surplus of time and energy. Since there is not much to worry about externally, such people tend to direct their attention inward to themselves and become self-focused and self-absorbed. And from there is only a small step toward self-indulgence, self-seeking and selfishness.
Not surprisingly, these qualities became evident across the swathes of the baby boom generation. Perhaps the most cuddled and sheltered young cohort in America’s history, they grew up in the post war boom of prosperity, watched over by their dotting and increasingly affluent parents who sought to insulate their offspring from the hardships of life they had themselves endured during the Great Depression and the War.
Feeling secure from birth, the boomers did not inherit the work ethic, modesty and moral restrain of their parents. Quite the opposite, many of them openly rebelled against it and instead made the satisfaction of their own desires the goal of their lives. So much so that one commentator observed that “the baby boomers are the most spoiled, most self-centered, most narcissistic generation the country’s ever produced.” Calling the boomers “the children of plenty,” a writer for Time magazine described their general attitude in his 1969 article as follows:
“With a surprising ease and a cool sense of authority, the children of plenty have voiced an intention to live by a different ethical standard than their parents accepted. The pleasure principle has been elevated over the Puritan ethic of work. To do one’s own thing is a greater duty than to be a useful citizen.”
The Road to Ruin: The ... James Rickards Best Price: $2.58 Buy New $7.99 (as of 10:20 UTC - Details) Starting to come of age in droves in the second half of the sixties, the sheer pressure of their numbers began pushing this attitude into American culture and mindset. Self-focus and self-pursuit became so palpable and prevalent in the United States in the 1970s that the whole period was dubbed the “Me Decade.” With this kind of thinking on the rise people naturally began to feel a sense of entitlement to things, pleasures and benefits of all kinds.
To meet all these demands, however, required money… lots of money. And although America was rich, it was not rich enough to satisfy all those wants and desires be it on private or collective level. What America needed was more money. Pressured by the ever-increasing financial demands – both on the domestic and foreign policy fronts – America’s leaders did something that would enable them to obtain easy access to much-needed funds. In 1971 the United States came off the gold standard thus making the dollar a fiat currency. This was without question the most significant change to America’s post war era institutional regime. Few at the time fully appreciated the dangers and the far-reaching significance of this action. One of the reasons for it was that the move was skillfully portrayed as an effort to ward off speculators who allegedly sought to unduly benefit at the expense of the US dollar. The true motive behind it, however, was to get rid of the restraint that the gold standard imposed on borrowing and money creation.
With the gold standard out of the way, America gained access to seemingly unlimited quantities of money. From then on, the US government has been able to inflate the money supply at will. This it does in two major ways: through increased borrowing and subsequent buying of debt, and through infusion of money into the financial system via the manipulation of interest rates and related mechanisms. The ability to obtain this easy money came at a steep price, however. Even though we had more money in relative terms, we did not grow correspondingly better off in the long run. Quite to the contrary, since the day we abandoned the gold standard the dollar began its long steady decline. Real wages began stagnating and today the salaries of many workers carry less purchasing power than those of their parents or grandparents 45 years ago. The infusions of easy money lent itself to misallocation of capital in what is called malinvestments. Various asset bubbles developed over time and their bursting sent shockwaves through the economy. Since our money was no longer tied to anything real, the need to produce real things also diminished. This, combined with our ability to borrow easily, resulted in a gradual destruction of our manufacturing base and the loss of tens of millions of jobs. Over time we went from being the world’s largest producer to the world’s largest debtor.
Furthermore, the power to manipulate money gave those connected with government and the institutions tasked with this manipulation opportunities to game the financial system in ways that would benefit themselves. Given keys to the treasure box and driven by natural human greed, they twisted and exploited the system to the point of destruction even as they themselves made off with immense wealth. Their misconduct came into full view during the global financial crisis of 2007-2008. Needless to say, the culprits responsible for this disaster – both in government and in the “private sector” – managed not only to walk away scot free, but forced middle class Americans to pick up the tab for their recklessness and greed. Fictitious Capital: Ho... Durand, Cu00e9dric Best Price: $13.50 Buy New $18.18 (as of 03:43 UTC - Details)
Hammered by the excesses, misdirection and misdeeds of the power players in government, finance and industry, the mangled American economy has grown increasingly anemic, providing ever fewer opportunities for working Americans. At the same time, the gap between the rich and the poor has grown to untenable proportions. We have sought to fix and redresses the misbalances, inefficiencies and wrongdoing through various rules, regulations and taxation but with little success. In fact, such measures often further compounded the very problems they sought to remedy.
The depth and extent of our trouble is there for everyone to see: skyrocketing public debt, wage stagnation, blatant profiteering, stifling regulation, out of control healthcare and higher education costs, diminishing opportunities and falling standards of living for many Americans, especially the common man. There are those who contend that this represents a failure of capitalism, but the truth is that we have not had free-market capitalism in this country for some time. What we are seeing now is, in fact, the inevitable consequence of government interventionism. The hubris, excesses and misbalances that followed our decision to throw off fiscal restraints in 1971 have now brought our financial and economic systems to the brink of collapse. As almost every other wealthy nation or civilization of the past, we fell into the trap of thinking that those who have plenty should have plenty ever more even if it should come at the expense of doing things right.
America’s current financial and economic decline, which has its roots in the attitudinal change wrought – paradoxically enough – by the success and boom of the early decades of the post-war era, is one of the three major trends that have brought on the crisis we are going through today. Systemic racism – a phenomenon which is quite imaginary and completely non-demonstrable – is certainly not one of them despite the impassioned assertions to the contrary. We will discuss the other two trends soon as we attempt to put forth a more accurate and realistic narrative of our present woe.
The Best of Vasko Kohlmayer