lewrockwell--2020-10-03--The Beauty of Life Is Being Systematically Destroyed by the Covid Hoax

“ Witnessing the panoply of beauty in all of nature takes us out of our shell of self-absorption and makes us realize that we are merely bit players in the game of life .
Witnessing the majesty of beauty confirms that the real show lies outside us to observe and appreciate and not inside us to transfix us .
True beauty charms us into seeing the grandeur of goodness that surrounds us and by doing so , the pristine splendor of nature releases us from wallowing in the poverty of our self-idealization .
The bewitching spell cast by the exquisiteness @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our psyche .
When we see , hear , taste , smell , or touch what is beautiful , we can not suppress the urge to replicate its baffling texture by singing , dancing , painting , or writing .
Opening our eye to the loveliness of a single flower is how we stay in touch with the glorious pageantry of living.
” In order for ugliness and evil to conquer beauty , first beauty must be made to seem ugly and evil .
If beauty is feared , if it is portrayed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an intentional manipulation of the human mind and psyche can cause a flight from beauty so as to gain protection from concocted harm .
This is akin to hiding in the dark instead of seeking the light .
Should this situation be perpetuated long enough , beauty in the minds of man can become the enemy instead of the essence of life .
Without beauty , life becomes emotionless and cold , and therefore a bland existence dependent on rule becomes the norm , while joy and wonder disappear .
This is the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ evil forces are attempting to kill the human spirit , which in turn will destroy the beauty of life .
Dead Toad Scrolls Oldster , Kilroy J .
Buy New $ 7.99 This is being accomplished due to fear of the unknown , a manufactured fear purposely meant to cause panic and chaos .
None of this is natural , but is a planned conspiracy with the sole purpose of creating an atmosphere of such extreme apprehension as to cause humanity to give up all that is dear to them in order to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has to be thought to be so great that the people will feel obligated to obey the ruling class without question as a condition of survival .
If fear can be sustained at this level , total control over the masses becomes an easy task .
All the state players had to do was to invent something so scary that the public would cower and hide , and succumb to tyrannical rule .
Creating out of thin air a virus less deadly than the common cold , and portraying it as the new @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was necessary to gain compliance and adherence to draconian measures .
The success of this coup is dependent on constant fear , and on continuous division .
The fear aspect is evident , but will have to be enhanced , and the division amongst the people is being stoked daily , and will soon escalate to dangerous levels during another ridiculous election that will be used to cause mass panic inside an already mass panic .
There will be multiple ‘ claimed ’ calamities that will adversely affect all aspects of society .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but also will be economic , will breed civil unrest , and will cause violent reaction in the streets .
With this chaos will come martial law , either in isolated areas or more broad-based , depending on the coming carnage created and allowed by the state .
Life of Pi Martel , Yann Best Price : $ 0.35 Buy New $ 4.48 The scene is set , and most of the masses are ripe for takeover , as the beauty in their lives has already been largely eliminated .
When one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , many things come to mind .
Family of course is vital , but families are being isolated , quarantined , and threatened continuously .
Some family members are dying ( or being murdered ) , and are not allowed to see their own ; while laws are now being considered that could allow children to be taken away from parents during isolation .
Travel is becoming impossible , especially considering travel outside this or any other country .
The beauty and wonder of far away places and cultures are now out of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ world , getting out in nature is now very difficult , and outdoor excursions around the world are not allowed or are heavily restricted .
Live concerts are a thing of the past , so music , which is a miracle of life , is being squelched .
The same is true of dancing , artistry , art shows and fares , and gatherings of different peoples experiencing beauty and the fascination of life and genius .
Food , exotic cuisines , gourmet gatherings , the excitement of restaurant experiences , and even @ @ @ @ @ @ @ allowed or made meaningless by mandated and insane rules .
Sports at all levels have been ruined , and are nothing more than contemptible jokes played in empty stadiums .
All of this ugly absurdity now exists , but the most beautiful thing in life is also being destroyed before our eyes .
That is the beauty of love and caring .
It was once said that “ love is a many splendored thing , ” and that may be an understatement , as what more defines the human spirit than love ?
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ useless masks , they are told not to get close to any other ; they are voluntarily for the most part locking themselves inside home prisons , and are not even allowed to work or be with co-workers .
People are becoming unrecognizable zombies , frightened of all strangers , friends , and even family .
Romance and passion are shunned and in some parts of the world forbidden due to this virus hoax , so many have acquiesced to this travesty , and now most all communication is via a cold and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a robotic humanity without feeling now seems possible , and is even being promoted ; and in some parts of the world , it is being actively sought .
This insanity is no longer science fiction , but is on the verge of reality .
No good can come from this horror .
When China Sneezes : Fr ... Buy New $ 27.95 There are reasons for this madness , but those reasons are nefarious and are being pursued by the worst among us .
Only the few that claim superiority over the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lunacy .
They desire to own everything , including the souls of humanity .
They seek total power and control over all , and the only way to achieve that control is to destroy all the beauty and love in life .
In order for that effort is to be successful , the rest of us have to lay down and surrender , and give our consent to the monsters attempting to own our minds , bodies , and souls by accepting that a manufactured virus is all that is necessary to destroy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and passion are lost , and fear consumes you , all desire for freedom disappears ; all that is left is the wait for death .
“ I must say a word about fear .
It is life ’ s only true opponent .
Only fear can defeat life .
It is a clever , treacherous adversary , how well I know .
It has no decency , respects no law or convention , shows no mercy .
It goes for your weakest spot , which it finds with unnerving ease .
It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ so you must fight hard to express it .
You must fight hard to shine the light of words upon it .
Because if you don ’ t , if your fear becomes a wordless darkness that you avoid , perhaps even manage to forget , you open yourself to further attacks of fear because you never truly fought the opponent who defeated you.
” The Best of Gary D. Barnett

“Witnessing the panoply of beauty in all of nature takes us out of our shell of self-absorption and makes us realize that we are merely bit players in the game of life. Witnessing the majesty of beauty confirms that the real show lies outside us to observe and appreciate and not inside us to transfix us. True beauty charms us into seeing the grandeur of goodness that surrounds us and by doing so, the pristine splendor of nature releases us from wallowing in the poverty of our self-idealization. The bewitching spell cast by the exquisiteness of nature levitates our souls and transforms our psyche. When we see, hear, taste, smell, or touch what is beautiful, we cannot suppress the urge to replicate its baffling texture by singing, dancing, painting, or writing. Opening our eye to the loveliness of a single flower is how we stay in touch with the glorious pageantry of living.”
~ Kilroy J. Oldster, Dead Toad Scrolls
In order for ugliness and evil to conquer beauty, first beauty must be made to seem ugly and evil. If beauty is feared, if it is portrayed as a threat to life, then an intentional manipulation of the human mind and psyche can cause a flight from beauty so as to gain protection from concocted harm. This is akin to hiding in the dark instead of seeking the light. Should this situation be perpetuated long enough, beauty in the minds of man can become the enemy instead of the essence of life. Without beauty, life becomes emotionless and cold, and therefore a bland existence dependent on rule becomes the norm, while joy and wonder disappear. This is the world we are experiencing today, as evil forces are attempting to kill the human spirit, which in turn will destroy the beauty of life. Dead Toad Scrolls Oldster, Kilroy J. Buy New $7.99 (as of 05:23 UTC - Details)
This is being accomplished due to fear of the unknown, a manufactured fear purposely meant to cause panic and chaos. None of this is natural, but is a planned conspiracy with the sole purpose of creating an atmosphere of such extreme apprehension as to cause humanity to give up all that is dear to them in order to survive the false threat. That threat has to be thought to be so great that the people will feel obligated to obey the ruling class without question as a condition of survival. If fear can be sustained at this level, total control over the masses becomes an easy task.
All the state players had to do was to invent something so scary that the public would cower and hide, and succumb to tyrannical rule. Creating out of thin air a virus less deadly than the common cold, and portraying it as the new plague of mankind, was all that was necessary to gain compliance and adherence to draconian measures. The success of this coup is dependent on constant fear, and on continuous division. The fear aspect is evident, but will have to be enhanced, and the division amongst the people is being stoked daily, and will soon escalate to dangerous levels during another ridiculous election that will be used to cause mass panic inside an already mass panic. There will be multiple ‘claimed’ calamities that will adversely affect all aspects of society. These will be health related of course, but also will be economic, will breed civil unrest, and will cause violent reaction in the streets. With this chaos will come martial law, either in isolated areas or more broad-based, depending on the coming carnage created and allowed by the state.
Life of Pi Martel, Yann Best Price: $0.35 Buy New $4.48 (as of 05:23 UTC - Details) The scene is set, and most of the masses are ripe for takeover, as the beauty in their lives has already been largely eliminated. When one thinks of all the joys in life, many things come to mind. Family of course is vital, but families are being isolated, quarantined, and threatened continuously. Some family members are dying (or being murdered), and are not allowed to see their own; while laws are now being considered that could allow children to be taken away from parents during isolation. Travel is becoming impossible, especially considering travel outside this or any other country. The beauty and wonder of far away places and cultures are now out of reach. In most parts of the world, getting out in nature is now very difficult, and outdoor excursions around the world are not allowed or are heavily restricted. Live concerts are a thing of the past, so music, which is a miracle of life, is being squelched. The same is true of dancing, artistry, art shows and fares, and gatherings of different peoples experiencing beauty and the fascination of life and genius. Food, exotic cuisines, gourmet gatherings, the excitement of restaurant experiences, and even backyard barbeques are in many cases not allowed or made meaningless by mandated and insane rules. Sports at all levels have been ruined, and are nothing more than contemptible jokes played in empty stadiums.
All of this ugly absurdity now exists, but the most beautiful thing in life is also being destroyed before our eyes. That is the beauty of love and caring. It was once said that “love is a many splendored thing,” and that may be an understatement, as what more defines the human spirit than love? Today, people are wearing harmful and useless masks, they are told not to get close to any other; they are voluntarily for the most part locking themselves inside home prisons, and are not even allowed to work or be with co-workers. People are becoming unrecognizable zombies, frightened of all strangers, friends, and even family. Romance and passion are shunned and in some parts of the world forbidden due to this virus hoax, so many have acquiesced to this travesty, and now most all communication is via a cold and impersonal computer screen. The idea of a robotic humanity without feeling now seems possible, and is even being promoted; and in some parts of the world, it is being actively sought. This insanity is no longer science fiction, but is on the verge of reality. No good can come from this horror. When China Sneezes: Fr... Buy New $27.95 (as of 05:23 UTC - Details)
There are reasons for this madness, but those reasons are nefarious and are being pursued by the worst among us. Only the few that claim superiority over the rest of society will benefit from this lunacy. They desire to own everything, including the souls of humanity. They seek total power and control over all, and the only way to achieve that control is to destroy all the beauty and love in life. In order for that effort is to be successful, the rest of us have to lay down and surrender, and give our consent to the monsters attempting to own our minds, bodies, and souls by accepting that a manufactured virus is all that is necessary to destroy us. Once beauty, love, and passion are lost, and fear consumes you, all desire for freedom disappears; all that is left is the wait for death.
“I must say a word about fear. It is life’s only true opponent. Only fear can defeat life. It is a clever, treacherous adversary, how well I know. It has no decency, respects no law or convention, shows no mercy. It goes for your weakest spot, which it finds with unnerving ease. It begins in your mind, always … so you must fight hard to express it. You must fight hard to shine the light of words upon it. Because if you don’t, if your fear becomes a wordless darkness that you avoid, perhaps even manage to forget, you open yourself to further attacks of fear because you never truly fought the opponent who defeated you.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi
The Best of Gary D. Barnett


lewrockwell--2020-10-03--ICD-10 U07.1 vs. Science

ICD-10 U07.1 vs. Science

KB : Is an intelligent and well-informed nurse , working in a hospital that treats COVID-19 patients .
We had a bit of an on-line altercation .
It ended well – – – KB : I don ’ t believe the death toll is one giant hoax .
Covid is real and people do die from it .
Indeed , but how many people ?
How many of those officially “ confirmed ” and “ verified ” deaths actually did die of COVID-19 ?
Not according to C.D.C./W.H.O.
’ s newly jiggered guidelines — coded as ICD-10 U07.1 “ Deaths @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but according to over 120 years of established science and C.D.C ’ s own Medical Examiners ’ and Coroners ’ Handbook as honest science requires ?
Here ’ s an estimate from Italy once they began to re-evaluate their death figures according to the established science instead of the newly jiggered guidelines – – - Technocracy : The Hard ... Wood , Patrick M. Best Price : $ 33.00 Buy New $ 24.59 “ On re-evaluation by the [ Italian ] National Institute of Health , only 12 per cent of [ coronavirus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ causality from coronavirus ” [ Professor Walter Ricciardi , scientific adviser to Italy ’ s minister of health ] says .
–telegraph.co.uk And here ’ s another clue , this one from Russia – – – More than 60 % of fatalities of people suspected of having contracted Covid-19 [ in Russia ] are not classified as coronavirus deaths because they occurred “ from clearly other causes , ” the Moscow health department said in a statement on its website , noting that autopsies are performed in all suspected cases .
… Experts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ – Bloomberg [ bolding added ] And from the C.D.C .
itself – – – “ For 6 % of the deaths , COVID-19 was the only cause mentioned .
For deaths with conditions or causes in addition to COVID-19 , on average , there were 2.6 additional conditions or causes per death.
” COVID-19 Provisional Counts – Weekly Updates by Select Demographic and Geographic Characteristics You have to hand it to the C.D.C .
information worker who crafted “ in addition to COVID-19 , on average , there were 2.6 additional conditions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s a pretty decent attempt to imply COVID-19 was the cause and those 2.6 additional conditions were merely innocent bystanders .
Of course those innocent bystanders were things like pneumonia , heart attack , stroke , etc.
, meaning that it was usually COVID-19 that was the innocent bystander .
Once you clear that fog away , this is what you find – – - Technocracy Rising : Th ... Wood , Patrick M. Best Price : $ 30.00 Buy New $ 24.00 “ Had the CDC used its industry standard , Medical @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Death Registration and Fetal Death Reporting Revision 2003 , as it has for all other causes of death for the last 17 years , the COVID-19 fatality count would be approximately 90.2 % lower than it currently is.
” [ source ] So we can see the dimensions of the hoax — or is it just a SNAFU ?
According to C.D.C.s own handbook and over 120 years of established science the ICD-10 U07.1 death number is inflated by approximately 1,000 % .
( 100 claimed COVID-19 deaths divided by 10 actual COVID-19 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The “ over-count ” allegation has been a persistent claim from the beginning of this event .
For example : in the early days , when this claim first became popular , each hospital was only allowed 3 tests per day due to the scarcity of testing equipment and kits .
I remember one day at the hospital where I work ( in early or mid March ) when 9 patients showed up in the same hour-we could only test three .
Yes indeed !
As you can see from the above , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ way more than just persistent !
And it ’ s not just in the early days when , as you point out , tests were scarce , facilitating premature and inaccurate diagnoses , and that ’ s if we ass-u-me the tests were/are accurate .
As you point out below , they aren ’ t necessarily .
But accurate or not , what ’ s relevant is whether COVID-19 actually caused the death .
If it ’ s just present , well , it ’ s like this – – – “ …the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ virus-related deaths as soon as it is established that the virus was present at the time of death — regardless of other factors .
This violates a basic principle of infectiology : only when it is certain that an agent has played a significant role in the disease or death may [ that ] diagnosis be made .
” –thoroughly credentialed infectiologist Dr. Sucharit Bhakdi in his letter to German Prime Minister , Angela Merkel And we now know from above that upon honest evaluation of the official jiggered “ verified ” and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ deaths , only about 10 % to 12 % could actually claim COVID-19 “ played a significant role.
“ Trilaterals Over Washi ... Sutton , Antony C. Best Price : $ 34.32 Buy New $ 27.55 KB : ( I could get into how the cause of death is recorded but it is a little off track . )
Well , I agree , it should be off track but unfortunately it is the track .
To paraphrase Stalin , appropriate from the discussions above I think , “ Infections , cases and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , those who count and report the infections , cases and deaths define the pandemic.
” KB : A physician is responsible for signing the death certificate which indicates the cause of death .
No physician is going to falsify the cause of death to satisfy someone else ’ s political agenda .
If a hospital were to attempt to tell a doctor what diagnosis to use ( they don ’ t , but if they did ) the doctor would say Eff-you .
Doctors have no problem saying that to hospital administrators @ @ @ @ @ @ @ doctors — or , especially residents — to make a dubious ICD-10 U07.1 “ Deaths with confirmed or presumed COVID-19 ” diagnosis in the case of COVID-19 .
The system stacked the deck to do that “ naturally ” in at least three ways : 1 . )
As reported in this April 14 , 2020 NYT article — and in direct violation of its industry standard Medical Examiners ’ and Coroners ’ Handbook — C.D.C .
strongly encouraged the whole medical establishment to diagnose COVID-19 if at all possible .
That is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ presumed ” to be present and even if it wasn ’ t the cause of death .
The NYT headline cameos the result like this : “ The city [ New York ] has added more than 3,700 additional people who were presumed to have died of the coronavirus but had never tested positive.
” W.H.O .
did the same for most of the rest of the world .
And , according to the NYT article , C.D.C .
sent out that aberrant guidance before the first claimed NYC COVID-19 death .
So @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Cyril Wecht , well known for exposing the Kennedy & RFK assassination cover-ups asked the same question for Allegheny Co. ( Pittsburg ) Pa .
2 . )
According to the C.D.C.
’ s official web publications , until May 26 , 2020 , the C.D.C.s list of symptoms for recognizing COVID-19 — and those for recognizing seasonal influenza — are almost identical .
During that period there were few or no tests .
Given 1 . )
above , which do you diagnose ?
How many autopsies — as in Russia where @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cases died of “ clearly other causes ” — were done in lieu of the missing tests ?
WARNING TO THE WEST Solzhenitsyn , Aleksandr Best Price : $ 11.00 Buy New $ 16.00 Interestingly , the only significant C.D.C .
listed difference between COVID-19 and Flu , added later , was COVID-19 sometimes caused “ loss of taste or smell.
” That ’ s also a sign of zinc deficiency .
Adequate zinc is necessary for a robust immune response .
3 . )
Everyone in the loop knew there was an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ COVID-19 admission — and a possible $ 39,000 payoff if you ventialted a patient .
So let ’ s see , maybe it ’ s the flu , pneumonia — or something else — but it could be COVID-19 .
And the CDC wants us to err on the side of COVID-19 .
I know , it ’ s strange — even though it ’ s listed anyway , they say it ’ s so they won ’ t miss it later .
And there is that extra money for my hospital .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ so , what ’ s the harm ?
But in case that ’ s not enough , C.D.C .
actually sent out seven-page booklets instructing physicians how to claim COVID-19 on death certificates without adequate evidence .
Now you can indeed argue that doctors and residents might not give-in to that pressure context and stick to the accepted 120 year rules and traditions instead .
And at first , maybe many did .
But not all of them and not later – – – for example , three whistle-blowing nurses verify over-ventilation — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hospital issues to light here : Misconduct in NY hospitals–three nurses speak out !
And in at least one hospital , it ’ s a lot worse – – – this one will curl your hair : Frontline Nurse Speaks Out About Lethal Protocols And then you do have that April 14 , 2020 NYT article that specifically claims , “ The city [ New York ] has added more than 3,700 additional people who were presumed to have died of the coronavirus but had never tested positive.
” This raises the question @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ask each doctor and resident to re-evaluate each of the 3,700 death certificates they ’ d signed ?
” What do you think Kevin ?
You have the experience .
My guess is some cental bureaucrat did it .
Or maybe , as has become the habit , the whole thing was done with computer models , otherwise known as “ technical fiction ” in the first place .
KB : So if you have a patient , who you were treating for Covid , and they died , a physician might write @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the viral load drops just before death ) .
A doctor might write this to protect themselves-for whatever reason .
When this was done , this created a firestorm in the “ conspiracy ” community ( of which I am a member ) .
There were 2 reasons for this .
If your final judgement was you suspect they died of COVID-and that was your best diagnosis-then write COVID .
It was the best cause of death at the time you made that determination .
The reason they issued this guideline is because @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from the data base when they go back and study them .
( And that reason was given in the guideline , which I read ) .
Yep , for the first time , they had a specific code for that : U07.1 But COVID-19 is listed along with the other comorbidities regardless — so the idea that it would be “ excluded from the data base ” is malarkey .
And why uncritically jigger it to always be the cause of death ?
That ’ s clearly poorly conceived smoke-and-mirrors .
Especially @ @ @ @ @ @ @ flu and lack of dependable testing , a true scientific organization would never seriously report such approximately 1,000 % inflated speculative numbers as fact to the newsies or anybody else .
Why did they ?
Conspiracy or SNAFU ?
KB : The problem with your approach , as best as I can tell , is that it excludes those with a preexisting condition .
Obesity , as I recall , is the number 1 preexisting condition .
With obesity comes hypertension ( there are two ) and sometimes that is combined with diabetes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ One is not going to confuse a death from COVID with a death from hypertension .
They would not have died if they didn ’ t contract the COVID in the first place .
Pre-existing conditions , specifically including obesity , hypertension and diabetes etc .
are included in co-morbidities on death certificates , and along with heart-attack , stroke , and COVID-19 etc .
have an equal chance to be listed as the cause of death .
The traditional guidance , as , for example , in the C.D.C.
’ s Medical @ @ @ @ @ @ @ referees how which one ( s ) actually caused the death is worked out .
The bottom line is that , no matter the excuse , on honest evaluation of deaths based on over 120 years of science practice and tradition — not to mention C.D.C.
’ s own original unjiggered guidelines — only around 10 % to 12 % of official COVID-19 deaths could honestly claim COVID-19 as a significant causitive factor .
So the question is , since we know the official U07.1 claims are inflated something like 1,000 % and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ everyone reporting the U07.1 deaths instead of the real numbers ?
Why does the MSM ( Main Stream Media ) and Johns-Hopkins — full name , Johns-Hopkins Bloomberg School of Medicine COVID-19 world-wide death app report those grossly inaccurate U07.1 deaths instead of the real numbers ?
That app also misleadingly lumps infections in with cases .
Is this a conspiracy or just a SNAFU ?
Or maybe something else ?
BTW , does the fact that Bill Gates and Michael Bloomberg — who largely funds the Johns-Hopkins Bloomberg School of Medicine and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ info in a simple easy-to-understand manner as in the COVID death app — are close personal friends have anything to do with that ?
Could it be that Bill Gates , Michael Bloomberg and others of the power elite are behind the times and believe that using the grossly exaggerated COVID-19 outbreak to distupt the world economy — for those willing to kill hundreds of millions , mostly by starvation — is their misguided answer to perceived over-population and CO² emissions ?
HERE For updates , additions , comments , and corrections .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Tweet , ” and otherwise , pass this along !
The Best of L. Reichard White

KB: Is an intelligent and well-informed nurse, working in a hospital that treats COVID-19 patients. We had a bit of an on-line altercation. It ended well – – –
KB: I don’t believe the death toll is one giant hoax. Covid is real and people do die from it.
Indeed, but how many people? How many of those officially “confirmed” and “verified” deaths actually did die of COVID-19? Not according to C.D.C./W.H.O.’s newly jiggered guidelines — coded as ICD-10 U07.1 “Deaths with confirmed or presumed COVID-19” — but according to over 120 years of established science and C.D.C’s own Medical Examiners’ and Coroners’ Handbook as honest science requires?
Here’s an estimate from Italy once they began to re-evaluate their death figures according to the established science instead of the newly jiggered guidelines – – - Technocracy: The Hard ... Wood, Patrick M. Best Price: $33.00 Buy New $24.59 (as of 03:55 UTC - Details)
“On re-evaluation by the [Italian] National Institute of Health, only 12 per cent of [coronavirus] death certificates have shown a direct causality from coronavirus” [Professor Walter Ricciardi, scientific adviser to Italy’s minister of health] says. –telegraph.co.uk
And here’s another clue, this one from Russia – – –
More than 60% of fatalities of people suspected of having contracted Covid-19 [in Russia] are not classified as coronavirus deaths because they occurred “from clearly other causes,” the Moscow health department said in a statement on its website, noting that autopsies are performed in all suspected cases. … Experts Question Russian Data on Covid-19 Death Toll – Bloomberg [bolding added]
And from the C.D.C. itself – – –
“For 6% of the deaths, COVID-19 was the only cause mentioned. For deaths with conditions or causes in addition to COVID-19, on average, there were 2.6 additional conditions or causes per death.” COVID-19 Provisional Counts – Weekly Updates by Select Demographic and Geographic Characteristics
You have to hand it to the C.D.C. information worker who crafted “in addition to COVID-19, on average, there were 2.6 additional conditions or causes per death.” That’s a pretty decent attempt to imply COVID-19 was the cause and those 2.6 additional conditions were merely innocent bystanders.
Of course those innocent bystanders were things like pneumonia, heart attack, stroke, etc., meaning that it was usually COVID-19 that was the innocent bystander.
Once you clear that fog away, this is what you find – – - Technocracy Rising: Th... Wood, Patrick M. Best Price: $30.00 Buy New $24.00 (as of 07:16 UTC - Details)
“Had the CDC used its industry standard, Medical Examiners’ and Coroners’ Handbook on Death Registration and Fetal Death Reporting Revision 2003, as it has for all other causes of death for the last 17 years, the COVID-19 fatality count would be approximately 90.2% lower than it currently is.” [source]
So we can see the dimensions of the hoax — or is it just a SNAFU? According to C.D.C.s own handbook and over 120 years of established science the ICD-10 U07.1 death number is inflated by approximately 1,000%. (100 claimed COVID-19 deaths divided by 10 actual COVID-19 deaths X 100%)
KB: The “over-count” allegation has been a persistent claim from the beginning of this event. For example: in the early days, when this claim first became popular, each hospital was only allowed 3 tests per day due to the scarcity of testing equipment and kits. I remember one day at the hospital where I work (in early or mid March) when 9 patients showed up in the same hour-we could only test three.
Yes indeed! As you can see from the above, the “over-count” allegation should be way more than just persistent! And it’s not just in the early days when, as you point out, tests were scarce, facilitating premature and inaccurate diagnoses, and that’s if we ass-u-me the tests were/are accurate. As you point out below, they aren’t necessarily.
But accurate or not, what’s relevant is whether COVID-19 actually caused the death. If it’s just present, well, it’s like this – – –
“…the mistake is being made worldwide to report virus-related deaths as soon as it is established that the virus was present at the time of death — regardless of other factors. This violates a basic principle of infectiology: only when it is certain that an agent has played a significant role in the disease or death may [that] diagnosis be made. ” –thoroughly credentialed infectiologist Dr. Sucharit Bhakdi in his letter to German Prime Minister, Angela Merkel
And we now know from above that upon honest evaluation of the official jiggered “verified” and “confirmed” ICD-10 U07.1 coded COVID-19 deaths, only about 10% to 12% could actually claim COVID-19 “played a significant role.“ Trilaterals Over Washi... Sutton, Antony C. Best Price: $34.32 Buy New $27.55 (as of 04:28 UTC - Details)
KB: (I could get into how the cause of death is recorded but it is a little off track.)
Well, I agree, it should be off track but unfortunately it is the track. To paraphrase Stalin, appropriate from the discussions above I think, “Infections, cases and deaths don’t define the pandemic, those who count and report the infections, cases and deaths define the pandemic.”
KB: A physician is responsible for signing the death certificate which indicates the cause of death. No physician is going to falsify the cause of death to satisfy someone else’s political agenda. If a hospital were to attempt to tell a doctor what diagnosis to use (they don’t, but if they did) the doctor would say Eff-you. Doctors have no problem saying that to hospital administrators.
No one has to directly order doctors — or, especially residents — to make a dubious ICD-10 U07.1 “Deaths with confirmed or presumed COVID-19” diagnosis in the case of COVID-19. The system stacked the deck to do that “naturally” in at least three ways:
1.) As reported in this April 14, 2020 NYT article — and in direct violation of its industry standard Medical Examiners’ and Coroners’ Handbook — C.D.C. strongly encouraged the whole medical establishment to diagnose COVID-19 if at all possible. That is, even if COVID-19 was only “presumed” to be present and even if it wasn’t the cause of death. The NYT headline cameos the result like this: “The city [New York] has added more than 3,700 additional people who were presumed to have died of the coronavirus but had never tested positive.”
W.H.O. did the same for most of the rest of the world. And, according to the NYT article, C.D.C. sent out that aberrant guidance before the first claimed NYC COVID-19 death. So was it really a COVID-19 death? Cyril Wecht, well known for exposing the Kennedy & RFK assassination cover-ups asked the same question for Allegheny Co. (Pittsburg) Pa.
2.) According to the C.D.C.’s official web publications, until May 26, 2020, the C.D.C.s list of symptoms for recognizing COVID-19 — and those for recognizing seasonal influenza — are almost identical. During that period there were few or no tests. Given 1.) above, which do you diagnose? How many autopsies — as in Russia where more than 60% of suspected COVID cases died of “clearly other causes” — were done in lieu of the missing tests? WARNING TO THE WEST Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr Best Price: $11.00 Buy New $16.00 (as of 02:40 UTC - Details)
Interestingly, the only significant C.D.C. listed difference between COVID-19 and Flu, added later, was COVID-19 sometimes caused “loss of taste or smell.” That’s also a sign of zinc deficiency. Adequate zinc is necessary for a robust immune response.
3.) Everyone in the loop knew there was an approximately $13,000 payoff for diagnosing a COVID-19 admission — and a possible $39,000 payoff if you ventialted a patient.
So let’s see, maybe it’s the flu, pneumonia — or something else — but it could be COVID-19. And the CDC wants us to err on the side of COVID-19. I know, it’s strange — even though it’s listed anyway, they say it’s so they won’t miss it later. And there is that extra money for my hospital. Clearly everyone else is doing it, so, what’s the harm?
But in case that’s not enough, C.D.C. actually sent out seven-page booklets instructing physicians how to claim COVID-19 on death certificates without adequate evidence.
Now you can indeed argue that doctors and residents might not give-in to that pressure context and stick to the accepted 120 year rules and traditions instead. And at first, maybe many did.
But not all of them and not later – – – for example, three whistle-blowing nurses verify over-ventilation — and bring a few other troubling modern hospital issues to light here: Misconduct in NY hospitals–three nurses speak out!
And in at least one hospital, it’s a lot worse – – – this one will curl your hair: Frontline Nurse Speaks Out About Lethal Protocols
And then you do have that April 14, 2020 NYT article that specifically claims, “The city [New York] has added more than 3,700 additional people who were presumed to have died of the coronavirus but had never tested positive.”
This raises the question, “Did they go around and ask each doctor and resident to re-evaluate each of the 3,700 death certificates they’d signed?” What do you think Kevin? You have the experience.
My guess is some cental bureaucrat did it. Or maybe, as has become the habit, the whole thing was done with computer models, otherwise known as “technical fiction” in the first place.
KB: So if you have a patient, who you were treating for Covid, and they died, a physician might write, “suspected Covid.” (Because the viral load drops just before death). A doctor might write this to protect themselves-for whatever reason. When this was done, this created a firestorm in the “conspiracy” community (of which I am a member). There were 2 reasons for this.
If your final judgement was you suspect they died of COVID-and that was your best diagnosis-then write COVID. It was the best cause of death at the time you made that determination. The reason they issued this guideline is because they do not want these patients excluded from the data base when they go back and study them. (And that reason was given in the guideline, which I read).
Yep, for the first time, they had a specific code for that: U07.1 But COVID-19 is listed along with the other comorbidities regardless — so the idea that it would be “excluded from the data base” is malarkey. And why uncritically jigger it to always be the cause of death? That’s clearly poorly conceived smoke-and-mirrors.
Especially given the similarity of COVID-19 to the flu and lack of dependable testing, a true scientific organization would never seriously report such approximately 1,000% inflated speculative numbers as fact to the newsies or anybody else. Why did they? Conspiracy or SNAFU?
KB: The problem with your approach, as best as I can tell, is that it excludes those with a preexisting condition.
Obesity, as I recall, is the number 1 preexisting condition. With obesity comes hypertension (there are two) and sometimes that is combined with diabetes (that would be three). One is not going to confuse a death from COVID with a death from hypertension. They would not have died if they didn’t contract the COVID in the first place.
Pre-existing conditions, specifically including obesity, hypertension and diabetes etc. are included in co-morbidities on death certificates, and along with heart-attack, stroke, and COVID-19 etc. have an equal chance to be listed as the cause of death. The traditional guidance, as, for example, in the C.D.C.’s Medical Examiners’ and Coroners’ Handbook, referees how which one(s) actually caused the death is worked out.
The bottom line is that, no matter the excuse, on honest evaluation of deaths based on over 120 years of science practice and tradition — not to mention C.D.C.’s own original unjiggered guidelines — only around 10% to 12% of official COVID-19 deaths could honestly claim COVID-19 as a significant causitive factor.
So the question is, since we know the official U07.1 claims are inflated something like 1,000% and thus grossly inaccurate, why is nearly everyone reporting the U07.1 deaths instead of the real numbers?
Why does the MSM (Main Stream Media) and Johns-Hopkins — full name, Johns-Hopkins Bloomberg School of Medicine COVID-19 world-wide death app report those grossly inaccurate U07.1 deaths instead of the real numbers?
That app also misleadingly lumps infections in with cases.
Is this a conspiracy or just a SNAFU? Or maybe something else?
BTW, does the fact that Bill Gates and Michael Bloomberg — who largely funds the Johns-Hopkins Bloomberg School of Medicine and made his fortune based on displaying complex info in a simple easy-to-understand manner as in the COVID death app — are close personal friends have anything to do with that?
Could it be that Bill Gates, Michael Bloomberg and others of the power elite are behind the times and believe that using the grossly exaggerated COVID-19 outbreak to distupt the world economy — for those willing to kill hundreds of millions, mostly by starvation — is their misguided answer to perceived over-population and CO² emissions?
HERE For updates, additions, comments, and corrections.
AND, “Like,” “Tweet,” and otherwise, pass this along!
The Best of L. Reichard White


lewrockwell--2020-10-03--The Powerful and Obnoxious Odor of Mendacity

A profusion of philosophical , psychological , and political ink has been spent on the subject of lying and liars .
The toll in loves lost and relationships destroyed from lying is incalculable .
All the war dead are victims of government lies ; what Marine Major General Smedley Butler called a “ racket.
” Lies are poison , slow or quick working , and they kill both body and soul .
We are living in a country of lies .
A country where propaganda is disseminated around the clock and lies are the air we breathe .
Is it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as to what to believe and whom to trust ?
But it goes much deeper .
Seeking Truth in a Cou ... Curtin , Edward Buy New $ 26.95 I have recently read a number of perceptive , truthful articles that have gotten me thinking further about this subject , although I must add that I have been preoccupied with the issue since I was very young and my father took me to see Pinocchio in the movie theater and subsequently told me improvised Pinocchio stories before bedtime .
Whether he knew it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ knew – he set me on a lifetime ’ s quest to try to distinguish truth from lies and embrace the former .
Then as a teenager , I appeared on a very popular television show , To Tell the Truth .
I was recruited to lie , to play the part of an impostor , which I did quite well .
I lied for the money and probably would have made a good lying politician if fate hadn ’ t interceded .
It was only later that my actions and the show @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mind , echoing down my days to the present and my interest in truth , lies , and propaganda .
From my father came a love for the redeeming nature of stories .
“ More and more often there is embarrassment all around , ” wrote Walter Benjamin in The Storyteller , “ when the wish to hear a story is expressed .
It is as if something that seemed inalienable to us , the securest among our possessions , were taken from us : the ability to exchange experiences.
” It was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ young man emerged from his high school on New York ’ s Upper East Side after basketball practice .
He had lost track of time as he dreamed his basketball dreams and headed to the subway for the long ride home .
It was December , 1961 .
A man , dressed in a cashmere overcoat and carrying a silver bowl , was walking his dog on the street .
The boy asked him for the time .
The man told him , adding with a grin that his watch always ran fast @ @ @ @ @ @ @ what seemed like a dream .
He pet the man ’ s dog , and the man asked him about the imposing school next to them .
He asked the boy his name and the boy said “ Eddie.
” While the dog did its business in the street , they chatted for a few minutes .
The man wished him luck with his basketball and said his name was Paul .
As the boy hustled toward the subway , Paul Newman shouted after him , “ See you later , Fast Eddie.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ to see Paul Newman playing Fast Eddie Felson in The Hustler .
He always remembered Paul ’ s words about mendacity and his words from The Hustler : The 21 Biggest Lies ab ... Schlichter , Kurt Best Price : $ 19.46 Buy New $ 21.49 Fast Eddie : How should I play that one , Bert ?
Play it safe ?
That ’ s the way you always told me to play it : safe… play the percentage .
Well , here we go : fast and loose .
One ball , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ die broke , too , don ’ t they , Bert ?
Lies are a common way of playing it safe .
Except they kill the liar .
In an article by Mike Whitney , “ Betrayal , Infuriating Betrayal , ” in which he writes about the Democrats ’ ongoing efforts – Russia-gate , etc .
– to remove Trump from the presidency , efforts based on a string of lies they know to be lies [ my emphasis ] and have been proven to be so , he wonders thus toward @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that this doesn ’ t piss-off more Democrats , after all , it ’ s the ultimate expression of contempt and condescension .
When someone lies to your face relentlessly , repeatedly and shamelessly , they are expressing their loathing for you .
Can ’ t they see that ?
Of course , that ’ s a very good question .
I read Jonathan ’ s Cook ’ s piece , “ The Guardian ’ s deceit-riddled new statement betrays both Julian Assange and journalism.
” Cook rightly excoriates The Guardian for lying @ @ @ @ @ @ @ British and American governments , long-standing lies [ my emphasis ] that continue to today as Julian sits in a British kangaroo court where injustice is being served to extradite him to the USA .
Here is one point he makes ; Nauseatingly , however , the Guardian not only seeks to blame Assange for its own mistake but tells a glaring lie about the circumstances .
Its statement says : ‘ No concerns were expressed by Assange or WikiLeaks about security being compromised when the book was published in February 2011 .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2011.
’ Then I read another fine article at Asia Times , by MK Bhadrakumar , “ Permafrost descends on US-Russia ties , ” about a bipartisan Senate bill aimed at demonizing Russia .
The bill is led by Democratic Senator Chris Coons of Delaware .
Bhadrakumar writes : Fallout : Nuclear Bribe ... Bruner , Seamus Buy New $ 25.20 The fallout of all this is going to be profound for the Sino-Russian alliance .
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov hit out last week : ‘ It is time to stop applying @ @ @ @ @ @ @ trying to be liked by the West at any cost … the West is wittingly or unwittingly pushing us towards this analysis .
‘ It is likely to be done unwittingly [ my emphasis ] .
However , it is a big mistake to think that Russia will play by Western rules in any case , just like thinking this in terms of China.
’ I was struck by Lavrov ’ s word “ wittingly or unwittingly ” – diplomatic speech – since he knows the Senator ’ s bill is filled with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is likely to be done unwittingly.
” Finally , I read an article by Philip Roddis , “ Julian , Guardian , and the Law of Volitionality.
” As a lead-in to his announced topic , he tells a little tale about his step-mother that struck me .
It is worth quoting in full : Indulge me a moment , will you ?
At fifteen I acquired a stepmother .
We never got on .
Her and dad ’ s insistence that she be called “ mum ” didn ’ t help .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the same house – I left home weeks before turning seventeen – I never addressed her by name or title .
She had dad round her little finger .
One ploy was to badger him into making a ruling against me .
Once she ’ d done so , she ’ d beg him to relent .
“ Oh it ’ s alright , Frank .
Let him … ” [ do/have whatever it was she ’ d got him to forbid ] .
But no way was he going to u-turn at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , you see .
I saw this little comedy for what it was but dad fell for it every time .
And here ’ s the thing .
Maybe she did too .
She got her way , but I don ’ t rule out her motives for that post victory appeal being hidden to – and by – her .
My flawed but brilliant teacher said that everybody knows what they ’ re doing .
Indeed , it was so fundamental a tenet he gave it a name : The Law of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to absurd and at times cruel lengths but for all that he was onto something .
To manage cognitive dissonance – to maintain a sense of being fundamentally good – we play games with ourselves .
Stepmother was likely fooling herself almost as much as dad with her tiresome shenanigans .
It ’ s not that she wasn ’ t being manipulative .
Just that an essential ingredient of the manipulation , vital to maintaining self-esteem , was a decision – volitionally squirrelled away , out of sight from everyday awareness – to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Corona 911 : The Dark ... Webb , George Buy New $ 1.99 You can find such examples every day .
Articles about lies tossed about by all sides of the political spectrum are commonplace .
I think it fair to say that everyone has lied at some point , but only the most manipulative are proud of it .
“ The essence of the lie implies in fact that the liar actually is in complete possession of the truth which he is hiding , ” wrote Jean-Paul Sartre .
This cynical consciousness @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to others is a perfect description of politicians , propagandists , intelligence services , and their media mouthpieces .
They know they are lying and are proud of it , but of course they will never admit it .
Most people are not that manipulative .
Sartre says there is another type of liar who suffers from bad faith .
While they lie to others , they also try to lie to themselves and hide the truth from themselves .
People often say that this person and that one really believe their own @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but this is not possible .
For “ the one to whom the lie is told and the one who lies are one and the same person , which means that I must know in my capacity as a deceiver the truth which is hidden from me in my capacity as the one deceived.
” I have recently been thinking that many people who are adamantly insistent on the efficacy of mask-wearing against SARS-CoV-2 , the virus associated with COVID-19 , and those who are always quoting the official statistics , are of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is good evidence against mask-wearing and the official statistical game , but try to convince themselves this isn ’ t so , or they avoid reading about the possibility to save face and live with themselves – both acts of bad faith .
Such people are like Philip Roddis ’ s step-mother .
But in this case , the bad faith is about a Big Lie , just as the fake fight between Trump and Biden has induced many people to take bad faith sides in a scene from Lewis Carroll ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Tweedledee Agreed to have a battle ; For Tweedledum said Tweedledee Had spoiled his nice new rattle ” So Tweedledee and Tweedledum Had their scrum All about the rattle .
When it was done Only the dumb Gave a shit about their battle Anthrax 9/11 : The US C ... Webb , George Buy New $ 1.99 Last year , I was at a large library book sale and came upon an odd box of typed manuscripts of stories that lacked the author ’ s name .
They were free and so @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one very short story , entitled “ Fear , ” that struck me for its haunting connection to the issue of lies .
“ Death is the sanction of everything the storyteller can tell , ” wrote Benjamin , which seems so true with this anonymous story .
Here it is : Listen , that ’ s what I want to say to them .
Listen , this is one of those stories hard to believe .
When I first heard it , I doubted it completely .
Of course I was telling @ @ @ @ @ @ @ factor .
It ’ s hard , once you hear your own voice , to believe it ’ s you .
After a while , however , I became convinced it had to be true .
I couldn ’ t make up anything so odd , so sick if you prefer .
At first the voice sounded strange , but once I realized it was really mine , I understood I was revealing this pathetic tale under great duress and it was understandable that my voice sounded foreign .
You should take that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sick man .
I realize that now .
In the beginning , I thought I was surely dying , until , that is , I saw that I was already dead .
Dying was beside the point .
I was dead .
Naturally this came as a great surprise to me .
Now you might reasonably ask , how did this absurd situation come about , and how can a dead man write words ?
Let me tell you .
It began when I was born while the world was engaged in one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ periodic is not true .
Those slaughters are constant .
So you wonder what my astrological sign is ?
The mushroom cloud of course .
A cancer born under the sign of the mushroom .
Anyway , I have been living for decades now and you ’ d think I would have seen the obvious .
I didn ’ t , or that ’ s what I told myself .
Not for the life of me .
I kept going on as if I were alive when I was dead .
It ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ know they ’ re dead until… But I didn ’ t know it , and you can imagine , I hope , how this caused me many problems .
That was the year I disappeared .
She asked me : “ But are you content ?
” – No , I wouldn ’ t say that .
– So you ’ re not ?
It ’ s hard to tell ?
Tell me .
– No , not really .
– Not really what ?
– What would give you contentment ?
– @ @ @ @ @ @ @ idea ?
– No , not that .
I guess if I thought about it … – Do that , that ’ s what I ’ m asking you .
You must have thought about it before .
– Sure I have but… Bottle of Lies : The In ... Eban , Katherine Best Price : $ 18.69 Buy New $ 16.94 – Why the but ?
You ’ re so hesitant about everything .
You don ’ t know , you doubt , maybe , but , perhaps .
Why are you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ answer .
I could only stumble over my words .
I was afraid they would trip me up , especially if I spoke without premeditation .
I was used to hesitating so I could control things .
That ’ s not exactly true .
When I realized I was dead , I also realized it was because I had always been a liar , to myself and others .
It was then I disappeared .
Since coming here , I have been resolved to change .
Yes , the outside world was making @ @ @ @ @ @ @ deceptions .
Mendacity , mendacity , mendacity – I heard someone in a play scream that out once .
I never forgot it , and I felt I was going mad because of it .
But I too was a liar , so I resolved to change .
No more bullshit .
That was my number one resolution .
It sounded crude but was true .
Next to it , I listed euphemisms for bullshit : exaggeration , manners , civility , tolerance , modesty , mental reservations , kindness , and of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ self-deception .
Simple as that .
I couldn ’ t admit that I was dead ; that was bullshit , and I was dead because I was a bullshit artist and just wanted to be an artist and write stories that were true .
I have always lied so much because , like everyone else , I was afraid of the truth .
Saying it , hearing it , or seeing it .
I much preferred ideas of what should be true rather than what was true , or what I really thought @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I gave up lying I would feel lonelier than I did before .
Where did it get me anyway ?
Where does it get anyone ?
I have always hated myself for it .
This all seemed so weird to me ; how everyone nodded at truth , just as they nodded to each other , and then went on lying their ways through life .
And if you asked them if they were lying , they would invariably deny it .
Oh , it ’ s so twisted .
I am sick @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I ’ m going with this story .
It seems to have a life of its own , unlike me .
I didn ’ t really disappear .
They took me here .
I am so afraid .
That was it .
Short and eerie .
It reminded me of Kafka , who wrote in his diary : “ The strange , mysterious , perhaps dangerous , perhaps redeeming comfort that there is in writing.
” “ And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.
” That ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the wall of its headquarters : The George Bush Center for Intelligence .
More appropriately , as a description of not only the CIA but American society as a whole , are Ken Kesey ’ s words from One Flew Over the Cuckoo ’ s Nest : “ You seem to forget , Miss Flinn , that this is an institution for the insane.
” Yes , “ Mendacity is the system we live in.
” And the odor here is really loathsome .
The Best of Edward Curtin

“Mendacity is a system we live in.”
– Paul Newman, playing Brick in Tennessee Williams’, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
A profusion of philosophical, psychological, and political ink has been spent on the subject of lying and liars. The toll in loves lost and relationships destroyed from lying is incalculable. All the war dead are victims of government lies; what Marine Major General Smedley Butler called a “racket.” Lies are poison, slow or quick working, and they kill both body and soul.
We are living in a country of lies. A country where propaganda is disseminated around the clock and lies are the air we breathe. Is it any wonder that most people are confused as to what to believe and whom to trust? But it goes much deeper. Seeking Truth in a Cou... Curtin, Edward Buy New $26.95 (as of 02:59 UTC - Details)
I have recently read a number of perceptive, truthful articles that have gotten me thinking further about this subject, although I must add that I have been preoccupied with the issue since I was very young and my father took me to see Pinocchio in the movie theater and subsequently told me improvised Pinocchio stories before bedtime. Whether he knew it or not – and I think he knew – he set me on a lifetime’s quest to try to distinguish truth from lies and embrace the former. Then as a teenager, I appeared on a very popular television show, To Tell the Truth. I was recruited to lie, to play the part of an impostor, which I did quite well. I lied for the money and probably would have made a good lying politician if fate hadn’t interceded. It was only later that my actions and the show’s title kept reverberating through my mind, echoing down my days to the present and my interest in truth, lies, and propaganda. From my father came a love for the redeeming nature of stories.
***
“More and more often there is embarrassment all around,” wrote Walter Benjamin in The Storyteller, “when the wish to hear a story is expressed. It is as if something that seemed inalienable to us, the securest among our possessions, were taken from us: the ability to exchange experiences.”
***
It was getting dark on the street as the young man emerged from his high school on New York’s Upper East Side after basketball practice. He had lost track of time as he dreamed his basketball dreams and headed to the subway for the long ride home. It was December, 1961. A man, dressed in a cashmere overcoat and carrying a silver bowl, was walking his dog on the street. The boy asked him for the time. The man told him, adding with a grin that his watch always ran fast. The boy recognized the grin from what seemed like a dream. He pet the man’s dog, and the man asked him about the imposing school next to them. He asked the boy his name and the boy said “Eddie.” While the dog did its business in the street, they chatted for a few minutes. The man wished him luck with his basketball and said his name was Paul. As the boy hustled toward the subway, Paul Newman shouted after him, “See you later, Fast Eddie.”
The next week the boy went to see Paul Newman playing Fast Eddie Felson in The Hustler. He always remembered Paul’s words about mendacity and his words from The Hustler: The 21 Biggest Lies ab... Schlichter, Kurt Best Price: $19.46 Buy New $21.49 (as of 05:03 UTC - Details)
Fast Eddie: How should I play that one, Bert? Play it safe? That’s the way you always told me to play it: safe… play the percentage. Well, here we go: fast and loose. One ball, corner pocket. Yeah, percentage players die broke, too, don’t they, Bert?
Lies are a common way of playing it safe. Except they kill the liar.
***
In an article by Mike Whitney, “Betrayal, Infuriating Betrayal,” in which he writes about the Democrats’ ongoing efforts – Russia-gate, etc. – to remove Trump from the presidency, efforts based on a string of lies they know to be lies [ my emphasis] and have been proven to be so, he wonders thus toward the end:
It’s surprising that this doesn’t piss-off more Democrats, after all, it’s the ultimate expression of contempt and condescension. When someone lies to your face relentlessly, repeatedly and shamelessly, they are expressing their loathing for you. Can’t they see that?
Of course, that’s a very good question.
I read Jonathan’s Cook’s piece, “The Guardian’s deceit-riddled new statement betrays both Julian Assange and journalism.” Cook rightly excoriates The Guardian for lying about Assange and betraying him to the British and American governments, long-standing lies [my emphasis] that continue to today as Julian sits in a British kangaroo court where injustice is being served to extradite him to the USA. Here is one point he makes;
Nauseatingly, however, the Guardian not only seeks to blame Assange for its own mistake but tells a glaring lie about the circumstances. Its statement says: ‘No concerns were expressed by Assange or WikiLeaks about security being compromised when the book was published in February 2011. WikiLeaks published the unredacted files in September 2011.’
Then I read another fine article at Asia Times, by MK Bhadrakumar, “Permafrost descends on US-Russia ties,” about a bipartisan Senate bill aimed at demonizing Russia. The bill is led by Democratic Senator Chris Coons of Delaware. Bhadrakumar writes: Fallout: Nuclear Bribe... Bruner, Seamus Buy New $25.20 (as of 04:53 UTC - Details)
The fallout of all this is going to be profound for the Sino-Russian alliance. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov hit out last week: ‘It is time to stop applying Western metrics to our actions and stop trying to be liked by the West at any cost … the West is wittingly or unwittingly pushing us towards this analysis.
‘It is likely to be done unwittingly [my emphasis]. However, it is a big mistake to think that Russia will play by Western rules in any case, just like thinking this in terms of China.’
I was struck by Lavrov’s word “wittingly or unwittingly” – diplomatic speech – since he knows the Senator’s bill is filled with lies but suggests otherwise – “It is likely to be done unwittingly.”
Finally, I read an article by Philip Roddis, “Julian, Guardian, and the Law of Volitionality.” As a lead-in to his announced topic, he tells a little tale about his step-mother that struck me. It is worth quoting in full:
Indulge me a moment, will you? At fifteen I acquired a stepmother. We never got on. Her and dad’s insistence that she be called “mum” didn’t help. For the two years we spent in the same house – I left home weeks before turning seventeen – I never addressed her by name or title.
She had dad round her little finger. One ploy was to badger him into making a ruling against me. Once she’d done so, she’d beg him to relent. “Oh it’s alright, Frank. Let him … ” [do/have whatever it was she’d got him to forbid]. But no way was he going to u-turn at this point. A matter of pride, you see. I saw this little comedy for what it was but dad fell for it every time.
And here’s the thing. Maybe she did too. She got her way, but I don’t rule out her motives for that post victory appeal being hidden to – and by – her. My flawed but brilliant teacher said that everybody knows what they’re doing. Indeed, it was so fundamental a tenet he gave it a name: The Law of Volitionality. Yes, he took it to absurd and at times cruel lengths but for all that he was onto something. To manage cognitive dissonance – to maintain a sense of being fundamentally good – we play games with ourselves. Stepmother was likely fooling herself almost as much as dad with her tiresome shenanigans.
It’s not that she wasn’t being manipulative. Just that an essential ingredient of the manipulation, vital to maintaining self-esteem, was a decision – volitionally squirrelled away, out of sight from everyday awareness – to hoodwink herself. [my emphasis]
Corona 911 : The Dark ... Webb, George Buy New $1.99 (as of 05:26 UTC - Details) You can find such examples every day. Articles about lies tossed about by all sides of the political spectrum are commonplace.
I think it fair to say that everyone has lied at some point, but only the most manipulative are proud of it. “The essence of the lie implies in fact that the liar actually is in complete possession of the truth which he is hiding,” wrote Jean-Paul Sartre. This cynical consciousness that knows the truth but denies it to others is a perfect description of politicians, propagandists, intelligence services, and their media mouthpieces. They know they are lying and are proud of it, but of course they will never admit it.
Most people are not that manipulative. Sartre says there is another type of liar who suffers from bad faith. While they lie to others, they also try to lie to themselves and hide the truth from themselves. People often say that this person and that one really believe their own lies, that they are deluded, but this is not possible. For “the one to whom the lie is told and the one who lies are one and the same person, which means that I must know in my capacity as a deceiver the truth which is hidden from me in my capacity as the one deceived.”
I have recently been thinking that many people who are adamantly insistent on the efficacy of mask-wearing against SARS-CoV-2, the virus associated with COVID-19, and those who are always quoting the official statistics, are of this sort. They either know there is good evidence against mask-wearing and the official statistical game, but try to convince themselves this isn’t so, or they avoid reading about the possibility to save face and live with themselves – both acts of bad faith. Such people are like Philip Roddis’s step-mother. But in this case, the bad faith is about a Big Lie, just as the fake fight between Trump and Biden has induced many people to take bad faith sides in a scene from Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass:
“Tweedledum and Tweedledee
Agreed to have a battle;
For Tweedledum said Tweedledee
Had spoiled his nice new rattle”
So Tweedledee and Tweedledum
Had their scrum
All about the rattle.
When it was done
Only the dumb
Gave a shit about their battle
***
Anthrax 9/11: The US C... Webb, George Buy New $1.99 (as of 05:26 UTC - Details) Last year, I was at a large library book sale and came upon an odd box of typed manuscripts of stories that lacked the author’s name. They were free and so I took a few. There was one very short story, entitled “Fear,” that struck me for its haunting connection to the issue of lies. “Death is the sanction of everything the storyteller can tell,” wrote Benjamin, which seems so true with this anonymous story. Here it is:
Listen, that’s what I want to say to them. Listen, this is one of those stories hard to believe. When I first heard it, I doubted it completely. Of course I was telling it and that might have been a factor. It’s hard, once you hear your own voice, to believe it’s you. After a while, however, I became convinced it had to be true. I couldn’t make up anything so odd, so sick if you prefer. At first the voice sounded strange, but once I realized it was really mine, I understood I was revealing this pathetic tale under great duress and it was understandable that my voice sounded foreign.
You should take that into account. I am a very sick man. I realize that now. In the beginning, I thought I was surely dying, until, that is, I saw that I was already dead. Dying was beside the point. I was dead. Naturally this came as a great surprise to me. Now you might reasonably ask, how did this absurd situation come about, and how can a dead man write words? Let me tell you.
It began when I was born while the world was engaged in one of its periodic slaughters. No, periodic is not true. Those slaughters are constant.
So you wonder what my astrological sign is? The mushroom cloud of course. A cancer born under the sign of the mushroom.
Anyway, I have been living for decades now and you’d think I would have seen the obvious. I didn’t, or that’s what I told myself. Not for the life of me. I kept going on as if I were alive when I was dead. It’s obvious now: the dead never know they’re dead until… But I didn’t know it, and you can imagine, I hope, how this caused me many problems.
Don’t laugh.
That was the year I disappeared.
She asked me: “But are you content?”
– No, I wouldn’t say that.
– So you’re not? It’s hard to tell? Tell me.
– No, not really.
– Not really what?
– Not really content.
– What would give you contentment?
– I’m not sure.
– You mean to say you have no idea?
– No, not that. I guess if I thought about it …
– Do that, that’s what I’m asking you. You must have thought about it before.
– Sure I have but… Bottle of Lies: The In... Eban, Katherine Best Price: $18.69 Buy New $16.94 (as of 02:25 UTC - Details)
– Why the but? You’re so hesitant about everything. You don’t know, you doubt, maybe, but, perhaps. Why are you so unsure?
I had no satisfactory answer. I could only stumble over my words. I was afraid they would trip me up, especially if I spoke without premeditation. I was used to hesitating so I could control things. That’s not exactly true. When I realized I was dead, I also realized it was because I had always been a liar, to myself and others.
It was then I disappeared.
Since coming here, I have been resolved to change. Yes, the outside world was making me sick with all its lies and deceptions. Mendacity, mendacity, mendacity – I heard someone in a play scream that out once. I never forgot it, and I felt I was going mad because of it. But I too was a liar, so I resolved to change.
No more bullshit. That was my number one resolution. It sounded crude but was true. Next to it, I listed euphemisms for bullshit: exaggeration, manners, civility, tolerance, modesty , mental reservations, kindness, and of course lies. Bullshit was lies and self-deception. Simple as that. I couldn’t admit that I was dead; that was bullshit, and I was dead because I was a bullshit artist and just wanted to be an artist and write stories that were true. I have always lied so much because, like everyone else, I was afraid of the truth. Saying it, hearing it, or seeing it. I much preferred ideas of what should be true rather than what was true, or what I really thought was true. I was afraid if I gave up lying I would feel lonelier than I did before. Where did it get me anyway? Where does it get anyone? I have always hated myself for it. This all seemed so weird to me; how everyone nodded at truth, just as they nodded to each other, and then went on lying their ways through life. And if you asked them if they were lying, they would invariably deny it. Oh, it’s so twisted. I am sick. I don’t know where I’m going with this story. It seems to have a life of its own, unlike me.
I didn’t really disappear. They took me here. I am so afraid.
That was it. Short and eerie. It reminded me of Kafka, who wrote in his diary: “The strange, mysterious, perhaps dangerous, perhaps redeeming comfort that there is in writing.”
***
“And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.”
That’s what the CIA has inscribed on the wall of its headquarters: The George Bush Center for Intelligence.
More appropriately, as a description of not only the CIA but American society as a whole, are Ken Kesey’s words from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest: “You seem to forget, Miss Flinn, that this is an institution for the insane.”
That’s not a lie.
Yes, “Mendacity is the system we live in.”
And the odor here is really loathsome.
The Best of Edward Curtin