The Collapse of Civilization

[kemp]

I can't believe it's almost the new year ( Merry Christmas too everyone by the way, although a little late by me, sorry ) and President Trump has still not conceded to Biden, although it seems like he will leave office come January 20.........unless something totally unexpected happens. I don't think a situation like this has ever happened in an American presidential election, not to my cursory knowledge of US election history. 

I suppose I can't blame him, if you are going to go out, and you know the thing was rigged, you might as well go out with a bang. They will never thank him for conceding, and he will probably kick himself for the rest of his life if he did, so if you only had a few weeks left in one of the most powerful positions that any human could ever hope to attain, well, he can say he did it his way.

[kemp]

The Europeans have not only reimposed lockdowns and restrictions on their citizens movements, but have toughened them in an effort to combat the so called second wave of the Coronavirus pandemic.

Many non essential shops, businesses, restaurants and schools have closed across the continent. There are restrictions on household visits and draconian curfews in many of the European Union nations. In Greece people must get permission to leave their homes by sending a text message to a government number, including the reason and their personal details.

www.bbc.com/news/explainers-53640249



Police officers in Germany haven taken to patrolling public transport to monitor mask requirements for people in public.

It's probably just as well that the UK has left the European Union if this is what the future of continental Europe is shaping up to be.

You would be forgiven for thinking that this came straight out of the pages of George Orwerll's 1984.

[kemp]

The United States has a great Constitution, the first ten amendments in particular known as the bill of rights which includes many of the freedoms that are associated closely with the United States today - such as freedom of religion, freedom of speech, right to bear arms and freedom of the press.

In many ways the US has acted as an inspiration to other nations seeking their path to freedom, individual rights and democracy over the centuries.

constitution.findlaw.com/amendments.html

Considering some of the things that have occurred in the past year, I would be very concerned at any attempt by the European Union, Beijing, the Kremlin, World Economic Forum or the divided virtue signallers to create, or at least attempt to create a new set of rules for their respective populations to abide by. In any case, irrespective of what happens elsewhere I hope that at least in the English speaking world that this is something that is rejected. 

[Jason Aiken]

2020 definitely sucked but there have been some garbage years before, too. 18 months of darkness would suck.

www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/the-worst-year-in-history-is-2020-a-contender.

[kemp]

A volcanic eruption causing a sun blocking fog that lasted for 18 months would have certainly caused widespread crop failure and famine. The Covid 19 world death toll of under 2 million pales against Justinian's plague that wiped 25 to 50 percent of the population in 541-42 AD.




The 1918 flu killed some 50 million world wide.

In New South Wales, Australia we had a smallpox epidemic that killed 19,000 in 1828-29, current Covid deaths are well under 1000 for the Australia total.

The 1918 - 1922 Russian typhus epidemic took a death toll of 2 to 3 million Russians.

How many people think about the 1968 - 1970 Hong Kong flu ? estimated death toll 1 - 4 million.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_epidemics

The populations of those respective era's would have also reacted in dramatic fashion to the epidemics and pandemics occurring around them. What is most concerning about this year, at least to me, and this goes beyond the Covid-19 pandemic ( less severe than many historically documented pandemics/epidemics ), is how much the contemporary pampered populations are willing to give over their freedoms to local and federal governments to be protected from the forces of nature.

[kemp]

I wasn't aware of the 1956 movie version of George Orwell's 1984. Most are probably more familiar with the film starring John Hurt, Richard Burton and Suzanna Hamilton. Watched the 1956 movie the other night. Give it a chance, it's actually quite good, and after the events of 2020 I can see that it's not all that far off from reality in some respects.

The 1956 version was produced by Michael Anderson and stars Edmond O'Brien, Michael Redgrave and Jan Sterling, and also features Donald Pleasance.




en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_(1956_film)

[kemp]

I haven't said much about the Covid vaccines. My stance is that vaccines have been effective against diseases such as smallpox, polio and typhoid, and I myself have had my flu shots in the past.

'Successful use of smallpox vaccine led to the gradual reduction of smallpox cases. The last U.S. wild smallpox case occurred in 1949. After intensive vaccination campaigns in the 1960s and 1970s, the last case of wild smallpox in the world occurred in 1977.'

www.historyofvaccines.org/content/articles/history-smallpox

[kemp]

I'm a little vary about the current Covid vaccines since they have not had the appropriate amount of testing and trials to ensure their safety, and also for the fact that even many of the experts say the vaccines will not necessarily stop people from passing on the virus. I would think caution would be needed until at least an appropriate amount of time passes to ascertain their effectiveness and safety, perhaps there will be clearer picture in mid 2021.




It is a little disconcerting that some of the pharmaceutical companies are rolling out their respective vaccines as quickly as possible past the trials, some of it is related to increasing company shares and getting ahead of the game.

There is no guarantee that even with the vaccine, irrespective of their effectiveness, that certain governments will allow their populations to go back to normal life and travel and work as they did in the pre Covid time, even if a sizeable number of people took up the vaccines. I think how free we are will be up to the pressure exerted from a nation's citizens as opposed to anything created in a clinical laboratory.

Fact: despite the vaccines developed to target Sars CoV 2 we don't have vaccines against any of the other coronavirus that have afflicted humans, in part due to the challenges of developing vaccines for viruses that infect the upper respiratory tract, and this includes the common cold, the 2003 Sars CoV and 2012 MERS CoV.

www.abc.net.au/news/health/2020-04-17/coronavirus-vaccine-ian-frazer/12146616

[kemp]

In my home country of Australia we don't have a Bill of Rights, but we do have some protections for human rights in the Constitution and in the High Court processes that have ruled additional rights at various times.

'How are human rights protected in Australian law?

'There are five explicit individual rights in the Constitution. These are the right to vote (Section 41), protection against acquisition of property on unjust terms (Section 51 (xxxi)), the right to a trial by jury (Section 80), freedom of religion (Section 116) and prohibition of discrimination on the basis of State of residency (Section 117).'

humanrights.gov.au/our-work/rights-and-freedoms/how-are-human-rights-protected-australian-law#:~:text=Unlike%20most%20similar%20liberal%20democracies,or%20State%20or%20Territory%20Parliaments.

[kemp]

I had quoted REH on freedom in the past on this very thread.

'I have but a single conviction or ideal, or whateverthehell it might be called: individual liberty. It's the only thing that matters a damn. I'd rather be a naked savage, shivering, starving, freezing, hunted by wild beasts and enemies, but free to go and come, with the range of the earth to roam, than the fattest, richest, most bedecked slave in a golden palace with the crustal fountains, silken divans, and ivory-bosomed dancing girls of Haroun al Raschid.'

Robert E. Howard, Letter to H. P. Lovecraft, circa December 1932

Thomas Jefferson put it like this via the Latin phrase "Malo periculosam, libertatem quam quietam servitutem.".

'I prefer the tumult of liberty to the quiet of servitude'

It has also been translated by some as

[kemp]

Benjamin Franklin

[kemp]

This quote is a favourite of mine from Thomas Jefferson. ( hopefully, I will be able to post the image without jpg technical issues ).





Happy new year 2021. 

[themirrorthief]

most of the dead in USA are elderly people and especially people in nursing homes...these deaths have saved US government mega billions in medicare payouts to over charging nursing homes...just a thought

[bonesaw]

Show me the data from the vaccinated vs. the unvaccinated and the argument can end.

[kemp]

Dec 31, 2020 8:51:22 GMT -5 bonesaw said:

Show me the data from the vaccinated vs. the unvaccinated and the argument can end.

'Nurse contracts Covid-19 after being vaccinated'

A nurse in California tested positive for Covid-19 more than a week after receiving Pfizer Inc's vaccine, an ABC News affiliate has reported, but a medical expert and the US drug maker said the body needs more time to build up protection.'

au.yahoo.com/news/nurse-contracts-covid-19-after-being-vaccinated-204604299.html

Maybe it works, but you need a couple of doses and just to believe in it in your heart