by Jo Nova
Censorship trumps everything else. Without free speech, there are no free elections, and no progress in politicized science. The base temptations of the human condition thrive in the dark.
Ten years too late, the House Judiciary Hearing on antitrust laws is on:
Republicans tear into big tech CEOs
Katelyn Caralle, Nikki Schwabm, The Daily Mail
For more than five hours the world’s richest man, Bezos; fourth-richest, Zuckerberg; CEO of the world’s most valued corporation, Cook; and its key search engine, Pichai; were repeatedly ripped as copycats, liars, bullies, drug dealers and traitors.
…big tech’s out to get conservatives. That’s not a suspicion, that’s not a hunch. That’s a fact,’ Representative Jim Jordan asserted at the top of his opening remarks.
‘We’re 97 days before an election, and the power – as the previous chairman and ranking member have said – the power these companies have to impact what happens during an election, what American citizens get to see before their voting, is pretty darn important,’ he said.
Trump issued an Executive Order to prevent social media giants from altering or editorializing free speech. He declared that if Congress won’t act, he will.
Apparently, the internet high speed revolution doesn’t mean more information, it means better, faster filtering and light speed censorship. Yesterday the news was full of doctors being censored in the US (more on that later). Lord help the world if groups of dangerous doctors were seen supporting a position Donald Trump also held? People are dying in a pandemic but the censorship is so extreme it has become the story.
Silencing people is the main weapon of those who want to vote themselves the Treasury, or guard their Golden Monopolies. And it’s running rampant, not just in social media, but in tea rooms around the West the silent majority are scared to say what they think.
J.J. Reno visited the Midwestern States so critical in US elections and found both despair and anger.
When I asked about the election mood in their communities, they reported that political realities are increasingly hidden from view. One said, “Right now journalists seem ignorant of what most people are thinking, perhaps willfully so.” When I pressed him about why that’s the case, he replied, “In all fairness, most people won’t say what they’re thinking. It’s too dangerous.”
This censorship is not just in the searches, and the news, but in workplaces and dinner parties. And it’s moving fast — people are losing jobs for saying inane truths that were fine 12 months ago. “All lives matter” is ending careers, in media and Universities. It’s not enough to say quiet either, only vocal endorsement will do: “Silence is Violence”.
Tucker Carlson interviews Donald J Trump Jnr about his twitter ban
Censorship only ever hurts conservatives.
Google purges Breitbart and other conservative sites to “Zero”
Google Executives told us they would do this. Google is practically a wing of the Democrats. After Trump’s election the Chief Executive Officer, the Chief Financial Officer, two Vice Presidents and the two men who founded Google got together for groups hugs and tears, said the election went the wrong way. Google co-founder Sergey Brin was ‘Deeply Offended’ by Trump’s Election and asked what they could do about it.
What they can do is suppress articles criticizing Democrats and crush search results of conservative sites.
‘On April 4, 2016, Breitbart ranked in the top ten search positions (i.e., on the first page of Google search results) for 355 key search terms; but now, as of July 20, 2020, Breitbart ranks in the top ten search positions for only one search term. And, on April 4, 2016, Breitbart ranked in the top 100 search positions for 16,820 key search terms; but now, as of July 20, 2020, Breitbart ranks in the top 100 search positions for only 55 search terms.
Google Just Killed All Search Traffic to Breitbart for Joe Biden and Joe Biden-Related Searches
After Google’s May core search update on or about May 5, 2020, Google search impressions and search traffic to Breitbart for “Joe Biden” and other Biden-related search terms has gone to zero. Zero. The following graph clearly illustrates the foregoing.
On May 1, Google searches for “Joe Biden” generated approximately 30,000 impressions (views, used as a metric for advertisers) for Breitbart links. After May 5, both impressions and clicks went to zero.
Breitbart News spoke to an SEO (Search Engine Optimization) expert, a 25-year industry veteran, whose job consists of analyzing traffic data from Google’s own website performance portal, Google Search Console.
The expert, who wished to remain anonymous, said he had never seen anything like this graph — and that it indicates highly probable manipulation on the part of Google.
Google’s How To Vote Card
h/t David E.
Predatory monopolies boast about buying up competitors:
Isn’t this exactly what the anti-trust rules are supposed to stop?
In the most damaging moments, lawmakers unveiled Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s internal emails boasting about buying competitors, saying Instagram was a threat as he plotted to purchase it, and talking about a ‘land grab’ on other competition.
Democratic Representative Joe Neguse bluntly told Zuckerberg he was running a monopoly in the tech marketplace as he read from the emails.
‘You did tell one of Facebook’s senior engineers in 2012 that you can, quote ‘Likely just buy any competitive start up, but it will be a while until we can buy Google.’ Do you recall writing that?’ Neguse asked of the Facebook co-founder.
Free Speech is the only way to solve disagreements without violence.
Our children don’t even know what Free Speech is.
I made the DuckDuckGo my search engine. Not sure how long it may last.
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I will give them a go. What is their business model?
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Same as google – advertising according to Quora
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DuckDuckGo returns far more accurate search results for climate-related issues, especially when you include search parameters such as JoNova and WUWT.
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Duck Duck Go still works properly.
The other day I searched for Tucker Carlson, the conservative commentator on Google. A whole heap of rubbish links to CNN and other negative comments about him. No links to Fox.
Duck Duck Go immediately gave a large number of results to Fox and his more recent commentary.
This is totally out of control and will destroy us. Friends keep telling me how Trump is a criminal over Covid as they never see the details that Democrat states make the decisions on how to manage covid in their states. Mismanage would be a better term. Trump is not perfect but there is continual lying and misinformation being readily made available, and the truth is being hidden or not made available.
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I heard something briefly on ‘Their ABC’ today claiming that Trump was accepting payments from Putin in order to allow Russian backed Taliban soldiers to shoot US troops in Afghanistan. This is what so called serious professional journalists let through without challenge. These same journalists warn us not to believe what we see on the net.
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Well said Aussie, I am 75 and have older relatives that only watch MSM they all think Donald is an idiot because of the BS on the MSM.
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Me too.
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There are three legal frameworks that can be used to discipline offenders.
Anti-trust covers misuse of monopoly market power. At a minimum one would think the market would be better off with minimal competition.
Rules for editorial conduct covers manipulation of opinion. It is legal, but makes one a publisher, subject to suits for libel, slander, violation of civil rights, etc.
Defining such things as shadow-banning as an editorial decision should trigger liability here.
And favoring one candidate over another in a non-editorial fashion is then a contribution contribution; eyeballs for one side but not the other.
The value of this needs to be charged to the individuals managing, and campaign laws applied.
The problem, of course, is spinelessness in government among the victims, and smugness among the favored.
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Orwell’s “1984” was more than a warning. It was a prophecy of what the Left are now doing. There is a good reason why the Left are at war with history, apart from Western Civilisation in general.
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Apart from all the other evils of censorship it also kills people. The following is a prohibition order from Victoriastan forbidding mefical doctors from prescribing hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 with no scientific reasons provided. All because “orange man bad”. https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2020/07/anyone-know-why-this-order-is-in-place.html Thanks to beowulf posting this on the previous Unthreaded. I was not aware of this. More generally, it is highly restricted if not practically prohibited for doctors to prescribe it elsewhere in Australia for C-19.
Censorship has prevented the use of HCQ being used according to the Zelenko protocol where according to observational and other studies it is effective for EARLY STAGE C-19 infection before the person is so sick they have to be hospitalised due to progression to the deadly stage 2 of the disease once it has moved to the lungs.
Politicians need to be held personally liable for their actions.
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When you type in a subject de jour on Google, up come the leftist view links, CNN. Washington Post, The Guardian or BBC and their particular slant on ‘The News.’ Here’s Scot Adams arguing how CNN News is running a misleading campaign against Corovid 19 Treatment, Malaria Drug, HCQ, + Zinc, that doctors world-wide have successfully used in risk management treatment of patients… famous patients who recovered, the British PM. and actor Tom Hanks. CNN by a campaign of misinformation, (Looking at studies where the crucial ionofore Zinc is omitted, or cases overdosing near dead patients,)could be responsible for the death of many people if it turns out that using this risk management treatment saves lives.
https://www.scottadamssays.com/2020/07/30/episode-1076-scott-adams-trump-is-medically-correct-and-cnn-might-be-killing-tens-of-thousands/
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Where did you see that Boris took HCQ?
Where is the evidence that Zn is limiting?
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I’ve just posted this comment at MichaelSmithnews.
There are some other honest reasons people need to be aware of.
I’m a fan of HCQ, and agree that the suppression of it is politically motivated, but I’ve spoken to people who work in ICU’s with Covid patients in Australia. They confirm we have very small stocks of HCQ in Australia. People with lupus and rheumatoid arthritis need it on a regular basis (which shows how safe it is). It would cause major hardship if they can’t get it.
In March there was not even enough HCQ here to preventatively treat our frontline workers. India is the largest manufacturer of it, and I imagine Australia is far down the list of potential customers.
The suppression order is likely just to protect long term stocks for patients with Lupus and Arthritis, and unless someone has evidence Australia can get large supplies of HCQ I wouldn’t make too much of that order. It may indeed be necessary.
If Docs started prescribing it to every man and his dog who wanted it to reduce their risk of covid (and to keep working / socializing etc) I suspect stocks would run out in a week.
Doctors and Chemists themselves might legitimately want to take it and that alone would be enough to wipe out supplies.
The real scandal is that the topic of getting more supplies of HCQ, or manufacturing it in Australia, is not even discussed. Who is asking that question?
Where is the ABC Science Unit?
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Jo, what is the story with the 32 million doses Clive Palmer secured? And why hasn’t Australia negotiated with India to get supplies as Donald Trump did? Why is our government possibly killing people by not having secured supplies or allowing proper testing of HCQ or allowing willing doctors and patients to prescribe and use it? I doubt there’d be a shortage of any other potentially useful drug. The difference here is the Trump Administration is supportive of further investigation and use of this extremely safe drug and treatment for early stage C-19 infection (as per Zelenko protocol).
At the very least, the Government should be allowing people or individual doctors to import their own supplies but attempts to do so result in customs confiscating supplies.
https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/more-than-29-million-hydroxychloroquine-doses-bought-by-us-have-come-from-india-says-president-trump/article31286633.ece
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I have since found this video (link below) that gives a hint where Clive Palmer’s donation of HCQ went. It went into the national medical stockpile but the government is not releasing it for use as per the Zelenko protocol. As of the time of the video several months ago it seems only to be allowed for use once patients are so sick they are in hospital. That’s not how the Z protocol works. HCQ + zinc + Azi needs to be taken immediately upon suspicion of infection. Once you’re in hospital its almost too late. I’m not sure it’s even allowed to be used in hospitals at all now. And in Victoriastan it’s verboten.
As Zelenko said, covid is not killing people, politics is.
Our politicians have a lot to answer for. I wish they could be held personally liable for their actions, including the unnecessary deaths of people.
https://youtu.be/NJYSsJN431I
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But Jo,
Clive Palmer said he’d bought 32,900,000 doses – I’ll rekey that number – 32,900,000 doses according to his ad in The Sunday Telegraph of 3/5/20.
Sorry, no link, but I have kept the copy of the full page ad of that day, and still have it. The number is in big characters in his headline. The page is not numbered.
I reckon that’s enough to give every health care worker and every suspected case a five-day course, using the Zelenko protocol with added vitamin D, and eliminate the disease in a week or two.
Cheers
Dave B
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I read that Clive Palmer’s purchase was Remdesivir. But I daresay the journalist might have got it wrong.
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It was Hydroxychloroquine.
Remdesivir had not had (the magically fast) FDA etc approval at that time.
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Interesting comment Jo.
Life wasn’t meant to be straightforward.
But we’ll eventually get there.
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Interesting comment Jo.
Life wasn’t meant to be straightforward.
But we’ll eventually get there.
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Honest reasons for not using HCQ — None.
1. Lupus and arthritis sufferers- the chance of death from with-holding HCQ is low, and there are alternative medications, and one application should not have priority over another.
2. Supply constraint is fake, massive Australian stocks are held in hospitals and may be used for HCQ sufferers only when it is too late.
3. (Not certain but) It is not particularly difficult to make, the price per dose for small quantities is $US2.
4. Medics and pharmacists have already stocked up.
I say, get government out of it, it should be sold over-the-counter with no prescription, no price control, the price will go up, and that is as it should be to bring more onto the market. A higher price could even attract local manufacture.
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Gee Aye,
Re Boris Johnson treatment, read it somewhere, but now unable to locate source, so must retract statement that he took HCQ. Thank you for comment getting me to check. Bad serf. Rest of my comment is on the record.
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no probs… you made me look and all I found was him saying don’t take it.
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Boris was very sick with Covid. It was Trump in the early days who sent a letter to Boris telling him about HCQ treatment and that he should look into it.
I don’t remember any article saying that he did take it, so not sure one way or another. Boris did recover soon after though.
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The greatest lurk in business comes in three grades.
1. Persuade a government to mandate the use of your product,
2. Persuade a government to prohibit the use of your competitor’s product, and
3. Persuade a government to prohibit the use of your less profitable product, thereby mandating the use of your more profitable product.
HCQ seems to have the potential to undercut a lot of gravy trains.
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Missed one.
When your own IP is running out of it’s 50 year lifespan (RE: CFC) get the government to ban your own product so that it’s replacement has a brand new 50 year IP on it.
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I, for one, hail the almighty facemask, a symbol of all that is virtuous and good about a progressive model citizen.
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Masks are OK. Beneficial.
I blame misinformation about masks emanating from high places for such problems as we are seeing in Victoria right now Lies were told, it seemed to me some at least trying to avoid a repeat of the toilet paper syndrome, and the other folly was the apparent inability of some people to comprehend that less than 100% efficiency can still be beneficiial. It has come down to: Oh what a tangled web we weave…
The conflicting advice destroyed public confidence.
There is a huge variation in effectiveness of different masks.
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Victoria Chief Health Officer finally starting to address the cause of rapid spread in Victoria:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYYmD1UTNGw
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Government of The Netherlands say there is no evidence that they actually are effective.
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Here’s one for ya:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7191274/
Results
A total of 19 randomised controlled trials were included in this study – 8 in community settings, 6 in healthcare settings and 5 as source control. Most of these randomised controlled trials used different interventions and outcome measures. In the community, masks appeared to be effective with and without hand hygiene, and both together are more protective. Randomised controlled trials in health care workers showed that respirators, if worn continually during a shift, were effective but not if worn intermittently. Medical masks were not effective, and cloth masks even less effective. When used by sick patients randomised controlled trials suggested protection of well contacts.
Conclusion
The study suggests that community mask use by well people could be beneficial, particularly for COVID-19, where transmission may be pre-symptomatic. The studies of masks as source control also suggest a benefit, and may be important during the COVID-19 pandemic in universal community face mask use as well as in health care settings. Trials in healthcare workers support the use of respirators continuously during a shift. This may prevent health worker infections and deaths from COVID-19, as aerosolisation in the hospital setting has been documented.
More information on virus sizes and mask types.
https://abcdust.net/how-large-is-a-corona-virus-virion-compared-to-the-mp10-2-5/
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Here is a classic example of a Leftist (Cathy Newman) interviewing a conservative (Jordan Peterson) on the subject of free speech.
Notice how the Leftist doesn’t agree with what Peterson says but is incapable of refuting or accepting it also. The Leftist also attributes to Peterson things he never said which Peterson picks her up on every single time.
It is cringeworthy. It is why Leftists advocate and practice censorship. They are fundamentally bullies and incapable of reasoned debate. It is a personality or mental defect and the reason I avoid associations with such people.
Interview at “JORDAN PETERSON stumps Lefty Reporter on Free Speech Argument..”
https://youtu.be/_GLqb45AZAE
Scott Adams (Dilbert cartoonist) analyses the interview here: “Scott Adams on the Cognitive Dissonance of Cathy Newman” https://youtu.be/ZnyA5Wn1K_Q Note that the link in the description has been -censored- but you can see it at the previous link I posted above.
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Trump getting elected has really driven leftism into a bizarre set of manic fundaMENTAList totalitarian behaviours !
A complete and utter loss of their collective mind !
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Yes but let’s see what happens at the election. It will be a major litmus test of the American people. I would love to think the backlash against the left would be much stronger this time around than at the last election. Let’s hope that is the case to send a clear message to the world they are anti-Amercian and pro-Marxist, and as such should be treated accordingly.
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The ABC.
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Sadly, I don’t think it will be a fair election and many people who are not entitled to vote (or are dead) will do so. There are also a huge number of Obama “motor voters”.
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“huge number of Obama “motor voters””
Yes, we have witnessed the far-left’s willingness to intentionally spread the Covid virus.
Its almost as if its being done by design.
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That and a couple of other factors could help the left defeat Trump this year. However, as I said elsewhere it really matters not who wins. The left will not give up their agenda to destroy the West. Once Trump is gone, be it this year or in 4 years time, they will only accelerate their pursuit for the destruction of the West, and they will succeed given no one else in the Western world is willing to stand up to them. Enjoy what time we have remaining. Make the best of it.
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Biden loves those who accept defeat so easily.
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We can hope for the best and expect the worse. That’s being a realist. Besides the defeat will only be temporary. I have faith in Christ Jesus so my Salvation is assured.
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Apologies to W B Yeats.
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I think Peter that the pain of speaking out with conservative views is now so great (What with only Some Lives Mattering, Covid hysteria and constant president bashing) that accurate polling is literally impossible right now. I think there will be heaps of disenchanted people that think All Lives Should Matter and that don’t like their cities being defaced and burned to the ground that will vote against their democrat governors, Reps and Senators next election cycle. I think judging by the news out of the USA that it’s impossible to tell, but there is going to be a big hidden middle.
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Yes the pain associated with speaking out is great now but it will get a lot worse before it’s all over. I say bring it on.
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Censorship of the truth is an act of evil. Now, if our leaders fail to call this out and do something about it, they are themselves supporting that evil, whether it’s intentional or not. So far Trump is the only leader who has called it out.
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But he’s not worth fighting for…
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Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.
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Predatory behaviour can be cured…you break the company up.
The same people who hate free speech also appear to bankroll these tech giants indirectly….
Its all about control control control……
Like face masks…
Speaking of which, just did the figures from official victorian govt coronavirus data from 1 july to 29 july 2020:
5% of all cases are in hosiptal, no change over all of july
0.8% of all cases wind up in ICU, no change over all of july
1% of all cases die, no change over all of july
So its not getting worse…cases are increasing, but case fatality rate and hospitalizations are stable in % terms. This is *not* a run away train.
92 deaths to date as at 29/07/2020, still shy of the 334 deaths from mormal flu in Victoria in 2019!
Still no autopsy info about coronavirus “deaths”from Victorian govt…. i wonder why….
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As George Orwell’s Animal Farm tried to convey, every political system has the goal to confuse the people in order to control them. Any leader who tries to rectify the situation by telling the truth and standing up for certain freedoms, such as what Trump is doing, is marked for removal from office one way or another, be it by hook or by crook, by the elite in big business, the military and politics who hunger for more power and/or money. It has been the same since year dot, and resulted in the cycle of past civilisations.
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It’s far worse than that. All of the elite were totally corrupt. Look no further than the list of who’s who that went to Epstene’s island.
Epstene appears to be a honeypot set up by the CIA. It captured many prominent people and allowed them to control governments, laws, wars, money, immigration.
But Trump could not be bought, and no fault could be found to trap him with. He is the loose cannon that’s going to sink their ship.
They are all up the creek and sold their paddles for a few thrills. Now the reaper is knocking on their door.
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Clearly said by someone not working in a hospital or aged care home needing to don protective gear for their 14 hour shifts.
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Well, I can only go off official govt data.
If you have information that contradicts the official figures and gives a more accurate picture, happy to hear it. The more data the better…..
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The case fatality rate has no bearing on the hospital workload. It is a more a measure that the system is coping until it starts to skyrocket. There are presently 312 people in hospitals in Melbourne with COVID positive. There is a similar effort involved in admissions for the usual complaints. Many of those have COVID like symptoms and will be admitted to isolated wards until they are proven positive or negative. Treating most admissions as COVID positive requires additional resources because admissions need to be separated until it is known there do not have COVID. I know of one example where a woman suffering a heart attack caught the virus in hospital; Covid killed her when her lungs stopped working but almost inevitable once she got thew virus after the heart attack. She was 74.
From the one hospital I have inside knowledge on, there is more effort involved in handling suspected cases than actual cases because there is effort to get them in, keep them separated, get them tested and then transfer them to the appropriate ward. It might only be a urinary tract infection but they are treated as suspected covid until they get test results; typically 12 to 24 hours in the hospital. As you can imagine that involves high turnover in suspected covid wards. That gives some idea of why there is such an increase in workload. The hospitals are still getting non covid cases but there is no way of knowing and they need to be meticulous about spreading the infection in hospitals.
All staff involved in health care and aged care these days are wearing protective gear for their entire shift. A doctor in a COVD ward does a 14 hour shift, often without a break of any sort due to the time involved in removing protective gear and donning fresh gear. Meanwhile the general population are complaining about wearing a mask for a few minutes a day.
So with Melbourne only reporting hundreds of covid cases a day, it is already creating massive extra work for medical staff. And it is a long way from getting better in hospitals. It takes around 12 days from the peak in cases to the peak in hospital admissions. Peak daily deaths is around another 10 days from that.
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Yep understood its a big workload.
What is the solution though? This thing clearly cant be contained….which means this will happen over and over.
However with the whitecoat conference they held in the USA recently, doctors there are saying they have a 98% survival rate and its not such a big deal. Who is right?
It seems we have a greater risk of collapsed medical system from overwork than the actual virus itself. Maybe thats the idea….
Are Australian hospitals using HCQ?
Dont get me wrong, I had a kidney stone and was very grateful for the ER staff….
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Avoid becoming a host. That simply requires avoiding close contact with other people.
Leadership in Victoria is so dismal that they are surprised when 25% of those required to be in home isolation are not at home. It took army leadership to find this out.
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President Trump only has one outlet to express himself without the distortions and lies introduced by the legacy and social media. That is Twitter and even they are censoring him and restricting his “reach” (and that of his son and other followers).
Can you believe they unashamedly censor the President of the United States, the most powerful (publically visible) man in the world?
It terrifies me that at a critical moment just before the election Twitter will cancel or further severely restrict the reach and visibility of Trump’s Twitter account.
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It will end in tears regardless of who wins the election. That’s the nature of civilisations that are on the decline. The cancer of the day, which for the West is left wing activism, will make sure of that. Does anyone really think that even if the next President is a Democrat the left will stop their push for the destruction of the West? Dream on.
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Yes, we all die in the end. All civilizations come to an end.
Go easy into that good night, let the kids live through tyranny, it’s their problem.
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It’s infinitely better to be born twice and die once than to be born once and die twice.
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Very subtle PeterS.
I’ve never heard that one before, but I’ll try to remember it.
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The only negative with duckduckgo from my point of view at least, was their extension. I just bookmarked the search page and do my searches from that.
I haven’t noticed any of the hiding or deleting of platforms or articles, that support conservative viewpoints, that you find on google.
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How would we know what is not being presented to us by any search engine?
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When President Trump was elected, the Democrats are making sure that will never happen again as they totally decimated any and all websites and pro-Trump voices. They also were telling world leaders to ignore him as he will be out of office in 4 years.
Hence today’s social media is no longer “free speech”.
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Private companies dominating the market, in Steel, Railroads, Telephones.
Oh, you mean now
Private companies dominating the market in tech, communications, retail.
It’s the market, not the participants which is the problem.
If ‘censorship’ gives you an edge in the market, and you only have to justify your profit to your board, what would you do?
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Great to see you condoning unwarranted censorship for political and social ends.
Further to your lack of integrity and honesty we can add anti-society totalitarian tendencies.
Its great that you continue to show everyone the DEPTHS of human dishonesty and moral degradation that leftists are willing to stoop to.
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Didn’t see Peter “. condone.. censorship”.
He asked “what would you do?”
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Look, if Peter doesn’t understand the difference between competition and monopoly by now, what can you say?
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Explain how, as time goes by, you end up with one or two companies dominating a market. It happens in every market, it happens all the time. it is the nature of competition as defined in market capitalism. This is the reason for the American’s having specific laws to break apart companies deemed to have taken a monopolistic portion of the market. The Bell Telephone company is a case in point.
But rail against the symptoms by all means.
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” The Bell Telephone company is a case in point.”
I didn’t know they actively censored conversations !
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The two airline system in Australia hasn’t worked well, they keep cutting each others throats. We need one airline and one high speed rail owned by different entities, friendly rivalry would become the order of the day.
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For those who want to pay more for less.
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Yea, breaking up Telstra sure saved us a dollar didn’t it….. NOT
Same with Electricity when they forced the manufacturer to sell through an intermediary instead of directly. Saved us a fortune…. NOT
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So Peter, you are going to censor this site because it allows incorrect views?
We won’t miss you.
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Nailed it!
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Dominating the market in steel? Ever hear of China. Telephones? just how many carriers do we have in Australia.
As far as railways are concerned I can only imagine the chaos with half a dozen different companies providing service in the same network.
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Google blocking any search finding a Breitbart written article on any subject… Google searchers about the key controversial topics now produce articles only from Left wing approved outlets NYT, Washington Post and so on..
It is exactly like the US has suddenly become a one-party state that controls the media.….
That is corrupt… irrational…. and Anti-America, Foreign/Special Interest controlled, whose policies…
Will destroy what is left of the US economy. There are riots in every large Democratic city. And there is an anti-police and fight about statues movement.
The US GDP is down – 36% the largest drop in GDP since 1947 and China is the only country that has a positive GDP.
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“Climate Change” agenda, all about “justice” (whatever that means…)
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2020/07/30/alert-warmist-eric-holthaus-admits-it-the-climate-emergency-isnt-about-science-its-about-justice/
Those at the very bottom of society, will be joined by the middle class as everyone is subjugated under a few totalitarian leftist dictators, (be it through twatter, farcebook or where-ever)
The leftist won’t be lonely any more as the world plunges to Venezuela status.
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We are already heading that way thanks to the likes of Morrison who has been kowtowing to the CAGW scam since he became PM. The only thing that will prevent us from falling further into the abyss is for a new leader to step up and put a stop to all this emissions reduction nonsense.
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Given Google, Facebook and others are now selectively blocking free speech, it means they are no longer a bulletin board where anything can be posted and be free of prosecution, unlike traditional means, such as newspapers where they employ lawyers and others to filter out their material that would otherwise land them in court. Now that that internet mongrels like Google have given up their “bulletin board” status, they should now abide by the same laws as the rest. If they let through material that in any way goes against the same laws and codes of conduct that are held against the likes of the newspapers, they are liable to be taken to court and be hit with multi-million fines. Given there is a rich source of material that would fit in that category being let through, the number of multi-million fines would easily be in the millions. See how long those companies would last.
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The ACCC has announced a new code for tech giants. The gist of it is it will enforce the tech giants to enter into a commercial arrangement with news providers. It would mean the tech giants will have to pay millions to the news companies. It doesn’t go far enough. It should have gone all the way and made the tech giants abide by the same laws and codes of conduct that are enforced on the news companies.
80
Try googling the phrase
google table driven blacklist algorithm
30
“Try googling the phrase ‘google table driven blacklist algorithm'”
Then try the same phrase in DuckDuckGo or even Bing. The difference in results is very interesting.
30
Yes, there should be no doubt that Google’s blacklist criteria is biased. Their ‘algorithm’ of tracking followed links and other signals is ignored when domains or searches are blacklisted or whitelisted where the specific status to bypass the algorithm can ONLY be provided manually.
Having spent years writing code for Google, I can say with absolute certainty that the people curating these exception tables are strongly politically biased to the left. It was sickening how giddy many became when Obama was elected and then again when he was re-elected. The reason is that all of the tech companies hire many kids fresh out of elite Universities where these poor children have been emotionally manipulated to care about far left causes that are otherwise harmful to civil societies and robust economies. The brain washing is so thorough, they accept that the ends justifies the means, no matter how ignoble those means are.
The specific Google result from the aforementioned search is basically interpreted as ‘the search results you requested are too embarrassing for Google to reveal’. That specific message doesn’t even appear when you type random characters in the search bar.
20
My results:
Google, a couple hits relating to the subject, then many hits relating to the words only. In other words, all sorts of stuff.
Duckduckgo, pages and pages of articles complaining about or explaining the Google search blacklist procedure. And there appears to be many types of blacklists applied in Google.
10
Oopps, forgot to include big tech in the mix.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/149157242@N05/50170948318/in/dateposted-public/
10
An update on Prof. Ridd’s free speech case, who is yet another rational victim of Leftist censorship. His GoFundMe fundraiser for his High Court challenge is now at $471,879 raised of a $730,000 goal.
Please don’t be complacent though, there was an initial flurry but then things tapered off. He still needs a lot more.
Also, he sent a message that the total went down because someone accidentally donated $25,000 instead of their intended $250.00. Misplaced decimal points are dangerous in science and everywhere else!
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A good short article about social media censorship and how to block Facebook “fact checking” people and bots (who believe in anything but facts).
Also, I am personally the subject of a 30 day Facebook ban because I posted a meme that was critical of the psychopathic terrorist killer Che Guevara. Good to see Facebook doing what it can do to protect his posthumous reputation for the benefit of his Leftist supporters. You know, the morons that wear his likeness on their t-shirts but have no clue who he was…
Article: https://medium.com/@john.iovine/facebook-how-to-block-the-zuckerberg-bots-from-snitching-6b720fc6b00d
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Good article.
https://patriotpost.us/articles/51790-che-was-a-murderous-psychopath-not-a-revolutionary-hero-2017-10-11
Che Was a Murderous Psychopath, Not a Revolutionary Hero
Yet 50 years after his execution, he’s still a beloved icon of leftists everywhere.
An inquisitive mind would be well justified in contemplating what it is about Democrats and the progressive Left that inspires in them such love and adoration for murderous tyrants, most especially those of the socialist/communist variety.
Democrat icon Franklin D. Roosevelt was a great admirer of Italy’s fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, calling him an “admirable” man, declaring himself “deeply impressed by what he has accomplished.” The feeling was mutual, with Mussolini writing a glowing review of FDR’s 1933 book “Looking Forward,” praising Roosevelt’s New Deal policies that so closely resembled his own fascist policies — and, by the way, prolonged the Great Depression.
American newspapers dominated by progressives routinely praised Adolf Hitler, initially dismissing concerns over his brutal totalitarianism until they could no longer be ignored or hidden. The New York Times, the paper of record for America’s progressives, has a long history of praising mass murderers. Times reporter Walter Duranty won a Pulitzer for his work in covering up the atrocities of Russian dictator Josef Stalin, who slaughtered tens of millions of his own people. Just recently, another Times reporters praised Mao Zedong for advancing a little bit of feminism.
Yet no leftist figure has achieved such sustained pop culture icon status with the American Left as Ernesto “Che” Guevara, the Argentinian doctor-turned-guerilla fighter whose face has long adorned the T-shirts of millions of hippies and clueless college students across the land. Monday was the 50th anniversary of his execution.
(See link for rest.)
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I’m not getting the argument that tech should be treated like published news media, and therefore be able to be sued or something? News papers and TV channels have their bias’, and no one sues them. How do you get tech for bias’? Having monopolies sure, but I cant see their political stances being sueable. But I aint a lawyer.
11
The argument for the US is that social media platforms are either “utilities” or “publishers”. If they are utilities, like telephone companies, then they are not responsible for any crimes or other bad deeds committed with them. They are not responsible for the content of the phone conversations. This is their current status and what they rely on to prevent being sued for inappropriate or illegal content under Section 230 of the US Communications Decency Act of 1996.
However, social media don’t act as neutral platforms like telephone companies but exercise a definite bias and censorship activities (always against conservatives and science rationalists it so happens).
This means they are not platforms but publishers although they pretend not to be publishers in order to prevent being sued for any of their or their members’ activities. For example, Zuckerberg says words to the effect that all opinions are welcome on Facebook. That is obviously not true. Conservatives and their opinions are routinely banned. Since they claim to be a platform, they could be sued just as a class of people could sue a telephone company for denying them service on the basis of race, religion, political opinion etc..
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If they are platforms (and they claim to be) they should be sueable for not providing a service. Imagine if a phone company refused to connect you because of your political views?
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If you are interested in the actual topic of this post
The Hill (where they appear on Fox News and Tucker’s show as well) has a good discussion
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIcXLgzdfIc&list=PLLri3HDD8DQv0tqZ5na84JdSnpacqLaNn&index=3
My favourite was the question to Mark Zuckerberg about Twitter and Donald Trump Jr
26
Yes, the Republican congress are very much a sellout.
…. they are being weak and will not go after the blatant bias of twatter, farcebook and googoo.
So nice to see you supporting Google disrupting people’s email !!
How low will they stoop.
Integrity and honesty is not on your horizon, is it. !
50
Peter, yes the question about Twitter is an irrelevant cute Gotcha moment of zero significance in the bigger picture.
Is that why it impresses you?
80
pretty much sums up the whole show.
Explain please how a distribution company is doing censorship, of for that matter a manufacturer like apple is trampling over free speech.
05
Peter, the main issue is the so-called social media almost monopolies using their positions to censor centrist political comments they don’t want people to read.
Its not about sales or anything like that, its PURELY about political ideology.
Google interfering with conservative political emails, marking them as spam.
Google using politically motivated targeting to make sure realist and centrist site and comments are sent to the back of the cue.
Twatter and Farcebook erasing any comments of fact that go against their established mantra,
…. just so their myopic view of the world isn’t challenged.
None of this is at all good for society as a whole.
Either Google, farcebook and twatter are “free-to-comment” sites (within legal bounds), or they are political activism sites.
Which do YOU think they should be?
80
So where does Amazon or Apple fit in.
This was about the misuse of corporate power, to spin it as ‘censorship’ is both naive and wrong – there is no reason for a private company to behave in any other way than to benefit the shareholders. If ‘censorship’ helps the bottom line, then the company is legally obligated to do that.
To catagorise the sites as ‘free comment’ or ‘political activist’ is a third order question. As long as google attracts advertisers that is what the stock market values. If to get advertisers, they harvest your personal data (which you signed away), or they suppress, demonetize, or block some content – that is what they will do.
See the writing of Milton Friedman about the intersection of ethics and economics in American Capitalism. Hint, making a buck is always ethical
17
Amazon and Apple sell material items or services.
And there is ample precedent over 100 years in the USA about breaking up companies that try to enforce a monopoly.
30
“To catagorise the sites as ‘free comment’ or ‘political activist’ is a third order question”
NO, the original thread is about twatter and google and farcebook, the “social media giants”. Read the content at the top.
Apple and Amazon are NOT social media giants.
It is you that has intentionally distracted from the intent of the original post.
It seems that you think it is perfectly OK for these social media giants to act as leftist political activism sites.
Now why would that be?
Its a matter of integrity, honesty, and credibility, isn’t it.
None of which you care about.
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“Either Google, farcebook and twatter are “free-to-comment” sites (within legal bounds), or they are political activism sites.
Which do YOU think they should be?”
Answer the question.
30
They are neither, and never were. Please read some Milton Friedman to gain some background
04
LOL, ..
…to think they are not currently political activist sites is the depths of either denial or naivety !!
You can’t even call up the basic honesty to admit to the facts !
You seem to be saying that they were always designed to be political sites….
A rather petty attempt at avoiding an answer. 😉
Try again..
““Either Google, farcebook and twatter are “free-to-comment” sites (within legal bounds), or they are political activism sites.
Which do YOU think they should be?””
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Peter,
You are so naive. I’ve seen under the hood and Google definitely biases and/or censors search results and the reason the bias is so proactively left is because the employees that design the algorithms and curate the exception lists are mostly recent graduates from those elite Universities that have become the bastions of failed political ideologies like Socialism and Marxism.
The corporate intent is not to favor one side or the other, but the reality is that the subjective politically biased choices of their employees are fundamentally opposed to the companies stated intent.
30
This programmed info presentation is huge but it’s just another aspect of the long term removal of minds away from natural reality and towards groupthink.
The distortion in thinking is so great that we can build large apartment structures which begin to collapse and decay within a couple of years of occupation. Further, because our State government “devolved” supervision and certification to opportunists, the owners find themselves without a home and up the creek without a paddle.
For years politicians have been importing “grateful voters” who rage through Melbourne out of reach of the police and in the latest episode flew from North Victoria to Sydney and then Real Victoria all on a three day a week school cleaning job.
We are a great country; and don’t mention the expensive lip enhancement; so ultra Chloe.
Don’t mention Australia’s performance on the world education rankings where we come in behind places like West Krygistan nor the other sad ranking where we are near the top: euphemistically called mental health.
Mental health in Australia is a joke and one of the primary indicators that governments have lost the plot and don’t care about our future.
When you can’t trust government and the legal system is a joke there isn’t much more to go wrong before a full collapse.
We need a turnaround and dynamic leadership that doesn’t use social security funny money to limp from day to day.
Self reliance, no cash handouts, local food halls for the needy, work allocation centres to keep people busy.
Leadership.
80
All true but don’t hold your breath for true leadership. There isn’t any in sight with the partial exception of Trump. All other Western leaders are a bunch of spineless appeasers trying to kowtow to everyone in the hope of winning the next election. Calling it a dog’s breakfast would not be harsh enough.
60
What is the x-axis on that bar graph?
11
My guess is the relative volume of traffic sent to that site as the result of news related searches.
10
relative to what?
00
Relative to each other.
00
really? In that case you’d set the top one at 1 not 0.65ish.
That graph is meaningless without a scale
00
Just to further explain all graphs present data relative to one another. That is the point of a graph. A relative scale is meaningless because you still need to know what they are all relative to.
00
Found the answer for you Gee Aye.
https://wentworthreport.com/2020/07/29/election-interference-google-purges-breitbart-from-search-results/
The graph represents: Fraction of website traffic from Google, via Alexa web rankings (1.0 = 100%). Red = media sources with conservative or libertarian-leaning editorial stances. Data is a six-month average as of July 7, 2020.
10
The Big Tech giants, eg Google, Facebook and Twitter want the internet to be free and open only to political and social ideas of which they approve. This equates to totalitarian control of free speech where you can be become disenfranchised as a citizen and lose your democratic rights for expressing what the likes of Big Tech consider non approved opinions.
The glaring fact that the very same partisan Big Tech companies and their enablers, by promoting lies, are destructively working against the US and other conservative governments amounts to treason.
With the ‘United States’ facing Presidential elections in November the Left’s evil deck stacking in order to guarentee a Democrat victory things seem impossible for Donald Trump. But Mr Trump is not the saviour of the United States. God calls the shots over who is in government.
To quote from Romans 13:1-2 “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment”.
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That’s the reality most of us have come to understand for some time. It wasn’t always this way but now it’s all about spreading propaganda and blocking anything that doesn’t fit with the SJW agenda.
So, was the American Revolution a violation of Romans 13:1-2? There were good men on both sides. English preachers like John Wesley urged restraint while Colonial preachers like John Witherspoon promoted the revolution.
50
Donald Trump strikes me as a horrible person, but he was probably the second worst option for the last US Presidential Elections. Hillary might have made all the “nice” noises but she would have been a third term of Obamaism, with the potential for slippery deals (aka “Clinton Foundation”) thrown in for good measure.
Something to be said for DT is that at least he is the enemy of our enemy (most of the time) – e.g. people like the CCP and the nutjobs in Iran. The bromance with Kim Jun is a worry but.
The critical issue is not what people say, but what they will do. With Trump, he’s going to look after the USA, even if he looks like a (self-snipped) in the process. With the other lot, the US gets sold down the river, while the Clintons of this world just feather their nests.
Cheers,
Speedy
28
“Donald Trump strikes me as a horrible person”
You might have been listening to too much ABC (Australia) or CNN or any other far-left media service. Or Googoo, twatter or farcebook comments. !
110
Employees of Trump tell a different story. One chauffer tells of a how the Billionaire came out from a big catered event to give his driver a steak because he knew he’d be hungry while he waited. (The driver was black as it happens).
If Trump was a sociopath I think we’d have heard.
231
ANY ABC is too much!
70
It strikes me that no one could make an informed opinion on Trump without meeting him. He has many faces depending on who is reporting.
I like Trump for his views on climate policy. I like the fact that he has stopped contributing to the WHO. It appears COVID is above politics and does care the color of people’s politics for who it infects. Eventually everyone needs to take their own action to prevent spread. Some countries have a more caring and cooperative society than the USA so have got on top of it with little loss of life.
I think Trump may be losing his resolve to fight on. I wonder about his motivation. He could be out playing golf rather than cheer leading against a nastyu virus imported from China. 2020 is close to a lost year.
70
Here’s some fun.
I just googled Florida Covid deaths today.
Multiple hits on 186.
Also headline about overwhelmed ICU’s in Dade County.
Hmmmmm.
Logged into the official state dashboard.
13 deaths attributed to COVID today, which means 13 people died who had tested positive –cause of death varies.
According to the dashboard our current state flareup peaked about 15 days ago, based on daily mortality reports.
(The “Florida State Dashboard” is the official record, and is public, so all the reporters writing something else have full access to it.)
For what it’s worth, DuckDuckgo mentioned above, which I had never tried before, listed the official dashboard in the first three results.
What “fact checking” was that again?
We’ve all been through this same BS before, on global warming climate change.
This seems like a more immediate threat.
60
I am not sure what data you are looking at but the Florida covid19.gov site gives 253 deaths for yesterday?
https://floridahealthcovid19.gov
By the time is gets to 12k case in Florida you will know someone who has been seriously ill or died. 500deaths/M is about the threshold where people take notice.
In a few places south of Melbourne, Australia the locals are demonstrably upset by the latest lockdowns being imposed this weekend. Many are claiming the horse has bolted and they should have been locked down again 4 weeks ago. It appears most are already wearing masks and many businesses have already shut because people are staying away.
I do not think the death rate in Florida is anywhere near a peak yet:
http://91-divoc.com/pages/covid-visualization/?chart=states&highlight=Florida&show=us-states&y=both&scale=linear&data=deaths-daily&data-source=jhu&xaxis=right#states
The number of cases peaked about 2 weeks ago so the peak in deaths will be 14 to 20 days away yet.
02
I think the strategy is all wrong. I have seen medical papers that have indicated the current virus is much less dangerous now.
We need to put super stringent biosecurity around the elderly, then let the damn thing run through the community, get it, get over it, and move on.
Its a pointless and stupid exercise that just destroys the economy every time people try and contain this thing. This thing is not ebola.
In the 1970s, parents used to have chickenpox parties – they knew it was better to just let the kids get it all together, and move on. Same deal now.
Death rate in Victoria is currently 1.9% of cases ( this has remained static for the whole month ), which means 98.1% of people are doing just fine.
In 2019, the total deaths in Victoria from flu was 334, right now “covid deaths” ( deaths that were attributed to, but likely caused by underlying existing morbidities ) are only 113.
30
Steve I think the doctor in his thirties in a Melbourne ICU fighting for his life would disagree with you if he could .
00
I’d suggest hes the exception….very sad though.
Poor sod was probably pulling monster shifts and was so run down with zero immune function as a rssult it was possible this could happen. Normal 30 yos dont go down hard.
Unfortunately, this is a war, there are casualties….you cant avoid that ugly reality.
If we shy at every shadow, we might as well go live in paralysis and watch our civilization collapse.
I think of the nasty stuff people living in London during the blitz copped and kept on going. We are soft by comparison. We need to harden up a bit….
50
Back then, people were outside — in the sun — a lot more than today. How much of these `comorbidities’ is vitamin D Deficiency?
How many deaths could be prevented by giving our bodies the ammunition/tools they need?
Jo published the medical paper from Indonesia. Find it and start counting …
10
If 1.9% of the population die this year due to CV19 then it will tripple the death toll.
Also your definition of “just fine” is much broader than mine. About 10% of those with CV19 end up in hospital. My definition of any ailment that puts me in hospital does not pass the “just fine” test. About 80% of those with CV19 do not develop serious symptoms. 20% have serious symptoms and about half of those end up in hospital after 5 days of symptoms. Those 10% of cases are far from “just fine” for a few days and some will go on to battle it for months. The ones who come out after 3 months in intensive care meet your criteria of the 98.1% who are “just fine”. It is only the 1.9% that did not make it out of ICU who are not “just fine” but, in fact, dead.
Death is one outcome but it is incorrect to label all other outcomes as “just fine”. Some people will suffer lifetime conditions as a result and many will have reduced lifespan.
20
I am looking at the dashboard of the Florida Department of Health, Division of Disease control and Health Protection.
I am directly connected to the state via VPN.
It now shows 22 resident deaths for 7/31 — it updates in real time.
It shows 9943 new cases reported.
Deaths are defined as “Florida residents with confirmed Covid-19 that died within a 24 hour period”, so yes, a motorcycle
fatality with a positive test would be reported out. This may be a data artifact that is annoying, but it is not a secret nor is it fraud.
This number will climb by a few over the next week, as not all reporting is prompt.
The rolling average of this data did peak on 7/12; it peaked in early June if you extract Miami-Dade county from the rest of Florida.
I regret having been correct; but had the data of hundreds of under-reported fatalities after hurricane Andrew.
I have commented here, before the pandemic took full force, on the population of this county and the difficulty of maintaining social discipline.
10
Please provide a link to your VPN site.
This is the Florida Health government site:
https://floridahealthcovid19.gov
Today, 1 August, it is showing 257 deaths, 4 more than yesterday and is likely to continue to climb.
00
One of many things that attracts me to sites like Jo’s is that the debates are healthily rich in disagreement, discussion, opinions, feelings, and concerns, and not full of what I can only describe as more consensus driven, trance inducing, drivel and soundbites. Sites like this remind me of what the internet was like before monster corporate power determined that mind control was the generational order.
As an example of what MSM shouldn’t be like I offer the following from the Guardian 30/7/2020.
‘The shill, the grifter, the egomaniac and the ideological fool: each distorts the urgent global debate in their own way’. Thus begins Damian Carrington’s Guardian article, an attempt to categorise climate deniers into types whilst genuinely forgetting that his alarmist allies contain a much higher number of shills, grifters, egomaniacs and ideological fools for believing that their current remedies against fossil fuel are ever going to work let alone save the planet. Carrington only needs to look in a mirror to see how stupid he appears to those of us who have actually bothered to look at the facts about the planet and not drift hopelessly along in an alarmist consensus tsunami of poor science, many falsehoods, slanders and libels, and empty rhetoric driven largely by making people pay ridiculously high prices for their energy.
We have had a carbon free solution for a very long time and I haven’t heard a single good reason why we shouldn’t utilise nuclear energy alongside hydro, gas and innovative small scale developments that do not further harm our environment which solar and wind most certainly do. Let us try it for five decades or so and see how carbon dioxide readings pan out. Perhaps then Mr Carrington and company will apologise for the massive damage they have needlessly caused to multiple generations.
Carrington is a Guardian environmental journalist and we all know they are a desperately challenged and endangered species with little or nothing to say other than to rally up their already converted but shrinking entourage. Read his article and then tell me you couldn’t find a teenager who couldn’t do a much better job. He is a two bit journalist desperately seeking approval before his meal ticket expires.
90
Thanks UK-Weather Lass; a good reminder that life is too short for time to be wasted on the Grauniad’s faux moral concerns when its revenue is derived from the online gambling business Gowager; no hypocrisy here…
30
Bryan on WUWT responds by fixing the article.
”
The shill is the easiest to understand. He, and it almost always is he, is paid by vested interests to emit clouds of confusion about the false science and economic disasters associated with climate inaction. This uncertainty creates a smokescreen behind which ecomaniacs can lobby against measures that cut their potential funding.
A sadder case is that of the grifters. They have found themselves earning a living by grinding out eco-doom articles for leftwing/socialist media outlets. Do they actually believe the guff they write? It doesn’t matter: they just warm their hands on the fear they foster, count the clicks and wait for the pay cheque.
The ecomaniacs are also tragic figures. They are disappointed, frustrated people who fear their careers will stall and who can’t understand why the world refuses to give full reverence to their brilliance and stop using fossil energy. They are desperate for recognition, and, when it stubbornly refuses to arrive, they are drawn to make increasingly dire climate doom pronouncements, in the hope of finally being proved a dogma-reaffirming, 21st-century Jim Jones.
The ideological fool is the fourth type of climate doomer, and they can be pseudo-intelligent. But they are utterly blinded by their insane, no-limits version of the Carbon cost-market creedo. Their preconceived notions regarding their believed climate emergency requires coordinated global action, they observe, and that looks horribly like what it actually is… communism in disguise. “
40
You seem to refer to Tony Jones a lot there.
12
Spot on.
31
Google censorshits me? I won’t use you!
00