I returned from a trip to the UK a few days ago, and a number of people have asked me about the COVID-related bureaucratic protocols I had to navigate in order to take such a trip. So I thought I’d share a few observations. (Overnight leisure hotel stays within England were permitted beginning May 17 and I arrived May 20.) The bottom line is that the protocols in place at this point are mildly annoying and probably financially exploitative, but ultimately not that big a deal to manage. Apologies for the decidedly un-salacious thesis statement, but the bland inefficacy of the whole regimen is what stands out most.
Mmm hmm. This is all to be expected during a Scamdemic. Yes, COVID is real. The response to it is not.
But, get used to this level of using fear to eradicate people's rights. This was the test run. You've all failed.
Dr. Fraudci knew that masks were ineffective against the virus from the start. Go read his emails. That didn't stop him from encouraging their use, and because he did, signaling to all forms of government to start mandating their use as medical theater.
The science has never mattered because this was all about political science.
Congrats on getting jabbed with an experimental vaccine whose long term side effects are not going to be known for some time. It really gave you your freedom back, right? The freedom that you asked the government to take from you? Oh, wait, you never asked them to do that. Oops.
To state the obvious: this all seems dystopian. It would be an appropriate reaction, one year in, to a plague that had killed 50% of the infected population and permanently disabled another 40%, or to a disease that caused meningitis-or polio-like symptoms in half of cases.
To see daily life turned into a sci-fi hellscape over a virus that has a survival rate approaching 100% (99.36% in the UK, if you want to be pedantic, or 99.91% for Brits under 40), when vaccines are widely available, is terrifying. I find the performative post-vax mask-wearing here in the US worrying as well.
I lived in Mile End for a year, getting a grad degree at Queen Mary, and London seemed like a fairly gray and bleak place even before this change.
I know that Australia plans to stay in a kind of on-and-off state of martial law until there are literally zero cases—shutting down life each time there are positive diagnoses—which means that in practice, it will never be over. It also seems clear that for about 40% of the US, masks, and a refusal to touch or approach others, will be a permanent virtue signal. In spite of the media’s desire to create fake “insurrections” and “super-spreader” events full of “grandma-killers,” regular people obviously aren’t inclined to rebel under any circumstances.
I guess there’s no hope, then, of returning to normality. Will the only surviving businesses be Amazon, Netflix and Google?
This was enough to completely put me off of international travel, something that used to be the central joy of my life, before I had my daughter. She is now at the age where she's developed an interest in where her mama used to live and travel, and she's asking when I will take her to those places. I can't stand the thought of subjecting her to this kind of Covid dystopia intrusion, or making her wear a mask for an entire flight.
I did love the photos, though. They captured some very lovely and charming places. Makes me wistful for the really, really good ole days of travel, pre Covid and pre 9/11.
I’m traveling to the BVI this month and it will be the first time I’ve been asked to present my vaccine card as well as the first time it matters. If unvaccinated, visitors have to quarantine for 7 days and then take a test. If it comes back negative, ~24 hours later, then visitors may move freely in the islands. If vaccinated, you take a test upon arrival and when it comes back negative, then visitors are free to move about the islands. These tests are in addition to the test required to fly in the first place, so the testing companies are still getting their fees. (Prior to May 15, every visitor or returning resident had to quarantine for 4 days and then take the test to get sprung on the 5th or 6th day when the results came back.)
'thanks to Donald Trump’s groundbreaking socialized medicine initiative "
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Yes, socialized medicine saves day. Its an important point, and so naturally it is ignored by both brands of the corporate media ("liberal" and "conservative").
This is the more appropriate headline. Did you know that we eradicated the flu? There were no flu cases last year. It's been eradicated. That lady at Johns Hopkins gently suggested that maybe some of the CV deaths were attributed to other things, but she was censored and J Hopkins apologized. There are been no cases of CV being spread outdoors, anywhere in the world but wear a mask anyway outside, right? Orange Man Bad said drink fish tank cleaner, but it turns out that substance, very quietly, is back on the approved list, after "D" governors banned it in their states. Remember the Atlantic headline "Georgia's Experiment with Genocide" when they relaxed CV protocols? I do. That was almost a year ago now.
MTracey, sounds like you didn't obey the quarantine rules. And uncovering on the plane was not just in poor taste, it was putting us all in danger. It's not about your thirst, it's about our health. Looks like you have started a superspreader event.
Stay safe everyone. Double mask - Fauci recommended it on TV 2 weeks ago.
I've got a theory on why Michael was in London. If I'm right, I think we'll know tomorrow. My only hint is that I used maths to figure it out. I hope I'm right.
The covid virus spread so rapidly to so many countries last year because of air travelers, especially the ones who broke voluntary quarantine rules. Air travel can now be regarded as extremely heavily subsidized thanks to the billion dollar bailouts to airlines from taxpayers. Multiply your ticket price by 10 or 100, that's the real cost. I realize there is no longer a risk from vaccinated air travelers and I don't bear a grudge but I cannot bring myself to feel much sympathy for the expense and inconvenience - air travelers will spread the next pandemic at the same lightening speed. Maybe air travel should be extremely expensive and difficult and people should pay the full cost which would include full repayment of bailouts. 99% of business travel is probably unnecessary because meetings can be done via computer instead. Business people travel as a perk not because they actually need to. So pay through the nose.
Mmm hmm. This is all to be expected during a Scamdemic. Yes, COVID is real. The response to it is not.
But, get used to this level of using fear to eradicate people's rights. This was the test run. You've all failed.
Dr. Fraudci knew that masks were ineffective against the virus from the start. Go read his emails. That didn't stop him from encouraging their use, and because he did, signaling to all forms of government to start mandating their use as medical theater.
The science has never mattered because this was all about political science.
Congrats on getting jabbed with an experimental vaccine whose long term side effects are not going to be known for some time. It really gave you your freedom back, right? The freedom that you asked the government to take from you? Oh, wait, you never asked them to do that. Oops.
To state the obvious: this all seems dystopian. It would be an appropriate reaction, one year in, to a plague that had killed 50% of the infected population and permanently disabled another 40%, or to a disease that caused meningitis-or polio-like symptoms in half of cases.
To see daily life turned into a sci-fi hellscape over a virus that has a survival rate approaching 100% (99.36% in the UK, if you want to be pedantic, or 99.91% for Brits under 40), when vaccines are widely available, is terrifying. I find the performative post-vax mask-wearing here in the US worrying as well.
I lived in Mile End for a year, getting a grad degree at Queen Mary, and London seemed like a fairly gray and bleak place even before this change.
I know that Australia plans to stay in a kind of on-and-off state of martial law until there are literally zero cases—shutting down life each time there are positive diagnoses—which means that in practice, it will never be over. It also seems clear that for about 40% of the US, masks, and a refusal to touch or approach others, will be a permanent virtue signal. In spite of the media’s desire to create fake “insurrections” and “super-spreader” events full of “grandma-killers,” regular people obviously aren’t inclined to rebel under any circumstances.
I guess there’s no hope, then, of returning to normality. Will the only surviving businesses be Amazon, Netflix and Google?
One customer at a time, in a store. Wow. Talk about limiting one's income, for a higher cause.
Did any of the officials at least give you a lolipop?
This was enough to completely put me off of international travel, something that used to be the central joy of my life, before I had my daughter. She is now at the age where she's developed an interest in where her mama used to live and travel, and she's asking when I will take her to those places. I can't stand the thought of subjecting her to this kind of Covid dystopia intrusion, or making her wear a mask for an entire flight.
I did love the photos, though. They captured some very lovely and charming places. Makes me wistful for the really, really good ole days of travel, pre Covid and pre 9/11.
I’m traveling to the BVI this month and it will be the first time I’ve been asked to present my vaccine card as well as the first time it matters. If unvaccinated, visitors have to quarantine for 7 days and then take a test. If it comes back negative, ~24 hours later, then visitors may move freely in the islands. If vaccinated, you take a test upon arrival and when it comes back negative, then visitors are free to move about the islands. These tests are in addition to the test required to fly in the first place, so the testing companies are still getting their fees. (Prior to May 15, every visitor or returning resident had to quarantine for 4 days and then take the test to get sprung on the 5th or 6th day when the results came back.)
'thanks to Donald Trump’s groundbreaking socialized medicine initiative "
------
Yes, socialized medicine saves day. Its an important point, and so naturally it is ignored by both brands of the corporate media ("liberal" and "conservative").
"Unsurprisingly, COVID Is A Bit Of A Scam"
This is the more appropriate headline. Did you know that we eradicated the flu? There were no flu cases last year. It's been eradicated. That lady at Johns Hopkins gently suggested that maybe some of the CV deaths were attributed to other things, but she was censored and J Hopkins apologized. There are been no cases of CV being spread outdoors, anywhere in the world but wear a mask anyway outside, right? Orange Man Bad said drink fish tank cleaner, but it turns out that substance, very quietly, is back on the approved list, after "D" governors banned it in their states. Remember the Atlantic headline "Georgia's Experiment with Genocide" when they relaxed CV protocols? I do. That was almost a year ago now.
MTracey, sounds like you didn't obey the quarantine rules. And uncovering on the plane was not just in poor taste, it was putting us all in danger. It's not about your thirst, it's about our health. Looks like you have started a superspreader event.
Stay safe everyone. Double mask - Fauci recommended it on TV 2 weeks ago.
I've got a theory on why Michael was in London. If I'm right, I think we'll know tomorrow. My only hint is that I used maths to figure it out. I hope I'm right.
The covid virus spread so rapidly to so many countries last year because of air travelers, especially the ones who broke voluntary quarantine rules. Air travel can now be regarded as extremely heavily subsidized thanks to the billion dollar bailouts to airlines from taxpayers. Multiply your ticket price by 10 or 100, that's the real cost. I realize there is no longer a risk from vaccinated air travelers and I don't bear a grudge but I cannot bring myself to feel much sympathy for the expense and inconvenience - air travelers will spread the next pandemic at the same lightening speed. Maybe air travel should be extremely expensive and difficult and people should pay the full cost which would include full repayment of bailouts. 99% of business travel is probably unnecessary because meetings can be done via computer instead. Business people travel as a perk not because they actually need to. So pay through the nose.