I teach loud, grubby kids in unventilated classrooms just outside London & have managed to stay Covid-free while colleagues & students drop like flies.
In early March I recommended the recipe below, which may have helped keep me safe.
...why weren't you recommending people boost their immune systems way back then? It's common sense.
I fear that the 'homeopathy is bunkem, so follow the science' attitude has something to do with profit, &, more particularly, with politicians interests in drugs companies... 2/9
...The suggestion is that any traditional knowledge, gained by humans over hundreds of thousands of years experimenting with plant ingredients, which remedies ailments is just luck, & is probably dangerous.
Only pre-packaged, trademarked plant extracts can be relied upon... 3/9
...This is a reinventing the wheel scenario where we are told that wheels we already have shouldn't be used because there's no scientific proof that they're not in fact square. Only trademarked wheels have been proven to be circular by scientists... 4/9
...I'm sure that it is entirely coincidental that prominent members of the Tory government have well-publicised relationships with numerous pharmaceutical & ‘health care’ companies which peddle trademarked drugs (including: PepTcell, Infinite Percent, Eli Lilly, P&G &...) 5/9
...Genix Healthcare).
Point is, the government should have been suggesting right from the start that our first line of defence (alongside whatever drugs they want to peddle for profit) is well-known, so well-known that... 6/9
...a random English teacher can suggest it in the weeks BEFORE first lockdown.
And this leads me to a wider problem about trust, & about vaccines, which finally offer a real way out of this pandemic mess.
Because people know politicians get money from Big Pharma... 7/9
...They may just be less trustful of Big Pharma when they really do ride to the rescue with a much-needed solution to a big problem. Especially when your 'follow the science' mantra is abandoned for political expediency the moment profit-driven gammons start bleating... 8/9
So my message is threefold: 1. People should take the vaccine 2. People should boost immunity using veg & greens & echinacea etc 3. Governments should do the right thing whether there is money in it or not (& there really shouldn't be money in it at all)... 9/9
Of course, it's not what we're getting with the Tories, but I still believe a socialist Brexit would have been best. Here's why (in poem form from April 2019 - why not?):
It's called 'Can Rhyme Help Reason? (for Brian Bilston)'
1/21
The Brexit division is causing debate,
As leaders hedge bets and play with our fate.
When people were asked, the decision was tight,
Whether this way was wrong or that way was right. 2/21
As deadlines get closer, and more rifts appear,
And families argue, and newspapers smear,
Opinions are strong, but knowledge is lacking.
And all of us want to send lawmakers packing. 3/21
Across Europe, right-wing parties are gaining ground. In America, a loose cannon President is trying to overturn democracy. In Britain, democracy has already been overturned (graphic BBC, November 2019). 1/12
In August 2019, Boris Johnson unlawfully shut down Parliament.
Think about that.
In September 2020, not one Tory voted against a bill which broke international law.
Think about that. 2/12
Fascism is a spectrum & our ruling elites are on that spectrum. Look at Trump’s call to arms of the Proud Boys. Look at how peaceful protest in the UK is violently broken up by police dressed as storm troopers and prosecuted in the courts. Look at last year’s election… 3/12
Patel apologised today, saying: "It's never been my intention to cause upset to anyone." This is a lie.
The summary of the report is illuminating as it seeks continually to excuse her behaviour, but can't avoid concluding that she is a bully. 1/18
Bearing in mind that the officially released summary constitutes fewer than 500 words, it is extraordinary that it offers no less than 9 justifications for her behaviour, and seeks repeatedly to spread the blame for her bullying to the victims themselves. 2/18
Excuse 1: Patel "has become – justifiably in many instances – frustrated by the Home Office leadership’s lack of responsiveness & the lack of support she felt.” That ‘frustrat[ion]’ “manifested itself in forceful expression, including some occasions of shouting & swearing.” 3/18
Democracy is promoted as the gold standard of governmental systems, compared favourably to oppressive regimes the world over. But is democracy truly democratic, or is it an illusion designed to suppress opposition & perpetuate privilege? 1/34
So, what is democracy, where did it come from & why is it held up as gold? The ancient Greeks coined the term, but their version would not be recognised as democratic by any but our ruling elites (which is more depressing than ironic). But Abraham Lincoln put it well… 2/34
… speaking in the midst of bloody conflict. His famous Gettysburg Address conjured visions of ‘government of the people, by the people, for the people,’ & demanded that democratic ideals win the day, so that ‘these dead shall not have died in vain.’ 3/34
Please DON'T IGNORE!
A government 'consultation' for unlicensed #vaccines non-medical staff can administer allowing no govt. liability if you're harmed ends next week! They've kept it quiet to avoid objections. Click the link & find the 'respond' line... gov.uk/government/con…
Reading the consultation documents and composing responses can be time-consuming as there are 5 areas to consider and respond to. If anyone wishes to use my responses (see this thread), please feel free to do so. It is a long thread, you'll need to cut and paste...
A) Temporary authorisation of the supply of unlicensed products
I object.
This is a dangerous idea, as we have already seen with at least one person falling ill from the Oxford University vaccine trial which has now been put on hold.
Tories buried the results of Exercise Cygnus, the pandemic drill which exposed how vulnerable we were back in 2016. Those refusing to believe John Pilger's report on Russia Today, can read about it in the Telegraph if they prefer. telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/03/2…
While the real Covid-19 epidemic is being played out in public, the report detailing the findings of Exercise Cygnus have never seen the light of day. A senior former government source with direct involvement in the exercise said they were deemed “too terrifying” to be revealed.
“There's been a reluctance to put Cygnus out in the public domain because frankly it would terrify people. It’s right to say that the NHS was stretched beyond breaking point [by Cygnus]. People might say we have blood on our hands..." former senior government source. (Telegraph)