I share this from Dr Rupert Read of the Green Party. Rupert is a philosopher at the University of East Anglia.
Rupert is not inclined to understatement. On this occasion I don't think he's doing that. In the interests of full disclosure, I make clear we have worked together on occasion:
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Whilst I agree with the sentiment of this video, I think it is a little too polemic, with throwing out in particular the phrase “tsunami of death”.
Dr Read is leaving himself open to being dismissed, if as I am sure we all hope, we can keep deaths attributable to Covid-19 below 20,000. Remember about 600,000 die each year anyway, so an extra 20,000 (and arguably some of those would have died this year anyway due to underlying health conditions, but hard to quantify) is largely a rounding error (from a national level, but of course a deep tragedy to their loved ones).
If you think deaths are going to be kept to 20,000 I think you are in cloud cuckoo land
The only way that will happen is by misreporting
That is already happening – hospitals are saying the government is widely under-reporting their deaths, claiming that consent of relatives is required first, which is utter rubbish
And deaths in care homes and at home are not being reported. Expect a massive spike in reported pneumonia deaths instead then
And it has been noted that the BBC is unevenly reporting on deaths – all the devolved nations get headline reported cases and deaths online,,, while for the ‘uk’ or England, nada on headlines – figures are buried deep:
https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com/2020/03/30/third-day-running-and-its-death-for-scotland-wales-and-northern-ireland-but-only-tales-of-resilience-for-england-and-the-uk/
The government response and actions have been minimal and woeful, and all we hear about now is how great Boris is – I’m sick of it, I’m sick of government and I’m sick of people making excuses for them – it’s their JOB. I’m thinking of going anarchist, do you know what the rules are for it Richard? 😉
I’m not an anarchist
I just hate incompetent organisation
I was just being ironic asking about ‘rules’ – not implying you are an anarchist, sorry for the misunderstanding – irony is not an easy thing to convey!
I was also being ironinc…
oh.
Guess my last sentence above applies then! 😀
Just to be clear…the phrase is “the tsunami of infections and the torrent of deaths”.
The phrase is at 3:28.
At 5:05 he uses the phrase “the tsunami of suffering” and again the “torrent of death” a few seconds later.
Probably better to get the quote right if one is claiming he’s being too polemical and isolating a ‘quote’ from a seven minute video “in particular”. The phrase is well-chosen and as this comes from a philosopher that is not surprising.
In my opinion, I think Dr Read appears measured and serious, which is what his subject matters deserves. This kind of straight-talking is what is needed right now when the coronavirus emergency has been politicised in this way. The inner cynic believed it would be, but the Tories have surpassed themselves and on this occasion Dr Read has told you how and why.
Richard Kirby don’t forget to the number of Covid-19 deaths whatever the true figure turns out to be we must add the 150,000 deaths resulting solely from the needless and totally unnecessary imposition of austerity. The Nasty Party has a lot to answer for.
Thank you for reposting this. The whistleblower website that Dr Read refers to is https://truthteller.life/
I agree with everything said in that video. Well done him for speaking out clearly and strongly.
Complaining that politician do what politicians do, is a waste of effort! Seeking to replacing one set with another, is also a waste of effort! The electorate vote for the person with the biggest lies, so blame the electorate. (Or the armed forces, if you don’t have democracy)
Personally, I seek to make my world better, in spite of politicians! It turn out to be easier than you might think, but expect it to take nearer a decade, rather than a few months!
I think the suggestion that all politicians are equal is fundamentally untrue
I think the evidence is on my side
My letter is will not be opened and i will mark it
‘Return to sender
10 Downing Street
SW1A’
I hope everyone does.
Admittedly the BBC are the main culprits in the Tory misinformation campaign but here on Sky it is not just the BBC misquoting/disguising the nos of ACTUAL virus cases or death rates . Notice how skillfully they compare apples with oranges in the UK. No not 9k confrmed cases in England more like 19k (22k less Scot & Wales)
https://uk.yahoo.com/news/coronavirus-another-159-people-die-testing-positive-england-140000671.html
I congratulate Rupert Read for his calm, measured and deadly accurate summary of the UK’s pandemic. How the government can wriggle out of responsibility for the suicidal delay in taking action is unbelievable. China reported on 31 December 2019 to the World Health Organisation the seriousness of the epidemic and the nature of the virus which had been raging for at least 3 weeks (although the Chinese government did ignore the warnings of their own doctors up to then and imprisoned some). By January 24th 2020 the WHO declared that Covid-19 was a global emergency. The UK took no significant action until the lockdown of 23 March 2020 by which time keeping deaths below 20,00 was an almost impossible scenario to achieve.
Kindly consider this by a German professor who wrote a open letter to their Chancellor (a device probably approved by her in my opinion)
https://swprs.org/open-letter-from-professor-sucharit-bhakdi-to-german-chancellor-dr-angela-merkel/
I consider it as scientificly rigorous.