Sweden's Conservatives Warn Surging Violent Crime Has Become A "Second Pandemic"

 ZeroHedge

When President Trump tweeted about the crime wave in Sweden, the mainstream media dismissed the president's concerns as simply regurgitating a 'bogus' story invented by Fox News, a claim echoed by Sweden's center-left political establishment. The truth, however, is much more complicated, and much more sensitive, than this denialism might suggest.

And now that the COVID-19 numbers are down, the country is starting to focus on the rising rates of violent crime, spurred in part by a series of particularly brutal crimes that have taken place in recent weeks. Whether its reports about criminals setting up their own roadblocks in Gothenburg, a 12-year-old girl shot and killed in gang crossfire, or a beating that verged on torture, right-wing politicians, led by a right-wing party called the Sweden Democrats that was mostly shunned until a few months ago, have seized on this latest crime wave as Sweden's "second pandemic."

 

Paralysed by paranoia: ROBERT HARDMAN says the scariest part of ghost town Britain are the irrational fears killing the nation's economic recovery

 Daily Mail

And therein lies the challenge confronting the Government and the entire British economy: how do you get a nervous workforce to take that initial leap of faith? No one likes to say it, let alone admit it. But the greatest obstacle to economic revival right now, quite simply, is fear itself.  ......

And that is why the Government has to be clear and forceful. As the former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith warned this week, Britain is 'in the foothills of economic Armageddon'. His fellow senior Tory, Sir Graham Brady, was in no doubt: 'We have to stop the mixed messaging and send out a clear signal that it is safe to go back to work.' That means leading by example. And right now, the state is doing nothing of the sort. The vast ministries around Whitehall lie virtually empty while public servants — for whom wage cuts and furlough schemes are an alien concept — insist they are 'delivering' from their sofas. If they won't take the plunge, why should anyone else?"

Victorians confirmed to be suffering from ‘Stockholm syndrome’

 

SkyNewsAustralia 

Sky News host Chris Kenny says recent polls have confirmed Victorians are “suffering from Stockholm syndrome”. It comes as Premier Andrews plans to extend his emergency powers for 12 months, a move which has “won him rebuke” from both the prime minister, and former opposition leader Bill Shorten. The poll conduced by Roy Morgan research surveyed support for various restrictions in Victoria and shows overwhelming support for a majority of them. More than 70 per cent of surveyed Victorians agreed with the 8PM curfew; 70 per cent said people should not be able to travel more than five kilometres from their homes; and 57 per cent said no to being able to visit immediate family members. “I find this disturbing,” Mr Kenny said. Mr Kenny said the daily cases in Victoria have dropped significantly with the state recording its second day in a row will less than 200. “But, at least according to this survey, most Victorians want to live like this for now, and Andrews said today the relaxations won’t come for another month at least."

As Sweden's COVID-19 Measures Hint At Herd Immunity, US Experts Rethink Lockdown Strategies

 ZeroHedge

According to the European CDC, Sweden has an infection rate of 37 cases per 100,000 people - far lower than France's 60 per 100,000 and Spain's 152.7 cases per 100,000 despite imposing months of lockdowns of varying degrees.

And while the New York Times (in July) and MarketWatch (in June) said that Sweden's economy is doing 'just as bad' as countries which imposed lockdowns, the BBC pointed out earlier this month that Sweden's economy 'only' contracted 8.6% in the April-June period vs. the previous three months, while the European Union saw a contraction of 11.9% over the same period based on newer economic data.

Meanwhile, lockdowns and the ensuing economic fallout have had a significant impact on mental health.

A new approach?

As Sweden's model for dealing with COVID-19 appears to have survived its trial by fire, other countries are now rethinking blanket lockdowns as they weigh the economic impacts against health risks, according to the Wall Street Journal. Some of their thinking agrees with Sweden's, while several points of disagreement exist. The Journal also notes that "Sweden’s current infection and death rates are as low as the rest of Europe’s, suggesting to some experts the country may be close to herd immunity."

 

Ivermectin Triple Therapy Protocol for COVID-19 Released to Australian GPs for Infected Elderly and Frontline Workers

 newsmaker.com.au

SYDNEY, Aug 19, 2020 - (ACN Newswire) - Triple therapy specialist Professor Thomas Borody, famous for curing peptic ulcers using a triple antibiotic therapy saving millions of lives, has released the COVID-19 treatment protocol to Australian GPs, who can legally prescribe it to their COVID-19 positive patients. They can also prescribe it as a preventative medication. Borody says this could be the fastest and safest way to end the pandemic in Australia within 6-8 weeks.
Professor Thomas Borody MB, BS, BSc(Med), MD, PhD, DSc, FRACP, FACP, FACG, AGAF, FRS(N) said:

"The three medications are now on chemist shelves right now. GPs can email GP@CDD.com.au to obtain the dosing protocol and COVID-19 treatment information for their patients.

"GPs can legally prescribe the therapy today as an "off label" treatment according to Australian Guidelines - a standard practice in medicine.

"In fact more than 60% of prescriptions in Australia are "off-label". It's not a new concept. It's happening every day to manage diseases and save lives."

Professor Borody continues:

"We have a therapy that can fight COVID-19. The medications have been around for 50 years, they are cheap, FDA and TGA approved and have an outstanding safety profile.

"Why are we just waiting around for a vaccine? To save lives we should be using whatever is safe and available right now. We could lead the world in this fight.

"Australia has some of the best medical and science people in the world - indeed the Ivermectin connection was first discovered by Dr Kylie Wagstaff's team at Monash University in April.

"How long do we need to wait before Australian politicians get behind Australian medical science and use 'war room' tactics with safe and approved medications."

 

Lucknow admin to set up kiosks for distribution of Ivermectin tablets

 hindustantimes.com

Ivermectin, a deworming drug, can be used as a supporting medicine for Covid-19 patients under home isolation and their contacts, according to doctors.

 Lucknow’s district administration will set up around 40 kiosks across the city to ensure free distribution of Ivermectin tablets among asymptomatic Covid-19 patients. A few of these kiosks will become operational from Monday, officials said. Ivermectin, a deworming drug, can be used as a supporting medicine for Covid-19 patients under home isolation and their contacts, according to doctors. Officials said the kiosks would come up at the airport, city bus stations, railway stations, etc. Additional district magistrate KP Singh said, “The use of the Ivermectin tablet has proved effective for asymptomatic Covid-19 patients. It is also being widely prescribed by government doctors. Hence, the administration, in collaboration with the health department, is setting up kiosks across the city to ensure its free distribution.”

Officials said the project would be implemented in phases. “Initially, all the entry and exit points of the city would be covered. It would largely include all four bus stations, railway stations, the airport and the highway entries and exits,” an official said. Experts would ensure distribution of tablets among the people at all these points, he said. The tablets would be given on the basis of the symptoms or if anyone has come in contact with a Covid-19 patient.

On Wednesday, chief medical officer (Lucknow) Dr RP Singh issued a circular, advising people to take Ivermectin tablet, as per their body weight and age, if they test positive and are under home isolation.

Doctors said the medicine was found effective against the virus in a lab in-vitro study.

“In Australia, researchers claimed the viral load went down 5,000 times in 48 hours with this medicine taken in combination. Also, a Bangladesh scientist claimed a similar effect. At present, research on this medicine is going on at 28 places,” said Dr Kauser Usman of King George’s Medical University.

“It is not a treatment for Covid-19, but yes, as a supporting medicine, its role has been identified to boost immunity. It can be taken under a doctor’s guidance for a proper dosage,” said Dr PK Gupta, former president of the Indian Medical Association, Lucknow.

No lockdown, no masks, no hysteria... NO PROBLEM: Sweden didn't go into a corona coma - and it's living in glorious normality.

 Daily Mail

A few days ago, I took a stroll to the shops. It was a glorious morning and the parks and cafés were full of families enjoying the sunshine.Perhaps the shops were a little quieter than they would have been a year ago; but they were busy enough.The restaurants were preparing for lunch; the mood was relaxed and happy. And nobody — yes, nobody — was wearing a mask. That, of course, is the giveaway. I wasn’t in Britain but in Sweden, a nation which stood alone in Europe in refusing to institute lockdown.   .....The author of the country’s coronavirus strategy, a mild-mannered state epidemiologist called Anders Tegnell, has become one of the most controversial men in Europe.From the start, he insisted that mandatory lockdown was a waste of time. Sweden had a long-established plan for a pandemic, Mr Tegnell said, and was going to stick to it. People should be sensible, wash their hands, avoid public transport and keep a safe distance, but that was it. Closing schools was ‘meaningless’. Shutting borders was ‘ridiculous’. Masks were, by and large, a waste of time. Shops and restaurants should stay open.  ......According to Sebastian Rushworth, an American-born doctor in a Stockholm A&E department, he hasn’t seen a single Covid-19 patient in a month: ‘Basically,’ he writes, ‘Covid is in all practical senses over and done with in Sweden.’ So should Britain have followed the Swedish example?"

 

Australia’s spirits have ‘been crushed’ by its COVID-19 response: Alan Jones

SkyNewsAustralia 

Sky News host Alan Jones says when it comes to Australia’s COVID-19 response, governments across all levels have “done nothing but ignite fear and alarmism and anxiety". Australia has been plunged into a recession as governments across the country close their borders and restrict trade due to the novel coronavirus. At least 421 have died from the novel coronavirus, the bulk of whom are Victorians. Mr Jones said the decision by state and federal governments to keep a daily tally on COVID deaths does nothing but “ignite fear and alarmism and anxiety.” “In fact, as I speak to you today, in the last 24 hours, no new cases in the ACT; five in NSW; none in the Northern Territory; none in Queensland; one in South Australia; none in Tasmania; none in WA,” he said. “Victoria excluded, there are 11 people in hospital and 7 in intensive care. And the economy is being smashed. “Instead of reading out these meaningless statistics every day to frighten everybody, why not tell the public that worldwide there are 700,000 deaths from coronavirus, but there are 60 million deaths in the world every year. Sixty million. “Why do we have to have this daily recitation of cases? Is there any other disease for which this happens? “This is nothing more than a political stunt to justify taking away our liberties and our freedoms, locking the joint down, making sure we obey and if you don't cop the punishment. "Grab power over everybody, which they most probably don't intend to surrender."

Why Americans Should Adopt The Sweden Model On COVID-19

 ZeroHedge

Conclusions

The data suggest that lockdowns have not prevented any deaths from covid-19. At best, lockdowns have deferred death for a short time, but they cannot possibly be continued for the long term. It seems likely that one will not have to even compare economic deprivation with loss of life, as the final death toll following authoritarian lockdowns will most likely exceed the deaths from letting people choose how to manage their own risk. After taking the unprecedented economic depression into account, history will likely judge these lockdowns to be the greatest policy error of this generation. Covid-19 is not going to be defeated; we will have to learn how to coexist with it. The only way we can learn how best to cope with covid-19 is to let individuals manage their own risk, observe the outcomes, and learn from mistakes. The world owes a great debt to Sweden for setting an example that the rest of us can follow."

 

Dan-gerous Will the virus outwit Dan Andrews?

 Spectator Australia

Seemingly ignorant of all this, Daniel Andrews thinks he can eradicate coronavirus but, like the Hellespont, it won’t do what people tell it to. Unable to locate the microscopic virus and unable to explain how shutting down the economy will stop it spreading, Andrews is instead punishing the people of Victoria by taking their freedoms and destroying their livelihoods. Sadly, we have no Artabanus in Australia. The clearest warning came from a professor of epidemiology at the University of Oxford, Sunetra Gupta. In early July, she called Australia’s approach ‘selfish’ and ‘self-congratulatory’, going on to say that ‘there is no way lockdown can eliminate the virus’. A cursory glance at the coronavirus figures around the world will show that there is no correlation between house arrest, shop closures, and a reduced spread of the disease. So why does Andrews continue to implement failed policies? ......In Australia, a disease of the mind, causing panic, bondage, and conformity, will harm more people than the coronavirus. We will become tillers of the soil, turning our masked faces away from each other while the king who brought us to ruin sits in his palace eating grapes."

Kiwis’ bitter fruit

 Spectator Australia

That said, the problems with the Kiwi ‘try to eradicate’ approach are legion. To name just a couple, tourism constitutes somewhere between 6 and 20 per cent of the NZ economy, depending on how many indirect benefits and how much of the travel sector you count. Pretty hard to mimic 17th century Japan, with borders closed to all the world’s potential infectors and still have anything much left of those industries. In effect, then, the Kiwis are betting the farm on a vaccine. Meanwhile, the looming economic carnage is going to carry in its wake a less well-funded health care system, plenty of indirect deaths, massive inter-generational unfairness and a hobbled private sector.

At the same time, up in Sweden they look to be as close to herd immunity as anywhere on the planet. And don’t let anyone blow smoke in your eyes, the Swedish economy has weathered this virus better than most anywhere (save Taiwan) in the Western world.

 

History to 'vindicate Swedish COVID-19 strategy'

 SkyNewsAustralia

Sky News host Rowan Dean says the effectiveness of the COVID-19 herd immunity strategy implemented in Sweden and Switzerland “should put the fear of God into every politician in this country”. Some emerging reports seem to endorse the herd immunity strategy utilised by Sweden, which has now recorded far fewer deaths per capita than the United Kingdom while maintaining basic freedoms and a far milder recession. Former Swedish State Epidemiologist Professor Johan Giesecke warned a major lockdown would simply destroy the economy and leave the population without herd immunity and permanently vulnerable to future COVID-19 outbreaks. Mr Dean also examined Switzerland and its use of the drug hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) which is currently banned in Victoria and Queensland as a coronavirus treatment. He said “Switzerland briefly banned the drug after the Lancet claimed it was killing people” but quickly re-instated the drug when the article was withdrawn by the journal. According to a study done by John Hopkins University during the weeks preceding the ban on HCQ in Switzerland the fatality ratio index for Switzerland fluctuated between 3-5 per cent. “Will history record that not only was the destruction of our economy completely pointless but preventative treatments using drugs such as hydroxychloroquine or ivermectin in combination with others were sitting there right under our noses all along?” Mr Dean said."

Sweden Hits COVID-19 "Triple Whammy": No Lockdowns, Low Deaths & Minimal Economic Damage

 ZeroHedge

Perhaps the biggest example of the Western media's inherent biases surrounding its coverage of Sweden's approach to tackling COVID-19. Plenty of media outlets decried the country's "massive" fatality rate compared to its lockdown-favoring neighbors, but failed to add the context necessary to see that the difference was only a couple thousand deaths, and that Sweden's per capita mortality rate was still lower than Britain's, and other countries that favored lockdowns.

When Anders Tegnell, the architect of Sweden's strategy, said during an interview that he would have done things "differently" if given a second chance, the Western press, including the NYT, rushed to frame this as an admission of guilt for failing to order the types of restrictive lockdowns seen in other European countries. Tegnell later clarified that this isn't what he meant at all.

What's more, in Sweden, deaths have declined nearly to zero. And since the country's economy has remained open this whole time, there's little risk of resurgence when whatever minimal restrictions are still in place are finally lifted."

 

Lockdown Restrictions Are A Test To See How Much Tyranny Americans Will Accept

 ZeroHedge

To be clear, it's not only the pandemic being exploited as leverage to conjure these situations. The leftist riots are another example of a bought and paid for crisis that is being used in an attempt to convince half of Americans that breaking constitutional principles and instituting unprecedented government power is somehow an acceptable sacrifice. The riots and the virus response work hand-in-hand; one is created to get leftists to demand totalitarianism in the name of public safety, the other is created to get conservatives to demand totalitarianism in the name of public safety.

The solution always ends up being totalitarian government.

 

Is there a politician ‘with the spine to tell the truth’ on COVID-19: Alan Jones

SkyNewsAustralia 

Australians are sick and tired of dictatorial politicians promoting a climate of fear and alarmism over the coronavirus says Sky News host Alan Jones. Mr Jones said politicians “never cite the figures, which prove they are either ignorant or duplicitous”. “Today, Daniel Andrews seems unhappy with the decline in numbers, so he has ordered more testing in regional areas where there are no COVID cases”. Mr Jones also said NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian “is the high priestess of alarmism”. Mr Jones reiterated the point made by the World Health Organisation that 99 per cent of coronavirus cases are mild. “In Australia, it has cost us so far, $360 billion, plus, for 361 deaths. “A billion dollars per life. “And in all of Australia, 25 million people, 51 are critical, 43 in Victoria (and) eight in the rest of Australia”. “And this is a pandemic? Is there a politician with the spine to tell the truth”. 

The New Zealand Prime Minister has been singularly obsessed with eliminating the virus from the island. In this video I discuss the consequences of her actions and compare it to what Sweden did.

 Tont Heller

The New Zealand Prime Minister has been singularly obsessed with eliminating the virus from the island. In this video I discuss the consequences of her actions and compare it to what Sweden did. (YouTube)

 From the comments:

ulazygit 3 days ago

As a New Zealander, I confidently confirm the majority of us do NOT subscribe to comrade Jacinta’s megalomaniac approach to destroying the economy of my country. Whilst it’s true that 250k people are jobless directly as a result of her virtuousness, many more, including me (working in the food industry) are now jobless too. Her socialist agenda and self-congratulating obsession of ‘beating a virus by locking it out’ has suckered in many desperately frightened people, whipped up by a communist-leaning media. The sooner she and her cronies are gone, the better, but I fear the political propaganda being spread prior to our GE this year will see this destructress back in power, putting more people into poverty and lockdown to control any objection to this madness."

 

Ivermectin treatment is a ‘real killer of coronavirus’: Professor

SkyNewsAustralia
Gastroenterologist Professor Thomas Borody says Ivermectin used in conjunction with two other drugs is making it look like “corona is very simple to kill”. The drug is Federal Drug Agency and World Health Organisation approved; it is widely used for parasitic infections and is being cited and prescribed as treatment against the deadly coronavirus. “It has very few side effects, and is a real killer of coronavirus,” Professor Borody told Sky News host Chris Kenny. (YouTube)

COVID-19 treatments are ‘staring at us in the face’ but have been ignored

SkyNewsAustralia
Mr Smith pointed to a treatment for coronavirus which has already been tested on patients with close to 90-100 per cent success rate involving a concoction of three drugs: Ivermectin, Doxy-Cycline, and Zinc. He also spoke of the lack of government funding into a potential vaccine developed by Flinders University in Adelaide. “We have treatments for this virus starring at us in the face, but they’re being ignored.” (YouTube)

'I must call Prime Minister Scott Morrison to account': Andrew Bolt

SkyNewsAustralia
He said there should be "tougher rules to make sure infected people do not leave home, much faster testing of people ... and better protection for the aged, which the Morrison government and the Victorian government failed so miserably to provide". "And then, yes, social distancing for the rest of us, but then open up. Let kids to go school, let Victorians visit each other again, let shops open". Mr Bolt also said hydroxychloroquine "could be our best cure in the worst pandemic in our generation" and is a drug which the Prime Minister has been "blind" to in combating the virus." (YouTube)

Big Pharma's 'Narrative' Is Failing

ZeroHedge

WHAT THE AMERICA’S FRONTLINE DOCTORS GROUP SAID:  

1. They believe that hydroxychloroquine is an effective treatment for Covid-19.

This is the claim made by several of the speakers, including Dr. Immanuel, based on their own clinical experience, as well as on multiple published studies. Many of those studies are listed here, and here.

2. State licensing boards are using their power to forcibly prevent people from having access to this drug.

According to Dr. Gold, many states have empowered their pharmacists to not honor prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine to be used in treating Covid-19. This, she says, is unprecedented:

“It has never happened that a state has threatened a doctor for prescribing a universally accepted safe generic cheap drug off-label.”

Meanwhile, says Gold, the drug is available over the counter in many other countries, including Iran and Indonesia, where it can be found “in the vitamin section”.

3. There is a coordinated campaign to discredit and suppress information about the drug hydroxychloroquine as a possible treatment for Covid-19:

“If it seems like there is an orchestrated attack going on against hydroxychloroquine,” said Dr. James Todaro, “it’s because there is.”

Dr. Todaro is speaking from experience. He was the co-author of a March 13 white paper arguing for the use of hydroxychloroquine against Covid-19. The paper was made public on Google Docs, received a lot of attention, and was then removed–without warning–by Google. (It has since been put back up.)

4. The World Health Organization  halted its trials of hydroxychloroquine based on a blatantly fraudulent study that relied on data that it appears never even existed.

Bear in mind that this is the authority upon which YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki has said she bases her company’s policy on “misinformation”.
The WHO later resumed trials after independent investigators discovered the problems and the study’s authors retracted it.

5. We should be able to have a free and open discussion about this.

Dr. Dr. Joseph Lapado from UCLA, sums it up:

“We’ve been using (hydroxychloroquine) for a long time. But all of a sudden it’s been escalated to this area of looking like some poisonous drug. That just doesn’t make sense… At the very least, we can live in a world where there are differences of opinion about the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine, but still allow more data to come, still allow physicians who feel they have expertise with it to use that medication, and still, you know, talk and learn and get better at helping people with Covid-19.”

NHS doctor hits out at coronavirus second wave fears in online rant 'No different to flu!'

Daily Express

FEARS of a second coronavirus wave in the UK were dismissed by an NHS doctor who claimed the deadly virus is "no different to the flu" in a shocking video rant.  (Video)

I'd get everyone back NOW to save us from ruin, writes founder of Pimlico Plumbers CHARLIE MULLINS

Daily Mail
However, I'm facing reality, and the rest of Britain needs to wake up and do the same. If we don't all get back to work, we will face economic catastrophe on an unimaginable scale. For if Britain does go bust, it'll be the most vulnerable people who will be hit worst. I'm not exaggerating: the damage done to Britain's businesses over the past four months is already incalculable. We won't see the full effects for years.  .....The Chancellor got his figures badly wrong. With furlough payments set at 80 per cent, millions have been treating the crisis as a paid holiday.....But if we don’t end the furlough, and get everyone back to work, I don’t know how much longer the country will cope. "

Death of free speech in the US: How a terrifying revolution sweeping newsrooms sees journalists who deviate from the new liberal orthodoxy hounded out

Daily Mail

America brought popular journalism and the true scrutiny of power to the world, yet never have the country's newsrooms been so threatened – or so cowed – as today. So great is the pressure to conform to messages put forward by movements such as Black Lives Matter and #MeToo that any deviation leads to instant vilification online. And, ultimately, the chopping block.

One exasperated newspaper editor told The Mail on Sunday: 'There is a revolution going on in newsrooms across the US and it goes against everything freedom of the press stands for.

'Surely the whole point is to tell both sides of a story, even if it means publishing the views of someone who doesn't believe the things you do? Well, in today's culture all that is out the window.'

The prevailing atmosphere is so toxic that white writers are now fearful of publishing anything controversial in case it kills their career. One long-time editor at a major East Coast publication said: 'No one is against change and everyone realises white middle-aged men have dominated editorial boardrooms for too long. But this 'Great Awokening' is causing irreparable damage."