Being certain this Covid nonsense was a media hype that Governments would over react to, I planned a long European break after the first Lockdown which I took the moment it lifted (on July 1st). France and Italy until the autumn or early winter; I returned in October, suntanned, relaxed and having spent almost 4 months swimming for 5 hours a day.

I did not properly anticipate the second wave, however. I reckoned there would be numerous vaccines found by the winter, since this was clearly just a variant of flu. But it took a short while longer so my Christmas break was off - causing me serious health problems without my usual 2 months of sunshine and swimming. However, I coped, got the jabs (Pfizer) in January and February, went off to France in March, ready to get to Marrakech for the spring.

Sadly the Moroccan border remained closed to foreigners. So three days in Transit resulted in my being repatriated to France and then back to London, where I am currently.

If France and Italy get this stupid mild illness under control by the summer I shall head back there for most of this break. That depends, I reckon, on the numbers of deaths dropping down over there, due to the use of vaccines; the one thing the UK got right. Like flu.

Of course the amounts of deaths everywhere in the Northern Hemisphere have dropped amazingly already, due to the flu season (or Covid season) ending, plus the use of vaccines. And (as is blazingly obvious) the previous deaths of most of the vulnerable (elderly, fat, smokers). Like Old Age, when most of the vulnerable are dead and the next lot are protected by vaccines (like flu), fewer will be killed when it gets cold.

I would have thought most of this was obvious. Why "experts" got it so badly wrong is clear; they, like the majority of ordinary punters, believe the media. The media ALWAYS exaggerates (it's a better story). Why? Bigger ratings, circulation, clicks. And now we have SOCIAL media, we all do it, all the time, so we all fall for it (like stars always fell for their self created images - which I never did, thank heavens).

I'm not complaining. I did it myself for years, selling millions of records as a result. It's called promotion.

But, being aware of it, I haven't fallen for it. As George once sang, Here Comes The Sun.

Some measures seem so counter-productive don't they? Sunshine (vit D) and swimming are great for health. I used to swim (indoor pools UK) regularly before last march and not being able to have gained weight I am currently walking off and felt sluggish this year. Thankfully my work & income are pretty fire proof to the madness and I have always enjoyed good mental health; millions are not so fortunate and when the furlough scheme ends are going to be very challenged indeed.

I think the Long Covid agonies will continue for years - not so much the obvious ones (aching joints in my case) but the subtle reactions to the mad Covid government and media behaviour. And the sheer stupidity of the gullibles who believed the media hype.

Travel is absolutely essential, to get a real perspective on things. Seeing what replaced the Twin Towers to spending an afternoon in the Vatican Library - or Harry's Bar in Venice.

My shorterm schedule - for going abroad - has been curtailed though, and the plan is to continue exploring this island until the dust settles.

Over the past year, I've been on board Nelson's Victory, sojourned in the Cotswolds, climbed Snowdon and sailed down the River Dart - from Agatha Christie's house to Dartmouth.

Skye becons, as well as Ambleside and historic Bristol on the way to Roman Bath. One thing the pandemic has done is to reawaken local interests.

And to give more opportunities for one of the most important (and enjoyable) things that anyone can do - anywhere and at any time. That is - to read: Well.

Margrave wrote:
Travel is absolutely essential, to get a real perspective on things. Seeing what replaced the Twin Towers to spending an afternoon in the Vatican Library - or Harry's Bar in Venice.

My shorterm schedule - for going abroad - has been curtailed though, and the plan is to continue exploring this island until the dust settles.

Over the past year, I've been on board Nelson's Victory, sojourned in the Cotswolds, climbed Snowdon and sailed down the River Dart - from Agatha Christie's house to Dartmouth.

Skye becons, as well as Ambleside and historic Bristol on the way to Roman Bath. One thing the pandemic has done is to reawaken local interests.

And to give more opportunities for one of the most important (and enjoyable) things that anyone can do - anywhere and at any time. That is - to read: Well.
www.kingofhits.co.uk/components/com_kune...oticons/laughing.png
You would think that travel would give a real perspective on things, wouldn't you? However, I see no evidence of it.

Margrave wrote:
Travel is absolutely essential, to get a real perspective on things. Seeing what replaced the Twin Towers to spending an afternoon in the Vatican Library - or Harry's Bar in Venice.

My shorterm schedule - for going abroad - has been curtailed though, and the plan is to continue exploring this island until the dust settles.

Over the past year, I've been on board Nelson's Victory, sojourned in the Cotswolds, climbed Snowdon and sailed down the River Dart - from Agatha Christie's house to Dartmouth.

Skye becons, as well as Ambleside and historic Bristol on the way to Roman Bath. One thing the pandemic has done is to reawaken local interests.

And to give more opportunities for one of the most important (and enjoyable) things that anyone can do - anywhere and at any time. That is - to read: Well.

I agree this is a fascinating Island to explore and holiday in, though I do wonder how crowded it will be in the summer with everyone staying at home? We will just be holidaying in the UK this year whatever the restrictions; we can't face all the hassles of airports etc currently with young kids in tow and whatever silly rules are in place. Reading I agree is one of the finest things about a break; and my selection of holiday reading is very important to me.

Margrave wrote:
Travel is absolutely essential, to get a real perspective on things. Seeing what replaced the Twin Towers to spending an afternoon in the Vatican Library - or Harry's Bar in Venice.

My shorterm schedule - for going abroad - has been curtailed though, and the plan is to continue exploring this island until the dust settles.

Over the past year, I've been on board Nelson's Victory, sojourned in the Cotswolds, climbed Snowdon and sailed down the River Dart - from Agatha Christie's house to Dartmouth.

Skye becons, as well as Ambleside and historic Bristol on the way to Roman Bath. One thing the pandemic has done is to reawaken local interests.

And to give more opportunities for one of the most important (and enjoyable) things that anyone can do - anywhere and at any time. That is - to read: Well.

That’s nice dear.

Consequences...it's difficult to see what they will be with this pandemic but they are real.

Despite there being no real pandemic in Australia (did the swift lockdowns work or was it all an exaggeration ..or was it the "tyranny of distance" ?) now we are seeing the results.

Have people's actions and desires changed forever?

In Kings Cross and Bondi..3 large Backpacker buildings are For Sale. Pitched as ..not going businesses but "ideal" to be turned into private residences. Especially in Kings Cross as they are very large Terraces..mansions really.

But the Backpacker business has died a death. It was worth approx $45 Billion a year

Completely vanished. And the roll on continues..as they traveled well worn backpacker route up the East Coast 100s of farmers had a ready source of inexpensive labour. Word of mouth worked so well as young Europeans could call in fruit picking for a month or so and make enough cash to continue their travels.

Then 100s of small catering style businesses have shut..coffee shops, nightclubs. restaurants and so on. Same reason.

Now this week as generous wage subsidies are withdrawn dozens more who relied on them will go to the wall.

Big businesses are rapidly changing..if you can work from home as many have been, it's going to become a permanent (cheaper) feature so empty office space is now burgeoning with real consequences as a building boom (very much like Thailand experienced leaving Bangkok littered with useless skyscrapers..many turned into 4/5 star hotels..but dozens of them with cheap rooms) has been going gangbusters. I foresee many large property developers going bust..Victoria's biggest one just has.

And the Universities..for decades doing a roaring trade with Asia & China with 100,000s of young folk steaming in for a 3 year stint. All dried up. Another consequence of the "free market"? As governments shifted public funding to private the Universities have come to rely on this trade.

As have property developers building student residences. There will be much more with Qantas and other airlines sacking staff and parking dozens of jets in the desert.

Yet house prices , ridiculously over-priced keep going up?

Can't imagine what the permanent consequences will be in the UK

Should the powers that be, (in the interests of Capitalism) as many nameless people asked ( JK) just let Covid run rampant and kill off a few million "useless eaters" and make house buying / renting affordable again?

Will the Social Wage soon become a demand and end the concept of Welfare?

I think it will be in less obvious and tangible ways that the world changes as a result of the way we have reacted to Covid.

Yes, there will be some more rules for travel permanently introduced. Covid "passports" (and other future disease passports) will become a permanent feature; but once people have got over the loss of liberty it will just be "paperwork" and a trip to Tesco for a jab. More people will work at home, but there won't be a revolution: even Google are mow telling staff to get back in the office.

No, the real long term changes are in the relationship between citizen state and media and are far harder to brush off.

Governments were surprised that people would accept sustained lockdowns. The mass use of behavioural psychologists allied with 24/7 media and more propaganda than any war has seen was hugely successful in bending entire populations to Gov whim; a whim driven, of course, by the media. The media are owned by a few powerful individuals who, if they had a vague idea of the scale of their influence before, now realise they do literally run the world.

So a few people have learned they are King. People have demonstrated they will do anything for a quiet life and have lost the ability to contextualise and scale risk. Therefore influencing profoundly whole society behaviour has become straightforward. This has also meant the death of political opposition. Once the risk becomes accepted by all as a moral cause (clap the NHS, good old Cap'n Tom) political opposition becomes suicide. Police forces, once a concept to prevent harm to citizens, have become another arm of response. The judiciary are silenced; we have lost this balance and protection. Education can be suspended and is no longer an inalienable right. Personal relationships between loved ones are now fair game for state control; as is, effectively, what drugs we are injected with.

People and media concentrate on unimportant detail (where will business work from, what will a high st look like...?). The real question is what have we allowed to happen to our humanity? The real tragedy; it was totally unnecessary. The real red-herring: it was not planned we just lost our heads.

But interestingly WYOT there have been several silver linings - one of which has been that fairly large chunks are refusing to obey Big Brother and are protesting, even rioting. Global dictatorship - disguised as media control - is offending more and more people.

hedda wrote:
Consequences...it's difficult to see what they will be with this pandemic but they are real.

Despite there being no real pandemic in Australia (did the swift lockdowns work or was it all an exaggeration ..or was it the "tyranny of distance" ?) now we are seeing the results.

Have people's actions and desires changed forever?

In Kings Cross and Bondi..3 large Backpacker buildings are For Sale. Pitched as ..not going businesses but "ideal" to be turned into private residences. Especially in Kings Cross as they are very large Terraces..mansions really.

But the Backpacker business has died a death. It was worth approx $45 Billion a year

Completely vanished. And the roll on continues..as they traveled well worn backpacker route up the East Coast 100s of farmers had a ready source of inexpensive labour. Word of mouth worked so well as young Europeans could call in fruit picking for a month or so and make enough cash to continue their travels.

Then 100s of small catering style businesses have shut..coffee shops, nightclubs. restaurants and so on. Same reason.

Now this week as generous wage subsidies are withdrawn dozens more who relied on them will go to the wall.

Big businesses are rapidly changing..if you can work from home as many have been, it's going to become a permanent (cheaper) feature so empty office space is now burgeoning with real consequences as a building boom (very much like Thailand experienced leaving Bangkok littered with useless skyscrapers..many turned into 4/5 star hotels..but dozens of them with cheap rooms) has been going gangbusters. I foresee many large property developers going bust..Victoria's biggest one just has.

And the Universities..for decades doing a roaring trade with Asia & China with 100,000s of young folk steaming in for a 3 year stint. All dried up. Another consequence of the "free market"? As governments shifted public funding to private the Universities have come to rely on this trade.

As have property developers building student residences. There will be much more with Qantas and other airlines sacking staff and parking dozens of jets in the desert.

Yet house prices , ridiculously over-priced keep going up?

Can't imagine what the permanent consequences will be in the UK

Should the powers that be, (in the interests of Capitalism) as many nameless people asked ( JK) just let Covid run rampant and kill off a few million "useless eaters" and make house buying / renting affordable again?

Will the Social Wage soon become a demand and end the concept of Welfare?

According to Gov website it’s seems they have not much clue what to do. They are pushing the idea of QR codes on posters or give contact details when you go to pub or restaurant. I don’t actually have a fancy phone because I don’t need one and contact number could be my old, old, old one from 25 years ago.

I don’t see the point of university these days either, I have hired people with fancy degrees and letters after their names only to get a job pulling pints.

JK2006 wrote:
But interestingly WYOT there have been several silver linings - one of which has been that fairly large chunks are refusing to obey Big Brother and are protesting, even rioting. Global dictatorship - disguised as media control - is offending more and more people.

Yes I agree. I removed a last line from my last post about there being hope. I thought it sounded a bit saccaharine! But there is you are right more and more questions being asked about not just this subject but many others against the abuses of power we are now subject to. I do think that as people's sense of personal risk fades more will start questioning and resisting.

I just wish more intelligent commentators in the public eye would get on board quicker. I see so many dodging carefully about the issue who will surely be braver as the atmosphere gets more enlightened...public figures who are so committed to liberty otherwise.

Hedda I must correct you; I never felt Covid should be allowed to "run riot". Sweden made it clear that this new and very nasty (for a few) trivial virus required far greater protection and treatment for the vulnerable. The elderly - smokers - obese - should have been (and still should be) protected from catching it. I just felt the Draconian general over reaction, inspired by media hype, was a disastrous mistake.

I’m in favour of the Great Barrington Declaration statement that takes into account the damaging physical and mental health consequences of lockdown policies. Why is this more balanced approach being trashed and suppressed?

JK2006 wrote:
Hedda I must correct you; I never felt Covid should be allowed to "run riot". Sweden made it clear that this new and very nasty (for a few) trivial virus required far greater protection and treatment for the vulnerable. The elderly - smokers - obese - should have been (and still should be) protected from catching it. I just felt the Draconian general over reaction, inspired by media hype, was a disastrous mistake.

Apologies JK. Actually in moments of madness I thought that we could do with a few less million people on the planet (including me )

I'm not into conspiracies as such..but..I believe China and Russia are really taking advantage of this pandemic.

China especially..I think I mentioned previously my Dad worked in China in banking with long stints over 3 years in the early 70s and came back saying "these are the cleverest people on the planet and will run the joint in 100 years".

It's taking a lot less time.

The West is hopeless in the diplomatic department dealing with the Chinese. They are now whipping Australia into place after the Aussies took them from granted and still believe they can lord it all over China. Big mistake.

I think this is a trial run.

I reckon China and Russia will form an alliance and eventually dominate the Planet as the USA sinks into obscurity.

Is Covid a deliberate plan or just a convenient co-incidence?

## My Dad used to say the Chinese were very racist but incredibly polite about it. Mainly thinking they were the best race on Earth (who could argue?).
But also about the various classes in China itself and it didn't matter if it was the old Emperor or Mao Zedong..class division was there.

### Which may confirm the claims that Rupert Murdoch married Wendi Deng who was from a very inferior class and it really matter when he tried to make inroads into China.
Those in the know say Chinese officials used to laugh in front of Rupert and send him up (in Cantonese) and may also explain why they demanded a $350Million deposit when he desired to control cable TV in China and when they finally told him "no go" and he asked for his deposit back they said "oh no, non refundable"

md wrote:
I’m in favour of the Great Barrington Declaration statement that takes into account the damaging physical and mental health consequences of lockdown policies. Why is this more balanced approach being trashed and suppressed?

I suppose there must be no money it? That's usually the reason.