Sevan Nişanyan: Press cuttings

Lockdown proponents assumed the worst when they had no evidence JONATHAN SUMPTION 22 March 2021 The "sunk cost fallacy" is a well-known source of distortion in human decision-making. A decision is made which has destructive implications. The limited benefits and immense collateral damage gradually become apparent. It is next to impossible for those involved in the decision to change their minds. No one wants to admit that it might all have been for nothing, even if that is the truth. They have invested too much in the decision to reverse out of the cul-de-sac. So they press on, more to avoid blame than to serve the public interest. This is what has happened to governments across Europe and to the dug-in body of specialists who advise them. Their recipe is simple: if lockdowns haven't worked, there is nothing wrong with the concept. We just need more of them. What we really need is a fresh look at the evidence by people who are not committed to their own past pos...

Excellent analysis of the social conditions which allowed covid-mania to take root so easily, but I think it ignores the material causes that germinated it in the first place. They're selling vax, my boy. The whole charade is a brilliant advertising campaign for the most lucrative pharmaceutical product in history. (12 March 2021,  https://lockdownsceptics.org ) One of the most striking things about the past year has been the uniform and all but unquestioning embrace of the novel policy of lockdown by Government, opposition parties, and the mainstream media. Even as the number of fatalities, hospitalisations, and cases collapse, the Government remains religiously wedded to the sclerotic pace of its easing strategy and news bulletins continue to duckspeak calls to comply with the most illiberal restrictions ever imposed on British society, refusing to interrogate these restrictions’ costs. Those who question lockdown orthodoxy, be they distinguished scientists, civil liberties campa...

This one is not behind a paywall.  https://taibbi.substack.com/p/the-sovietization-of-the-american

( Spectator , March 13, 2021) International travellers running the gauntlet of English airports must already test negative for Covid before the flight, and on return to the UK get tested again before boarding, fill out a locator form, quarantine for ten days and test negative twice more. But that’s not enough oppression for Boris Johnson’s government. As of this week, outbound intrepids have also to fill out ‘declaration forms’ explaining why their trip is essential. Not doing so is a criminal offence. This new hoop to jump is obnoxious on a host of levels. The declaration form came in on the very day the first few lockdown restrictions were eased, with hospitalisations and deaths dramatically down and more than a third of the adult population vaccinated. Recall how last summer’s mask mandate was levied right when infections were at their nadir. The message is clear: ‘Don’t believe for a minute this horror show is over. We’ve assumed total control over your lives down to the nittiest...