Caution: May Contain Logic

On Saturday, some friends and I went to the shop. A year ago, you'd have said "so?". This year, it's gone semi-viral on twitter - Simon Dolan, Gillian McKeith, and David Kurten have all weighed in with their support.  If you've been exercising your exemption, you know that going to the shop can be an ordeal. Workers who are misinformed of the law asking to see your exemption card, asking you to "wait outside" if you don't have an exemption card, some even ask what makes you exempt! It's all highly invasive and unnecessary (not to mention illegal). This is why we went as a group - for strength in numbers, to do something normal and not be harassed for it. Did we organise it? Yes. Did it make a statement? Sure. But the point to emphasise is that what we did was normal. We went to the shops together because we're friends.  Queueing up outside the shop, we were asked if we were all together. Once we said we weren't, that was that. No one both

Today was the Worldwide Freedom Rally.  It was an amazing atmosphere - thousands of people, all from different walks of life. There was a sense of camaraderie similar to that felt in a football stadium, and the noise level was pretty similar too: music, drums, whistles, singing, and best of all honking from cars and buses we passed, whose drivers even shook hands with those who were closest to show support.  We walked through the highlights of London - Hyde Park, Oxford Street, Embankment past the London Eye, Downing Street, Trafalgar Square, and Buckingham Palace. Hyde Park has always represented a free space to gather and speak (as mentioned in my Speaker's Corner post) and it was an ideal location to begin the walk. As we passed the iconic monuments of London we encountered bystanders both supportive and non supportive, and I felt proud of the attitude of love that was shown to all of them indiscriminately. True, we encouraged some to "take off your mask!" which they m

Yes, I'm talking about the vaccine. Again. Because since distribution began, 17 European countries have placed Oxford/AstraZeneca on hold due to concerns over blood clots. You know, the same concerns that I was mocked and hated for having only last month.  I apologise if that comes across as bitter and hurt - it's only because I am.  Today the BBC released a baffling article about the "thorough" review that AstraZeneca has undergone. So here is my thorough review of their flimsy attempt to stay with the official line.  "The MHRA and the EMA say people can have confidence in the vaccine's benefits and should get immunised, despite some countries pausing use. But anyone with a headache lasting more than four days after vaccination should seek medical advice, as a precaution. The same advice applies if someone develops unusual bruising." So... you should get it, but if you get symptoms of the blood clots that they definitely don't cause, seek medical at

The following images are screenshots of a few google searches I made. Basing my searches off the auto-fill recommendations, it took me less than 10 minutes to discover that Pfizer has a long history of corruption and harm, including illegally testing unapproved drugs on children. And the longer you spend reading through it all, the more cases you uncover. This information was so quick and easy to find, and yet I'll bet anyone who's taken the Pfizer vaccine hasn't found this out. We all know that Pfizer cannot be sued for any harm their vaccine causes - and that made me curious. Have they been sued before? That one tiny spark of curiosity, a few quick google searches, and BAM. Can open, worms EVERYWHERE.  Nigeria have sued Pfizer for causing extensive damage to children with experimental medication that parents did not consent to. Pfizer claimed they obtained "verbal consent" from the parents, but the parents maintain they were not sufficiently informed on the dan

 Being easygoing is considered to be a quality. And I think it is one. But what do the easygoing do when the going gets not-so-easy?  It depends on integrity. There's no denying that the easiest thing to do at the moment is keep your head down, put face coverings on, don't be seen to do the wrong thing, keep off the radar. But the easy thing is very rarely the right thing to do.  Public compliance is the term for a change in behaviour (including public expression of opinion) that is not accompanied by a change in private opinion.  For example, public compliance can be seen in Iranian culture, where women’s wearing of concealing clothing is enforced and therefore publicly complied to, but this social norm is not proportionately privately accepted (Molavi, 2002). People may publicly conform to avoid ridicule, rejection, imprisonment or, as with Iran, worse. This means that the small amount of women with the courage to speak up are being treated awfully, whereas if they had the fu

The hot topic this week has been children returning to schools and being required to wear masks and be Covid tested. On the surface of it, having to comply with new conditions in order to be allowed to access education is problematic. Furthermore, if we break these conditions down into their components, the conditions supplied are just plain wrong.  Let's start with masks. In April 2020, the BBC reported that "The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said there is no evidence to support the use of face masks by the general population" and that " There needs to be clear evidence that wearing masks, along with other measures, will deliver significant enough benefits to take us out of lockdown". I think we can all agree that masks have not delivered significant enough benefits to take us out of lockdown - after all, we are still in it. Moreover, there is serious question regarding the hygiene of masks. As Nigel Utton, Osteopath and former Headteacher, told The Light