Yay, Radical Christians!

Image from The Independent


Yay, Radical Christians!

Never thought I'd say that.

But when anybody, anybody at all, defies this maniacal lockdown, it warms the cockles of my aged heart, though I'm not even sure what a cockle is.

The Wise Geek knows.

Here's a snarky Indy100 critique of a rally that took place in Vancouver on Easter Sunday, (originally reported by Vice News), and which doesn't attempt to be impartial or even especially informative. Instead, it goes to great efforts to characterize the protesters as "conspiracy theorists" even though reputable news agencies are expected to report rather than scathingly critique.

• On Easter Sunday, a group of protestors, led by an anti-vaxxer and documented by a conspiracy vlogger broke social distancing rules to stage a demonstration on the streets of Vancouver, Canada. It's just what Jesus would have wanted...

Wow. It really ticks me off when I have to defend radical Christians, but the Indie article, as biased as all get out, has certainly demonstrated that it is "Independent" in name only.  Clearly it has a job to do, i.e. support the ongoing lockdown, and it's doing its darnedest toward that end.

In its frantic effort to be both cute and cutting (like me, but I do it for free), the writer makes a statement with an accidental double meaning:

• But now it’s time for anti-vaxxers to assume their usual place at the top of the what-on-earth-are-they-thinking pile.

Indeed, anti-vaxxers are asking that very question: "What on earth are they thinking" -- wanting to inject poisons into the most vulnerable among us just to attract more investment in pharmaceuticals?

And, oh yes, decrease the surface population (like Scrooge).

By now, probably everybody has seen the intense drubbing Bill Gates has been getting on his Instagram slot for his passionate stance on vaccines aka population reduction. (Thanks to my friend/commenter M.Rocknest for bringing that to my attention.)

Nobody in a right mind can deny that this whole fracas is about money; not about concern for anyone other than those who whose lives are spent constantly scrambling over the bodies of others to climb to the top of the heap.

The blowback is just beginning. In India, a police officer reportedly lost a hand while ordering people around.  It's not particularly funny, but neither is this:

• India has been under coronavirus lockdown for three weeks, and on Tuesday prime minister Narendra Modi gave a national address saying the measures would be extended until 3 May.

This is funny, kinda ...

• In his speech, broadcast on TV and radio, Mr Modi urged people to respect and honour “coronavirus warriors” - including the police and other emergency services.

It's clear, however, that the real warriors are among the people themselves.

Now get this: the UK cops don't want to hear about your neighbours disobeying the rules. They're telling people to deal with it themselves.

Let's hope they're prepared to get involved if one of them gets killed.

People are being driven slowly out of their wits, those who had wits in the first place, at least. Just visit a Canadian grocery store and you'll see for yourself.

I went to Food Basics this morning, even though I wasn't looking forward to the usual hassle. I've actually been feeling a bit intimidated by the bizarre, inconsistent shopping rules and that's not like me at all.  Happily, today I surprised myself. While in the store, I made a point of praising the various workers who smiled at me and were helpful, and expressed my happiness at being allowed to pay with cash, but had to take down a peg the guy who was in charge of letting people in and out of the store.

My personal shopping cart was not allowed in the store, so when I wheeled the store's big cart outside to transfer its contents to my own small cart, I was immediately, and unacountably ordered, "Hurry up. Go over there. Go OVER THERE". I stood still for a second, thinking there might be some sort of emergency I hadn't clued into.

But then it occurred to me that it was the guy's own anxiety that was making him bossy. So I told him, in as soft a tone as I could muster, that he needed to calm himself down, and he started to argue that his job was difficult, whereupon I agreed that it must be, but that this was difficult for all of us, and he was having the effect of making me not want to shop there.

That last part seemed to sink in, and when I had got all my purchases into my own cart and turned to take my leave, the guy said, "Thank you ma'am. Have a good day." and I wished him the same.

I also wished that I had spoken up like that when all this began.

It's a good thing it was really cold and windy this morning (thanks to global warming) and I could legitimately cover my white hair with a hat. It seems that white hair is now causing people to get really uptight, and worse, talk to you as if you're a child.  Not everybody -- there are some really sweet people out there -- but just the antsy ones, the good little girls and boys, the ones who obey the rules however draconian they might be.

Seeing those Christians out in force, however much I may disagree with their basic premises, makes me want to march down the middle of the road with a banner that says "I'm old and it's MY BUSINESS whether I live or die, NOT YOURS".

Because I know it's not the elderly that governments care about, and not the nation's children; they care about control, period.  They'll exert control through lies, and with bribes, and if all else fails, through threats. In order to cure them of this sickness worse than any flu, we need to get a little more out of control and make them sweat a bit.

Not that I think anybody's hand should be cut off as (reportedly) happened in India; that's a bit too Biblical for me: heads cut off, hands cut off, eyes plucked out, you name it, God's all for cutting things off including having a huge fetish regarding cutting off hair and beards.

Not sure, but it seems He isn't against tearing off one's own breasts, but is ready to disown any man whose testicles have been crushed and/or his penis has been cut off, whether or not it's the man's own doing (as if it would be, duh).  That's because God's a Guy, I guess.

Where was I?  Oh yes, the weirdness of the Independent where everything is a "conspiracy theory".

Labour official spread conspiracy theory that Boris Johnson did not have Covid-19

• Claims doctors forced to hush up prime minister’s true condition

Anything the government doesn't want exposed is by its very nature a "conspiracy theory", the use of which pejorative proves the Independent is a good old boy and not to be trusted.

That's "Labour’s most senior elected official" the Independent is trashing. Good grief, where are we headed when our most "senior elected" officials are accused of telling lies?

We all know that most politicians tell lies, but to say that out loud ....?  Shouldn't London Bridge come crashing down, or something?

• “Dorset Eye are reporting that when the PM was admitted to hospital, all staff were required to sign the official secrets act. 2 doctors who disagreed with his diagnosis refused, and were sent home ‘on leave’. One of the doctors said ‘if he has Covid19 I am not a doctor.’”

Why, it's the Tom Hanks's all over again. When a politician or a movie star is said to have contracted the virus, it must be true, eh?

Okay, as much as I don't like rabid Christians and am very leery of medics in general, there can't be much of a crisis if doctors can be sent home on leave for expressing a medical opinion. That alone puts the lie to the much decried drain on medical services.

Where are we headed?  We're already there.  We the people have been run over by a phantom truck.  We're lying on the road, semi-conscious, wondering what happened. It's probably a beer truck -- an essential service during lock-down.  Can you imagine the panic?  People crying and screaming, "Are any of the bottles broken?"

Surely it's only a matter of time before the awful truth sinks in to the point where more than just Christian anti-vaxxers flood into the streets. I can hardly wait.

Image: "Hopefully you're drunk when it happens."