Skimming Stones | Sula's Blog | Sula1968 A South African poet, potter and mother
I could do my usual pictures and summary of the highlights of my week, but I’ll just be honest today. I’m tired, tired of living in this time which feels like war. Tired of the psychological and spiritual attacks. Tired of all the NONsense. Some things were predictable, who deep down believed that Zuma would face justice yesterday? We can’t visit Durban family during the school hols.
I’m stressed out of my wits and exhausted by relentless name calling and bullying. “Anti vaxxer, conspiracy theorist, anti science”. The chant of pitchfork brandishing masses up to their eyeballs in blood lust. Intelligent debate is absent and has been de-platformed. Almost everyone I know who is not keen to be a guinea pig in this instance has previously gone for the standard jabs. I even had a tetanus shot in December. Now if we don’t roll up our sleeves, for whatever personal reason, including the fact that long term side effects are unknown, we are at risk of being marginalized and excluded from society. “Anti science” is another label used to demonize wary and weary citizens. This is the definition of science according to dictionary.com “noun : a branch of knowledge or study dealing with a body of facts or truths systematically arranged and showing the operation of general laws: the mathematical sciences. Systematic knowledge of the physical or material world gained through observation and experimentation.any of the branches of natural or physical science. Systematized knowledge in general.knowledge, as of facts or principles; knowledge gained by systematic study.a particular branch of knowledge.” Propaganda is trying to redefine science and confine it to promoting one narrow experimental area particularly with regard to a product which has been aggressively thrust upon vulnerable citizens. There are vast tracts of uncharted territory but to look into the dark unknown with skepticism is lambasted, mocked and scorned. Dare I ask, if this product is the perfect solution, why do those who have made a choice to use it not feel safe and protected? Does doubting that the government and those wielding power have my best interests at heart make me a “Conspiracy theorist”? At the start of 2020, those daring to observe a striking coincidence regarding the proximity of a seafood market and a lab which works with Corona viruses were dismissed as mad conspiracy theorists. 18 months down the line, that lab is generally accepted as the source of this plague. In all of these cases, labels are aggressively attached to people who dare to not nod and smile. Almost no informed debate takes place on specific points.
While all of this goes on and on and on families and friends turn on one another. Lives are ruined and fear runs rampant.
I had a black dog day on my birthday. Cliff spoiled me and spent hours cooking lasagna for dinner. I just felt lead heavy and sad all day for no particular reason.
Now for some highlights in the darkness.
And here’s my song for the week
The other day, I wrote a long comment on this post, thought about it, then decided if I don’t like Sula’s views, move on. Her blog her opinion.
Now watching our news and seeing Johannesburg, Fiji, Uganda and India, to name a few countries with health systems that can’t cope at the best of times, then I have to ask, what is the solution to this pandemic?Even Australia, hit again, but those vaccinated in a group don’t have Covid, unvaccinated do. A teenager in ICU. What is the solution. The knock on effects of Covid just awful ~ poverty, suicide, unemployment, crime, starvation. Children in Uganda and I am sure South Africa too, not at school, vulnerable to sexual abuse and other abuse. If everyone took it seriously, abided by lockdown rules would that be enough to end it?
A belated happy birthday and hope lockdown is over soon so you can go see family at the coast.
Hello Dianne, despite differing points of view I’m so happy to hear from you. Real engagement is something which I crave. I have absolutely no idea what the solution to the pandemic is. I spend hours listening to podcasts featuring respected scientists which are very refreshing in that their language is not emotively laden but based on science in the traditional sense of the word, and no matter how qualified and brilliant, the ones who I respect most are those who admit to not having answers. I highly recommend listening to Pierre Kory, he is an ICU doctor with credentials as long as my arm, he and his team believe that Ivermectin could end the pandemic, his podcast with Bret Weinstein is very persuasive. Had Ivermectin been recognised as a viable treatment the vaccines would not have been given emergency authorisation. Bret and Trish Wood among others also interviewed Dr Malone who invented mRNA technology, he is not advising against the jab (in fact endorses it for certain risk groups) but is raising important questions and warnings and because of that he is being ostracized and de-platformed. Due to his stance Wikipedia and others have been altering facts and de platforming him in order to undermine his credibility. There are grand scale efforts to change factual history to do this, fortunately there are scientific records including patents which exist outside of the internet. It is precisely this sort of off the scale censorship which has my alarm bells ringing. You mention a teen in ICU, that is very sad and worrying but all the data shows that as a whole children as a group are barely at risk, no more so than flu. It has been a very noteworthy fact since the beginning of the pandemic that children have been barely affected. It made Covid different to most severe colds and flu where we always hear that the very young and the very old are the highest risk group. It stood out that this time the majority of children are safe. I haven’t seen the stats that you mention about Australia but just yesterday I read this UK gov doc, pages 16 and 17 are most notable. Always good to engage with you. Thank you for your time
Hi Sula,
Yea we have different opinions often, but on the whole, I do enjoy your blogs. To be brutally honest, I don’t know how anyone can be entertained by the attention seeking, wannabe singer/comedian you often post on your blogs, I cannot stand the guy and don’t know how anyone sees past the massive chip on his shoulder. For that reason I unsubscribed from your blog, so that I can come to your blog in the right frame of mind as opposed to a post popping up in an email on my phone at the wrong time so to speak.
I have given up all Social Media as I feel the internet has given people a public platform who really shouldn’t have a public platform. I choose what I want to see/read.
In my opinion these expert Doctors should perhaps join doctors without borders and go help the crisis in places like India and Fiji, maybe it will change their opinions.
You say Ivermectin should be recognized as a viable treatment, the same argument can be used against you about not enough research has gone into it just like the vaccine. The problem with extremist personality types, is that they can be radicalized to believe anything.
I know children are barely affected by Covid, but a teenager is in ICU in Australia and a 15 year old died in Fiji ~ they are investigating to see if there were any underlying conditions.
The Premier of New South Wales, Australia, was very against lockdown, she has now locked down NSW because the Delta varient is far more contagious. She is not all about being in a popularity contest and does not care about people’s opinion of her.
Australia is NZ’s cousin, we get all their news. I only get Covid News from our news bulletins, I can’t be all consumed about it following stats.
Tonight there will be a segment on our Sunday night news and actuality show which I will watch.
We are all entitled to our opinions and to make our own decisions. Those that are anti the vaccine seem to be far more determined to force their opinion on others. To be honest, in real every day life, I haven’t met anyone anti the vaccine. When I was given penicillin at the age of 44, after having had it all my life, I did not know that I would have a very close to fatal allergic reaction to it. Penicillin has been researched for decades, I reacted to it, as do a huge portion of the world population, must the rest of the world now stop being given penicillin, because a small percentage have an adverse reaction to it.
Why are these ‘experts’ so hellbent on stopping people from making their own decisions. What do the have to gain is the question that should be asked or are they just extremists wanting to go against the norms of Society??
We have to always be mindful of how forceful we are of our opinions if we want others to respect them.
Whew Dianne I always so appreciate the time that you take to read, think and comment. I read this, this morning but set off to do a hike and didn’t get near a computer until now. Due to the time I may reply in part tonight and in part tomorrow. I did think about what you said while I was hiking. I don’t see the shoulder chip on Kiffness, I’ve followed him for about a year and I’ve seen him praise Cyril, but he’s an entertainer and a satirist, I love elegant humour but sometimes a bit of silly is fun. I also find it rather awful that many comedians are walking on eggshells in recent times, people are so easily offended. Anyway wouldn’t the world be dreadfully boring if we all agreed with each other all the time. I’d love to know what comedy and music you like. Totally with you regarding social media. Not too sure which expert doctors you are referring to, or which opinions of theirs would change. I have seen a video with Pierre Kory where is pleads the case of Ivermectin before US congress, and he seems at breaking point talking of the patients who he can do so little for once they are in ICU, and how he believes that treatment would have made a difference. On the subject of Ivermectin, this is vastly different to the vaccines on offer, all of which are experimental. There is misinformation that Ivermectin was just a vets med. I also believed that until recently but it is FDA approved, has been through all the human safety trials and has been administered to humans for about 35 years. It is safer than paracetemol and cheap. It is on the WHO’s list of essential medicines. You may find this article interesting. This year started very sadly, a previous co worker and her husband died of Covid within 24 hours of eachother, what if Ivermectin could have saved them? it couldn’t have done any harm. The same goes for all the others who have died. I tried to figure who you were referring to as extremist types? Do you see me as an extremist? I really hope not. Lockdowns may have worked in some places. From the get go they were destined to fail in SA. Our economy cannot handle the losses. I’ve seen people loose their homes and businesses. Taxi’s are one of the main reasons why they can’t work here. The majority of our workforce have to travel to work in close proximity in taxi’s, social distancing is impossible. It never made sense to lock people up in places where families share a room, domestic violence will escalate and it’s inhumane. I sit comfortably in my house with a garden and loads of space, the majority of the population are not that fortunate. I totally respect anyone’s right to make their own medical decisions but I have a big problem with media who push only one side, journalism then becomes propaganda. When people risk losing their jobs if they do not conform, that’s scary. I am concerned about some loved ones taking the shot, those over 70 less so, but those who are young are different, there is absolutely no long term data, it makes sense to wait. I have experienced the opposite to you, the ones getting vaxed are aggressive and bullying. Oh I had better go clean my kitchen and get kids to bed. Stay well