Hail To The Chief!

Well done Mr President! More critics you don’t need! Amidst the media hysteria over chlorine dioxide, which does in fact kill Coronavirus but might also kill the patient as well, in other words wasn’t the President’s best suggestion, they’ve ignored Ultraviolet Blood Irradiation, which might well work. UBI has a long history, apparently, and a team led by Dr Mark Pimentel at Cedars-Sinai has been developing new methods of using UV light to destroy viruses and kill bacteria. One good idea out of two isn’t bad, at a time when other Western leaders seem bereft of any ideas at all.

All the President was doing at that press briefing was to explore possible new treatments for Covid-19. He most certainly did not advise everyone to go and drink some Dettol! To read the British media one would think that America was now a land of demented Dettol drinkers and that US A & E departments were overrun by unconscious Republicans wearing MAGA hats.

MAGA hats always seem to drive the media into a frenzy. So do badges saying “Guns Save Lives”. There was a hilarious interview with a nice Virginian packing two pieces and a “Guns Save Lives” badge on Sky News last week. Sky reported that the man believed that he had a right to bear arms. No, he has the right – it’s called the Second Amendment. If you’re a nutty DVD-sponsored orthodondist, you want to kill somebody and you’ve got a choice between an unarmed liberal and a man with a “Guns Save Lives” badge and a couple of guns, go for the liberal, every time.    

By the way if Dr Birx wants to attend many more White House briefings she might want to lose the “I’m a bitch and I’m backing Biden” look. She can set up a “Bitches for Biden” group if she wants, but not whilst serving the President.

The Guardian over the weekend enthusiastically reported that ‘Sleepy Joe’ Biden, the presumptive Democrat candidate, was leading the President in swing states, rather overlooking the fact that the polls were saying the same thing in 2016! Beating President Trump, the world’s greatest campaigner and the first politician to truly understand the Internet, in November would have been a difficult task even for a Democrat who was fully compos mentis. For poor old Joe, who may not even make it through the campaign, it looks impossible.

I’m not getting at Joe, by the way, at least not on the issue of his illness. A close relation, sadly, has Alzheimer’s. It’s terrible to see them slipping away and upsetting when they forget who you are. It’s part of the human condition however – some of us get senile as we grow older, or, in the case of politicians, more senile. I suppose the first sign that Joe Biden was losing his mind, which wasn’t exactly that brilliant to begin with, no offense intended, was when he started to believe in global warming.

Note to the Democratic Party – it’s one thing to push a scientific hoax. To choose a candidate who actually believes in it is ludicrous. I am not predicting by the way that Joe Biden won’t make it to November 3^rd. All I’m saying is that the man is seriously unwell and that it’s both cruel and unwise to put a candidate who is unfit through the rigors of a presidential election campaign. In my assessment there is a serious risk of a cardio-vascular accident, possibly a major stroke, as the stress builds, not least as he starts to fall behind in even the left-wing polls.

It’s marvellous to have in President Trump a world leader who is optimistic. British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab was touting nonsense from his officials over the weekend about a vaccine not being ready until December. The first UK vaccine trial, in Oxford, is already underway. It should be ready for general distribution by the end of September.

If Dominic had the guts, no offense intended, to talk to Taipei he might find that the Taiwanese have a vaccine ready now. Of course that might require admitting that Covid-19 is a bio-weapon and that Taiwanese intelligence are a lot more efficient that MI6, no offense intended. (They usually get a copy of my weekly column, so I have to watch what I say!) I bet the boys in Taipei started work on a vaccine when they first learnt that the commies had a new Coronavirus program.

Attitudes to both China and Taiwan are going to change as a result of the global crisis caused by the containment failure in Wuhan in November, by the way. Both the UK and the US should recognise Taiwan and break off diplomatic and trade relations with the PRC. Why deal with a mad dictator in Peking when you can deal with some nice Chinese, in Taipei? They’ve got cuddly pandas as well, you know.

What the President has got right

Let’s review what the President has got right on Coronavirus. When intelligence on the outbreak of Covid-19 in Wuhan finally reached him, around mid-January, he acted promptly. A travel ban from China was in place in less than two weeks, which was pretty good going, given that the Democratic Party were trying to deepen the crisis with a shameful distraction strategy, pursuing an obviously doomed attempt to impeach the President, based on that wacky conspiracy theory about the Ukraine.

At the same time the Administration were struggling to deal with a resurgent Iran and active Chinese aggression in the South China Sea. There were also plenty of domestic issues to contend with.

As early as February the President had mastered the fact that the SARS-CoV-2 virus is fragile and does not like heat. (Unlike a bacterium, of course, a virus is not ‘alive’ in any meaningful sense, so it doesn’t really have any likes or dislikes, not even I Love Lucy.) The President was right with respect to predict that summer might bring relief.

Mainstream media sources are rubbishing this, overlooking the fact that we’re not yet into summer in the Northern Hemisphere and that the critical temperature appears to be about 27 deg. C. Yes Coronavirus has spread to Africa but it’s noticeable that the worst country affected is South Africa. Death rates in Equatorial Africa are quite low, thankfully.

The President also got Hydroxychloriquine right. The DVD’s Propaganda Section are waging a sophisticated campaign against HC, using tried and tested methods such as arranging a small-scale trial and then putting it about that “research” has shown that it doesn’t work. Actually it has worked, quite well. It doesn’t work for everyone, like Penicillin, and some patients will suffer side effects, but you don’t withhold life-saving medication from a dying patient in Bed A because the patient in Bed B might get side-effects.

So that’s three big things the President has got right, with respect. He’s also clearly grasped that it’s a bio-weapon, hence the entirely fair reference to it being a “Chinese virus”, and has understood that its main target is an adversary’s economy, not its population.

The British government, in contrast, has understood none of these things, nor has any government in the EU. Weeks after the effectiveness of HC against Covid-19 was proved the NHS is still refusing to recommend its general use. Remdesivir, which seems to work well for patients with Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome, saved the life of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson but is being denied other critically ill British patients.

SAGE

Since its advice is largely determining British policy a great deal of attention is now being focused on the secretive and sinister Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE). Although its acronym implies sagacity that has yet to be demonstrated, no offense intended. As we have seen it’s chaired by a half-crazed global warming nutter, no offense intended.

In practice its members appear to be appointed by the Cabinet Office. Since they all appear to have fallen for the global warming hoax, again no offense intended, a grasp of scientific method does not appear to be one of the key qualifications. Like Dr Death, sorry, Fauci, in the States, who has been a little bit coy about his status as a Jesuit (if you want stop being a Jesuit you need to be out by your seventh birthday) their advice has been controversial. (What did Dr Death, sorry Fauci, know about Spanish Flu and HIV being bio-weapons?)

SAGE so far has managed to miss Covid-19’s origin as a bio-weapon, developed with the assistance of the Obama Administration (whoops), the fact that it’s airborne (leading to dozens of deaths amongst medical personnel and thousands of unnecessary deaths in air-conditioned hospitals and nursing homes), the fact that we have two effective cures (HC and Remdesivir) and the fact that excessive use of ventilators may have been damaging patients’ lungs.

They have also failed to advise a breakdown of deaths of those with Covid-19 into cases where the disease has not contributed to death at all, merely accelerated the deaths of those with underlying medical conditions by a matter of days or weeks and cases where Covid-19 was a major cause of death. Including the first two categories in the nightly death toll has caused a great deal of public unease and arguably has forced politicians into damaging the British economy more than was necessary. There is no sign at all that SAGE has grasped that Covid-19 was designed to inflict economic damage on target countries, as opposed to heavy loss of life.

It’s not even clear that SAGE understands that Spanish Flu and HIV are bio-weapons, that is to say they are up to a century behind the times. Failing to pick up on the air-conditioning point even as hundreds of passengers were getting infected on cruise ships also suggests that they are a bit slow on the uptake, no offense intended.

It’s a relief to see that VC (that’s venture capitalist, by the way, not Viet Cong) Tom Cahill is leading a rather more scientifically minded group advising the Administration. I suspect that they will find President Trump very open to genuine scientific discoveries, just so long as they don’t peddle junk like global warming, UFOs or the Piltdown Skull.

Congresswoman Waters’ sister

I was very sorry to learn that Congresswoman Waters’ sister is dying of Covid-19. I suspect that the last time that the Congresswoman and I shared a policy position was over our mutual opposition to apartheid South Africa (I’ve probably met more members of the ANC in my time than she has!) However that matters not. Her sister, who I am sure is a good person, is dying and her doctors are apparently at a loss.

In those sad circumstances I reached out to the Congresswoman and passed on what I knew about Prime Minister Johnson’s sudden recovery after being treated with Remdesivir. I would like to think that my message was passed on. If Congresswoman Waters reads this (and my column does get circulated on the Hill) I repeat my assurance that my intentions were honorable.

I’ve met many people who killed in malice, or failed to try and save the life of another when they were in a position to do so. They all seemed to me to be less than fully alive themselves. Equally I’ve met many who have saved lives, indeed I saved a man from hanging in Wandsworth Prison myself. They all seemed to possess an inner peace. (The incident in ‘Wanno’ by the way is one reason why I am less bitter about being sent to prison for something I hadn’t done than otherwise I might have been.) I wish the Congresswoman and her sister well.

A bouncing baby Boris

I also wish the PM and his girlfriend, Carrie Symonds, well. She was safely delivered of a bouncing baby Boris this morning. I’m pleased to report that mother and baby are both doing well.

The PM is also doing remarkably well, which just goes to show how effective a drug Remdesivir is. We’re learning more about the correct dosage as we go along – it appears that a higher dose is needed to treat Covid-19 than Ebola. As always with drugs they should only be administered on the advice of a licensed physician and in this context only in hospital, Dettol drinkers please note! (I can’t imagine that it tastes very nice – have they come up with a strawberry-flavored version?)

Kim Jong-Un

Kim Jong-Un is not as bouncy, I fear, as the PM’s baby. Indeed, with apologies to Monty Python, I suspect that he has passed on, is no more, has ceased to be, has expired, has gone to see his Maker and is now a late dictator with a funny hairdo. He appears to be bereft of life and resting in peace, having run down the curtain and joined the choir invisible. Put shortly, I think that he’s now an ex-dictator.

Tet Offensive excepted (“nah, there’s not going to be an attack, there’s a truce on”) it’s always better to try and predict things after they’ve happened. That way there’s less chance of getting your prediction wrong. With unusual (some would say typical!) intellectual laziness I postponed this column until mid-week to see if there would be an official announcement from Pyongyang. (Next column should be out on May 9^th.)

However we Mensans are here to use our intelligence for the general good, a point well made in British Mensa’s May magazine by our respected International Chairman, Björn Liljeqvist, to whom I shall copy this column as a courtesy. (Apparently he’d been asked by an Australian member to campaign about global warming, which would have looked rather odd, since a belief that humankind’s marginal contribution to a minor greenhouse gas is somehow warming up the planet is really for politicians and other stupid people.) So, being a good Mensan, rather than continue to await developments I have given you my reasoned view, although, since all my views are reasoned, except on Methodists, that’s a bit of a tautology. (Please don’t attribute my views, however reasoned, to Mensa – I don’t want the poor darlings going into shock!)

North Korea is barely more transparent than Britain. Trying to work out what’s actually happening in Pyongyang is a bit like trying to work out what the Cabinet Office are up to, no offense to the DPRK intended. So far I as can tell Kim was admitted to hospital on or about April 12^th and was killed during what should have been fairly routine heart surgery. Always assuming that the surgeon wasn’t on Peking’s payroll the story about his hands shaking makes sense. (It’s never a good idea to threaten your surgeon with execution if he or she stuffs up.)

I may be wrong, and like Boris Johnson Kim may yet emerge from hospital smiling, waving and wearing a tie to cover up the ventilator bandage. However I doubt it. It looks as though a succession struggle is underway, with Peking trying to maneuver their man in. I hope he gets Coronavirus!

One strand of opinion says that Kim’s not dead, he’s just a human vegetable, although whether they mean carrot or swede (no offense, Björn!) they’re not saying. Of course, as with most politicians, determining when brain activity has ceased is not an easy task.

If Kim sits up and starts talking that would be what most neurologists would call a clue. There is not much sign of brain activity with Britain’s Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, with respect, but it would be a brave Chief Medical Officer who certified the minister dead whilst he was actually talking at a press conference, even if what he was saying didn’t make much sense.

Brian Dennehy (1938 – 2020)

Sadly one of my favorite actors, Brian Dennehy, has passed. Unlike Kim Jong-Un he made a major contribution to humanity, indeed he even appeared alongside Bo Derek in 10. A former Marine, he was a good man. (I can’t ever remember meeting a bad former Marine!)

He was a very gifted actor, as much at home on the stage as on the small and silver screens. He had a wide range. A Good Guy himself, he famously appeared as the Bad Guy sheriff in the first of the great Rambo movies. (I’ve always presumed that the part was modelled on a Thames Valley policeman.)

Brian Dennehy appeared in a staggering number of movies and TV shows, far too many to list here. Never a major Hollywood star, he was far more talented than many who were, no names, no pack drill. Still working at the time of his final illness he will be much missed. May he Rest in Peace.

Michael Shrimpton

Michael Shrimpton was a barrister from his call to the Bar in London in 1983 until being disbarred in 2019 over a fraudulently obtained conviction. He is a specialist in National Security and Constitutional Law, Strategic Intelligence and Counter-terrorism. He is a former Adjunct Professor of Intelligence Studies at the American Military University.

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