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Dec. 23, 2021 - The Podcast of the Lotus Eaters
01:30:56
The Podcast of the Lotus Eaters #291
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Hello and welcome to the podcast of the Low Seeders for the 23rd of December 2021 and I'm joined by Thomas...
Hello.
And today we're going to be talking about the conspiracy theorists were right again, sort of, at least in regards to Sweden and the microchips.
Also, is Ukraine about to be invaded?
Because this has been a topic that's getting worse and worse as we leave the Christmas.
I'm sure everyone will be excited to see what happens.
And also, has the Omicron penny finally dropped?
So this is you talking about the fact that people are starting to learn that the doctor who discovered Omicron, who said it's mild, might have been right.
Yeah.
Being shook.
It might actually have been mired all along.
Yeah.
Anyway, some things I mentioned first on the website.
So the first thing here being an article by Carl.
So Carl wrote a short script for a direct video, then he didn't have the time, so he ended up just writing as an article instead, so go and give that a read.
it's about um well i don't know how i can word this and keep it legal uh when does the state run out of authority and as you can see the title why moral authority matters and uh when it has done things that makes it run out of authority well what's the correct response according to liberal theory and i think i'll leave it there without my five knocking on my door so let's move on so let's go to the next one which is a video christmas health advisory by uh dr chesty cough he Even Chastikov.
Anyway, so this is John doing a video here in which he's talking about man flu.
And only man flu.
And I thought it was really good.
I enjoyed it yesterday.
I heard it.
You should go and check it out.
Anyway, so let's move on.
Let's go to the next one, which is an article from Philip Tanza.
The Istanbul Convention, a feminist Trojan horse.
So go and check that out.
I think that...
Is that premium?
I can't quite remember because it might come with an audio track.
No, it's not.
So it doesn't come with an audio track, but it is free then.
So go and check that out.
Even if you're not subscribed, obviously.
And then the next thing being Critical Race Theory Explained, number three.
So the substitution of Locke for Rousseau.
And again, a video by Carl.
So I haven't had time to watch that.
So go and check that out.
That would be worth the watch.
That comes up at 3pm today, I'm reading.
So that will be up after the podcast.
And I think, do we have one more thing to mention?
Yes, we do.
So this is the website, as you can see, and if you scroll down, there is now a merch store link.
So if you click on that, you can then go to the merch store.
This is something Carl and the guys are set up, and you can go and see the prototype there.
Well, prototype-launched version there.
And I'm sure it'll be expanding over time.
Stylish.
Yeah, go and check that out.
Anyway, without further ado, let's get into the conspiracy theorists.
Yes.
Seeing you right again.
So some viewers may recall a conversation that happened between myself and Carl on the subjects of Noam Chomsky on the podcast a couple of months ago.
Which is related to his mask-off statement that the unvaccinated will basically deserve to starve.
This was, of course, a very misjudged statement from Noam Chomsky, being that while many of the anti-vaxxers, and they're not anti-vaxxers, they're anti-vaccine mandate, They work in agriculture, which means that they have an important role in food production distribution,
which means furthermore that isolating them through the use of vaccine passports is actually going to cut off food production for those in the cities, those who are complying with the vaccine programme, as well as disproportionately affecting those who are recognised in the US as oppressed minorities.
So in pointing this out, Dr Chomsky accidentally advocated for the starvation of those deemed to be the most oppressed minorities and those who are actually taking the vaccine.
But more than that, he was of course referring, contrary to the philosophical and political position he upheld consistently in manufacturing consent, that anyone not complying of the programme is doing so out of bad will or malicious intent.
I responded to this by saying that this was unfair, first to those with genuine health concerns about the vaccines, which have been rolled out extremely fast, And second, that it was unfair against the genuinely delusional who actually believed that conspiracy theories such as the one that claims that COVID is all part of Bill Gates' plan to use vaccines to place microchips in all of us was what was underwriting this coerced effort to vaccinate the world.
Well, let's just take a look at this conspiracy theory.
So, according to Verge, this conspiracy theory about Bill Gates came from someone who calls himself a Charlemagne, who was working on a Power FM radio show, The Breakfast Club, last year on October 2nd.
When it came to common knowledge that the President and the First Lady, of course Donald Trump was still President at this point, tested positive for coronavirus, Charlemagne said that the conspiracy theories in him didn't buy it, and from here proceeded to articulate a full-blown conspiracy theory based on how the vaccine programme could be used to insert microchips into every citizen in the world.
Of course, Charlemagne wasn't serious and was just basically speculating about the idea for the lols and for entertainment's sake on the show.
But some listeners proceeded to take this very seriously.
Took to Reddit, 4chan, etc.
Unfortunately, I cannot bring these up for obvious reasons.
I do remember the microchip thing being older than the COVID situation, but I assume this is the origin of the idea that it's in the COVID vaccine.
Yes, this is where it became conflated.
And if for no other purpose, for YouTube, it's not.
Just exploring the idea.
Yes, which is entertaining, the possibility.
But you're probably wondering where Bill Gates comes into this.
Well, around March 2020, at the time when Gates had committed 1.75 billion to pandemic aid, he, I am quoting the article now, logged onto a Reddit platform To answer questions about the pandemic.
In the chat, he predicted that one day we would all carry a digital passport for our health records.
He suggested not a microchip, but some kind of e-vaccine card that people could flash before going into a business.
So I'm going to read the rest of this out.
The next day, a Swedish website that reads like a tabloid...
I am quoting Verge here.
This isn't my voice.
The next day, a Swedish website that reads like a tabloid full of memes about biohacking wrote about Gates' comment.
The site's administrator, who goes by the name of Cipher, belongs to a community of biohackers who advocates for human implantable microchips.
They also have them and hope that one day we will all be using them to monitor our biometrics and verify our identity.
But they believe that future was a decade away.
That is, until they saw Gates' comment about digital certificates on Reddit, and we're like, WTF? This is it.
Suddenly, chip implants don't only have an actual, scalable mainstream application, but one that is an urgent medical need, Cypher said in an email.
The blog has connected Gates' remark with various research projects supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, including one on December 2019, a study which explored invisible quantum dots.
That could reveal your vaccine history when held close to a special smartphone light.
Then Cypher acknowledged they made a fateful jump by suggesting that the best way to implement Gates' idea was through an implantable microchip.
We did what we do best and tried to meme this biohacking to the mainstream cipher, wrote.
As advocates of biohacking, that's what we do.
We advocate for the adoption of biohacking wherever possible, even if it means memeing the desired outcome.
And the headline read, Bill Gates will use microchip implants to fight coronavirus.
Hang on, wait.
So, this is a conspiracy theory that's been around for, like, donkeys, but it gets referenced by Charlemagne.
And you've got some Swedes who are like, actually, there's some really interesting technology out there.
Bill and Gates are working on it.
Wouldn't it be cool, as in, like, we actually unironically advocate that we should do it in the vaccines?
Yeah.
I mean, I don't know what to say.
It's like they're reading the conspiracy theorist stuff.
It's like, how do we do that?
That's a good idea.
Are they going to invent the gay bomb next?
And they're just actually going to do it?
What Tarantino film have I got in mind?
Oh, what is it?
It features in a Scooby Snacksaw.
But anyway, that's a good idea.
You might actually apply it.
Yeah.
They're actually going to do it.
For me, this isn't really much of a fateful jump anyway.
Because if the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation had been officially researching the idea of developing bodily implants, with the view to reveal vaccine histories on medical records in general, as they were of the quantum dots, then that at least showed that they were at least contemplating the idea of inserting a device into a person for such means.
So, it's not that much of an overreach.
It's an overreach, but not that much of an overreach.
It's not that it's happening, it's instead, hey, this should happen.
The entire metropolitan elite on Brexit.
Jacinda Ardern, who has a pathological maternal instinct that she cannot control.
And the WHO, hence the Great Reset, and so on.
So, again, at YouTube, we're not saying that Bill Gates is doing this.
I don't think there's any evidence to suggest that he is.
We are rather saying that it's not as implausible as some people say.
But we do have objective proof of the fact that some Swedes have taken to this idea, which we're going to show you right now.
Because the other day, this cropped up on my newsfeed.
A Swedish company has come up with a microchip that could be inserted under the skin so that users can carry their Covid passports in their arm.
I mean, literally, well, not literally because, of course, it's not through the vaccine, but part of the old conspiracy theories or dystopian future.
Yes.
We will carry some kind of like bio passport under the skin.
Yes.
And they've actually done it.
Yeah.
Only that, as you rightly said, the Swedes have actually taken to this idea.
And what if we get the next clip up?
Yes.
So in the video that I'm about to show you, it starts off explaining the following.
At the beginning of December, Sweden enacted new rules requiring individuals to have a passport at all events with more than 100 people.
This is vaccine passports, of course.
Following that announcement, the number of people who got microchips inserted under their skin rose.
So around 6,000 people in Sweden who have so far had a chip inserted in their hands.
Epicentre, a digital hub in Stockholm, has made the chip available to its workers and to its member organisation.
They're the company that produced the chip that are being referred to in the link that we saw.
And unfortunately I couldn't find any new data on how many Swedes actually have the microchip now.
But let's just see what the employees of Epicenter and their partners have to say about the chip, shall we?
I just love the idea that Swedes are lining up to do this.
I know.
I know.
It's such an unashamed act of self-harm, really.
Yeah, that was the video, yeah.
This is really dark.
*sniff* It's even darker if you watch the whole thing, but...
I have myself chipped and keep my personal data there with me.
I actually feel in a way that it's even more controlled on my end having it in my own hand.
So I have a chip implant in my arm and I have programmed the chip so that I have my COVID passport on the chip.
And the reason is that I always want to have it accessible.
And when I read my chip, I just swipe my phone on the chip and then I unlock.
And it opens up.
This is a PDF, which is my COVID passport.
And this means that it's always accessible for me or for anyone else really who wants to read me.
For example, if I go to the movies or go to a shopping center, then people will be able to check my status, even if I don't have my phone.
A chipping plug costs...
Please take my soul!
...100 euros if you want to buy them, the more advanced versions.
And you can compare this with, for example, a health wearable that will cost perhaps twice that, but at the same time a shipping plant you can use for 20, 30, 40 years, whereas a wearable you can only use for 3-4 years.
That's horrific.
Isn't it just?
I can't get over the music in the background.
It's just like, oh yeah, cool technology, am I right?
Yes.
What is wrong with Sweden?
I mean, do you know how much these things cost?
They're not cheap.
I mean, you said a couple of hundred euros to get it.
Yeah, 180 euros.
I mean, I wouldn't say that's cheap exactly, but as you heard, the Swedes who were interviewed, I mean, bear in mind they are, I suppose, working for the company, but they do genuinely seem to be so up for this.
As in, there is genuinely an idea to sell their souls.
It's like, I don't even want to just carry my compulsory identity papers.
I want the identity papers chipped into me for 40 years.
Yeah.
So I can't even take it out, and anyone can check it at any point.
I mean, why don't you just write the tattoo number on you instead?
I don't know, would that be easier?
Yeah.
Instead of getting chipped in?
Yeah.
I mean, the tattoo will last forever.
What the hell, man?
Anyway.
Yeah, you can take the wearable ones off, but he was advocating for you to actually have the, what was it...
The actual injected ones.
In your skin.
On the ground that they last for decades longer.
Yeah.
Unironically.
But yeah, the one thing that has kind of gone amiss in the coverage of this story is that the Swedes have had this kind of obsession with microchips for some time.
And if we get the next article up, please, John.
So yeah, thousands of Swedes are inserting microchips under their skin.
This was published in October the 22nd, 2018.
So that is three years ago.
And what it reads is that more than 4,000 Swedes have adopted the technology of one company, Biohacks International, dominating the market, a chipping firm that started five years ago.
Eric Frisk, a 30-year-old web developer and designer, said he was really curious about the technology as soon as he heard about it and decided to get his own chip in 2014.
Come on, guys.
I hate to be a bit of a Luddite.
But this is the kind of technology the world could do without.
Yes.
I mean, I remember the massive surveillance state they have in China with all the cameras and everything.
A lot of them, my understanding is they learned to the West, learned about all the CCTV technology, all the facial recognition bands, took it back over and implemented it.
I mean, you can immediately see them doing this with the chips as well.
Yeah, how do we destroy ourselves with this?
How do we chip all the Muslims so that we know where they are at all times, says the CCP? That is a very good point, actually.
There is a moral reason to be, I suppose, impassionate about this idea in one sense if you're Swedish.
And that is, well, are we even allowed to mention this?
Think of the minority, Sweden.
Think of the minority.
I don't know how else to argue with Swedes.
But no, the choice of language is actually unbelievable and quite revealing, actually.
I mean, Frisk says the technology is just completely passive.
It has no energy source or anything.
So when you tap it against the reader, the chip sends back an ID that tells the reader what chip it is.
Like, no, Frisk, you are passive.
Like, where is your sense of self-respect?
Seriously, man.
You can see how that's going to be used, though.
Like, if you're setting up a system which you can have, oh yeah, all the medical history, is he not thinking for a minute?
Yeah, and all your ethnicity and race and all the rest of it attached to it.
Why would you not want to know these things?
You could probably include whatever information you wanted.
I mean, I don't know what the storage...
Yeah, yeah.
And I suppose your sexual orientation would be included in that, what side of the bed you like to get up from, if you happen to be staying in a hotel.
Party member, at any point.
Party member, yes.
It's extremely scary to imagine how this could be abused, should, of course, governments have immediate access to this.
I love the chat, just like, oh, it's a toilet.
But to the Swedes, this is all just pragmatism.
Swedes are very pragmatic and the chip is useful.
Since a lot of people know each other in the tech community, which to be honest just sounds like a messed up orgy to me, it's very tight.
The trend has been spreading and people have seen the benefits.
And this again is the part that gets me.
This is why I used the word orgy to describe it.
When Frisk moved into a shared house earlier this year, he organised a chipping party for his new housemates.
Now they can access the 16th century building they share in Stockholm's old town by tapping their hands on a digital reader by the door.
It's making my skin crawl just thinking about it.
Do you want to come to the chipping party?
No, I really don't.
It all sounds very much like a Black Mirror episode, doesn't it?
But on steroids.
You've got to be part of the cult.
You've got to get your chip.
Yeah.
But one of these members, Sylvia Vasegi, 28, uses it to share her LinkedIn details at networking events, avoiding the need to spell out her name.
So, you see, this is the exact problem that I don't just have with microchips per se, but what I have of outsourcing...
Are cognitive faculties to technology.
You are making yourselves redundant as a human by doing this.
It's like, if you forget how to spell your own name, for example, by outsourcing it to a regulative structure that's inserted into you, surely that...
I'm going off from one here.
I mean, I imagine it works on near field contact or whatever, but I remember when I first found out that you could use them on your phone and whatnot.
I got a little one, so it was my phone number.
So I didn't have to type it in.
I could just give them the thing, tap it, there you are, there's my phone number, it's in your phone now.
And that's cool and all, but having all your personal data and then inside your skin, so you can never pull it out.
It's just in there forever.
And it can be scanned by anyone.
And they genuinely like this idea.
Particularly the state, and the Swedes are like, yeah, that can't go wrong.
Yeah.
Isn't it funny how they haven't actually, or at least from what we've observed, once stopped to consider?
Our phones can do all of this.
We can insert all of this detail that's necessary for us into the devices that we already have without actually physically violating ourselves.
So why are we inserting the chip?
It's this implicit sadomasochism that gets me.
I love the chat pointing out.
It is very much like the Adeptus Mechanicus or something.
Like, the flesh is weak.
Technology is the god.
So, anyway...
But in any case, I think, to be perfectly honest, that this chipping fetish, if you like, and I'm sure you've got this impression as well, is a lot more of a Silicon Valley-like fad for probably tech-savvy, middle-class Swedes, who are mainly from the technological innovation hub of Stockholm.
Hopefully it stays that way.
Hopefully it stays that way.
I mean, our governments may be less so, but I can definitely see a government like China saying, Eh, we'll do this for criminals.
Oh god, don't mention that.
We'll do it just for criminals.
Oh yeah, criminals in Xinjiang.
Just them.
It's like, right, okay, who's going to get that?
Okay, so every Muslim in China is going to get a chip.
I'm sure Peking will be thinking about this very seriously.
Yeah.
Yes.
But yeah, they do, unfortunately, these, I suppose, mobs of, these intelligentsia mobs do tend to be the sort who...
I really hope the microchip fad does not gain traction from that.
But I'll be honest, at this point, I'd be very, very surprised if this caught on anywhere else in Europe.
As in, I'm pretty sure that Austria and Germany are lining up trying to impose this in some way, but I have enough faith in the people that they're not going to buy it.
Not just literally, but as in buy the idea of it.
Every bad idea that comes from Scandinavia, the Germans are like, yes, we'll do that too, but we'll do it worse.
Yeah.
But no, they could impose it by force, but God knows.
I can see the mentioning there as well about tying it to your credit card or something, so you could become a cashless society, because then you don't even have to carry a card.
Isn't that wonderful?
I just tap my hand.
Yeah, the blockchain takeover would have been completely and utterly...
We'll be in full swing by that point, unfortunately.
Yeah.
Yes, so what I suppose to summarise, it does seem, in short, that the conspiracy theorists were right about something on the subject of microgyps.
But as of yet, there is no indication that they are coming or going to come from the vaccines themselves, or that Bill Gates has anything to do with it.
The problem appears to be rather some overly enthusiastic Swedes who think that this is somehow...
How do I end this?
I don't know.
You know what the problem is, the Swedes.
Swedes!
Stop it!
Merry Christmas, by the way.
Yeah, it's fair, yeah.
There's nothing wrong with them.
Anyway.
I was hoping that was going to be a white pill, but it really wasn't, because this next one's not either.
Oh dear.
Anyway.
Let's proceed.
Let's talk about Ukraine.
So, we spoke previously about Ukraine and our predictions of how things might go.
I made an argument that was not made very clear by myself, so that's my fault, which is that I don't think Ukraine should be utterly destroyed and annexed into Russia or anything of the sort.
It's just that I don't think the West cares about Ukraine and are going to do nothing if it does come to that.
And I think I might be right.
Anyway...
I brought some map technology recently on After Effects and decided to play with it and made a thing about Ukraine so I thought, eh, might as well get some money out of it, so let's play the clip I made.
This is Ukraine.
Or at least, it was Ukraine.
After the EU revolution, Russians in the East with Moscow's backing rebelled against what they saw as a Western coup declaring separatist people's republics under the banner of New Russia.
In the chaos, Russian forces secured the Crimean Peninsula and annexed it into the Federation.
Ukrainian support for joining NATO in response has risen.
Russia in response has built up troops on the border and issued demands to NATO that Ukraine never be allowed to join.
In case of invasion, Russia also has the advantage of an allied Belarus and support from communist separatists in Transnistria.
How NATO responds will seal Ukraine's fate.
That's amazing.
That's a summarisation there of the situation on the ground, which, yeah, ain't looking great.
But I was planning to make a short animated video from this, about five minutes, just explaining the whole thing.
And then I realised the editing, by the time it's done, Ukraine might not exist.
So I thought we'd just do it here instead.
So that's a situation on the ground.
But people might be wondering, how on earth did we end up here?
And just to preface this off for any Ukrainians or Russians watching, I'm probably going to say something that you might not like, or you think I should have mentioned this instead, instead of this, or phrased it in the wrong way.
We're Westerners, you know, please no shoot.
Like, well, we might get some stuff not as perfect as maybe we should have, but we can try our best.
Anyway, without further ado.
So, I thought we'd roll the clock back to at least World War I, because it's got to start somewhere, and this seemed opportune, at least.
So you can see here, after the collapse of the Russian Empire...
You can see Ukraine there being noted as a place that was also full of civil war and hell.
And the socialists ended up taking over and all that, and the Soviet Union annexed most of it into the Soviet Union.
That's the Ukrainian Socialist Federal Republic.
Anyway, the funniest part about the civil war, and I just have to mention it because I think it's funny, is the Black Army.
So if we go to the next one, people in the West might not know about this.
So this is the anarchist army that was siding with the socialists.
Up until the socialists were like, yeah, anarchy's cringe.
And put them up against a wall.
Anyway, yeah.
The flag here I just find really funny.
Like, what are we going to do for the flag?
Skull and crossbones.
On the top there, the word death.
And at the bottom is just death to those who stand in the way for freedom of workers.
And it's just like, okay.
Freedom.
Right.
That's how you know you're the good guys.
We've got the death flag.
It's pretty cool, I'll give them that, but it's really something.
Anyway.
Also, to mention the next thing I found cool, there should be a Tatanka in there, but anyway, just Tatankas, which are machine gun chariots, which used to be used during the civil wars in Russia and Ukraine, which I find funny.
But of course, the socialists took over, and when the socialists took over, they did their policy of collectivization.
As you can see here, some propaganda promoting it.
Yeah, what happened there?
Yeah, we go to the next one.
Holodomor.
Holodomor happened, and millions of people died.
Ukraine recognizes this as a genocide.
I think most Western countries recognize it as a genocide.
They do.
And Russia's a little bit like, eh, a lot of people died.
It wasn't on purpose, which...
I think the argument for the Russians is that they weren't targeting Ukrainians.
So, don't know what to make of that.
But the Russians also believe, yes, a lot of people were killed needlessly.
So, there's that, of course.
But if we go to the next one, we have World War II as well, which, again, Ukraine suffered terribly.
And I'm trying to get across the point here that, quite frankly, Ukraine, in terms of history, is definitely a victim country, especially in these last hundred years.
As you can see, like, huge disaster, civil war.
Okay, then, huge disaster, massive Soviet takeover, and everyone starves to death.
Now a huge disaster, the Nazis have turned up and killed everyone.
And then, of course, the Soviets take it black and kill everyone again, so it's just like, oh, dude, kill me!
Just one thing after the other, isn't it?
Yeah, absolute horror show.
So...
If we go to the next one, this is where we get the update with the borders.
So this is the announcement from the Soviet Union, in which they moved control of Crimea, the peninsula, which is connected by land, it's not an island, to Ukraine.
They moved it from control of the Russian Federation to the Ukrainian Federation.
Of course, no one really gave a toss, because both of them are in the USSR, so it doesn't really matter at the time.
The quote I saw used for this is,"...it makes absolutely no difference to the owner in which of his pockets he is accustomed to carry his valuables." Which, yes, it does not matter at the time, but of course will in future.
So if we go to the next one, there's also the next disaster in Ukraine's history, which is the graphite on the roof, which isn't on the roof, they swear.
Chernobyl, of course.
Yeah, anyway.
And then we'll move to independence, just to try and explain the history here.
So that's just the hell that is Ukraine's last hundred years.
But then they get independence, and this is one of the first things they did.
As you can see, Radio Free Europe listing here.
The destruction of Ukraine's nuclear arsenal.
If you can scroll down on this, John, because there are some really just stark pictures of them blowing up, like, the missile silos and whatnot.
So it just keeps growing.
Like this one here, they're just blowing up a nuclear missile.
And then a silo there just getting destroyed, which is just...
I mean, it's amazing.
It's a hell of an achievement as well to achieve nuclear disarmament in Ukraine.
But it did come with some caveats.
It wasn't done because Ukraine was, I don't know, bored or couldn't pay for the nukes necessarily, but they wanted security.
So if we go to the next one, we can have the agreement here.
So this was the agreement side by the parties involved.
As you can see, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Russia, the United States, and the UK were signed up for this.
And in here they agreed that the UK, the US and Russia would respect Ukraine's borders and not use force against Ukraine.
Yeah, that didn't last, because we know what happened, so we'll ignore that for now.
But anyway, yeah, that part of the treaty has been dropped since, in respect of reality.
Yes.
Anyway, so if we move on, there's also the fact that the Russians, of course, still had half their fleet in the Black Sea and nowhere to put it.
So they needed a port, and Crimea being the place where you put the navy, they paid rent to Ukraine for the Sevastopol naval base, and that's where the navy used to be.
And of course, the Russian navy and whatnot was still there, I think we're good to go.
And so the situation here is you've got Viktor Yanukovych versus Viktor Yukoshenko.
We're just going to call them Yukoshenko and Yanukovych because it gets confusing otherwise.
And Yanukovych being the, let's say, pro-Russian guy, and then Yukoshenko being more pro-EU, pro-Western.
So in 2004, they have their election, and as you can see by that table there, the country is quite divided along pro-Russia, pro-Western lines, to some extent, let's say.
And of course, most of those people living in the East, a lot of them, a hell of a lot of them, speaking Russian, not speaking Ukrainian as the first language.
So, cultural divide too.
So, Yanukovych alleged that the election, when it came through, was rigged because Yukoshenko was reported to have won, and then there was some investigation, and apparently it was the case that he had rigged, according to international claims, so we'll do that there.
I think the Ukrainian Supreme Court ended up saying that as well, but I'm not 100%, so don't steal me.
But if we go to the next one, you can see the orange revolution.
So this was the people coming out in support of Yushchenko against Yanukovych, in which they say the election is rigged, we need another election.
They had another one, and the pro-EU candidate Yushchenko won.
And yeah, it didn't go perfectly, though, because there's some complications in this revolution.
If we go to the next one, we have The Guardian at the time reporting on the fact that the US was behind quite a lot of it.
Not in the case that they are behind the whole thing, but instead they are supporting this movement to try and make it flourish.
That's also a complication we're going to run into, which is that Moscow or Washington are both going to have an interest here.
And therefore, if there's anything going on, they are going to be wanting to be involved.
That doesn't necessarily mean they're behind the whole thing, but it could also be the case that they are for certain things.
As to what extent, we won't know until 100 years from now.
Let's say.
But we do have some information in here, for example.
So The Guardian writes, The Democratic Party's National Democratic Institute, the Republican Party's International Republican Institute, the US State Department and USAID are the main agencies involved in these grassroots campaigns, as well as the Freedom House NGO and billionaire George Soros.
Open Society Institute.
He gets into everything, doesn't he?
He does.
Yeah, funny that.
Anyway, yeah, so they were the ones helping the Orange Revolution there, as it is called, because a lot of these types of revolutions get their colour names, and that's the case.
Whether or not it's obviously true that there was rigging or not, whatever.
But there was another complication as well, which is, if we go to the next one, the pro-EU candidate Yukushenko here being poisoned in the middle of all this.
And if we can scroll down some more to show people the face, John, it's pretty serious.
Oh, goodness me, yeah.
Yeah.
He obviously blamed Russia for this, because he thinks that they're trying to kill him, which...
Yep.
I think he's not implausible, yeah.
Yeah, I don't think that's possible.
Anyway.
But then we go to the next election, and again, just hitting on the keynote, point C. We don't have time to go into the complexities of Ukrainian politics, nor the knowledge.
But we can look at the divide yet again.
So if you scroll down, so we can have the faces and the map once more, you can see the same divide in the country, and you can also see now Yukoshenko, Sorry, Yanukovych being the candidate against this other lady here, whose name I can't pronounce, so I'll leave that there.
And she's the more EU candidate, he's the pro-Russia candidate, and he won.
And this time around, the international response is there was no rigging.
So the understanding is that he apparently won just for being popular, and therefore, fair enough, you know, whatever.
That's how the protest should work.
Except four years into his presidency, so the next year there would have been an election, after four years in, the European protests started up because he tried to get an aid deal with the Russians.
Moscow offered him basically loads of cash in a form of aid and this looked obviously like he was trying to strengthen ties with Moscow and move away from the EU and the West and becoming closer and closer to Moscow and therefore a lot of the proponents of being close to the EU and the West were quite upset about all this and started their protests so if we go to the next one here we should have some image of the protests so this is what is referred to as the Euromaiden protest which a lot of people may remember I remember growing up watching the news and watching all this take place
Yeah.
And so this is loads of people turning up with Ukraine flags, EU flags, protesting that he is doing this.
And it turned into a bit of an S show.
So if we go to the next one, it turned quite violent.
You may remember.
And we ended up with police officers defecting, joining the protesters, random sniper shots apparently going off and killing police and protesters, which still hasn't been resolved.
No one really knows what the hell happened with that.
And, well, okay, absolute S show.
And it led to Yanukovych stepping down and the country kind of falling into a mini civil war there, or at least the abouts of a civil war, which then did take place.
And it is known as the Revolution of Dignity, apparently, which...
I don't know who makes these names, but...
Okay.
Whatever.
I also do like the riot shields being...
That is something to be looked into.
I'm not quite sure where dignity comes into this, really.
Well, I understand where dignity would fall on both sides, but why the conflict is called that, I... Anyway, but it's the second revolution in this small period of history here.
And then, of course, in the absolute chaos, there are huge amounts of Russians who are also in the eastern part of Ukraine, Russian Ukrainians, who are very upset about all of this and think this is some kind of Western coup.
Which kind of, you know, there is an argument to be made that it very much looks like that, to some extent, because the EU was openly supporting the protesters who led the revolution.
Senator John McCain and some other Democratic senators turned up to offer their open support, and then God knows what Washington security agencies were doing.
You have the legitimate institutions and bodies and parties supporting an undemocratic cause, arguably.
But also, at the same time, it's not to say that Moscow isn't, of course, working with Yanukovych to try and suppress the whole deal.
That is true.
But the accusations could work both ways, can't they?
You can see why Russians or Russian-Ukrainians can have their perception of events.
That's all I'm trying to say there.
Anyway, so then in the midst of all the chaos, if we go to the next one, we have Russia turning up.
And as you can see at the bottom there, annexing Crimea, just taking control of it.
And then in Donetsk and Luhansk, you have the armed insurgencies and then pro-Russia protests and whatnot throughout the other regions.
And you can see it's basically the same as the election map.
Exact same provinces having the same problems or the same upset because their guy that they vote for has just been deposed.
And, well, of course, they're mad about that.
We may remember about Crimea as well, that there were just little soldiers who turned up at first.
Apparently they came through the Sevastopol naval base.
Okay.
Remember they were renting that?
Yes.
And then, well, if you have a foreign army just stationed in you, well, and then they want to take your territory...
That's the way they're going to do it.
So that's the little green men.
Also the little green men you find in Ukraine.
The men without insignias.
Yes.
So the way the story goes, I read it again to make sure, but it was just like they turned up in the parliament and were just like, hmm, yes, vote to join Russia.
And they voted to join Russia.
Russia it is.
Yeah, well, they declared independence and then held a referendum, but it's kind of by the by, because we all knew where that was going.
And Russia just annexed Crimea into the Federation, as I said.
And if we go to the next one, you may remember the cute grill.
So this is the meme that a lot of people have shared, and this may recall a lot of people's memories.
The girl on the right there, who was like the chief prosecutor or whatever, if we go to the next one, there are a lot of memes about her as well.
I don't know if you can, I know we're not on Wikipedia anymore, but there's a lot of anime about her and fan art about her because she captured attention.
There's like this really serious situation going on.
Everyone's just like, yeah, but cute girl.
Anyway, moving on.
So let's go to the next one here, which is just the war carrying on and has been ever since.
It has been largely ignored by Western countries like ours.
Because it's so far away and we don't really have many interests in Ukraine in exchange for, say, France.
Yeah, especially not since we left the EU, no.
Yeah, it's a hell of a fight and has continued to go on and is still going on, is my understanding.
Anyway, but we'll go to the next one, which is where the story kind of picked up, where we dropped it.
Which is that Russia decided to issue a bunch of demands, and they're very mad about NATO's encroachment into the East, obviously, getting into ex-Walsall Pact countries, or even Soviet countries in the case of the Baltics.
And this is all in Russian, so we'll not stay on this, but if you want to go and find the original, you can find it there.
And if we go to the Guardian article who lists these, they have some demands in here, which were obviously not going to be met.
So article number four, NATO must move its forces back to 1997 NATO borders.
Which is where?
Which is back to not the Warsaw Pact nations.
Right.
Because, you know, Poland and the Baltics have all joined.
No.
No, that will never happen.
No, it's not going to happen.
So that's kind of a mute point.
So they knew that was never going to be agreed to anyway.
Article number six, Ukraine can't join NATO. There has been murmurs from Ukraine wanting to join NATO or want NATO protection, which I don't know how the US feels about that.
From what I've seen, the American right certainly doesn't want it because they don't want the entanglement.
No.
Fair enough.
In the UK, we're not too fussed either.
I think it'd be a dangerous political strategy.
Yeah, and Article 7, no military action in Ukraine.
Which is...
You know, if you could die from irony.
Yeah.
The Russians being like, there should be no military action in Ukraine from anyone.
It's like, dude, you're literally in Crimea.
Now.
Okay.
Whatever.
So if we go to the next one, we can see some of the build-up, which you can see here.
So this is some satellite photos that emerged earlier this month.
You can see just the level of it.
I assume that's all vehicles there, and it's just piles and piles.
If we go to the next one, there's some other aerial photos here of all the other people.
Yeah, that's a whole military base.
Yeah, they basically just propped up on the border and were like, yeah, rushing demands.
Also, they're not joining NATO as presumably a threat to make the West at least agree to that point.
Or military action, as everyone is quite worried about.
Yes.
Anyway, moving on.
So if we go to the next link here, I don't know how seriously to take this, but it was said and is amazing.
So this is a Times article titled, Russia wants urgent answer to its demands over NATO withdrawal and Ukraine tensions.
And NATO isn't, because...
Get stuff, I guess, is the response, because some of the demands, as the first point, for example, seemed completely unreasonable to NATO. And there's a quote in here, which is from Russian state media.
So, Russian state media warning viewers that the two powers could go to war.
Quote...
Either they, NATO, step back voluntarily, or we'll make them do it by force, and Russia makes no guarantees about the survival of Ukraine.
Especially as a sovereign state, maybe we really are on the eve of war with NATO. So...
Yeah, that's a pretty harrowing threat, isn't it?
Yeah, I mean, kind of an open threat there, but again, it is a threat on Ukraine fundamentally, which is that if you let them join or defend them, well then we're at war, and they belong to us, which is their perspective on this.
Yeah.
Just letting that out anyway.
We can get Ukraine's response to all of this, which is fair.
Ukraine's Twitter account, terrified checkmark, types of headache, migraine, hypertension, stress, living next to Russia, which is just total pain constantly, which you can see why they're upset too.
Yeah.
Which is, you know, living with that.
No, 100%.
Yes.
Anyway, so let's move on.
So we have the UK response, which is largely who gives an S about Ukraine.
I'm not unsurprised by this, and this was my prediction last time I spoke to John about this.
You can see the headline here.
UK troops will not be deployed to Ukraine to defend against Russia.
That's our foreign minister speaking there, and I think the defence minister as well.
We just don't have anything to gain from getting involved.
Yeah, we made no guarantees to Ukraine.
They're not a member of NATO, so...
You know, that's the response.
Just, meh.
Not our problem, which you can understand, of course.
And if we go back to the tweet on this, you can see...
I can't remember his name.
So if you go back, John.
So close this.
You can see Tobias Elwood, who I believe is the chairman of the Defence Committee in the UK Commons.
So, of course, having quite the insight, or let's say, interest in this.
And he's upset because he thinks we've given the green light to Russia there, which we kind of always were.
I mean, this is the other part that I find strange when people are like...
They're threatening to invade.
We must show we should do something.
It's like, dude, they already did.
In Crimea.
Yeah.
And then Donetsk and Luhansk.
Barack Obama quite literally drew a line in saying, you do this, there will be a retaliation, and he did nothing.
Yes.
On our behalf.
Also the entire West, to say that if they ever do anything in Ukraine, we'll be outraged.
It's like, well, they already have twice.
Yeah, and are doing so on a daily basis.
And we've still not done anything.
Hence why we're not reporting on it.
That's why I'm not hugely surprised.
Anyway, if we go to the next one, we have the German response, which is a bit mixed, let's say.
So Germany says Russia will face massive consequences if it invades Ukraine.
This is mixed, of course, because what are those consequences?
Military?
No, because they're not the Third Reich.
They don't have the army for it.
Although they'll just withdraw from the pipeline deal, maybe.
Probably not.
Actually, yeah, you're right.
That would be far too much of a threat, you know?
Yeah, especially with gas prices being what they are in Europe right now.
We're having a crisis for the Americans who might not know.
Gas prices are going up incredibly high.
And that's gas, gas.
You know, the gas that's a gas, not a liquid.
Yankees.
Anyway, moving on.
So let's go to the next one, which is just the response from a Lithuanian diplomat who says NATO must arm Ukraine to repel invasion by Putin's Russia.
And this is why I wanted to cover this as well, especially quickly, because as I said, Ukraine might not exist if he does go through with all this in the next few days, especially with Christmas and Boxing Day coming up.
That's no exaggeration.
If you want to pick a day in which the West is most distracted, I mean, you've got...
If you had your military mindset on, you would think this would be the perfect day to catch the West off its guard.
Yes, and there is also the fact that Russian Christmas is in January, so...
I'm not.
You're not even hurting your own side there.
Anyway, so that's the response from the people most close to Russia, who are of course saying that we should reply with military force.
The Germans who are like, eh, and then the British who are like, nah.
And God knows what the Americans think.
I haven't seen an American response, except from commentators, political types like Tucker Carlson, for example, who just are not interested.
And, well, this is what I said would probably happen.
The main problem is Ukraine, as you showed, are not a united nation on this.
They're very much cut in between what future or which superpower, if you like, they see themselves with.
And given that you have that ambiguity of what is in the interest of Ukraine, how could you possibly, as an outsider, look on a know-how to act?
Especially when it could come to the cost of your own...
Well, of course, well, need I mention Salisbury?
Even though, of course, we have to...
Salisbury.
Salisbury, yes.
We have to keep an open mind on that.
But is there really any benefit in us actually podding the Russian bearer anymore?
I look at it as just what is going to be the response rather than the arguments for and against if I can.
And it seems to be one of, from the West, not going to bother.
Which is, that's just how it seems it is going to go by what has already been said.
Just saying that and leaving it there because I do not want to get an argument about what's the right thing to do because, oh god, there's a million people with a million opinions and I'm sure you can leave them in the comments and let us know what your opinion was.
Anyway, moving on.
The last thing to mention here, which I mentioned in the short video in the intro, is Transnistria, which I just really wanted to talk about.
Transnistria?
Yeah, I never get a chance to talk about this, because why would you?
But it's a meme country.
Like, unironically.
Like Pakistan?
More real.
Oh.
So, this is a segment of Moldova, which I guess used to be part of Romania, but then because World War II and all that, and there's loads of Russians living there, and then after the fall of the Soviet Union, well, all the Russians were like, well, I don't want to live with the Moldovans.
They've declared their independence as Transnistria, or however you say it in Russian.
There's a Russian word that's different for it.
But in English, we say Transnistria, apparently.
And as you can see there, I mean, like, they're stuck in the 1970s in terms of imagery.
So you can see a lady here, for people listening, standing behind a Soviet flag, in which it's the flag of Transnistria with a hammer and sickle in the corner.
Yeah.
Because this is the imagery they kept.
If we can scroll down, John, just to show some of the, like, random images you find of Google Images for this.
I mean, like, that sign there that's just up with the hammer and sickle.
It's got, like, a sign that's, like, what was it, from 1939 or whatever to 2017?
When were these?
What?
2017?
Yeah, it's still there.
You can go there right now and go, wow, I don't know what it is.
You'd think this was 1957.
I don't know if they need vaccine passports to visit this place.
I imagine not.
I think they've got bigger problems.
If you keep going, you can see the Statue of Lenin there, which is quite famous.
God, that is tall, isn't it?
Yeah, it's all still up.
There's a plinth, and then there's that.
One hell of a meme place.
Obviously recognized by Russia, but very few else people in the West recognize this.
It's certainly something.
And if we go to the next one, I just wanted to mention a video that perked my interest in this, in case you want to know more about such a meme country, which is Bold and Bankrupt's video on it, which is nice and insightful.
I quite like Bold and Bankrupt.
Do you know Bold and Bankrupt?
I've come across him a few times, yeah.
Yeah, his obsession with Soviet stuff is obviously quite...
I don't know if there's another word for it except like cute and annoying way where he's like, oh look, a Soviet glass.
Oh look, a Soviet payment.
It's just like, dude, everything can't be Soviet or nothing's Soviet.
Anyway, but he goes around there and has a whale of a time showing you what it's like.
But yeah, that's the situation in Ukraine, which...
They, you know, very well might end up getting invaded.
The response from NATO so far seems to be...
We don't know what to do.
Or just, we don't care, in the case of the UK. And, well, if that is going to be the response, then it's up for the Ukrainians and the Russians to decide what their future's going to be.
I was going to use a very cynical phrase there, but I just don't know what to add.
It's been brilliant for so long, it almost feels like a face-off has been inevitable, and it's just a matter of...
It's the wild, wild east.
Anyway, let's move on to something a little bit lighter.
Has the Omicron penny finally dropped?
Now, of course, ever since the development or the identification of the new Omicron variant, ever since it came to public knowledge, We're good to go.
Now everyone who rightfully distrusts the government on this, and the opposition's moan matrix of fear and hysteria, and their failure to even act as an opposition, would likely have taken a look at the official figures which expose the extent that this crisis, or crisis I should say, is being blown up beyond measure.
So if we get this up here, which is my post, If we click on the right, you can see that indeed, cases do seem to be rising.
However, if we go back and click on the left, you can see that the rate of rising hospitalisations seems to be imitating, shall we say, the lowest possible setting on a low-budget treadmill, to be quite frank.
It's pretty minuscule.
I mean, how on earth is the NHS going to cope with its oversupply of ventilators, wards, that it apparently can afford to close because it's not reopening the Nightingale hospitals?
I mean, one could almost think, dare I say it, that it's hoarding resources.
But that's just me being cynical.
I think you've actually got the point there.
Anyway, despite the hysteria which dawned on us from the start, there are signs.
Well, I'll start with those who have peddled it from the beginning, such as Andrew Neill.
Who went as far as saying, of course, that the unvaccinated should be punished, despite the fact that you're right, you might have to correct me on this, because I heard this from a second-hand source.
60% of people in hospital with COVID have been vaccinated.
Is that correct?
Or was correct?
I think it's about the right.
That's about right.
Yeah, that is an old statistic.
And there was, of course, also Nick Ferrari, who, despite the apparent looming crisis headed towards the NHS, believed that, well, nurses should be sacked for refusing to take the jab.
But it seems, in short...
Slowly but surely, sanity is prevailing.
People are starting to chill out about Omicron a little bit by seeing the variant for the weak, pathetic worm that it actually is in comparison with previous world pandemics like the plague.
Well, actually, that wasn't a world pandemic, was it?
Yeah, old world was basically the world.
Yeah, I suppose so.
It counts, to my point.
So yes, if we proceed to see the announcements of the mild Omicron variants from Politics for All.
So the Omicron coronavirus variant is causing a milder disease than the Delta strain in most prisons.
UK government scientists are set to conclude.
Hooray.
Finally.
Finally.
You caught up with everyone else.
Yes.
Okay.
The day one, or whatever day it was after it got to the UK, the doctor who discovered it, as I'm sure you'll end up mentioning, came out and said, yeah, it's not as deadly as the other ones.
In fact, it's quite mild, and it's kind of a godsend by comparison.
Yeah.
And she said, look, let's just wait and see what happens.
But from the evidence in South Africa, it's little more than a slightly more contagious cold.
And that's, needless to say, nothing to freak out about.
What's interesting, if we move on to the next article here, is that this seems to have been announced in virtue or as a result of a study conducted by Imperial College London.
And the report says, or this article says, people who catch the Omicron variant of COVID may be less likely to end up in hospital, studies have suggested, amid rising case rates and the new restrictions across the UK nations.
Two new studies have suggested catching Omicron is less likely to result in severe symptoms and hospital admission than earlier COVID strains like Delta.
The new data was released after Boris Johnson faced calls to outline his post-Christmas COVID strategy for England as Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland have all announced new restrictions to tackle the variant.
Recorded case rates of COVID across the UK rose above 100,000 on Wednesday for the first time since the start of the pandemic, but new research from Imperial College London indicates that people with PCR-confirmed Omicron are 15-20% less likely to need admission to hospital, and 40-45% are less likely to require a stay of one night or more.
I mean, that is a massive...
If you wanted an Xmas gift in terms of this, I mean, that would be it.
Which one would you rather get?
And obviously, well, it's the one where I'm home in a day.
Nearly half are less likely to require a bed for a night.
Like, that's where we are.
Doesn't sound like much of a crisis, does it?
And yeah, at the same time, I think Wales is locking down for Christmas.
Haven't they announced they are going to do that?
Yes.
Yes, they have, and we are going to cover that as well, because, well, Mark Drakeford is a perpetually funny, entertaining buffoon.
You know what's hilarious?
He went to a Labour Party conference, and he gave a big speech, and his team did about how, look, in Wales, we've shown that the Labour Party can run a real government.
And it's just like, dude...
Outside of your bubble, you people are all that joke.
Making decisions about any reference to actual statistics, but still morally presenting himself, is doing the right thing nonetheless.
It's pretty typical of Labour Party.
That's pretty much what the Labour Party conference has been for the last three years.
That'll be the conference without masks as well.
Yes.
We all remember.
Yeah, of course.
But yeah, this is excellent news for anyone who had been listening to Dr Angelique Coatesy, who was the doctor who discovered the variant.
Had everyone been listening to her from the start, we would have known this from the very beginning.
Andrew Neil, believe it or not, did try to roll back on his attempt to blow this out of proportion, but I couldn't trace the tweet that I was looking for.
So we're going to move on to a tweet by Calvin Robinson, who actually mentioned that even this study that I referred to, or that GB News cited, Actually involved and was led by Professor Neil Ferguson, who has even said that the Omicron is, of course, well, a cold.
So if Professor Neil Ferguson is saying this, one of the famous doomsayers, then perhaps this is a sign that the current zeitgeist is going to shift in a more sensible direction.
They're finally looking at the science.
Yes, the scientists are finally looking at the science.
Nice.
Nice.
Okay.
Yes.
So if we proceed to the next one.
So as a result, no new restrictions are going to be enforced at England before Christmas, says Boris Johnson.
Of course, we knew that, or thought that maybe Boris would lean on this side of it.
But until it actually came from the horse's mouth, we were always open to the idea that he might be the same, shall we say, crepit version of himself that he was on that Sunday, what was it, a week and a half ago.
Yes.
So yes, he said he can't rule out any further measures after the 25th of December with Omicron spreading at a speed never seen before.
That's not my quote.
That's the BBC's quote.
But nonetheless, he clearly has seen some form of light, whether that be the unfairness of locking us down last year when his cohort kept partying or just seeing that Seeing this for what it is, essentially, there is no point.
Very cynical of me, I really don't think it was him seeing the science, and instead, because I remember John mentioning, before he made this announcement, there was a long, long cabinet meeting, and this is in the middle of us, we were covering all of the pressure on him about the fact that you clearly look a dick.
And we think you should be removed.
Bad PR, mate.
Yes.
And everyone around him being like, look, if you do this, we're just going to get rid of you.
Because you cannot be a man who's partying every day during Christmas while you lock everyone else down.
And then it comes out a year later and you're like, right, my response is to lock everyone down.
Yeah.
No one's buying it.
No.
No, he would never win another election again after that.
Well, I don't think he will anyway.
Well, actually, no, that's a fair point.
The position may have become even more untenable.
Yeah.
Thankfully, he has rescinded his muscular panicking about people getting boosted.
He's still, of course, advocating for it, but he's not being a nutjob about it.
And has come to the right conclusion and decision in the end.
But if we move on to the next BBC article, the BBC again has said, well, half of colds will be COVID, warn UK researchers, which means, well...
Half of colds will be COVID, so COVID is a cold then.
This is finally an admission from the state broadcaster that COVID is a cold.
I mean, I don't know how to read that.
That is what the BBC has reported.
Please no shoot me for quoting it.
Yeah.
But no, they say in this very article that early evidence suggests fewer people are needing hospital treatment than the previous variants, with estimates ranging from about 30% to a 70% reduction.
30% to 70% reduction.
Oh...
I don't mean to take the mic because, of course, COVID was not just a flu pro for a lot of people.
But this is where you're reminded that this is the BBC reporting on this matter.
But the concern remains that even if Omicron was milder, the sheer number of cases could overwhelm hospitals.
Are you looking at the statistics?
Your own reporting?
You're saying it's as bad as a cold.
Yeah.
And then you're like, yeah, it could overwhelm the hospitals.
Like, if the NHS is so bad, even if there's no flus going on and we just have a cold going around...
Which, no, the thing is screwed.
It needs abolishing.
It needs to be thought of as a secondary emergency for people who can't afford healthcare insurance at that point.
If 100,000 people are being reported to have a condition and are not going to hospital, that tends to suggest it's not that bad.
Does it not?
Well, I just laugh how we've gone from it's just a flu bro to it's just a cold bro, except the people saying it's just a cold bro at the BBC, which, okay, but that's the new one.
I mean, this is probably the closest we're going to get to someone, shall we say, on the obnoxious centre ground of the mainstream media, admitting that perhaps this has been a cold...
Since we started perpetuating this hysteria, or they started perpetuating the hysteria about Omicron, yes.
Of course, the Delta variants and Alpha variants were very different.
But, of course, these symptoms include, guess what, a sore throat, runny nose, and a headache.
If you have these symptoms, it's a good chance that it's COVID, warns the UK researchers.
And the Zoe COVID study team has been tracking the pandemic, using feedback from the general public, and estimates that half of these people will experience these cold-like symptoms.
They describe an explosion of COVID cases over the last week, driven by the new Omicron variant, and saying that, well, they're feeling slightly unwell, but they experience it as nonetheless a mild disease, and some don't even have symptoms at all.
I mean, of course, that was the case of the previous variants, but those who do experience the symptoms...
Is one of the symptoms death?
Can you die still?
Well, I suppose it could count.
But that's what I mean.
The whole argument for locking downs is, you know, lots of people are going to die needlessly, overwhelming and excess, blah, blah, blah.
I mean, I'm unaware of how many people have died of Omicron.
I remember there was one, which I remember us reporting on, which apparently turned out to not be the case, according to the hospital who was called.
But I don't know what the numbers are now, so...
Well, I've heard of several cases across the, well, three to be precise, across the, when we had the Alpha variant, and then the emergence of the Delta variant, where people have died as a result of different things, and nonetheless been cited as a coded, or sorry, written down as a COVID death.
Died with COVID. Yeah.
And, well, we of course have to bear that in mind when we look at this data.
if we go to the next clue of admission or should I say concession from the BBC which is Sazh Javid basically making it policy that self-isolation be cut from 10 days to 7 with negative tests wait but if you've got negative tests why do you have to isolate at all?
I don't know.
To be honest, I don't really...
I suppose maybe it's delayed?
Like you've got it and you get negative and then if you test again you get positive in a day?
You know what?
I actually don't...
This makes no sense at all.
Someone clip that.
You know, let's just move on and go straight to...
What was it?
Mark Drakeford.
Who has, of course, done exactly what anyone would expect of Mark Drakeford.
And tighten COVID restrictions because of a paralysis of UK government being unable to act.
Do we have the link?
Yes.
Oh, we'll cover this anyway.
But this is basically Isabel Oakeshott basically just saying exactly what it is.
Saying that Sage effectively cried wolf from the very beginning to cover its own backside, pretty much.
And that as a result, routine healthcare operations have been cancelled, care homes shut down.
Basically, we've...
It allowed the kids' education and shows that the quality of lives of literally everyone to be compromised because, well, pharmaceutical companies want to sell us more jabs, knowing that, of course, the disease is very, very, even if we can call it a disease, extremely mild.
And we should have listened to South Africa from the very start.
And she's, of course, hoping this will be a watershed moment, but sadly, I don't think that this is going to be the watershed moment.
No, but I mean, I guess we're at least starting to get a turn into reality.
Yes, yes.
By the way, the reason that the Mark Drakeford article didn't come up was because of an error on my part, but we are going to proceed with Mike Graham as the next.
Because even though Mike Graham is, I think it's fair to say, a bit of a misfiring canon on many issues, he makes a very good point about how Chris Whitty and Patrick Vallance have basically suffocated Boris from being Boris in saying that, well...
The hopefully optimistic figure that he was at the very start has basically been quashed by the pessimism that's been surrounding him.
And yes, should we listen to it from the horse's mouth?
With pushing this ridiculous nonsense about electric cars and heat pumps and wind turbines and all sorts of things that don't really work, and then pushing, of course, his latest lockdown philosophy, that has not been a good thing for Boris Johnson.
And I think for an awful lot of people, they'd like to see him getting back to basics, getting back to what he's probably best at, which is leading the nation in a way which actually inspires people.
Boris Johnson feels much more at home when he's waving a flag, when he's talking Britain up, not when he's trying to deal with a problem that he can't seem to solve.
He needs to get rid of Chris Whitty, he needs to get rid of Patrick Vallance, he needs to talk Sage out of the room and say to them, look, if you want to present me with the odd scientific paper...
That's absolutely fine and dandy.
If you want to present me occasionally with some advice about whether people should be going out for a walk for seven miles a day or six miles a day or whether they should be having a glass of Chateauneuf-du-Pape at six o'clock every Sunday evening, that's fine.
You can do that.
But do not, please, try to control.
Do not try to control the behaviour of the people of this country.
Do not consistently try to nudge people into doing things that they don't want to do.
Because that, ladies and gentlemen, is not Conservative Party politics.
It is not Conservative Party rule.
And it is not what Boris Johnson was elected to do.
It's that simple.
We want to hear more of your stories, though.
We've got Helen Dale coming up in the next day.
I can't discreet anything he just said there.
Yeah, I mean, what I would go further is him saying, oh, it's not part of conservative...
It's not part of democratic politics, either.
I mean, to have unelected, just random bureaucrats who work in their specific field, and that's all they know, say that, well, if we do this, that, that, that, and it's like, well, it's not your job to make the policy decisions, because you can't.
You don't have the amount of data, or the number of concerns, or the democratic legitimacy to make these decisions.
I mean, all of these things are missing.
This is why people hate Fauci and witty so much, is because, well, they've got no basis to be running the country.
It's not up to them.
Because, of course, they only see in their small segment of what they know instead of all the concerns about the economy or mental health or all the rest of it, which they're not lucky at.
Though they've been in the extraordinary position of assuming this legitimacy off of the basis of their expertise, about anyone actually outside having a say on it, and they've almost become the de facto rulers of the country.
And in Fauci's case, well, arguably more.
Yeah.
I mean, somehow managing to survive the transition and still being in charge after having every opinion under the sun about Canada.
It's extraordinary.
I mean, regrettably, we don't have the time to cover Mark Drakeford now, do we?
Or do we?
Do we have the time to cover Mark Drakeford?
Yeah, we can do it.
Okay, we'll cover Mark Drakeford because we said we would.
So yes, Mark Drakeford has decided that, well, the UK's paralysis of government, the government's paralysis, The government is just unable to act on this, basically, despite the fact that everything that we have shown shows that it's acted, if anything, too much, has actually taken too many precautions.
I don't know if you have it down, but it's like the funniest thing taking place in Wales right now, for people outside of the UK who might not know, is of course that if you go to work, you can get a fine, because you should be at home, but if you go to the pub, there is no fine.
Oh, brilliant.
So the Welsh government policy right now is, because of the COVID pandemic, go to the pub.
Yes.
Do it.
It's not going to work.
Do it.
Yes.
So yes, he's basically reintroduced the rule of six in hospitality venues, which will come into effect on Boxing Day after deciding basically not to wax on the decision that trying to save Granny from catching a cold doesn't really benefit anyone, not even Granny.
Of course, I'm speaking analogously.
But yes, that is very much it, Mark Drakeford, despite the fact that England seems to be waking up to the reality that Omicron is something we're just going to have to coexist with.
Of course, Scotland as well, I suppose.
There are still cases of resistance.
But yes, shall we move on to the video comments?
Let's go to the video comments.
comments go *sigh* 525 freaking pounds raised for charity Thank you so much, everyone who showed up to the stream.
It was incredible.
It was exhausting.
I need to go and collapse now.
You all take care and have a very Merry Christmas.
this.
You've all earned it.
Oh, good for you.
That's fantastic.
And everyone of you who went to the stream...
Yeah, thank you very much for your wishes.
Yeah, that's nice.
I like awesome stuff.
Let's go to the next one.
This is the original flooring in my kitchen.
I never think to take before videos, so I decided to do that before I replaced the flooring in my kitchen here.
And this is how it looked after we'd ripped out the kitchen island and all of the loose bits of linoleum on the floor and put down a floor leveler.
And this is how my new flooring in my kitchen looks.
I am really happy with the end result and I think it looks really nice.
Yeah, it looks slick, doesn't it?
What is that underneath, like, the curtains there?
Is that AC, or what is it?
It looks...
Yeah.
Okay, well, I mean, let us know, but also, yeah, good job.
Yeah, nice one.
Which is always as practical as you.
Constructive things are always good to see.
I recently decided to take my own advice and get a puppy.
My current dog was not pleased.
On television, when two characters need development together or haven't had enough screen time, usually the writers will put a situation together that forces the two characters in a tight situation in order to get along.
This is what's known as a bottle episode.
And you know what?
It worked.
Is that them getting along?
I've had dogs before.
That's a good sign of them getting along.
Unorthodox tactics, but nonetheless, kudos to you.
It seems to have worked.
Yeah, for people listening, he shoved them both in the cage together in a small space.
Fauci approved.
Dark joke.
No, he didn't look cruel at all.
That's neat.
I like doggos.
Good boys.
Go to the next one.
I love this already.
Merry Christmas, Callum.
Ho, ho, ho.
Now for the others.
Okay.
Is this a death threat or not?
Should you be scared or not?
I don't know.
I'm not opening any packages over the next couple of days, that's for sure.
I guess we'll have to wait to see where you end up in the next episode.
I don't know what to make of that.
I know it's comedic and all that, but it does kind of come up in a slight way in the back of my head where I'm like, are we being sent death threats by our own subscribers?
What did I do?
Mashallah.
Anyway, next one.
So there are a lot of sitters.
This one's for you, Callum.
In Norwegian we have a saying, a child's saying, which means goodbye on the toilet, you old chocolate.
And another one, which means don't be so apple handsome.
What's apple handsome?
Merry Christmas, I guess.
Being too fat, I assume?
That's my guess.
The goodbye your...
No, I'm not even going to say it.
That's gross.
That's just horrible.
Although I did learn there was one Norwegian insult.
I butchered it, because I remember I was talking to the TfL Spark about it.
I was trying to pronounce it.
I'm going to butcher it again.
It was like...
Which apparently meant, like, go and suck your father's...
Oh.
Yeah.
It's just...
Like, what an insult.
Like, we'd never use that in English.
No.
It's an actual insult.
We'd be like, what the fuck?
What's wrong with you?
Yeah.
No one would have been insulted by us either.
It's like, why are you saying that?
Yeah, like, you're the weird one now for saying that.
Yeah.
It's like when you see, like, Indian guys who have learned English shouting at each other, and they use the word bloody incorrectly, and they'll just say it, like, multiple times, and it's like, you bloody bloody bloody!
It's like, what?
Anyway, let's go to the next one.
Tony D and Little Joan with another legend of the pines from Globster Blobs and more.com is the story of the Cape May Sea Monster, a monster that washed up on shore of the carcass in 1921.
It was estimated to be 15 tons, 76 feet long, with 6 foot tusk.
And the most interesting thing is they got a picture right here.
Yeah.
That's pretty awesome.
Yeah.
Wow.
What was the headline on there?
I want to look that up now.
What's the name?
Where's the name?
I'm looking for...
As he wrote the name.
The Tusked Sea Monster of Cape May.
There we are.
Hang on.
The Tusked Sea Monster of Cape May.
I'm actually going to go look that up afterwards as well.
Sorry.
Thanks.
I hope you and Joan are having a very Merry Christmas as well.
I'm glad to find out that the video you said yesterday about the stories of the Pines and the Jersey Devil was in the end of it as well.
So, that's good.
Anyway, let's go to the written comments on the sites.
So, do you want to read out the ones for your ones?
Yes, yes.
So, we're at COVID spoilers, aren't we?
Yes.
So, what Student of History says, why do they continue to make these people who...
No, I'll read that out again.
Why do they continue to make these people who do sound somewhat off their rockers at times?
Completely and utterly correct.
Why not just make them unwilling, controlled opposition?
Why make them prophets?
What do you reckon?
I don't really understand what he's saying.
Who's he referring to again?
I think he's referring maybe to the eccentric Swedes.
Oh, right.
Yeah.
I mean, to be clear, we are talking about these weird tech Swedes, but at the same time, there is something weird about Swedish culture that I don't fully understand, but there is something definitely just like the conformity of it.
I mean, I've seen Angry Foreigner talk about this as well when he moved there.
Just like, very conformist.
Yes, I think a healthy scepticism of that could go a long way.
Yeah.
But Jimbo G says, if people have to get microchips so they can continue to be good consumers and not have to engage in reality, they will do.
Every anti-capitalist I know gets their ideas from social media, which literally collects your data so that it can be advertised to more efficiently.
We truly live in an age of telling people what to think of you, regardless of your own actions.
Yes.
I would say that the worlds we live in are increasingly almost imitating cybernetic feedback loops, you could like.
Do you remember the segment Carl Dirt where he was like, are we living in a cyberpunk post-apocalypse?
Yes, I do recall that.
Yeah, and it was a quite convincing argument when you looked at all the propaganda we have in our lives, especially in London or whatnot.
I mean, not so much out here, but if you go there especially, it's creepy.
And if everyone was going to start wearing chips, I mean, it's almost like they're taking the piss out of us.
Like, we watched the dystopian future and we're just going to make it.
Who agreed to this?
No, but the Swedes are sleepwalking into it.
Well, not sleepwalking, they're purposely walking.
Diving straight into it.
Yes, there he is!
Chet's Chris Holmes says, how could those of us who work in healthcare be against the jab?
Well, there are a lot of reasons.
A great many of us have gotten COVID and recovered, thus providing broad and long-lasting immunity to the virus.
We understand the risk versus benefit of receiving the medication.
We see firsthand what has happened to a number of our patients and our colleagues who have received the shot and have developed adverse reactions and are still struggling months later.
After Christmas, I will share with you a few of the conversations I have had with my colleagues regarding what we are seeing.
I have a nice white pill to share for tomorrow and I'll save the black pills for after the holidays.
Cheers, gents.
Yeah, that's also...
Thank you, but also that's a good plan.
We're trying to do that with the stuff we're trying to put up on the weekend, though.
Trying to make good things, because it'll be good fun for that period.
John Wade says, US passports have a metal foil shield to prevent malicious reading of the RFID. Have I read that correctly?
RFID. RFID, yes.
Do they have any blocking for the chips, or could bad actors just use it to detect when one of these chips comes within range of a harmful effect?
These people are space cadets.
Well, that's actually a very, very good point.
I mean, just imagine if terrorists could actually hack this.
Well, the government certainly can, but I don't know to what extent, because essentially you need the reader.
The reader generates the power that interacts with the passive piece of technology, let's say.
But I don't know why you couldn't make a system to rewrite someone's, and then all of a sudden you're not vaccinated, and therefore you're a not-person.
Yeah, I suppose you could, of course, attach it to some...
I mean, if, for example, blockchain is going to be, shall we say, the reality that we proceed to immerse ourselves in, then surely there'll be a way of syncing every decision that we make to this chip, which could make it possible for, I don't know, the Home Office to produce an algorithm for who is objectively or going to...
Going to, I suppose, turn into an incel or something like that.
Christ, I've literally just justified why there is an incentive for our own government to impose this now.
Or anyone else's government for that matter.
It's never negotiable.
This is not negotiable to be able to.
I mean, if this is ever even voluntarily made available in the UK, I'm not even sure I feel about that.
No, I will think less of you if you take it.
I'm not even sure if it was in government I'd allow it to even take place.
No.
Nah, come on, no.
We're not going into a future of everyone getting chipped.
I don't care what anyone thinks.
It's not happening.
No.
Anyway, Omar Awad says...
What was it?
INB4. Mandatory chip implants.
InB4.
InB4.
I'm terrible at this.
It's like 4chan speak, so don't worry.
Managing chip implants are vital to public safety.
Don't want to be one of the unchipped.
Chipless?
There's potential for the entire industry of full-body RFID blocking clothes and tech.
Foreign governments, Amazon, Facebook, thieves are salivating at the potential for data harvesting.
100%.
Yeah.
100%.
When he mentions combining it to be able to pay for stuff, I mean, I imagine you could put an RFID reader or an NFC reader in...
A laptop or computer or whatever, and then you just, you know, tick, there we are.
That's how you purchase the thing as well.
I mean, could you imagine what's going to happen to the very bad man, for example?
The Romlin Tomlinson, or whatever, another fake name we have to use now because I can't say his name, who is banned from PayPal and his own bank and has to carry around, like, physical cash.
I mean, we're moving into a world already where you have to use cards for everything.
If you go to Tesco in this town, for example, you have to wait in this huge-ass queue for, like, one area to pay for cash.
Oh my god, yeah.
And all the self-service is cards only.
So either you've got a card or your life is already just...
Measurably worse.
So Lord Voldemort, or British Voldemort, which literally spends his life probably just queuing all of the time.
If he's in a similar situation here, yeah.
You want to buy some bread?
Well, you better get in the bread line.
Because all of us privileged people are going to go tap.
And you can't, because no bank will take you.
Because of your political opinions.
Jesus.
And they combine that with a chip.
Literally every bank.
Yeah.
Extraordinary.
Any bank he goes to, they're just like, nah, bye.
Okay.
Reesim says that literally everything the conspiracy theorists were saying about the COVID vaccine are coming true.
Yeah.
Sweden sure are living the mantra of using a crisis to your advantage.
I hope it stays there.
However, seeing how things are going up next, this will be mandatory vaccines with mandatory chips.
If this were to pass, we must uphold non-compliance as governments only hold power if we follow their demands.
Well, I think we should uphold a non-compliance position now if mandatory vaccines are...
Well, of course, I think the overwhelming majority of people would oppose that anyway.
They better do.
Yeah, they better do.
I would non-comply with restrictions in general, for that matter.
Justin B says, why would you want all your personal information listed on a chip that anyone can access?
That's what I would ask the Swedes, but they seem to like it.
Someone could read that without him realising and people could get whatever information he puts on there.
Does the PDF of his vaccine passport have his name, address, medical number, etc?
Way to increase the instances of identity theft.
Yeah.
Yeah, pretty much.
So Nick Medich says, Hey Lotus Eaters, I also have an NFC chip implanted in my hand, for fun.
I think people should be able to modify their bodies if they want.
I don't see the difference between a tattoo or a tiny chip in my hand.
The only difference is that I can remove the chip with a tiny incision, and it won't leave any permanent scar tissue.
I was curious about the technology and have used this chip to open some of my doors.
But I'm an electronics hobbyist and do not see this as a viable option for other people.
Just because I implanted a chip for fun does not mean I endorse the government doing this, obviously.
Okay, but I still don't understand why you would put it.
It's just the technology itself.
You can obviously see that there's very little really good you could do out of this.
There isn't just a slight time save, but there is tremendous evil you can do with this technology.
I don't want to get all Luddite on everyone, because obviously that's not really a solution to anything.
But I'm very much like, this is the AI of the 40k universe, which is like, nah, bang.
No, not allowed.
But that's just me looking at it.
I can get why you might think, oh, you know, neat technology.
I get that aspect, obviously.
But...
I mean, if it's for fun, you could say it sounds harmless, but the more and more people start doing things like this for fun, it becomes kind of normative, and then it becomes much, much easier for it to be used for political ends.
So I would still say, Nick, don't do it.
Take the bloody thing out is what I would do.
But again, I'm just immediately thinking of, say, the CCP or other such nations nearby.
But Cameron Dayton says that there is only one set of implants I will ever consider going into my body, and that's the stuff to make me a post-human, trans-human warrior.
I am Astratis?
I don't know what that is.
Otherwise, loading bolt pistol.
To be honest, I wouldn't even do that.
I wouldn't outsource any of my agency to technology.
I don't know.
There is something funny about transhumanism.
It's like, either you do it or you don't, though, don't you?
Like, I don't like the idea of doing it in the slightest, but if we do end up in that dystopia, I mean, yeah, as he says, becoming an Astartes would be good fun.
I don't know what that is.
So, for 40k.
So, Space Marines.
Oh, fair.
Oh, okay.
Well, Alexander L. says the Swedish microchips are just NFC tags.
Some insane technology behind contactless card readers and door entry tags.
Also, the exact same technology as microchipping pets.
It's not new or novel technology, just a bit creepy.
Well, It's not the fact that it's a chip, it's the fact that it's in a human.
I've said I've got an NFC tag that I kept as a bit of a meme to be like, haha, look at my phone number in your phone already.
But I can throw that in the sea.
I don't need that.
I can destroy it.
I don't have my identity tied to it, especially my COVID records or anything of the sort.
And then to accept it, or at least have it normal, you can have it in your hands, and then be promoting it as like, yeah, we should be doing this.
The very idea that all of that sensitive information is physically inside of you is itself disturbing.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So it's...
Again, I get what you're saying, but I do think that you have to raise the level of severity for the fact that it's in the human organism.
That's not a nothing burger.
No, no.
As Americans measure things.
Jimbo G says, In the future, everyone will be microchipped and the chip will contain all of your sensitive details.
Just walking down the street will have you passively scanned against your will.
It reminds me of the Edward Snowden prediction about how people who criticise the government can be circumstantially placed at the scene of an unresolved crime.
Trent Collicutt says, if you start putting all that information in a chip in their hand, like the idea that you can use it to open doors and access your bank accounts, how long will it be before people start getting their hands chopped off?
Going all Congo on the situation.
Yeah.
Yeah, I mean, if someone did have a chip in their hand, you could steal their hand and get their entire life savings.
Yeah, I can see that happening.
Yeah, I can see that.
Especially in London with all the machés.
Yeah, so...
Might need to think about that again, Sweden.
BaseApe says, the worst thing about this technology is that there is no...
I'm really...
I feel like I'm being racist in this episode.
I'm sorry.
I'm so sorry, Sweden.
I thought you were making your reference to all the Somali immigration to Sweden.
Never mind.
Anyway.
BaseApe says, the worst thing about this technology is that there is no authentication security.
What's to stop me tapping my phone against your arm and suddenly I have your name, address, health status, bank details, etc.?
I don't know that much about the technology, but if that's true, then, well, that is concerning, isn't it?
This was a worry when they brought about contactless cards, for example, that someone could make a card reader and then just charge people on the train walking past.
So the limitations for the card, I think, have been reduced, like it can't transfer that far or whatever.
So that's one solution, but to have it in your hand again, I don't know how you...
Yeah, well, you could pull off this trick with a simple handshake, but literally...
Sure.
I mean, you'd have to have some kind of power source in your hand.
Yeah, but you could, for example, I don't know, turn a contactless payment device into a chip somehow.
Someone will do that.
Then it's just one chip in close proximity with another.
Or you could just have it hidden in your hand.
Unless it's a transaction.
Like a magician.
Yeah, or you could do that.
But it's frightening nonetheless.
Yeah.
Anyway, on the Ukraine scuffle.
So Samuel Candy says, thoughts on the Ukrainian pig meme?
I don't know what that is.
No, I don't either.
John, can you Google the Ukrainian pig meme?
Find out whatever that is.
I imagine it's going to be something vulgar, but that's good.
Anyway, so Yuri Pol says, on the Russian invasion, some experts say it's a PR bluff.
In this way, Putin can secure some influence and signed papers, like Ukraine unable to enter NATO. Yeah, I have seen some of that, and that's the best possible outcome, let's say.
While Biden and the other EU leaders can proudly display their ability to prevent World War III, which, in truth, was never supposed to happen.
True war could be lost and implies a lot of graves, things that Putin is not eager to face, while hybrid one is perfect for him, and for now he has some advantages.
He already received more than he could dream of, served on a silver platter by Biden.
Yeah, I've seen this perspective, and there have been quite a few commentators who have had that perspective as well, and I hope it's that, but there's never any reason to think that this can't take place, nor that Russia isn't capable of it, nor that there aren't advantages to him for doing it.
The only thing that comes to mind immediately is the fact that a lot of his previous engagements saying like Georgia or whatever, it's you go in, you strike hard, you end up making a breakaway state.
And it means Georgia's negotiations about joining NATO just evaporated.
They're not talking about that anymore.
And I imagine that's what he was hoping with with Ukraine.
Yeah.
And it doesn't seem to have stopped that train, which maybe threatens him a hell of a lot more than worth thinking because...
Of course, the border there with Ukraine and Russia is huge.
And so far, NATO's only bordered them on the Estonian border, I think.
Yeah.
Which is, you know, not so bad for them.
But anyway, it's a hell of a mess.
I see John's loaded up Caucasian pygmy street.
Ukrainian street?
I imagine not.
He's saying meme.
So some kind of meme, he says.
Right?
So it was Ukrainian pig's meme.
So pig.
Pig meme.
So I don't know.
But you're asking me like I know.
I don't know.
Yeah, that's it.
Yeah.
Oh, yeah, I know about this.
Okay.
Yeah.
No.
Baron von Warhawk says, when it comes to Ukraine's situation, I don't think the American people would be willing to fight for a corrupt crap hole like Ukraine.
I doubt most Americans would have faith that Biden can lead us to victory over Putin.
You could justify the wars in the Middle East because of the 9-11 attacks.
Yeah, you could try.
Yeah.
But Russia has done nothing lately to justify to the American people why we need to intervene.
I'm not sure most Americans can even find Ukraine on a map.
But in our defense, most Ukrainians probably couldn't find the state of Maryland on a map.
Yeah, that's probably true as well.
But I think...
I don't know.
I don't see much justifying the West having an interest here, which is why my prediction was that we'll sit around and do nothing, which isn't the case for, say, Poland or Estonia, because we've made justifications there, we've made guarantees of independence and defense, and if anything was to happen to them, then we'd have to intervene to save our credibility if nothing else.
But with Ukraine...
The defense is their concern.
It's not ours.
Student of history, quite violent.
You're a polite child, aren't you, Callum?
Yeah, it's a hellhole.
Justin B, the thing about Ukraine is, if we don't object slash stop them, where will they stop?
Also, as for joining NATO, Russia has already blocked that.
There is apparently a requirement of no border disputes before a country can join, so while Russia is pushing, Ukraine cannot actually join.
I don't know about that second point.
I have heard that.
Yeah, I don't know how that measures though, of course, because even if they were to crush Donbass and secure that problem, you still have the Crimean problem, which no one agrees on that, so I don't know.
But on the point of where will we stop them?
Well, it's not like Putin's going to move down into Moldova or something.
I don't think he would have any such concerns.
But again, physical war where he actually invades the whole country, cuts off supplies and puts in a puppet.
It is the last resort.
You have to start wondering if this is an invasion of Ukraine and he takes Ukraine, is he then going to proceed to the other Balkan states?
Probably not.
The gamble's just not worth it.
I mean, Romania's a part of NATO, for example, so you can't physically get down there.
You'd have to work with Serbia to do something, and then, you know, what's the point in that?
There's no massive incentive, I don't see, for going anywhere else.
I mean, maybe Kazakhstan, but not worth it either.
I'm not sure if it would be accurate to think of Putin as someone who has a vision of Russia as on the march.
Yeah, I saw a lot of comparisons to him and Hitler, and Hitler's version of Lebensraum and all that.
It doesn't stack up.
He's got different concerns and is living in a different world, which, you know, I'm not saying we shouldn't try to oppose him and all the rest of it, obviously.
That's a huge concern, is about, you know, the way he runs his country is against him.
I think it is.
But he's not Adolf Hitler who's looking to then move on to Poland or something.
No.
That doesn't seem to be the case.
No, I don't think so.
Anyway.
Maybe wrong.
We'll always find out, won't we?
We're in the trenches together.
The answer from the UK was no.
So, at least from our government.
Callum Dighton says, thanks for doing this segment on Ukraine for us Lotus Eaters.
I personally may have known half of the stuff going in and about the Ukraine, but I really like that you covered this and brought a good all round up to date sit rep on Ukraine.
Personally, I really don't want Ukraine subjugated by Russia again, but I certainly don't want all of all out war with the East, considering how weak morally, militarily and economically Yeah, thanks, I guess.
I mean, I agree, pretty much.
Yeah.
That must have been spews.
I mean, I do find the whole European Revolution very suspect, because it's like...
I mean, I don't know enough details, so Ukrainians, you know, don't shoot me.
But the fact that Yanukovych had another year in office, I was like, why can't you just wait until next year and then beat him in an election?
I don't know.
Anyway, Karen M says, I fully support our refusal to send troops to Ukraine.
Everyone knows we're not able to protect our own border from invasion by dinghy.
That's true.
Surely we would not be any good at defending someone else's against the Russian army and their tanks and their guns.
Yeah, we'll deal with the sea people first.
Thank you very much, is a justified response.
Free will 2-1-1-2.
The Russians might well grab Ukraine up to the Dniep River, and possibly its estuary as well, leaving the rump Ukraine state landlocked and even more dependent on Russia for access to all the sea.
I mean, that's an interesting point.
I mean, the other aspect of this is he could just ramp up support for the rebels.
It's not like he hasn't sent Russian troops, the little green men, in there before.
So maybe there'll just be a huge breakout in which half the force is fighting and probably Russians, and then he'll die and be like, oh, they're just rebels, my bro.
It's not my guys, bro.
Yeah, I mean, that's another possible outcome of this, but we'll see, won't we?
Yeah, we will.
We'll just have to observe.
Anyway, not trying to make predictions, not trying to say what's right, because I know that's going to get me in a hell of a hot water, and instead I'll just say what's taking place.
Yeah, and it's a difficult matter as well.
Let's move on.
Anyway, Jimbo G says on the subject of Omicron being a cold, trust the science.
Not that scummy South African science.
Trust our science.
Don't listen to Oxford epidemiologists who are saying the new measures are an overreach.
That's the wrong science.
Yeah, pretty much.
I mean, that's exactly how it is.
How does the shaman make the lightning come, Thomas?
Yeah.
Do you remember that?
I don't.
Okay, never mind.
We'll have to talk about that at the end.
Ignacio Junquera says, Omic1 is highlighting the lunacy of this entire situation, confronted to the fact that cases being massively up, but ICU beds being empty and deaths, though politicians and obedience people still go into a panicked frenzy.
I now will not see any of my family for Christmas because they see the big scary number and I don't want to see anyone.
Especially for me and my girlfriend who are unvaccinated.
Sad, effing sad.
Well, I'm really sorry to hear that.
That's genuinely awful.
Yeah, I mean, that's the other aspect of this that's annoying.
Again, the government doesn't have to take any responsibility for it because they've enforced it.
But a lot of the population, or at least a segment of the population...
Are doing insane things like saying, I won't see my family for Christmas, even if they're all vaccinated and all the rest of it, because threat.
Yeah.
And who's to blame for that?
The government.
Yeah.
And the culture of fear that they've propagated.
Yeah.
So I'm really, really sorry to hear that.
I do hope they changed their mind for you.
Anyway, Chango98 says, That's one-fifth of all clinical NHS staff in the country.
That would be an abject disaster.
There were some statistics on this.
I think it was Steve Baker released it.
It was about 100,000 staff or contractors that had been removed from the NHS because of the mandate.
Yeah.
So, I mean, there you go.
Yeah.
But it is easy to forget, isn't it, that there are other things that the NHS is for other than treating COVID patients.
There is.
Like what?
Yeah, it's unbelievable, really.
It's just reification in and of itself, but it would be an abject disaster.
And the very fact that this idea has even been entertained is pretty sickening, to be quite honest.
David Shipton says, I'm with Callum.
I think Boris changed his mind with the change in the polls.
And I actually, I've come round to your view as well.
I very much think that is the case.
So yes, general comments.
Puntgun says, stone monuments under the ice of Antarctica.
Thoughts?
Is that the one the Russians put there?
I don't know.
I know they put a flag there at one point.
They were just like, yes, we claim the sea for Russia.
I know they knew no one was going to take it seriously, but it's just a really funny meme.
They had this submersible go down all the way underneath, and they were just like, yes, North Pole belongs to us.
It's like, okay.
I assume that's what he's referencing.
Yeah, I wouldn't know.
Anyway, otherwise I have no idea.
But David Shipman says, Merry Christmas!
And a happy new year.
And on that note, it's time to win the show.
So, if you'd like more from us, go to loisius.com, subscribe, get access to premium content that way, and also help fund the show.
And also go and check out all the things I mentioned in the intro.
Otherwise, we'll be back tomorrow.
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