Chief Stipe

Group One winning trainer bows out By NZ Racing Desk - August 19, 2021 Share Andrew Campbell (right) pictured with Tommy Heptinstall. Photo: Trish Dunell Andrew Campbell has become the second high-profile trainer in the past week to announce his retirement. Last week Stephen McKee, famous as the co-trainer of champion racemare Sunline, went public on his intention to pull stumps at his South Auckland operation, and it can now be confirmed that Campbell is following suit. The Cambridge-based horseman, likewise a Group One trainer per the outstanding sprinter-miler Tavistock, recently sold the property that he bought in 2017 after training from Masterton’s Opaki racecourse for more than 20 years. Campbell worked as a plumber in Wellington before opting for life in the Wairarapa developing and trading horses. His focus changed some 15 years ago when he met Wellington real estate guru Tommy Heptinstall, who encouraged him to raise the bar in partnership with a syndicate of investors. That’s how he became the trainer and part-owner of Tavistock, purchased as a Karaka yearling for $85,000, champion sprinter-miler of his year with earnings around $600,000 and retired to stud with a value of more than $3 million. As a sire, Tavistock was the source of Campbell’s Gr.3 New Zealand Cup (3200m) winner Gobstopper and his brother Werther, a dual Derby placegetter in Australia before his sale to Hong Kong, where he became Horse of the Year. At age 54, Campbell departs his profession with mixed feelings yet convinced that life as a trainer has lost its allure. Rising costs versus returns, sourcing staff and other challenges have become a burden, but a recent run-in with racing’s judiciary has fast-tracked his decision. Earlier this month Campbell pleaded guilty to presenting a horse at a Cambridge trial meeting in May with a banned substance in its system, incurring a fine of $2,500. The unnamed two-year-old did not compete after dropping his rider and being late scratched, but ironically it had been randomly selected for a pre-trial swab which was to reveal traces of the anti-inflammatory corticosteroid dexamethasone. At the subsequent Racing Integrity Board hearing on August 9, Campbell stated that the horse had a slight puffy eye, and he was given an ointment by his vet to treat it. He applied a fingertip amount to the eye on the afternoon before the horse trialled the next day. He was not aware that Dexamethasone was a prohibited substance. Despite an acceptance that the amount could not have influenced the horse’s performance, and that the only intention in applying the ointment was for the horse’s welfare, Campbell was found culpable on a presentation charge. The horse concerned has since been named Riverplate and won a subsequent trial before finishing second on debut to talented filly Mustang Valley at Te Rapa in June. He is scheduled to be flown this week to Melbourne, where he will continue his career. “I had already made up my mind to finish in November, but when they came at me like that, I decided I’d had enough, that was the final nail in the coffin,” Campbell said. “I’ve never been big on vets and I’m definitely no cheat, so it’s been tough having to deal with what is my first supposed breach of the rules. It’s not a good feeling. “Life as a trainer is a big enough battle without having to deal with that sort of stuff. Staffing and costs that just keep going up are making it impossible. “My family and I have to work every Sunday because the cost of employing people is simply too much, so now I’m actually looking forward to packing up and heading back to the Wairarapa to enjoy life.” Heptinstall, who now lives in Melbourne and has gradually migrated the bulk of his racing team to the likes of Victoria-based expats Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young and South Australian Michael Hickmott, supports Campbell fully in his decision to relinquish his licence. “I don’t blame Andrew at all,” he said. “As if trying to get by as a trainer in New Zealand isn’t tough enough, to get treated like that for something so insignificant is just too tough on such a genuine guy. “Talk about using a brick to kill a fly, it’s pathetic.” Campbell harbours no regrets at the path his profession has taken him, most of all for the people he has been associated with and the horses that have been integral to that. “Racing has been a wonderful game,” he said. “I’ve had plenty of good times with some fantastic people who have become lifetime friends. “It’s just a bloody shame it has to end like this.” He had intended for Tannahill to be his final raceday starter at Cambridge on Wednesday, but with the abandonment of the meeting due to COVID lockdown, the final curtain will now be at Saturday’s rescheduled meeting. “I’ve entered him for Saturday and hopefully he’ll be a starter,” Campbell said. “That will be it though, end of story.”

Toy Show favourite under injury cloud Trainer Jamie Richards has Entriviere in Australia. Picture: AAP By Mitch Cohen 12:38pm • 19 August 2021 3 Comments Emerging Kiwi star Entriviere will need to pass a veterinarian check to take her place in Saturday’s Group 3 Toy Show Quality at Randwick after the race favourite was found to be mildly lame on Thursday morning. Trainer Jamie Richards has informed Racing NSW stewards that his visiting raider was mildly lame in the off-fore leg after working at Randwick. The talented daughter of Tavistock has been treated by a stable vet and had poultice applied to the area of concern but now is in doubt for her first-up assignment on Australian shores. She will be inspected by Racing NSW General Manager of Veterinary Services Dr Tob Koenig before the $160,000 feature to ascertain if she is able to take her place in the field. Richards, who remains in New Zealand, was hopeful Entriviere would still be able to take her place. “It’s hard to know when you can’t be there but there is still a chance we will get her there provided she passes all the right protocols and processes,” he said. “I am presuming the stewards will look at her and if we are happy with her we will go there 100 per cent. “If she can’t there is certainly something down the line for her, whether that be the Sheraco Stakes (September 11) or something else.” Entriviere has been a drifting favourite from $3.10 to $3.50 with TAB fixed odds for the Toy Show after drawing the extreme outside in barrier 19 for her first-up run. Richards will instruct James McDonald to ride Entriviere with cover from the horror draw if she runs in the race. The five-year-old is Te Akau Racing’s top seed to earn a berth in the $2m The Invitation later this spring where she is currently rated a $9 third elect. Entriviere made the trip to Sydney alongside Golden Rose contender Sword Of State, who will line up in a 850m barrier trial at Randwick on Friday. The trial will also feature Golden Slipper winner Stay Inside and The Everest hope Lost And Running.

Winx Stakes: Final field and barrier draw Verry Elleegant (red/blue) is favourite for the Winx Stakes. Photo: Mark Evans/Getty Images By Mitch Cohen 12:42pm • 18 August 2021 4 Comments Superstar mare Verry Elleegant is drawn to get every chance of defending her Winx Stakes crown as she leads a five-pronged Chris Waller assault of the first Group 1 of the season at Randwick. Leading jockey James McDonald will be in the hot seat on the early favourite from barrier five as Verry Elleegant looks to get her spring campaign off to winning start in consecutive years. Verry Elleegant highlighted her versatility when hanging tough to outpoint Star Of The Seas in the same race 12 months ago. A field of 14 has accepted for the $500,000 weight for age event over 1400m in 2021. Star Of The Seas (barrier nine) will line up in the Group 1 again alongside fellow Waller-trained spring contenders Kolding (10), Imaging (six) and Hungry Heart (3) – her first run since her Australian Oaks win. Waller has won the five of the past six editions of the Winx Stakes, named in honour of his former star mare which won three times from 2016 to 2018. Godolphin only elected to accept with Doncaster Mile winner Cascadian, which will jump from barrier seven, with stablemate Colette set to line up next week in the Group 1 Memsie Stakes. Mo'unga will make his return. Photo: Mark Evans/Getty Images Tommy Berry will be forced to navigate from gate 12 when he pilots the talented Mo’unga in his highly-anticipated spring return while the younger brother of Fierce Impact, Keiai Nautique (4), will make his Australian debut. George Ryder Stakes winner Think It Over (2) shed his undergo tag in a sensational autumn and should be ready to fire from a handy draw in his first up assignment. A pair of Cups nominated imports will lead Hawkes Racing’s hunt for more major glory with the classy Master Of Wine (8) joined by Mount Popa (1). The chances of veteran galloper Dreamforce took a hit after the John Thompson galloper drew barrier 11 with the John Sargent-trained Brandenburg (13) and Bjorn Baker’s She’s Ideel (14) also drawing wide. The Winx Stakes has a sensational support card with Group 2 Silver Shadow Stakes, Group 3 Show Country Quality and Group 3 Toy Show Quality all drawing strong fields. Racing is expected to take place on a good track with Randwick rated a Good (4) at acceptance time and clear weather forecast until the weekend. Kolding will make his return. Photo: Mark Evans/Getty Images WINX STAKES FIELD – (Number – Horse – Trainer – Jockey – Barrier – Weight) 1 KOLDING (NZ) Chris Waller Tim Clark (10) 59kg 2 THINK IT OVER Kerry Parker Brenton Avdulla (2) 59kg 3 CASCADIAN (GB) James Cummings Hugh Bowman (7) 59kg 4 DREAMFORCE John Thompson Nash Rawiller (11) 59kg 5 IMAGING (GB) Chris Waller Ms Kathy O‘Hara (6) 59kg 6 STAR OF THE SEAS (NZ) Chris Waller Jay Ford (9) 59kg 7 KEIAI NAUTIQUE (JPN) Matthew Smith Glen Boss (4) 59kg 8 MASTER OF WINE (GER) Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes (8) 59kg 9 BRANDENBURG (NZ) John Sargent Ms Rachel King (13) 59kg 10 MOUNT POPA (IRE) Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes (1) 59kg 11 MO’UNGA (NZ) Annabel Neasham Tommy Berry (12) 58.5kg 12 VERRY ELLEEGANT (NZ) Chris Waller James McDonald (5) 57kg 13 SHE’S IDEEL Bjorn Baker Jason Collett (14) 57kg 14 HUNGRY HEART Chris Waller Kerrin McEvoy (3) 56.5kg Recent winners: 2020 – Verry Elleegant 2019 – Samadoubt 2018 – Winx 2017 – Winx 2016 – Winx

Covid-19 vaccines for children: hypothetical benefits to adults do not outweigh risks to children July 13, 2021 As the majority of adults in multiple rich western countries have now received at least one dose of a covid-19 vaccine, the focus is turning to children. While there is wide recognition that children’s risk of severe covid-19 is low, many believe that mass vaccination of children may not just protect children from severe covid-19, but also prevent onward transmission, indirectly protecting vulnerable adults and helping end the pandemic. However, there are multiple assumptions that need to be examined when judging calls to vaccinate children against covid-19. First, the disease in children is commonly mild, and serious sequelae remain rare. Despite “long covid” recently garnering increased attention, two large studies in children show that prolonged symptoms are uncommon and overall similar or milder in children testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 compared to those with symptoms from other respiratory viruses. The US Centre for Disease Control (CDC) estimates put the infection fatality rate from covid-19 among children 0 to 17 years old at 20 per 1,000,000. Hospitalization rates are also very low, and have likely been overestimated. Furthermore, a large proportion of children have already been infected with SARS-CoV-2. The CDC estimates 42% of US children aged 5 to 17 years have been infected by March 2021. Given that SARS-CoV-2 infection induces a robust immune response in the majority of individuals, the implication is that the risks covid-19 poses to the pediatric population may be even lower than generally appreciated. In the clinical trial underlying the authorization of Pfizer-BioNTech’s mRNA vaccine in children aged 12 to 15, of the close to 1000 children who received placebo, 16 tested positive for covid-19, compared to none in the fully vaccinated group. Given this low incidence, the fact that covid-19 is generally asymptomatic or mild in children, and the high rate of adverse events in those vaccinated (e.g. in Pfizer’s trial of 12-15 year olds, 3 in 4 kids had fatigue and headaches, around half had chills and muscle pain, and around 1 in 4 to 5 had a fever and joint pain), a comparison of quality-adjusted life-years in the trial would very much favour the placebo group. Potential benefits from the vaccine, including protection of children against severe covid-19 or long covid, or covid-19 months in the future, could affect this balance, but such benefits were not shown in the trial and remain hypothetical. Even if one assumes protection against severe covid-19, given its very low incidence in children, an extremely high number would need to be vaccinated in order to prevent one severe case. Meanwhile, a large number of children with very low risk for severe disease would be exposed to vaccine risks, known and unknown. Thus far, Pfizer’s mRNA vaccine has been judged by Israel’s government as likely linked to symptomatic myocarditis, with an estimated incidence between 1 in 3000 to 1 in 6000 in men ages 16 to 24. Furthermore, the long term effects of gene-based vaccines, which involve novel vaccine platforms, remain essentially unknown. In terms of the risk of transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from children to adults, this is also low and decreasing, though not negligible. School teachers are more likely to get SARS-CoV-2 from other adults than they are from their students. The contribution of schools to community transmission has been consistently low across jurisdictions. In addition, considering estimates that 42% of those aged 5 to 17 years in the US are now post-covid, this should only lower the risk of transmission from children. Add to this the fact that most adults in rich western countries have received at least one dose of covid-19 vaccine—around 80% of UK adults now have SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, whether from past infection or from vaccination—and it seems the opportunities for children to be vectors of transmission to adults are dwindling. Given all these considerations, the assertion that vaccinating children against SARS-CoV-2 will protect adults remains hypothetical. Even if we were to assume this protection does exist, the number of children that would need to be vaccinated to protect just one adult from a bout of severe covid-19—considering the low transmission rates, the high proportion of children already being post-covid, and most adults being vaccinated or post-covid—would be extraordinarily high. Moreover, this number would likely compare unfavourably to the number of children that would be harmed, including for rare serious events. A separate, but crucial question is one of ethics. Should society be considering vaccinating children, subjecting them to any risk, not for the purpose of benefiting them but in order to protect adults? We believe the onus is on adults to protect themselves. In multiple jurisdictions around the world, the vast majority of adults, including those that are at high risk, have not been fully vaccinated against covid-19. If the goal is to protect adults, shouldn’t efforts be focused on ensuring adults are fully vaccinated rather than targeting children? Further, it is highly inequitable to be vaccinating very low risk children in wealthy countries while many vulnerable adults in low-income countries have not had any doses. There is no need to rush to vaccinate children against covid-19—the vast majority stands little to benefit, and it is ethically dubious to pursue a hypothetical protection of adults while exposing children to harms, known and unknown. The risk/benefit consideration may be different in children at relatively higher risk of severe disease, such as those who are obese or immunocompromised. Otherwise, the focus should be on ensuring safe and effective vaccines are available for the adult populations which stand the most to benefit, especially those at high risk. In the meantime, there should be ongoing active evaluation of risks to youth, including research into risk factors for severe covid-19 and the impact of new variants, as well as ongoing evaluation of vaccine efficacy and safety. There should also be ongoing evaluation of the protection afforded by infection-induced immunity relative to vaccine-induced immunity, especially in youth. See also: Should we delay covid-19 vaccination in children? Elia Abi-Jaoude, Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, ON, Canada Peter Doshi, Department of Pharmaceutical Health Services Research, University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, Baltimore Claudina Michal-Teitelbaum, Preventive Medicine, Independent Researcher, Lyon, France Competing interests: PD has received travel funds from the European Respiratory Society (2012) and Uppsala Monitoring Center (2018); grants from the FDA (through University of Maryland M-CERSI; 2020), Laura and John Arnold Foundation (2017-22), American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (2015), Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (2014-16), Cochrane Methods Innovations Fund (2016-18), and UK National Institute for Health Research (2011-14); was an unpaid IMEDS steering committee member at the Reagan-Udall Foundation for the FDA (2016-20), and is an editor at The BMJ. EAJ and CMT have no relevant financial conflicts of interest to declare. The views and opinions expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect official policy or position of the University of Maryland or the University of Toronto. Acknowledgment: The authors wish to thank Jennie Lavine for her comments on this article. Not commissioned, peer reviewed.

I'd be very surprised to see TAB NZ agree to that but I guess we live in hope.

It's OK hell if our 1965 Hercules C-130 can make it to Afghanistan and back then we can do anything! Just be kind.

I'm ready for civil unrest. Hell our airforce has been sent to Afghanistan there won't be much resistance!

Mmmmmm New Zealand Racing closed down for 1 case. Will Royal Randwick proceed with 400+ cases per day?

Look on the brightside at least you won't be viewing Fixed Odds skewed in the TAB's favour by providing odds on balloted out horses. Although I note that there are less and less balloted out horses now than when the Cambridge AWT started.

So you have to have "inside information" now to know what was once public information able to be seen by all stakeholders? How do we know it is accurate? I didn't make the assertions or post assumptions on BOAY that others had. I queried how did they knew when the data had not been published. As far as I'm concerned if it hasn't been publicly published like it has in years gone by then I doubt its veracity. Has the administration of TAB NZ and the Racing Codes fallen to the level of secret squirrels, not what you know but who you know, smoke and mirrors, BS and arse covering? If Harness Stakeholders don't have access to the key information such as how many NZ Harness races were exported (were ALL NZ Harness races exported?) AND what the turnover was on those exported races how can our administrators be held accountable let alone supported? You believe it is correct but how do you know? In the past EVERYONE who wanted to know could find the information. Now some of us are reliant on trusting the likes of you and @JJ Flash who have inside information and who trust what they have been told. I assure you it isn't just to appease me - any stakeholder in the industry should have a desire to know whether their administrators and code is performing and getting a fair deal. I shouldn't have to ring him. He should have published the information that supposedly he has at his fingertips instead of getting a PR consultant to write nonsensical press releases. It used to happen before McKenzie and Co started to dominate things why has it stopped?

They might be in the queues at the Supermarket. Or... They are expecting the Transpower prediction of a power emergency tonight to come true.

The fact is there has been no comprehensive breakdown of performance from either NZRB/RITA/TAB NZ or the three codes since November 2019 for the year ending 31 July 2019. For example that was the last time there was any publication of the breakdown of exported/imported races by code. Correct me if I'm wrong and point me in the right direction OR post the data. Most of us are guessing unless we are privy to inside information. Since McKenzie and Saundry took over detailed performance information has dried up completely. SO it is IMPOSSIBLE for stakeholders to assess the performance or lack thereof of any of the administrators. Where are the respective organisations Strategic Plans and Business Plans? Woodham is looking to find an "overseas partner" to improve "awareness of the NZ Harness product with Australians". What does that mean? How much are they spending on marketing this coming season now that they are responsible for that and not TAB NZ? Can we really be confident that the promises of bucket loads of money are going to be forthcoming this coming season? There is ZERO money in the TAB NZ coffers so each of the codes are going to have to deliver on revenue (product) targets but based on what plan? FFS Harness is still working out their race programme for the coming year!!!!! Are they doing that with their "overseas partner"?

Therefore @JJ Flash cannot argue one way or another that Woodham negotiated well or badly because to quote you it was decided "a a percentage of overseas betting on their own code". Which HRNZ have no direct control over!!!!! Who decides what races are broadcast when and on what channel? Who decides what days to race on and what time to start those meetings? What is developing an "overseas partner" mean and what will whatever it entails actually do? These are questions YOU ALL should be asking.

So from that statement you deduce the following: FFS!! WHAT IS THE SIMPLE MATHS? What's more what is the formula going forward? Or is it a case of who argues best each year?

SO WHERE IS THE EVIDENCE THAT HRNZ GOT MORE OR LESS OF WHAT THEY WERE ENTITLED TO?

Really? What you have posted doesn't support your argument and is very light on detail. It also doesn't answer any of the question I posed to you regarding the pro-rata share and whether or not it was under or over what HRNZ was entitled to. The underlined statement is bollocks. What does it mean? What will an "offshore partner" do to increase exposure in Australia? Is this "offshore partner" Harness Racing Australia or a Bookie? Or TAB AUS? Is the lower take from export betting (we presume it is lower because detailed figures are not available) influenced by TAB NZ's Trackside programming and broadcasting? Should HRNZ find an "offshore partner" in OZ to broadcast NZ races? Or is that Trackside's role? But you haven't posted any answers or evidence to support the statements you have made. Keep up your fake news narrative @JJ Flash. You are only consistent in one thing and that is belittling BOAY and its posters. I guess you do that to bolster you own superiority. You avoid answering questions because you don't have the answers but your repeatedly post the glib party line propaganda from the administrators that most of us on BOAY have grown extremely tired of. If it sounds like BS, looks like BS and walks like BS then it is BS!

How do you know what the baseline figure was? Where is it published? What was the formula that was used? Did it include contributions from imported races? If so how did they compensate for the bias towards Thoroughbreds and Dogs?

ELEVEN of the top 18 nominations are from Te Akau! Although that may drop off - I see Entriviere is nominated for Royal Randwick this weekend. In my opinion she is capable of picking up a decent Grp race in OZ and why race against the rest of the Te Akau team at home.

Compared to the Tarzino:

Reinswoman Kate Gath and horse Tornado Valley. Picture: Stuart McCormick By Adam Hamilton 05:49pm • 15 August 2021 1 Comments Just like Jamie Kah, harness racing star Kate Gath had a breakthrough last season winning her first metropolitan driving title. And just like Jamie Kah, Kate Gath has gone right on with the job since. Gath set a personal best with five winners at a metropolitan meeting when she dominated Saturday night’s Ballarat program, which had been transferred from Tabcorp Park Melton because of this week’s harness racing Covid-19 scare. She won five of the first six races. Even with more than four months of the harness season remaining, Gath holds an almost unassailable lead in the metro title again. Her 46 wins giving her a 26-win lead over nearest rival, former Tasmanian young gun Jack Laugher. “I tend to want to fly under the radar a bit, but I’m really grateful with everything I’ve been able to do in the last couple of years. You are only as good as the horses you drive, it really helps. I’ve been pretty lucky,” Gath told Trots Vision. Gath’s Ballarat dominance was extra special with four of the wins coming for her own stable, which she runs with husband, Andy. They also lead the metropolitan trainers’ premiership with 33 wins, five ahead of the powerhouse Emma Stewart and Clayton Tonkin stable. Kate Gath is in the unique situation of driving for both leading stables. Her headline win at Ballarat came from their recent Kiwi import Tango Tara in the Group 2 Melton Pace final. “He just went terrific. He’s just getting better all the time. We’re sort of working him harder all the time and he’s thriving on it – that win tonight was pretty damn good,” Gath said. Champion driver Chris Alford also notched a milestone at Ballarat with his 7500th career win coming aboard Robbie Royale in the Group 3 Coulter Crown Trot. Alford, 53, has driven more winners than any other driver in Australasia. “I still love driving winners, whether it’s for big stables or little stables. I’m enjoying it as much as ever,” he said.

Race 1 - WINX STAKES [GROUP 1] (1400 METRES) Of $500,000.1st $287,000, 2nd $94,000, 3rd $49,500, 4th $22,250, 5th $12,250, 6th $5,000, 7th $5,000, 8th $5,000, 9th $5,000, 10th $5,000, Equine Welfare Fund $5,000, Jockey Welfare Fund $5,000. GROUP 1 Standard Weight for Age, Three-Years-Old and Upwards, Apprentices cannot claim. Track Name: Randwick Track Type: Turf Field Limit: 16 + 4 EM Last 10 Horse Bonus Trainer Ballot Wgt(kg) True Wgt(kg) Penalty(kg) B'mark 1 4117x3112x VERRY ELLEEGANT (NZ) Chris Waller 1 57 122 2 10x22501x5 KOLDING (NZ) Chris Waller 2 59 116 3 5103x1214x THINK IT OVER Kerry Parker 3= 59 114 4 561x12454x COLETTE James Cummings 3= 57 114 5 0825x3413x CASCADIAN (GB) James Cummings 5 59 112 6 0x017x528x DREAMFORCE John Thompson 6 59 111 7 4303x2007x IMAGING (GB) Chris Waller 7= 59 107 8 095x41690x STAR OF THE SEAS (NZ) Chris Waller 7= 59 107 9 117x32107x MO’UNGA (NZ) Annabel Neasham 7= 58.5 107 10 227x78111x HUNGRY HEART Chris Waller 10 56.5 106 11 04654x300x KEIAI NAUTIQUE (JPN) Matthew Smith 11= 59 105 12 04508x663x MASTER OF WINE (GER) Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes 11= 59 105 13 876x00134x BRANDENBURG (NZ) John Sargent 13 59 104 14 13x41x211x MOUNT POPA (IRE) Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes 14 59 103 15 325x32324x SHE’S IDEEL Bjorn Baker 15 57 102

So you do have contacts at TAB NZ?

You really have bought into the Channel X style of rhetoric haven't you. What "overwhelming facts e.g. Ozzie betting patterns"? Can you post the evidence? I'm asking @JJ Flash who made the statement. Now as @Brodie suggest you either have: a direct contact at TAB NZ or; you acquired the information from a public source or; you made it up. You have denied 1. and 3. so it must be 2. unless you are lying. SO if it is 2. where is the public source? Can you point me in the direction of the published source and while you are at it show me where the published evidence is that Harness got more than their pro-rata share?

@JJ Flash doesn't know that. Like most things he posts he made it up.

The Variants of COVID Madness: Stepping Into the Breach German police use excessive force against anti-lockdown protestors (www.aa.com.tr) Ellie Wiesel, and I am paraphrasing here, suggested that whenever human rights are threatened or people are marginalized, stripped of their humanity, the center of the universe shifts there. Well, the center of the universe is extremely mobile these days. It is hovering with David Turner’s son who he reported being in the ICU for three days from a second vaccine dose with myocarditis and chest pain. He writes, The center of the universe must surely have been present as we saw a German policeman literally smack a young boy approximately 9 years of age during a protest. Where does that maliciously impotent fury, striking out at the utterly vulnerable and defenseless come from? The center of the universe surely made a pit stop as an elderly man in Queensland, arrested for having no mask (though he had an exemption which he explained) due to the tightness of the handcuffs suffered a seizure and went into cardiac arrest. What demonic pathology insists on demanding a demonstrably ineffectual cloth mask outdoors, completely indifferent to the actual medical risks being run? The Universe Closes In And the world is awash in such crises, and we must forever resist the temptation of saying this is because of the pandemic. It is rather because of our crackpot, humanity-deriding response to the less than 1% statistical likelihood for the overwhelming majority of us, that my holy carcass might lose a year or two off normal mortality. And let’s remember, there are ways to increase our odds even there, to treat early, strengthen immunity, and not keep inducing one of the great comorbidities -- perpetual nonstop anxiety and fear, however misplaced. Even CDC studies concede, this is one of the great killers. And yet we do everything we can to foster it. Macron’s inner ‘fascist’ seems to have come to the fore requiring rabid levels of paranoia, with certificates demanded for the once romantic aspirations of visiting the Eiffel Tower or having an atmospheric drink in an open café. No degree of unscientific aversion to normal living is adequate it seems. And France has recoiled, with protests erupting everywhere, unions on strike, the country in freefall. Nearby, fully “vaccinated” Italians have been burning their vaccine passes in outrage at the pointless effrontery of having a two-tier society and in solidarity with freedom. While cases continue to plummet post ‘Freedom Day’ in the UK and the lifting of restrictions reconfirms Neil Ferguson’s unblemished record for peerless inaccuracy in yet again mistakenly forecasting 100,000 plus positive tests posing as cases, there seems little rejoicing in the land. Masking is still afoot, color coding of countries for tourism travel, continued immunity to evidence that the ‘vaccines’ have been leaky, have flopped in terms of staving off transmissibility and reinfection. What this still leaves in place is this toxic evangel of the median influenza strain that, through our wanton gullibility and acquiescence, took over the planet. In New York City confounding guidance re vaccine passports seems determined to, perhaps irretrievably, hobble that iconic great city of the 20th century. Due to a total collapse of logic, the city that once welcomed immigrants from everywhere playing host to everything, teeming with God knows how many pathogens, and which held fast to its hardiness and resilience, now seems a cowering shadow of its former self. A New York blogger residing in Manhattan had overseas family visiting from Europe fully ‘vaccinated.’ Seeking to dine in a West Village restaurant as their vaccines were not the two mRNA US vax variants, they were not allowed to dine inside nor even to dine outside where overwhelming research tells us outdoor transmission is virtually close to zero. So, we now have theology posing as medical prudence. Just for the diversion, let us look at the fruitless illogic here. If the ‘vaccines’ worked as vaccines, then the unvaccinated would pose no danger. Rather than intruding on the sovereignty of their bodies, we could let them assume the risk just as people who have a diet high in high fructose corn syrup opt to do with arguably clear staggering collateral impact on their health and longevity. If, on the other hand, these ‘vaccines’ don’t work, then having a passport, again, makes no sense. As per the CDC and overwhelming data just about everywhere, post vaccine reinfection is a reality and transmissibility occurs regardless. Therefore, these are not vaccines, but therapeutics suppressing your likelihood of getting seriously ill and dying over a particular period, after which that protection wanes. Ergo, how can you mandate this one therapeutic any more than you can mandate chemotherapy or knee surgery rather than the option of more holistic rehab? This is now as much a private matter as how fast a person might drive, whether they smoke, whether they protect themselves during sexual intercourse or any of a myriad of things that accompany the glorious, madcap business of choosing how to live. And the fact that there are early treatments aplenty and below 65 without comorbidities, virtually no one is at mortal risk means that our indulgence of human whimsy here need only be very mild indeed. More Madness Nor are the Canadians faring much better, outside of the recent pugnacity being shown in Alberta to renounce the “Covidian” theological mandates of masking, lockdowns, and enforced distancing. A Canadian living in France recounts how she was not vaccinated, having recovered from COVID, and being in a fragile health condition. Her French doctor said she didn’t need the vaccination, and it would not be medically advisable. Living with France’s current dictatorial guidelines, she had to have an antigen test every 48 hours! She was dutiful, it was required, and she was not willing to experiment with her health. And any real science would have said she was immune, and had sterilizing immunity for an extended period, likely for life. However, facts and fear make for uncomfortable bedfellows. Hoping to go “home” to Canada to visit her mother, she underwent yet another PCR test, and carried the negative test results, a mound of antigen test results, and of course medical proof of COVID recovery and medical advice against vaccination. And, once more, she is a Canadian citizen. She was rebuffed upon landing! Despite everything she traveled with, and the evident facts, she was told she would have to undergo another test, and check herself in, at her own expense, into their “quarantine hotel,” which cost a “mere” $2,000. And if cleared, she could enjoy two further weeks of home isolation or some such nonsense. Warned she would be arrested and the “fine” would be significant if she attempted to evade this charming welcome protocol, she asked if she could fly back. This they assented to, and the $1350 or so flight ticket back was still cheaper than her “purifying” incarceration would have been. She was rebuked for having the temerity to follow scientific facts and her doctor’s advice, and assured they were “letting her off lightly” when she could have been penalized for even stepping on her country’s shores it seems. Her mother was in tears, clearly fraught, helplessly awaiting her daughter in the entry hall. Back in France, which comparatively must have seemed a libertarian reprieve by contrast, our bereft Canadian was contemplating, and I trust acting on some form of legal action. Is “immunity to science and sense” a defense these days one wonders? You Hear the Weirdest Things I was on a podcast with some eminent friends, and some wonderful organizers in California. I was making a point about the insanity of masks, given the particle size of the COVID virus, especially as we now know it is primarily airborne. Evidence is not hard to locate. A 98% mask compliance in Hawaii, and close to 85% adult vaccination (at least one dose), has not inhibited a surge of not just “positive tests” but hospitalizations that are overtaking the earlier established winter thresholds. All over the world, there is no correlation between mask mandates and sustained COVID results. In India the ambient pollution makes the masks even more farcical, but with 6% vaccination they are doing in terms of “deaths per million” as well as anyone outside of Africa. Anyway, clinician Richard Urso was pointing out that he had challenged people to find any data based, randomized trial showing mask efficacy, against a sizable dollar amount. He is yet to have anyone come forward. There are studies galore demonstrating the opposite from 2019 on which the WHO based its pre-politically lobbied stance, and a much-hated Danish trial which confirms the same, since. It was pointed out during our podcast that when such points were raised in discussions in California, enthusiasts of muzzles would say, to be against masks was to be “racist.” This, took me a tad by surprise. It was explained the Hopi Indians are in difficult circumstances, cannot readily avail of health care, and we must not “fumigate” them with our viruses. Well since the masks don’t work, putting a plastic bag on your head would be about as helpful to the Hopi Indians. Moreover, most of that tribe live in Arizona? I was told being against lockdowns was also racist. This fascinated me. I would have thought, the more affluent “sheltering in place,” while the less affluent delivered their personal needs, and food, and distractions to them, and who exposed themselves to stock and deliver these and other requirements, and were not sheltered, as an indefinite arrangement, was a lot more “racist” or prejudiced or self-absorbed or whatever. With a clearly age stratified illness, not of mortal risk to the overwhelming majority, and with early treatments aplenty, surely the less racist or prejudiced act would be to get out there with them, and build natural immunity, a wall of immunity. This would then shelter our elderly, vulnerable, and indeed too, the Hopi Indians, but also all those unable to work from home to keep us in our Uber Eats and Netflix supported stupor. Insanity by Vaccine Clearly the “vaccines” don’t work as touted, or Pakistan would not be shutting off cell phone access or denying people the ability to enter a shopping complex if not jabbed… but then, France and others, may have already beaten them to it, in terms of alarmist excess. Israel, in free fall panic, administering a third shot as a “booster,” has already had reinfections from that demographic. And so Pfizer is developing an anti-viral, clearly admitting the vaccines won’t cut it. Much is being made of the “breakthrough” Molnupiravir drug, jointly developed by Merck and Rigibel in Germany. This is the same Merck that developed Ivermectin, the Nobel Prize winning anti-parasitic, and then has been slamming its lack of applicability for C-19. We now know why. The patent expired, and IVM was “donated” by Merck, thinking it was to be used for river blindness, where it was salvific. So, an enhanced pill, Ivermectin with bells and whistles perhaps, positions them to earn fresh billions. We are being assured, as it is passing through stage 3 trials apparently, that it should be available in the coming 4 to 5 months (this wiped out in literally one day the decimation of mink in Netherlands and Norway, literally millions dying on mink farms prior, after one dosage, the coronavirus was gone). If, as anticipated, in 4 to 5 months, this is available, a 5-day course of self-treatment at home would suffice. No more adverse effects of mRNA or vector viral gene antigen pump priming to attack our own immune system with. So, why rabidly run around jabbing everyone now? Again, UK has soaring Delta cases, close to 26,000 a day still, and a mercifully middling 36 daily deaths. Euromomo still shows no untoward excess mortality anywhere in Europe. So, the positive tests when they don’t translate to hospitalizations and deaths, don’t matter. The US, across the country recently had about 100k daily “positive tests” and only 326 daily deaths. India, originator of the “Delta variant” with about 6% vaccination, and as per government seroprevalence studies, 70% natural immunity based on antibodies over the age of 6, had 27k “positive tests” in a recent day and 376 “ascribed” deaths. These are not terror stats, requiring armies administering the desperately promoted ‘jab.’ And given that Delta seems to have evaded our vaccines (antigenic, immune escape), and future variants are likely to bypass them even more comprehensively, the vaccines are increasingly irrelevant. The virus is deeply embedded in the world population, airborne, will keep circulating, looking for seasonal periods when our immune systems are compromised, or when they are outright deranged by this “gene therapy” assault. So, this is likely to circulate like the common cold and influenza. Time to remove its “porn star” billing. It’s not that exceptional, certainly in terms of mortality outcomes. While, in the short term, the vaccines seem good at preventing severe disease and death, they wane, and the protection is short lived. And despite that, you can still get infected, and you readily “shed” and transmit. Add all the zealotry of mask wearing and madcap kowtowing to the cult of “leaky” vaccines, and even CDC admits the highly contagious Delta variant or other future variants will still spread. Unprecedented adverse effects have been recorded, longer term impact is unknown, neurologically, or otherwise. Mass surges seem to accompany large scale vaccination. Other known side effects include serious cardiac and thrombotic conditions, menstrual cycle disruptions, Bell’s Palsy, Guillain Barre syndrome, anaphylaxis and more. There are the unknown side effects which many eminent virologists have flagged as lethal reproductive risks, additional autoimmune disorders, various types of disease enhancement by being more vulnerable to reinfection from COVID-19 or reactivating latent viral infections or associated diseases like shingles. And as highlighted, beyond 180 days, there is scant benefit, confirmed by Israeli data, also now by Pfizer and other countries. And we have no idea what impact or benefit or risk “booster shots” will have. No proper trial has been done, and it is the sheer terror of having their arrogance, inhumanity and caprice shown up, that has “public health” officials darting for this alleged lifeboat. We are told by leading specialists that the more you vaccinate, the greater the number of vaccine-resistant mutations you are likely to get, the less durable the vaccines will be, the more powerful they will have to be, and risk will escalate beyond even where it is today, which by any past standards, would have been far beyond any acceptable number of adverse effects. The novel gene therapy apparently does not stay localized, so there is mortal danger there. But even beyond that, for the first time in history, essentially, if everyone were “vaccinated” and had precisely the same immune response strategy, a viral escape mutant would be one that bypasses that, and it will then run riot through the entire population then, vaccinated or not. We are “training” vaccine resistance and perhaps immune resistant variants in the making. And there are, for the sane, and not in a pharma economic gulag, so many scientifically demonstrated prophylactics and therapeutics to opt for instead. These interventions are not dependent on specific viral properties or mutations but the inflammatory symptoms of the disease itself. No amount of authoritarian “pouting” will transform this reality. And a temper tantrum at mother nature, anyway, rarely ends well. Saving Our Lives It has been sagely pointed out that when we feel ineffectual, hopeless, overwhelmed, the great activists remind us that all we have to do is to ensure the lies don’t pass through us. Those lies, as I’ve written before, are parasitic and need human hosts on which to feed and through whom to multiply. And when we decide not to harbor them, make room for them, defer to them out of some misguided politeness or pseudo community, they hit an impasse. They begin to shrivel and die. I was interviewing PANDA’s passionate and insightful chairman Nick Hudson and made this point (click here to listen). When he posted it on his Twitter feed, I was deeply moved to read one of the comments from a lady who said essentially, Well, that is everything. So, you can tell a sham by many symptoms. Reflexive censorship of anything outside ‘the narrative,’ which is all you can get when you prostitute science. Rather than welcoming a robust exchange, you have the blessed Zev Zelenko, now being put forth for nomination to the Nobel Committee for his medical valor and courage, who found his HCQ based protocol villainously smeared. The clearly ersatz articles were later retracted from eminent medical journals who should be doing a walk of shame in perpetuity for their mendacity and sham review process. We should be celebrating early treatment heroes like Dr. Peter McCullough not having Baylor absurdly suing him having pickled both their wits and ethics. In appropriately outraged response, global outpouring of effusive support for this wonderful, tireless, gushing fount of early medical treatment wisdom and humane activism has been vastly reassuring. In fact, one definition of being a top medical practitioner or researcher with integrity must today be that you have been deplatformed, censored, sued, vilified and attacked without any substantive, factual rebuttal of your conclusions or ideas. Abraham Lincoln once said, People who cannot be bought or cajoled by power structures through their independence -- through not letting lies pass through them -- are extraordinary threats to those with anti-human agendas and are among the greatest hopes for the survival of the possibility filled human story as we know it. We cannot even apply the precautionary principle. Have you seen one single government have the audacity to put up a cost benefit analysis with both national and global repercussions of locking down society indefinitely over an influenza strain which, based on global seroprevalence studies, has an IFR of 0.15%? Instead, anyone who does this, like that sainted man Anders Tegnell, Chief Epidemiologist of Sweden, is savaged with unabated venom, and Sweden floats through. Taking 2019 and 2020 together its mortality compares very well, even with its Scandinavian neighbors, its economy never shut and is rebounding, its society has none of the psychosis of long-term paralysis, its 2021 mortality is below five-year averages, and here in this summer of the Delta variant, Sweden has effectively had a month of virtually no Covid related mortality. In any sane world this would be studied, not shunned. The precautionary principle would also tell us that when 25,000 children die of hunger every day, there may be bigger humanitarian concerns. When in India, which has approximately 1/6th of the Covid deaths per million of the US and EU, but 1,200 die of TB daily and 2,000 a day from diarrhea, again, we should stop strutting around claiming that we are acutely sensitive to human mortality and suffering. So, folks, the clown show, is coming apart at the seams. Too much invested for any graceful about face, and whatever lunatic fringe excursion we’ve been on, is too detached from the life and times of virtually all of us, to wonder at the plunder any longer. Jackboots on our faces forever, or our civil or uncivil disobedience eventually provides a straw that breaks this frothing camel’s back. Time to reclaim our lives. At least via the ballot box we can aim to depose some of these scavengers. We just can’t be this pliable. Australia on a 7th lockdown now? South Africa with 500 days of lockdown and some of the worst, population adjusted mortality, to show for it. Glorious art, music, culture, travel, exchange, interaction, dissipated, centers of civilization, converted into depressed, dystopian shadows of themselves. Lockdown over what? For those of us not at serious risk, demand the right to be infected, we are “infected” by life in so many ways already. And we have prophylactics and treatment even for this largely ineffectual viral strain. Youngsters aren’t at risk from this pathogen, invite them to galvanize a response, fortify our defenses with their immunity, and via insisting on the right to be represented rather than manipulated, pick the planet they want to live on. We will never transcend this by reverting to a passive, incurious, coddled place, where we can retreat to “pods” anytime we’re rattled. It will have to be a world full of aliveness, where we step into the breach, where we fill our lungs with the breath of freedom, where we engage avidly, and when we need to, where we “man” and “woman” collectively, the barricades of human autonomy and dignity. https://www.uncommonwisdom.online/post/the-variants-of-covid-madness-stepping-into-the-breach