Israel Becomes First Nation To Announce A Second Coronavirus Lockdown
This title of this post, is the same as that of this article on The Times.
Israil had done well to control the first lockdown, but now they have over 4,000 new infections per day.
This paragraph gives some details.
About two thirds of the infections are in the Arab-Israeli and ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities, which together account for almost a third of the 8.8 million-strong population. Experts attribute the levels of infection to both groups’ insistence, despite restrictions, on holding weddings with as many as 1,000 guests, and the resumption of study three weeks ago in the ultra-Orthodox seminaries.
With 4,000 new infections in a population of just under nine million, their rate is much higher than in the UK.
Scaled Back Hajj Pilgrimage Due To Start In Saudi Arabia
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
Quite frankly, I was very surprised, when I heard this news on the BBC.
I thought, the Hajj would have been cancelled and not just scaled back.
In the past, I have had vicars as friends and I have talked to devout Orthodox Jews, and we have discussed serious moral dilemmas.
I can remember some from both groups saying, that your health always comes first.
In the current pandemic, the Church of England and prominent Jews like the Chief Rabbi have behaved with ultra-caution.
So where is this caution from the Muslim religious leaders?
I hope the Government and other political leaders, are giving them the truth, as they are endangering us all!
Atheists Less Likely To Die From Covid-19 Than Believers, Research Finds
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article in The Times.
This is the introductory paragraph.
People without religious faith are less likely to die from Covid-19 than believers, according to the first analysis of its kind from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
This paragraph gives some actual statistics.
For Muslims the figures were 198.9 deaths per 100,000 males and 98.2 deaths per 100,000 females. Among Christians, the death rates were 92.6 for men and 54.6 for women, and among Jewish people 187.9 for men and 94.3 for women.
These are my observations.
The Average Death Rate
The average death rate of these religious groups is 121 per 100,000 people or 1 in 826 people.
The Number Of Coeliacs In The UK Population
This page on the NHS web site says this about the number of coeliacs in the UK population.
Coeliac disease is a condition that affects at least 1 in every 100 people in the UK.
But some experts think this may be underestimated because milder cases may go undiagnosed or be misdiagnosed as other digestive conditions, such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
Reported cases of coeliac disease are around 3 times higher in women than men.
I hadn’t known the last point, but all my coeliac friends and acquaintances, with two exceptions are female! The two male exceptions are both chefs!
Thinking about the last point, I do wonder if women are more likely to have coeliac disease as the disease can affect their natural functions, so they are likely to go to the doctor with a problem, that could be a coeliac symptom, like the inability to conceive.
Diagnosed Coeliacs On A Gluten-Free Diet And Cancer
It has been shown by Joe West at Nottingham University, that diagnosed coeliacs on a gluten-free diet are less likely to get cancer, than the general population.
Does this mean, that this group of people have a strong immune system?
Diagnosed Coeliacs On A Gluten-Free Diet And COVID-19
Various doctors have said, that COVID-19 attacks people with compromised immune systems.
So do diagnosed coeliacs ona gluten-free diet get a measure of protection from COVID-19 from their strong immune systems?
Ashkenazi Jews And COVID-19
My coeliac disease comes from my great-great-great-grandfather, who was from Konigsberg in East Prussia.
In those far-off days at the start of the Nineteenth Century, if you were a Jewish male in East Prussia, you had to leave at eighteen, unless you were from one of the privileged Jewish families.
As my ancestor wasn’t a nenver of a privileged family, he hopped on a boat and ended up in Bexley.
Luckily, I was diagnosed as a coeliac at Addenbrooke’s hospital at the age of 50. My health, which had been poor off-and-on improved immediately and considerably, once I was no longer eating gluten.
But in the Jewish population, there are a lot of undiagnosed coeliacs, who probably have poor immune systems due to their diet.
Are they like targets in a shooting gallery for the evil COVID-19 virus?
Christians And COVID-19
I do wonder about communion rituals.
Especially, as some churches insist that wheat must be used. Even if you’re coeliac.
Surely, your health is more important.
Why Are Women Less Likely To Die Of Covid-19?
If undiagnosed coeliac disease is an explanation, as the disease is three times more common in women could explain it, if all coeliacs are on protective gluten-free diets.
Muslims And COVID-19
Most Muslims come from areas, where coeliac disease is rare and are probably on a gluten-free anyway.
But they do appear to suffer high levels of other diseases like diabetes, that compromise your immune system.
London Church Investigated Over ‘Protection’ Oil
The title of this post, is the same as that as this story on the BBC.
This is the first two paragraphs.
A faith healer who sold £91 “plague protection kits” claiming they could shield people from Covid-19 is being investigated by the charity watchdog.
Bishop Climate Wiseman of the Kingdom Church in Camberwell, London, claimed a bottle of oil and some red yarn would protect his followers from the virus.
Surely, he should be being investigated by the Metropolitan Police!
As far as I can see, the purpose of some religion is to let a few men, live a good life, at the expense of others.
Trump Brings Personal Pastor Paula White-Cain To White House To Preach Her Gospel Of Wealth
This is the title of an article in today’s copy of The Times!
I do like the paper’s sense of humour!
Unleash The Hyenas Of Comedy
In January 2010 I Wrote a post called The Ban on Islam4UK. I started it with the following paragraph.
Organisations such as Islam4UK and all the other so-called Muslim organisations, that don’t like the way things are done in the Western World bother me. But then so do right-wing so-called Christian groups and also those fake religions and cults beloved of celebrities with too much money and not enough common sense.
Most preach fiery hate to unbelievers like me and say we will rot in hell. That by the way is impossible, as hell doesn’t exist, unless you are stuck on the M25 (put your favourite in here) at the time of a small bump, that the Police decide is worthy of an enormous investigation.
When these groups commit crimes such as murder, assault, kidnapping and extortion, then hopefully they will feel the full force of the law.
And finished with this.
There is also one very powerful weapon that we should use against all of these people – humour.
Remember in the Second World War nothing was off-limits when combating the Nazis. Just read this little piece about Spike Jones in 1942. We need him now!
All of these groups give splendid opportunities for satire, ridicule and just plain fun.
After the attacks of recent months in the UK, Europe and other parts of the world, perhaps we should unleash the hyenas of comedy.
Remember in a straight fight a hyena would probably make mincemeat of the most vicious pit-bull, but laugh all the time it is doing it.
This article in the Daily Mail is entitled Brits mock ISIS with #IslamicStateClaims hashtag blaming them for everything from Bake Off moving channel to the shrinking size of Quality Street tins.
Everybody go for it! And in packs!
I would also hope that the Masters of Black Propaganda are working on the Internet equivalent version of Aspidistra, which was used with some success, against the Nazis in World War II. Or in this Politically Correct Age, is something like Aspidistra, just unacceptable?
But surely, no non-violent method is unacceptable against those who kill indiscriminately!
The Pop Group That Saved A City With A Little Help From Their Friends
It is the fiftieth anniversary of the release of one of the best albums of all time; Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
I bought the album and still have it somewhere.
But I don’t think most people understand how the Beatles changed a city completely.
Liverpool in the sixties had nasty undercurrents of violence and religious hatred. But in the five years, I lived in the city, these changed for the better, with the rivalry being transferred to support for your favourite group or football team.
Liverpool acquired a belief that it could take on the world and win.
Now, when I go back regularly, I find a confident, bustling, modern and friendly city, that compares to any in the world.
But what would have happened if the Beatles hadn’t?
I’ll Go Along With This Quote
With a memorial service for Sir Nicholas Winton today, I make no apologies for publishing one of his quotes.
I believe in ethics, and if everybody believed in ethics we’d have no problems at all. That’s the only way out; forget the religious side.
I doubt I can live long enough to see religion, become something you read about in history books.
But the world would be a better place, if everyone followed Sir Nicholas’s advice.
The Evil Killing Of A Shopkeeper
This story on the BBC is untitled Arrest after Glasgow shopkeeper Asad Shah dies in attack.
In my view, this marks a new low for Islam in the UK, in that a thoroughly decent Muslim shopkeeper was murdered by another Muslim man, because he was being thoroughly decent and friendly to his Christian friends and customers.
That in my book is terrorism and the evil bastard who did this should be treated with the full force of the law.
The Anonymous Widower 