Juno News - Locked Down and Loaded

00:00:00.000 Welcome to Canada's Most Irreverent Talk Show.

00:00:06.700 This is The Andrew Lawton Show, brought to you by True North.

00:00:12.580 Coming up, the battle between lockdown and herd immunity,

00:00:15.940 the politicization of everything, and the weaponization of wokeness.

00:00:21.380 The Andrew Lawton Show starts right now.

00:00:24.960 Good afternoon and welcome everyone to another episode of The Andrew Lawton Show,

00:00:32.200 Canada's Most Irreverent Talk Show, a beacon of truth,

00:00:35.940 blasting into your lockdown or quarantine or wherever it is you are forced to hunker down

00:00:40.900 throughout the course of the coronavirus scare in Canada.

00:00:44.100 My thanks to all of you for tuning in.

00:00:46.100 We've got a great show planned up ahead.

00:00:48.560 And I want to begin right out of the gate by talking about the battle for herd immunity,

00:00:53.740 which seems to be a battle against common sense and a battle against science

00:00:58.400 that's being waged by so many of the activists and so-called public health experts

00:01:02.900 that lawmakers and leaders in Canada and abroad are deferring to

00:01:08.020 for pretty much anything and everything.

00:01:10.160 Now, we've seen this trend unfold throughout the course of the Canadian response to it,

00:01:15.320 where Justin Trudeau says we're listening to the experts,

00:01:18.080 and then the experts change their mind between 9 a.m. Monday and 10 a.m. Monday,

00:01:22.300 let alone, you know, the rest of the week about what they think and what they recommend.

00:01:27.020 And there's been no one worse about embodying this than the World Health Organization.

00:01:32.400 But we'll get to the WHO's latest flip-flop very shortly.

00:01:36.280 I want to talk about this study that was actually published last week in the British Medical Journal

00:01:40.640 that I think when Justin Trudeau says, listen to the experts, he should be citing.

00:01:45.120 It is a study that basically proves lockdowns not only are ineffective against COVID-19,

00:01:52.360 but actually are worse than the alternative,

00:01:57.460 which is not locking down your society and not locking down your economy.

00:02:01.840 Now, this is a study that basically characterizes lockdowns as being about short-term gain and long-term pain.

00:02:10.360 Now, what they did is they reused British government numbers and statistics,

00:02:13.800 and they analyzed it, they went through every which way.

00:02:16.560 And obviously, modeling has its shortcomings, so you've got to take things with a grain of salt.

00:02:21.380 But the findings say that you can bring cases down with lockdown,

00:02:25.980 but in the long run, deaths rise.

00:02:29.240 And one particular example of this is that they said lockdown,

00:02:32.840 social distancing of those over 70 and quarantining the sick 1.00

00:02:36.080 all significantly stunted the spread of the virus in the first wave.

00:02:40.100 However, when those measures are scaled back, infection rates bound upwards,

00:02:45.200 especially in young people, and pushed the model into a deadlier second wave.

00:02:50.100 In that deadlier second wave, young people who are less susceptible to dying from COVID-19

00:02:55.980 had helped spread the virus to older populations who subsequently saw higher rates of death.

00:03:01.960 The authors described the model as a postponement of the pandemic.

00:03:06.560 Now, that's basically what governments have done.

00:03:09.060 They lock everyone down, they do it for months, you're able to so-called flatten the curve,

00:03:14.100 and then the second you pull off the brakes a little bit and things start to go,

00:03:18.380 you get people that are going out that are getting it,

00:03:20.540 and then those people are subsequently infecting older people who then die from it.

00:03:25.560 That's basically the model that embodies what we're seeing.

00:03:29.460 But they looked at another model where lockdowns are removed altogether,

00:03:33.160 young people are allowed to go to school and to work,

00:03:36.080 and those above age 70 are made to social distance and stay put,

00:03:41.440 and those models show significantly fewer deaths.

00:03:45.120 And what Graham Ackland, who's the lead author of this study, says is that lockdown

00:03:49.060 does mean that the number of deaths go down,

00:03:51.900 so there is a short-term gain, but it leads to long-term pain.

00:03:56.120 If you had done nothing, it would all be over by now.

00:04:00.560 It would have been absolutely horrendous, but it would be over. 0.69

00:04:04.320 It wouldn't even have been completely lunatic to do nothing.

00:04:08.740 Now, listen to that very carefully,

00:04:10.760 because this is saying what so many people said from the very get-go of this,

00:04:14.620 which is that the priority should be on protecting the vulnerable,

00:04:17.880 not locking down anyone and everyone,

00:04:19.880 which only works if the plan is that you can keep people locked down permanently.

00:04:25.940 And this is the problem that we are facing right now,

00:04:29.020 is that there's no such thing as a permanent lockdown.

00:04:31.640 Well, let me clarify.

00:04:32.700 We hope there's no such thing as a permanent lockdown.

00:04:35.320 So at a certain point, you're going to have to get people out into the real world,

00:04:39.340 and once that happens, all you've done is delayed the inevitable,

00:04:42.360 which is the coronavirus getting through the population,

00:04:45.720 infecting people, and then from there it balloons.

00:04:48.000 And now governments are trying to recreate the thing they did the first time around,

00:04:52.900 which is what got us to the point that we're at now.

00:04:56.920 Now, the numbers are still very clear,

00:04:59.300 and you can actually look at these very easily.

00:05:02.340 New cases, yes, continue to rise,

00:05:04.560 which again is unsurprising when you see as many tests being done as Canada is doing,

00:05:08.500 and in particular Ontario.

00:05:10.140 But when you look at deaths,

00:05:11.640 yes, there have been a couple of smaller increases here,

00:05:14.520 but for the most part, deaths have been relatively flat.

00:05:18.080 And when we do see deaths,

00:05:19.820 the cause of those deaths is elderly populations,

00:05:24.060 long-term care homes in many cases,

00:05:26.180 and these are the populations that need to be protected.

00:05:29.320 So locking down everyone only delays the inevitable,

00:05:33.700 whereas if you lock down those particular groups,

00:05:36.300 those particular people, protect them,

00:05:38.360 you have a better fighting chance at this,

00:05:41.720 and that's where the priority should have been.

00:05:44.060 And this study, in a lot of ways,

00:05:45.480 and I don't want to downplay it,

00:05:46.680 because there is an academic rigor that's gone into it,

00:05:49.480 but this study actually tells us something that is fairly sensible in nature,

00:05:54.100 which is that unless you're prepared to lock down everyone

00:05:56.980 indefinitely in perpetuity until the end of time,

00:06:00.540 until the case count globally is at zero for,

00:06:03.220 you know, a good three, four weeks,

00:06:04.480 you're not actually going to achieve the result you want from it.

00:06:08.360 And this sort of brings us around to the Sweden approach.

00:06:11.660 Now, I will say Sweden right now

00:06:14.140 is kind of being fetishized by some people

00:06:17.300 as being the model of how a country should respond to COVID-19.

00:06:22.300 And in other cases, it's being held up as like the worst case scenario.

00:06:25.740 It's just this absolute hellscape

00:06:27.500 where if you walk through Stockholm,

00:06:29.460 you're actually just climbing over dead bodies.

00:06:31.520 It's like Wuhan circa February 2020, March 2020.

00:06:35.440 And in reality, it's probably something between those things.

00:06:40.020 I don't think it's either a failure or a success story just yet,

00:06:44.640 but it does seem like it's trending toward being a very significant success story.

00:06:49.980 And if you look at this, the numbers,

00:06:52.220 and this is just the chart that comes up on Google

00:06:54.320 when you look for any country's stats,

00:06:56.680 you can see, yeah, they had significant cases.

00:06:59.000 It seemed to spike in late June

00:07:01.720 when most other countries were at the flat part of the curve

00:07:05.560 or had flattened the curve.

00:07:07.200 And now Sweden is still ticking up just a little bit.

00:07:10.920 But here's the thing.

00:07:12.060 If you look at deaths,

00:07:14.100 deaths peaked in April

00:07:16.060 and have been in a steady decline ever since then.

00:07:19.420 They're in single digits,

00:07:20.780 oscillating between one and zero most days

00:07:23.900 and have been really since late August.

00:07:26.760 And why this is important is because

00:07:29.680 even if you look at other countries

00:07:31.400 that are in the so-called second wave,

00:07:33.340 you see in the last couple of weeks,

00:07:35.600 it looks like the deaths might be starting to go back up.

00:07:39.800 Whereas in Sweden,

00:07:40.860 it seems like they have flattened the death curve,

00:07:43.360 which is far more important.

00:07:44.900 But here's the thing.

00:07:46.020 When everyone was jumping up and down on Sweden

00:07:48.300 saying it was a failure

00:07:49.340 and it was just calamitous

00:07:50.960 and everyone was dead

00:07:51.960 and my goodness, there was no one left.

00:07:53.480 At a certain point,

00:07:54.280 the media was saying

00:07:55.000 there was not a single soul left in Sweden alive.

00:07:57.320 Everyone had died.

00:07:58.140 There was going to be no ABBA reunion.

00:07:59.620 It was terrible.

00:08:00.640 You know, your IKEA furniture

00:08:02.100 is not going to assemble itself.

00:08:03.560 Well, I guess it never does.

00:08:04.780 But the problem is,

00:08:05.760 is that if that was to be taken at face value,

00:08:09.200 that would have accepted the premise

00:08:12.220 that everywhere else in the world had beat it,

00:08:14.280 which clearly the media is saying it has not happened.

00:08:17.280 So if Sweden had a first wave

00:08:19.580 and only a first wave

00:08:20.720 and Canada, the United States,

00:08:22.620 everyone else is now getting right back to square one,

00:08:25.220 then Sweden would have been vindicated.

00:08:27.760 There was an interesting piece about this

00:08:29.700 published by McGill's Office for Science and Society,

00:08:33.980 Professor Jonathan,

00:08:35.160 or maybe not Professor, sorry,

00:08:36.660 Jonathan Jerry,

00:08:37.700 who's got a master's in science.

00:08:39.400 And he had said that Sweden tends to be the,

00:08:43.480 these are my words,

00:08:44.400 but the Rorschach country

00:08:45.860 where people that are pro-lockdown

00:08:47.460 see Sweden as the reason why you need lockdowns 0.97

00:08:50.280 and people who are anti-lockdown

00:08:51.800 see Sweden as the success story.

00:08:53.800 He said, but in reality,

00:08:55.080 Sweden has not as of yet

00:08:57.500 distinguished itself all that much

00:08:59.540 from any other countries.

00:09:00.800 The tracking looks a bit different,

00:09:03.040 but the overall result, he says, is not.

00:09:06.940 Now, I don't entirely agree with his conclusion,

00:09:10.360 but I do think there is some truth to the idea

00:09:12.540 that Sweden has become a very politicized example right now.

00:09:17.460 Whereas I think if we're going to be able to look at Sweden 0.56

00:09:19.600 and say, yes, they've beat it in a way

00:09:21.340 that is better than everyone else,

00:09:23.000 then I think that would be something

00:09:25.140 that we see in a few months time.

00:09:27.700 But here's the thing,

00:09:29.160 what Sweden has not done

00:09:30.740 is sacrificed its economy

00:09:33.040 for the idea that maybe,

00:09:35.540 just maybe,

00:09:37.360 it will help flatten the curve.

00:09:39.800 And that's the big problem

00:09:42.320 with the Western approach,

00:09:43.540 with the Canadian approach,

00:09:44.700 is that they have decided

00:09:46.100 to sacrifice the economy,

00:09:48.060 not even based on a guarantee

00:09:49.560 of beating COVID-19,

00:09:51.300 based on the possibility

00:09:53.060 of beating COVID-19,

00:09:54.760 which if the second wave is existing,

00:09:58.040 if it's a real thing,

00:09:59.780 all that lawmakers have done

00:10:01.840 is proven that their first wave lockdowns

00:10:05.360 didn't fix it.

00:10:06.780 So all the experts right now

00:10:09.800 that are getting up and saying,

00:10:10.760 oh, well, the second wave is here.

00:10:11.940 Well, all they've done is proven

00:10:13.440 that the calamities

00:10:14.660 that they unleashed on the economy

00:10:16.260 by shutting down businesses,

00:10:17.760 that they didn't actually solve it.

00:10:20.720 And it's going to take a long time

00:10:22.740 before we genuinely start to see

00:10:25.000 the repercussions of lockdown

00:10:27.480 on everything from suicide,

00:10:29.680 domestic violence,

00:10:30.780 drug use,

00:10:31.700 unemployment,

00:10:32.360 homelessness,

00:10:32.960 poverty.

00:10:33.240 It's going to be a long time

00:10:34.500 before we see the real death toll,

00:10:36.900 not of COVID-19,

00:10:38.460 but of the measures

00:10:39.580 that were supposedly combating COVID-19,

00:10:42.540 in which case the cure

00:10:43.820 may well be worse than the disease.

00:10:46.780 Which brings us to this clip,

00:10:48.820 and I know a lot of you

00:10:49.600 have probably seen it by now

00:10:50.720 or read about it,

00:10:51.420 but I couldn't let the show pass

00:10:52.560 without talking about this.

00:10:54.100 The World Health Organization

00:10:55.420 now coming out against lockdown.

00:10:58.940 This is a clip from an interview

00:11:00.620 with Andrew Neal,

00:11:01.560 who is just a tremendous,

00:11:03.420 tremendous British journalist,

00:11:04.700 probably one of the best interviewers

00:11:06.080 in the world,

00:11:07.420 and now he is doing something

00:11:09.060 with The Spectator.

00:11:10.540 And Andrew Neal was interviewing

00:11:12.000 Dr. David Nabarro,

00:11:13.420 who is the WHO's special envoy

00:11:15.440 on COVID-19,

00:11:16.700 and they talked about lockdowns,

00:11:18.480 and listen to this exchange,

00:11:20.840 and hear what Dr. Nabarro

00:11:22.580 of the WHO

00:11:23.780 says about lockdown.

00:11:27.160 But we had Professor Sunetra Gupta

00:11:29.880 from Oxford University on,

00:11:31.840 and she was implying,

00:11:33.100 and I'm interested in you

00:11:33.780 because you have a global mandate,

00:11:35.480 a global view,

00:11:36.640 was that a problem

00:11:37.920 we don't think about in lockdowns

00:11:39.580 is that they're very nationalistic,

00:11:41.620 that if we lock down our economy,

00:11:43.980 then it hits our economy,

00:11:45.520 but it also means

00:11:46.520 we are not buying stuff,

00:11:47.980 we're not trading

00:11:48.800 with weaker economies,

00:11:50.120 we are not just destroying

00:11:51.900 our own jobs,

00:11:52.720 we're destroying the jobs

00:11:53.840 of all those

00:11:54.480 in the poorer parts of the world

00:11:56.420 that export to us.

00:11:57.800 That seemed to me

00:11:58.820 to be a reasonable point.

00:12:00.240 Really important point

00:12:01.640 by Professor Gupta.

00:12:02.800 I want to say it again.

00:12:04.460 We in the World Health Organization

00:12:06.540 do not advocate lockdowns

00:12:09.920 as a primary means

00:12:10.860 of control of this virus.

00:12:12.740 The only time we believe

00:12:13.980 a lockdown is justified

00:12:15.340 is to buy you time

00:12:16.940 to reorganize,

00:12:18.260 regroup,

00:12:19.160 rebalance your resources,

00:12:20.660 protect your health workers

00:12:21.820 who are exhausted.

00:12:23.060 But by and large,

00:12:24.120 we'd rather not do it.

00:12:25.680 Just look at what's happened

00:12:26.580 to the tourism industry,

00:12:28.020 for example,

00:12:28.540 in the Caribbean

00:12:29.280 or in the Pacific

00:12:30.600 because people aren't

00:12:32.160 taking their holidays.

00:12:33.640 Look at what's happened

00:12:34.480 to smallholder farmers

00:12:35.900 all over the world

00:12:36.840 because their markets

00:12:38.140 have got dented.

00:12:39.580 Look at what's happening

00:12:40.380 to poverty levels.

00:12:41.640 It seems that we may well

00:12:43.000 have a doubling

00:12:43.720 of world poverty

00:12:44.800 by next year.

00:12:46.400 We may well have

00:12:47.140 at least a doubling

00:12:48.120 of child malnutrition

00:12:49.240 because children

00:12:49.880 are not getting meals

00:12:51.300 at school

00:12:51.820 and their parents

00:12:52.640 in poor families

00:12:53.680 are not able

00:12:54.540 to afford it.

00:12:55.200 This is a terrible,

00:12:56.900 ghastly global

00:12:57.860 catastrophe, actually.

00:13:00.060 And so we really

00:13:01.260 do appeal

00:13:01.780 to all world leaders.

00:13:03.660 Stop using lockdown

00:13:04.860 as your primary

00:13:05.760 control method.

00:13:06.920 Develop better systems

00:13:08.560 for doing it.

00:13:09.580 Work together

00:13:10.280 and learn from each other.

00:13:12.180 But remember,

00:13:13.620 lockdowns just have

00:13:14.760 one consequence

00:13:15.820 that you must never,

00:13:17.240 ever belittle,

00:13:18.480 and that is

00:13:19.180 making poor people

00:13:20.660 an awful lot poorer.

00:13:22.000 So what he says

00:13:22.620 there, pretty clear,

00:13:23.300 we really do appeal

00:13:24.440 to all world leaders.

00:13:25.620 Stop using lockdown

00:13:27.020 as your primary

00:13:28.600 control method.

00:13:29.800 And a lot of people

00:13:30.940 are now defending this,

00:13:32.560 saying, oh, no, no, no,

00:13:33.100 he was taken out

00:13:33.920 of context.

00:13:34.420 For example,

00:13:35.060 there was a piece

00:13:35.840 in Forbes

00:13:36.380 by Bruce Lee,

00:13:38.320 not that Bruce Lee,

00:13:39.220 by another Bruce Lee,

00:13:40.400 that says,

00:13:41.100 actually, I wish it was

00:13:41.780 by the Bruce Lee

00:13:43.040 you were thinking of.

00:13:43.980 He said,

00:13:44.360 WHO warning

00:13:45.160 about coronavirus

00:13:45.900 lockdowns

00:13:46.700 is taken out

00:13:47.560 of context.

00:13:48.280 And this author

00:13:50.220 of this piece

00:13:51.060 in Forbes

00:13:51.620 says that it's

00:13:52.600 not a reversal,

00:13:54.100 that it's not

00:13:55.340 an admission

00:13:56.080 that lockdowns

00:13:56.960 are harmful,

00:13:57.440 it's not a recantment

00:13:59.280 of previous WHO advice.

00:14:01.380 But in actuality,

00:14:02.920 it kind of is.

00:14:04.800 And not because

00:14:06.000 of taking it

00:14:07.600 out of context.

00:14:08.140 Looking at the full context,

00:14:09.920 what Dr. Nabarro

00:14:10.920 is saying there

00:14:11.620 is that you've got economies

00:14:12.740 that have been decimated

00:14:13.720 by this,

00:14:14.340 you've got

00:14:15.220 an ineffectiveness

00:14:16.400 to lockdowns.

00:14:17.420 And more importantly,

00:14:18.420 what he's saying

00:14:19.240 is that countries

00:14:20.000 can't just rely

00:14:21.140 on a lockdown

00:14:21.840 and expect that it's

00:14:22.780 going to accomplish

00:14:24.040 what they want to.

00:14:24.940 It should be

00:14:25.340 the last resort.

00:14:27.020 Whereas what governments

00:14:28.280 are doing now

00:14:28.980 in the West

00:14:29.480 is treating this

00:14:30.340 as a first resort

00:14:31.940 and as an only resort.

00:14:34.000 And if you listen closely,

00:14:35.320 he talked about

00:14:36.080 tourism destinations.

00:14:37.540 I don't entirely know

00:14:39.140 if he was saying

00:14:39.800 go on vacation,

00:14:40.700 but he did seem

00:14:41.440 to be lamenting

00:14:42.380 the effect that

00:14:43.400 lockdowns had

00:14:44.320 on tourism.

00:14:45.660 The lockdown has had

00:14:46.480 on people not taking

00:14:47.560 holidays and not traveling

00:14:49.240 and doing all that.

00:14:49.960 So he seems to be saying,

00:14:51.020 yeah, people should be able

00:14:51.880 to go and have a vacation,

00:14:54.060 have a holiday

00:14:54.680 because lockdown

00:14:55.780 shouldn't be the only tool

00:14:57.060 in a toolkit.

00:14:58.880 And this is something

00:15:00.060 that is tremendously valuable

00:15:02.200 to this narrative

00:15:03.040 because the WHO

00:15:03.940 has been every which way.

00:15:05.580 So I don't give them

00:15:06.760 a great deal of credibility,

00:15:08.500 but there is something

00:15:09.900 from this that I could take,

00:15:11.320 which is to say that

00:15:12.120 if even the WHO

00:15:14.200 is coming out

00:15:15.620 against lockdowns,

00:15:16.660 then surely we can suggest

00:15:18.540 that lockdowns

00:15:19.520 are not the top priority

00:15:21.540 that lawmakers

00:15:22.200 should be embracing

00:15:23.100 right now

00:15:23.640 because they haven't worked

00:15:24.940 up until this point.

00:15:26.020 Now, remember,

00:15:26.900 WHO first said,

00:15:28.120 you know,

00:15:28.600 COVID-19 is no big deal.

00:15:30.000 And then they said,

00:15:30.600 oh, we got to watch

00:15:31.280 about backlash

00:15:32.180 against China.

00:15:33.020 And then they said

00:15:33.600 masks are bad

00:15:34.520 and then masks are good.

00:15:35.720 And then it was

00:15:36.480 travel bans don't work.

00:15:37.680 And then it was,

00:15:38.200 yeah, travel bans are fine.

00:15:39.460 And now they want you

00:15:40.620 to be able to take

00:15:41.260 your holidays.

00:15:41.820 So again,

00:15:42.820 I mean,

00:15:43.180 the WHO is kind of like,

00:15:45.140 you know,

00:15:45.960 the one man,

00:15:47.740 one stop shop,

00:15:48.780 so to speak,

00:15:49.380 for every position imaginable

00:15:50.980 on any issue imaginable.

00:15:53.080 But what Nabarro is saying

00:15:55.000 to Neil here,

00:15:55.740 I do think has the ring of truth

00:15:57.440 in that governments

00:15:58.660 need to stop

00:16:00.300 moving forward with this

00:16:02.000 as though you can eradicate

00:16:04.100 the virus from existence

00:16:05.220 just by keeping people

00:16:06.520 locked down.

00:16:08.180 And my friend Mark Stein

00:16:09.480 had a really interesting point

00:16:10.940 on his show last week.

00:16:12.100 He said when the height

00:16:13.340 of the pandemic in,

00:16:14.400 I guess it was March or April

00:16:15.500 in Italy,

00:16:16.420 when Italy locked down,

00:16:17.760 they were not locking down

00:16:19.140 to keep the virus

00:16:20.280 out of Italy.

00:16:21.340 They were locking down

00:16:22.300 to keep the virus in.

00:16:24.360 You can't lock down,

00:16:25.920 Mark was saying,

00:16:26.600 to keep something out.

00:16:27.940 You can only lock down

00:16:29.140 if you've already got it

00:16:30.600 and you're trying to prevent

00:16:31.340 people from getting it out

00:16:32.960 of that country.

00:16:33.880 And that's where

00:16:35.100 the geographic stuff

00:16:36.320 comes in to be very important

00:16:38.180 and why governments

00:16:39.000 should have moved earlier

00:16:40.160 to close the border,

00:16:41.720 should have actually

00:16:42.560 closed the border.

00:16:43.800 And if you did that,

00:16:44.940 you would have actually

00:16:45.560 been able to keep

00:16:46.240 your country somewhat insulated

00:16:47.760 at least for longer

00:16:49.180 until you could build up

00:16:50.300 the hospital capacity,

00:16:51.740 which was always

00:16:52.880 the first priority.

00:16:55.000 So the moving goalposts

00:16:56.280 of this,

00:16:56.620 which we've talked about

00:16:57.680 on the show,

00:16:58.380 are still very much

00:16:59.720 alive and well.

00:17:01.460 And just by the way,

00:17:02.640 remember, we're being told

00:17:03.720 now it's about

00:17:04.400 until we have a vaccine.

00:17:05.600 We've got to wear masks

00:17:06.580 until we have a vaccine.

00:17:08.100 Well, take a look

00:17:09.120 at this one article

00:17:09.880 about one such vaccine.

00:17:12.420 Johnson & Johnson's

00:17:13.380 been working on one

00:17:14.200 and they've had to

00:17:15.560 pause this vaccine study

00:17:17.540 due to unexplained illness

00:17:19.460 in a participant.

00:17:20.940 Now, in a lot of cases,

00:17:22.400 if something comes up,

00:17:23.580 even if it's unrelated

00:17:24.320 to the vaccine,

00:17:25.060 they have to halt it.

00:17:26.260 So it's not necessarily

00:17:27.460 indicative of the vaccine

00:17:29.020 that they're testing

00:17:29.940 giving this participant

00:17:31.440 an illness.

00:17:32.640 But the whole point

00:17:33.760 is that this is going

00:17:35.620 to happen.

00:17:36.320 The idea that we could

00:17:37.420 just have one of these

00:17:38.280 ready to go

00:17:39.000 on store shelves

00:17:40.440 injected in people's arms

00:17:41.760 by the end of the year

00:17:42.700 was never going to happen

00:17:44.540 and it's still not

00:17:45.440 going to happen.

00:17:46.380 And even with all

00:17:47.120 the companies

00:17:47.680 and countries

00:17:48.520 and governments

00:17:49.140 and research institutions

00:17:50.500 in the world

00:17:51.260 racing to come up

00:17:52.780 with a vaccine,

00:17:53.780 it's not going to be

00:17:55.820 a quick, speedy,

00:17:57.340 expedient process.

00:17:58.820 And we're already

00:17:59.600 at the point

00:18:00.020 where flu shots

00:18:00.940 are coming out

00:18:01.720 and now people

00:18:02.680 are getting their

00:18:03.220 flu shots

00:18:03.740 from local pharmacies

00:18:04.720 or whatever.

00:18:05.600 But that's not

00:18:06.820 ever having

00:18:08.280 buy-in

00:18:08.940 from 100%

00:18:09.780 of the population.

00:18:11.380 So the idea

00:18:12.420 that we are just

00:18:13.360 going to be able

00:18:14.080 to sit down,

00:18:14.940 wear masks

00:18:15.460 if we go out,

00:18:16.280 not travel,

00:18:17.420 do all of these

00:18:18.120 things up until

00:18:18.980 the point

00:18:19.400 where we have

00:18:20.020 a vaccine

00:18:20.540 means we're going

00:18:21.560 to be doing

00:18:21.920 this for a while.

00:18:23.100 That means

00:18:23.600 you should never

00:18:24.280 accept governments

00:18:25.300 making a vaccine

00:18:26.760 the benchmark.

00:18:27.380 Absolutely not.

00:18:30.400 If you allow

00:18:31.320 governments to make

00:18:32.020 vaccines the benchmark,

00:18:33.100 you are justifying

00:18:34.100 and licensing them

00:18:35.260 to keep you locked

00:18:36.440 down for quite a while.

00:18:38.340 Locked down and loaded,

00:18:39.260 that's the name

00:18:40.260 of the show.

00:18:41.040 So where do we go

00:18:41.900 from here?

00:18:42.340 Well, for starters,

00:18:43.000 we need to accept

00:18:44.140 that this is a battle

00:18:46.780 of ideas

00:18:47.480 and a battle

00:18:47.980 of information,

00:18:49.200 the experts

00:18:49.920 versus the 0.55

00:18:50.720 quote-unquote experts,

00:18:51.780 the real data

00:18:52.460 versus the data

00:18:53.380 that are politically

00:18:54.500 convenient

00:18:55.240 to leaders

00:18:56.460 who benefit

00:18:57.100 from keeping

00:18:57.700 everyone locked down.

00:18:58.640 They benefit

00:18:59.060 from the fear.

00:18:59.720 They benefit

00:19:00.140 from just saying,

00:19:01.420 you know what?

00:19:01.940 You just stay

00:19:02.560 in your house.

00:19:03.060 We'll let you know

00:19:03.640 when it's safe.

00:19:04.160 We'll let you know

00:19:04.720 when you can come out.

00:19:06.640 And this happened

00:19:07.520 last Thanksgiving.

00:19:08.660 Now, look,

00:19:09.080 we won't know

00:19:09.600 for another couple

00:19:10.240 of weeks

00:19:10.540 whether there were,

00:19:11.280 you know,

00:19:11.620 mass unleashings

00:19:13.420 of the virus,

00:19:14.020 if you will,

00:19:15.040 over Thanksgiving

00:19:15.700 weekends,

00:19:16.200 but governments

00:19:16.820 were telling people

00:19:17.640 you don't get

00:19:18.620 to have Thanksgiving

00:19:19.380 dinner with your family.

00:19:21.380 And when I looked

00:19:22.260 on my Instagram

00:19:23.820 or Facebook

00:19:24.580 and I saw people's

00:19:25.640 photos from the weekend,

00:19:26.500 it did seem like

00:19:27.060 people were having,

00:19:27.900 you know,

00:19:28.400 Thanksgiving family dinners.

00:19:29.540 And I say,

00:19:30.180 good on you.

00:19:30.680 I don't really care.

00:19:32.300 I don't really care

00:19:33.540 because I trust people

00:19:35.800 to make the decisions

00:19:36.960 that are right for them.

00:19:39.000 I trust people

00:19:40.140 who have vulnerable

00:19:40.800 family members

00:19:41.500 to not invite grandma

00:19:42.500 to dinner

00:19:43.680 if that's going to be

00:19:44.460 the issue

00:19:45.280 or to not visit grandma

00:19:46.480 if there's a chance

00:19:47.220 that you have contracted

00:19:48.700 COVID-19.

00:19:49.460 I trust people to do that.

00:19:51.060 And that is one

00:19:51.940 of the great contrasts

00:19:52.980 between Sweden

00:19:53.760 and the West

00:19:55.040 outside of Sweden.

00:19:56.640 Sweden decided to say,

00:19:58.040 you know what?

00:19:58.540 We trust our citizens.

00:20:01.180 The approach in Canada,

00:20:02.740 the approach in Britain,

00:20:03.660 the approach in Australia

00:20:04.660 is that we do not trust you

00:20:07.100 to make the right call.

00:20:09.260 And if you look at cases

00:20:10.860 that have happened

00:20:11.480 where there's been

00:20:12.060 a house party

00:20:12.760 or people have picked

00:20:14.220 something up at the bars,

00:20:15.260 all of these other things,

00:20:16.140 and you're saying,

00:20:16.620 well, this is proof

00:20:17.360 that you can't trust people.

00:20:18.700 No, it's proof 1.00

00:20:19.220 that there are stupid 1.00

00:20:19.880 people everywhere. 1.00

00:20:20.560 It's proof that there 1.00

00:20:22.320 are stupid people everywhere. 1.00

00:20:23.780 You don't play 1.00

00:20:24.820 to the lowest common denominator.

00:20:26.760 If governments do that,

00:20:27.700 it basically presents

00:20:28.660 the idea 1.00

00:20:29.180 that everyone's a moron 1.00

00:20:30.640 rather than saying, 1.00

00:20:31.560 okay,

00:20:32.260 the people that are protected,

00:20:33.660 their benefit

00:20:34.280 comes from them

00:20:35.560 making those decisions

00:20:36.800 that are right

00:20:37.500 for them

00:20:38.340 and for their families.

00:20:39.920 Protect the vulnerable.

00:20:41.500 Don't keep the population 0.97

00:20:42.660 locked down forever.

00:20:44.600 And if you think

00:20:45.120 that's hyperbole,

00:20:45.980 just look at the goalposts

00:20:47.980 as they move

00:20:48.480 right before your very eyes.

00:20:49.760 We've got to take a break.

00:20:50.940 When we come back,

00:20:51.580 more of The Andrew Lawton Show

00:20:53.000 here on True North.

00:20:54.940 You're tuned in

00:20:56.120 to The Andrew Lawton Show.

00:21:02.480 Welcome back

00:21:03.320 to The Andrew Lawton Show.

00:21:04.520 Speaking of lockdowns,

00:21:05.860 people are finding themselves

00:21:07.340 getting stir crazy,

00:21:08.680 getting cooped up

00:21:09.420 and looking for anything

00:21:10.740 and everything they can do

00:21:11.920 that doesn't violate

00:21:13.200 the spirit of social distancing

00:21:14.880 but still gives them

00:21:15.820 a little bit of leisure.

00:21:17.360 And leave it to Singapore

00:21:18.880 to come up with a way

00:21:19.720 around this.

00:21:20.660 Singapore Airlines

00:21:21.520 has sold out

00:21:22.880 numerous flights.

00:21:24.340 Well, not really flights.

00:21:25.880 It is a case

00:21:27.000 where you go on a jet

00:21:28.440 that remains on the tarmac

00:21:30.180 and you have

00:21:30.940 a good old-fashioned

00:21:31.820 airplane meal.

00:21:33.780 Yes, Singapore Airlines,

00:21:35.040 I've never flown on it

00:21:35.880 but it's quite a lovely airline

00:21:37.320 by all accounts,

00:21:38.840 has started to put

00:21:40.140 tarmac meals

00:21:41.460 on its largest planes,

00:21:43.440 the A380s,

00:21:44.320 the Airbus A380 Jumbos.

00:21:46.560 For $470 US dollars,

00:21:49.780 you can sit on an A380,

00:21:52.880 the world's biggest passenger jet

00:21:54.320 and you can have a,

00:21:56.320 not a flight to nowhere,

00:21:57.520 you literally just go

00:21:58.920 exactly where you are

00:22:00.580 which is nowhere

00:22:01.320 and you sit down

00:22:02.880 and they give you

00:22:03.620 in a first class

00:22:04.880 a four-course meal,

00:22:06.800 in economy

00:22:07.480 a three-course economy meal.

00:22:09.820 So it's not like

00:22:10.440 a better meal,

00:22:11.140 it's the meal you get

00:22:12.320 in the airplane.

00:22:14.400 They did this with

00:22:15.260 one particular date

00:22:16.940 or two dates rather

00:22:17.760 and they sold out

00:22:18.880 with half an hour,

00:22:20.280 half an hour after opening,

00:22:21.960 they sold out

00:22:22.640 and now they've decided

00:22:24.460 to open more options

00:22:26.100 so they've got different seatings

00:22:27.400 for lunch and dinner

00:22:28.480 and the idea

00:22:30.220 that I find fascinating here

00:22:31.840 is that like

00:22:32.520 if you're going to go

00:22:33.260 do it first class,

00:22:34.340 if you're going to go,

00:22:34.920 no one goes to economy

00:22:35.860 for the food,

00:22:36.860 you go to economy

00:22:37.620 for the destination

00:22:38.540 and the destination

00:22:39.980 in this case is nowhere.

00:22:41.140 So if you're going to do it,

00:22:42.140 splurge for the first class suite

00:22:43.680 which again is like

00:22:44.720 a private suite

00:22:45.560 on Singapore Airlines A380

00:22:47.880 and they have to

00:22:49.420 social distance as well.

00:22:50.840 So half the seats

00:22:51.480 will be left empty.

00:22:52.800 You'll be able to

00:22:53.540 have a bit of distance

00:22:54.660 between you and other people

00:22:55.800 but here's the part

00:22:56.920 that I find hilarious.

00:22:58.140 For those seeking

00:22:59.140 to bring the in-flight experience

00:23:00.840 into their living rooms,

00:23:02.400 Singapore Airlines

00:23:03.160 is offering home deliveries

00:23:04.620 of plane meals.

00:23:05.940 So if you can't get

00:23:06.540 enough airplane food

00:23:07.400 on the plane,

00:23:08.780 you can actually get

00:23:10.100 airplane food takeout

00:23:12.160 which I have had

00:23:13.320 some good food on planes

00:23:14.320 believe it or not

00:23:14.880 never that good

00:23:16.080 that I would want

00:23:16.820 to bring it home.

00:23:17.980 So this is where we are now

00:23:19.300 and you know,

00:23:20.300 it's easy to kind of

00:23:21.080 poke fun at these things

00:23:22.140 and enjoy the novelty of it

00:23:23.680 but there's something

00:23:25.100 very sad in this too

00:23:26.500 because this is coming

00:23:27.880 from a place

00:23:28.580 where people are

00:23:29.760 so desperate

00:23:30.720 to just do anything

00:23:32.780 that they will take

00:23:34.480 something that on its surface

00:23:35.680 is a pretty sad

00:23:36.960 and insignificant thing.

00:23:38.660 They're so desperate

00:23:39.500 just to have some form

00:23:40.720 of recreation or joy

00:23:41.860 or get out of the house

00:23:42.620 that this is what they do

00:23:43.880 and Singapore is a city state

00:23:45.640 by the way.

00:23:46.120 I mean if you're in Canada

00:23:46.920 you can travel

00:23:48.140 a great deal of distance

00:23:49.540 and still be in the country

00:23:50.940 and be traveling domestically.

00:23:52.740 In Singapore

00:23:53.140 you could like walk

00:23:54.160 from one end of the country

00:23:55.080 to the other

00:23:55.580 and it might take you

00:23:56.820 a little bit of time

00:23:57.460 but there's not a lot to see

00:23:58.640 without leaving your country.

00:24:00.500 So I get why people

00:24:01.780 in Singapore

00:24:02.260 are a little frustrated

00:24:03.420 and they also like

00:24:04.560 aren't allowed

00:24:04.900 to chew gum in public

00:24:05.980 so I mean let's face it

00:24:07.180 leisure is hard

00:24:07.680 to come by there.

00:24:08.800 Here's the thing though

00:24:09.660 I used to travel a lot

00:24:12.260 before this year came

00:24:13.520 and for you know

00:24:15.340 sometimes stories

00:24:16.060 that I'm covering

00:24:16.680 for True North

00:24:17.640 and also for other duties

00:24:19.300 that I take on

00:24:20.060 whether it's public speaking

00:24:21.340 or some of the consulting work

00:24:22.820 that I do

00:24:23.320 but the thing is

00:24:24.520 I would be fascinated

00:24:26.500 fascinated if Air Canada

00:24:28.560 could swing something like this

00:24:30.000 because I like Air Canada

00:24:31.240 I travel with them a fair bit

00:24:32.700 but you know

00:24:33.800 they're not typically known

00:24:35.020 for you know

00:24:36.000 their service and economy

00:24:37.100 so if I were to see

00:24:39.060 something like this

00:24:40.080 with Air Canada

00:24:40.960 I'm not sure

00:24:41.480 they would sell out

00:24:42.180 as quickly

00:24:42.600 as Singapore does.

00:24:44.820 I actually did

00:24:45.420 an Air Canada focus group

00:24:46.860 last week

00:24:47.380 believe it or not

00:24:48.080 and it was a lot of fun

00:24:49.500 I actually enjoyed it

00:24:50.340 because it's like

00:24:50.840 I've got a captive audience

00:24:51.960 with the people

00:24:52.680 that make the decisions

00:24:53.680 at Air Canada

00:24:54.880 which most people

00:24:55.840 would just kill to have

00:24:57.000 and some guy

00:24:58.540 on the focus group

00:25:00.000 was like complaining

00:25:00.740 about the nachos

00:25:01.660 in the lounge

00:25:02.340 so it was the epitome

00:25:03.820 of first world problems

00:25:04.960 but right now

00:25:05.740 I think if you're taking

00:25:06.540 a flight to nowhere

00:25:08.040 because they tried that

00:25:09.300 they tried to do the flight

00:25:10.540 that actually just flies around

00:25:12.380 and then lands

00:25:13.160 where it took off from

00:25:14.100 and then all the environmentalists

00:25:15.820 ruin that

00:25:16.380 so that's why you have to get

00:25:17.960 the meal on the tarmac

00:25:19.400 because all of the

00:25:20.400 climate change freaks

00:25:21.660 were the ones saying

00:25:22.720 oh no no no

00:25:23.240 you can't just take a plane

00:25:24.160 to nowhere 0.99

00:25:24.600 it's like oh shut up 0.99

00:25:25.700 like again 0.99

00:25:26.420 give people some

00:25:27.420 semblance of joy

00:25:28.580 in their lives

00:25:29.360 if this is all they have

00:25:30.980 and speaking of trying

00:25:32.620 to take the joy

00:25:33.220 out of things

00:25:33.900 the CHCH network

00:25:36.220 in Ontario

00:25:37.200 based in Hamilton

00:25:38.360 was airing Brady Bunch

00:25:40.660 reruns on the weekend

00:25:42.060 they got the rights

00:25:42.960 to an old show

00:25:43.660 a great show

00:25:44.260 and this is the message

00:25:46.280 that preceded it

00:25:47.400 the following presentation

00:25:49.060 is a product of its time

00:25:50.820 it depicts prejudices

00:25:52.400 that were wrong then

00:25:53.400 and remain unacceptable today

00:25:54.960 CHCH does not condone

00:25:56.880 discrimination of any kind

00:25:58.320 rather than ignoring

00:26:00.040 past discriminatory practices

00:26:01.900 exhibiting work like this

00:26:03.680 allows viewers to engage

00:26:05.060 in thought or discussion

00:26:06.280 that educates or promotes

00:26:08.000 the importance of social justice

00:26:09.680 and inclusivity

00:26:10.620 viewer discretion is advised

00:26:12.540 this was shared by

00:26:14.180 film critic Jim Slotek

00:26:15.780 who said

00:26:16.340 I was intrigued by this disclaimer

00:26:18.240 fairly rending its garments

00:26:20.380 over the transgressive programming

00:26:21.940 it was about to air

00:26:22.840 it turned out to be

00:26:24.060 the horror

00:26:25.060 the Brady Bunch

00:26:26.060 and this wasn't the only trigger warning

00:26:28.280 someone else responded

00:26:29.720 and pointed out

00:26:30.720 that they've actually seen

00:26:32.260 this on Seinfeld reruns

00:26:35.640 that were airing this weekend

00:26:37.520 before an episode of Seinfeld on CTV

00:26:39.440 this program is presented

00:26:40.860 as originally created

00:26:42.480 it may contain language

00:26:43.760 attitudes

00:26:44.300 cultural depictions

00:26:45.520 and racial prejudices

00:26:47.080 which may cause offense

00:26:49.120 so it used to be

00:26:50.800 that you get the warning for

00:26:51.980 oh you know

00:26:52.820 there's a bit of nudity

00:26:53.640 or a bit of foul language

00:26:54.780 now it's that

00:26:55.560 oh this is racist 0.86

00:26:56.420 Seinfeld's racist 0.92

00:26:57.320 Brady Bunch 0.99

00:26:57.920 is racist 0.99

00:26:58.800 and this is just 0.94

00:27:00.320 laughable

00:27:01.460 but shameful

00:27:02.240 in the same way

00:27:03.120 and there's a bit of hypocrisy too

00:27:05.280 if it's so bad

00:27:06.280 don't air it

00:27:06.920 if you think it's so offensive

00:27:08.840 don't air it

00:27:09.680 which suggests

00:27:10.640 they're just trying to go through

00:27:11.520 the motions

00:27:12.020 of claiming to be woke

00:27:13.180 of just trying to deflect

00:27:14.520 against any potential criticism

00:27:16.160 that someone sends their way

00:27:17.520 but my goodness

00:27:18.600 this is actually

00:27:19.500 quite embarrassing

00:27:20.520 that this is what passes

00:27:22.360 for a real discussion

00:27:24.660 about any of these issues

00:27:25.640 so you're now not supposed

00:27:26.680 to just watch

00:27:27.440 the Brady Bunch

00:27:28.160 you have to watch

00:27:29.320 the Brady Bunch

00:27:29.960 and then have a conversation

00:27:32.080 and engage in thought

00:27:33.700 and discussion

00:27:34.300 that educates

00:27:35.020 and promotes

00:27:35.460 the importance

00:27:36.080 of social justice

00:27:37.040 and inclusivity

00:27:37.860 is that what you wanted

00:27:39.080 to do at Thanksgiving

00:27:40.340 is that what you wanted

00:27:41.620 to do at the Thanksgiving

00:27:42.380 dinner table

00:27:43.080 talk about all the ways

00:27:44.160 in which the Brady Bunch

00:27:45.440 no longer holds up

00:27:47.000 to the standards

00:27:48.540 of 2020

00:27:49.260 this was like

00:27:50.840 the Liberal Party

00:27:51.740 tweeting out

00:27:52.400 on I think it was

00:27:53.640 Saturday or something

00:27:54.600 if pumpkin pie

00:27:55.440 gets political

00:27:56.120 or debates

00:27:56.760 get a bit foul

00:27:57.620 on FaceTime

00:27:58.760 note the double entendre

00:28:00.360 we've got you covered

00:28:01.320 with a generous

00:28:02.360 helping of pointers

00:28:03.420 about the Liberal

00:28:04.180 government's work

00:28:05.060 to keep Canadians

00:28:06.280 supported

00:28:06.860 so it's already bad

00:28:08.360 enough that you had

00:28:09.000 to have a Zoom

00:28:10.060 Thanksgiving dinner

00:28:10.920 instead of an actual

00:28:11.940 turkey dinner

00:28:12.660 at a table

00:28:13.140 with your family

00:28:13.780 but now you get

00:28:15.080 Liberal talking points

00:28:16.920 Liberal talking points

00:28:18.720 that you were supposed

00:28:19.360 to like pull up

00:28:20.280 and wait for the moment

00:28:21.640 when you know

00:28:22.380 Uncle Joe says

00:28:23.820 well you know

00:28:24.680 I don't really like

00:28:25.640 this ban on plastic

00:28:26.600 well the Liberals

00:28:28.220 have you covered

00:28:29.200 because as you see

00:28:30.200 what's this about

00:28:31.440 a ban on plastic

00:28:32.740 see the answer

00:28:33.600 here we go

00:28:35.780 yes over 3 million

00:28:36.700 tons of plastic

00:28:37.480 were discarded

00:28:38.120 as waste in Canada

00:28:39.260 in 2016

00:28:40.300 that's as heavy

00:28:41.460 as 216 million

00:28:42.920 turkeys

00:28:43.460 our plan will create

00:28:45.100 jobs

00:28:45.620 blah blah blah

00:28:46.580 and this is

00:28:47.940 this is great

00:28:48.940 I hear Aaron O'Toole

00:28:50.640 wants to take

00:28:51.620 Canada back 0.75

00:28:52.720 and then there's

00:28:53.340 of course the answer

00:28:54.200 about how we won't

00:28:55.520 let conservative

00:28:56.220 austerity carve up

00:28:57.560 cuts to the support

00:28:58.820 that Canadians need

00:28:59.860 you know I've been at

00:29:02.240 a great many

00:29:03.040 Thanksgiving dinners

00:29:04.000 over the course

00:29:04.640 of my life

00:29:05.340 not once have I

00:29:06.620 ever heard anyone

00:29:07.340 say okay can you

00:29:08.420 can you pass the

00:29:09.320 yams there

00:29:09.800 you know I hear

00:29:10.860 someone wants to

00:29:11.940 take Canada back

00:29:12.860 I was like wait

00:29:13.800 is it do we

00:29:14.960 I don't know if we

00:29:15.540 have that is it

00:29:16.140 beside the yams

00:29:16.900 like who are you

00:29:19.480 at Thanksgiving

00:29:20.120 dinner with

00:29:20.960 this is what

00:29:21.680 they're bringing

00:29:22.140 up and more

00:29:23.240 importantly the only

00:29:23.960 thing worse than

00:29:24.560 that is being at

00:29:25.580 Thanksgiving dinner

00:29:26.260 as well with the

00:29:27.660 person who's like

00:29:28.320 oh well wait

00:29:29.020 I've got the

00:29:30.220 talking points

00:29:31.080 okay index

00:29:33.120 let's see

00:29:33.720 paragraph B

00:29:34.820 ah yes

00:29:35.380 so the

00:29:36.780 parliamentary

00:29:37.840 resolution 42

00:29:39.040 dash 7

00:29:40.000 oh get like

00:29:40.700 like they're

00:29:41.620 trying to take

00:29:42.480 the joy out of

00:29:43.540 absolutely everything

00:29:45.060 you can't watch

00:29:45.760 the Brady Bunch

00:29:46.360 you can't have

00:29:47.220 Thanksgiving dinner

00:29:47.940 you can't go to

00:29:48.660 the Oscars

00:29:49.280 without seeing it

00:29:50.340 like everything

00:29:51.300 is politicized

00:29:52.740 Gloria Steinem

00:29:54.080 back in the heyday

00:29:54.880 of her feminist

00:29:55.520 advocacy once said

00:29:56.620 that the personal

00:29:57.840 is the political

00:29:58.800 and this has gone

00:30:00.240 a step further

00:30:01.120 than that to be

00:30:01.940 where everything

00:30:02.780 is political

00:30:03.660 the everything

00:30:04.600 is political

00:30:05.840 if there's something

00:30:06.520 that's free of

00:30:07.120 politics well we

00:30:08.260 can change that

00:30:09.000 we've got an

00:30:09.560 answer to that

00:30:10.220 you are no longer

00:30:11.080 allowed to not

00:30:12.520 be political

00:30:13.780 when we come back

00:30:15.280 more of the

00:30:15.980 Andrew Lawton

00:30:16.480 show we'll stay

00:30:17.060 political here

00:30:17.700 on True North

00:30:18.600 stay with us

00:30:19.560 you're tuned in

00:30:22.040 to the Andrew

00:30:22.840 Lawton show

00:30:23.640 welcome back to

00:30:27.180 the Andrew Lawton

00:30:27.820 show 2020 has

00:30:28.960 been in many

00:30:29.440 cases the cursed

00:30:30.480 year if you want

00:30:31.680 to know why we

00:30:32.640 might have a

00:30:33.520 glimpse of the

00:30:34.820 answer to this

00:30:35.580 it involves a

00:30:36.400 woman known only

00:30:37.440 as Nicole a

00:30:38.400 Canadian woman who

00:30:39.260 apparently was on

00:30:40.700 a trip to Pompeii

00:30:42.520 in Italy and

00:30:43.740 stole some

00:30:45.120 artifacts from

00:30:46.400 the site now

00:30:47.240 she has returned

00:30:48.280 them not because

00:30:49.380 she has a guilty

00:30:50.060 conscience but she 0.89

00:30:50.880 thinks that stealing

00:30:52.000 these artifacts made

00:30:53.720 her curse she said 1.00

00:30:55.080 since stealing them

00:30:55.820 she's twice had

00:30:57.100 breast cancer she's

00:30:58.440 now asking for

00:30:59.180 God's forgiveness

00:30:59.860 she sent a letter

00:31:01.060 to a travel agency

00:31:03.200 nearby the site of

00:31:05.200 Pompeii with the

00:31:06.060 artifacts saying

00:31:07.180 I'm returning them

00:31:07.920 she stole them 15 1.00

00:31:08.920 years ago but it's

00:31:10.060 been weighing on her

00:31:10.760 conscience since then

00:31:11.740 so maybe this is

00:31:13.120 just you know some

00:31:13.800 karmic forces that

00:31:14.920 are in the world

00:31:15.540 that are unleashing

00:31:16.600 it not just on on

00:31:17.660 her but on everyone

00:31:18.980 and that's the

00:31:19.560 answer to what's

00:31:20.900 been happening in

00:31:21.680 2020 I spoke last

00:31:24.040 week on the show

00:31:25.200 about this policy

00:31:26.240 from Yelp where

00:31:27.800 they are now

00:31:28.580 basically going to

00:31:29.720 flag businesses that

00:31:31.160 have been accused

00:31:31.680 of some sort of

00:31:32.420 racial or racist

00:31:33.920 misconduct and

00:31:35.300 they're doing this

00:31:35.940 in a way that

00:31:37.060 makes it so that

00:31:37.960 when you go to

00:31:38.520 that page you'll

00:31:39.280 see ah yes you

00:31:40.300 know Joe's bakery

00:31:41.680 was accused of

00:31:42.400 racism so I'm

00:31:43.220 not going to go

00:31:43.620 there and it's

00:31:44.140 it's not just

00:31:44.700 like a little tiny

00:31:45.380 little image in

00:31:46.260 the corner it's

00:31:46.880 like a big pop-up

00:31:48.220 message that you

00:31:49.520 need to see if

00:31:50.380 you're looking at

00:31:51.020 this place in the

00:31:51.720 eyes of Yelp and

00:31:53.380 I got a lot of

00:31:54.200 response to that and

00:31:55.460 a couple of people

00:31:56.260 that said I

00:31:57.520 misunderstood the

00:31:58.560 point of it and

00:31:59.100 I wanted to delve

00:32:00.020 into this in a bit

00:32:00.900 more detail because

00:32:02.240 what Yelp has done

00:32:03.380 with this is is

00:32:04.320 they've done one

00:32:05.500 thing here that I

00:32:07.160 think is good in

00:32:07.920 that if anyone is

00:32:09.040 doing a rating of

00:32:11.200 a business for

00:32:11.900 whatever reason

00:32:12.540 they go and they

00:32:13.880 give it the stars

00:32:14.640 and they describe

00:32:15.300 their experience

00:32:16.060 you have to rate

00:32:17.460 based on your own

00:32:18.580 experiences though

00:32:19.700 the problem that

00:32:21.020 Yelp and Trip

00:32:21.800 Advisor and Google

00:32:22.840 reviews and all of

00:32:23.760 these places have

00:32:24.640 is that if someone

00:32:25.820 reads an article

00:32:26.600 about what was it

00:32:27.340 Joe's bakery and

00:32:28.600 they they live in

00:32:29.500 you know Wisconsin

00:32:30.360 and they read an

00:32:31.540 article about Joe's

00:32:32.460 bakery in Halifax

00:32:34.860 and they say oh

00:32:36.700 they're they're

00:32:37.180 racist there people

00:32:38.180 will go on having

00:32:39.000 never been to

00:32:39.820 Halifax having

00:32:40.600 never been to

00:32:41.060 Joe's bakery having

00:32:41.860 never been to

00:32:42.360 Canada and say oh

00:32:43.780 well this is terrible 0.98

00:32:44.900 they're racist and 0.96

00:32:46.000 overnight business

00:32:47.420 will go from five

00:32:48.600 stars to one star

00:32:49.740 because of thousands

00:32:50.500 of people that have

00:32:51.200 never been there

00:32:51.800 rating it so what

00:32:53.120 Yelp has done is 0.58

00:32:53.920 they've frozen those

00:32:56.000 so if an influx of

00:32:57.400 people are rating a

00:32:58.280 business then they

00:32:59.880 are going to say

00:33:00.780 hey you know are

00:33:01.580 all these people

00:33:02.020 actually going there

00:33:02.740 and they're going to

00:33:03.180 freeze it so that

00:33:04.280 only legitimate

00:33:05.060 ratings show up so

00:33:06.660 they're using this

00:33:08.100 as an antidote to

00:33:09.320 that which has

00:33:10.340 caused some people

00:33:11.300 to defend it but

00:33:12.860 my criticism still

00:33:14.120 stand because what

00:33:15.420 Yelp is doing is

00:33:17.120 allowing weaponized

00:33:18.660 allegations against a

00:33:20.180 business weaponized

00:33:21.260 media reports I have

00:33:23.140 seen stories and I'm

00:33:24.480 not going to go

00:33:24.860 through them because

00:33:25.340 they're too numerous

00:33:26.020 but where people have

00:33:27.360 gone out of their way

00:33:28.280 to pick a fight with

00:33:29.120 a business in one

00:33:30.900 case it was an

00:33:32.000 indigenous person that

00:33:33.100 went around to

00:33:33.740 different costume

00:33:34.480 stores to try to

00:33:35.840 find ones that had

00:33:36.540 offensive costumes or

00:33:37.840 like you know one

00:33:39.060 that had like you

00:33:39.640 know traditional

00:33:40.080 native headdresses just

00:33:41.280 so that they could

00:33:41.800 call them all racist

00:33:42.640 I've seen other

00:33:43.480 cases where people

00:33:44.340 have been accused of

00:33:45.040 stealing maybe they

00:33:45.800 were stealing and

00:33:46.900 then they cry racism

00:33:47.960 and the media picks it

00:33:48.920 up without looking at

00:33:49.820 the core allegation

00:33:50.840 there are lots of

00:33:51.900 situations where a

00:33:52.900 business will be

00:33:53.460 accused of racism

00:33:54.660 when no such thing

00:33:56.300 has occurred and

00:33:57.640 what Yelp has done

00:33:58.600 is now put forward a

00:33:59.860 policy that codifies

00:34:01.620 that a policy that

00:34:02.680 allows anyone who

00:34:04.300 gets the media to

00:34:05.300 write about one of

00:34:05.900 these things is now

00:34:06.980 justification for Yelp

00:34:08.320 to brand a business

00:34:09.660 as racist and the

00:34:11.460 point that I raised

00:34:12.360 last week on this that

00:34:13.360 I'll restate now is

00:34:14.420 that businesses have

00:34:15.460 enough to deal with

00:34:17.000 at this point in time

00:34:18.340 that they don't need

00:34:19.800 to add on to this the

00:34:21.100 weaponization of

00:34:22.760 allegations of racism

00:34:24.140 and again it's not to

00:34:25.180 say that racism should

00:34:26.260 be tolerated or accepted

00:34:27.560 it's to say that we

00:34:28.800 should have a pretty

00:34:29.780 clear definition of

00:34:30.980 what that is and

00:34:32.380 Yelp doesn't really 0.97

00:34:33.440 have that and the

00:34:34.800 media doesn't really

00:34:35.840 have that I mean take

00:34:38.020 a look at Facebook

00:34:38.720 Facebook issued a new

00:34:39.960 policy this week that

00:34:41.840 it will now be removing

00:34:43.500 any Holocaust denial

00:34:45.080 content so if anyone

00:34:46.800 posts something that

00:34:47.820 denies or distorts the

00:34:48.940 Holocaust Facebook's 0.85

00:34:50.560 hate speech policy will

00:34:51.840 prohibit it and they're

00:34:53.460 seeing an increase in

00:34:54.560 anti-Semitism they've

00:34:55.800 just done a mass ban on

00:34:57.960 groups that were

00:34:58.540 connected to QAnon and

00:35:00.220 other sort of militia

00:35:01.200 groups Facebook is

00:35:02.600 trying to claim that

00:35:03.420 it's doing its part to

00:35:04.700 keep the internet safer

00:35:05.900 and I actually notably

00:35:07.740 in the past have said

00:35:08.980 that I think free speech

00:35:10.380 includes the right to

00:35:11.860 say egregious offensive

00:35:13.320 things and the point

00:35:14.840 that I raised an example

00:35:16.600 of my show years ago was

00:35:17.960 that that would include

00:35:18.980 the right to deny the

00:35:20.240 Holocaust it would be 1.00

00:35:21.260 egregious it's stupid it 1.00

00:35:23.420 is anti-Semitic but it 1.00

00:35:24.660 is a protected form of

00:35:26.520 speech and then the

00:35:28.180 liberal media had

00:35:29.780 gotten insanely up in

00:35:31.620 arms about that by

00:35:32.460 saying that I was

00:35:33.100 supporting Holocaust and

00:35:34.140 I'll know I was

00:35:34.700 supporting free speech and

00:35:35.660 in fact I know a great

00:35:36.720 many Jewish people that

00:35:37.700 believe the same thing as

00:35:38.660 me on this but here's

00:35:40.340 the thing what Facebook

00:35:41.340 is doing is it's right

00:35:43.160 it's a private company

00:35:44.100 they say you know what

00:35:44.860 we've decided we don't

00:35:45.860 want this form of

00:35:47.160 anti-Semitism they can

00:35:48.880 make that determination

00:35:49.740 and people can decide

00:35:51.360 where the limits are and

00:35:52.720 how acceptable or

00:35:53.760 unacceptable certain

00:35:55.000 limits are on whatever

00:35:56.460 word and we see Twitter

00:35:57.860 go even further on this

00:35:59.520 Twitter will say you

00:36:00.660 know what you can't

00:36:01.300 misgender someone that's 0.99

00:36:02.540 a form of hate speech

00:36:03.640 so people can discuss

00:36:05.020 the degrees but at

00:36:06.220 least there's a clearly

00:36:07.340 delineated policy there's

00:36:09.040 a clearly delineated

00:36:10.100 line if you do this it

00:36:12.040 is wrong the Yelp

00:36:14.120 approach which is the

00:36:15.220 one that more and more

00:36:16.100 people are moving

00:36:16.800 towards is a lot

00:36:18.160 murkier what is what is

00:36:19.360 racism if you've been

00:36:20.340 accused of racism in the

00:36:21.520 media what is that and

00:36:24.300 we all can identify

00:36:25.500 what racism is when we

00:36:27.260 see it but can you

00:36:28.080 define it can you

00:36:29.120 truly define it and if

00:36:30.640 so do you want that to

00:36:31.660 be weaponized where any

00:36:32.700 small business that has

00:36:34.160 any altercation with

00:36:35.300 someone that is branded

00:36:36.720 in a certain way is for

00:36:38.500 the rest of its existence

00:36:39.580 going to be cataloged and

00:36:41.520 categorized as racist on

00:36:43.040 Yelp how do you expect a

00:36:44.760 business owner trying to

00:36:45.800 get by to escape from

00:36:47.140 that I don't we have to

00:36:49.540 wrap things up my thanks

00:36:50.480 to all of you for tuning

00:36:51.720 in to the show today we'll

00:36:53.440 talk to you in a few

00:36:54.460 days here on Canada's

00:36:55.620 most irreverent talk

00:36:56.860 show thank you god

00:36:57.920 bless and good day

00:36:58.760 Canada if you enjoy the

00:37:00.580 show and want to hear

00:37:01.280 more of it we need your

00:37:02.940 support head on over to

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00:37:06.780 click donate to support

00:37:08.020 the work that we're doing

00:37:08.920 and stand up for

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00:37:11.180 for listening to the

00:37:11.960 Andrew Lawton show

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Juno News - October 13, 2020

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