If you are someone who is living in the UK but originally hail from Punjabi, India then you will want to have Bhangra Dhol for various occasions. Also, Dhol is a very popular musical instrument in the UK because of the beat it generates. Therefore, if you are looking to purchase a Dhol then you should go to an online store selling Dhol in the UK. By going to an online store, you will able to get the best Dhol at a good price.
submitted by Welcome to the /Bitcoin Sticky FAQ
You've probably been hearing a lot about Bitcoin recently and are wondering what's the big deal? Most of your questions should be answered by the resources below but if you have additional questions feel free to ask them in the comments.
It all started with the release of
Satoshi Nakamoto's whitepaper however that will probably go over the head of most readers so we recommend the following articles/books/videos as a good starting point for understanding how bitcoin works and a little about its long term potential:
Some other great resources include Michael Saylor's
"Bitcoin for Everybody"' course, Jameson Lopp's
resource page, Gigi's
resource page, and James D'Angelo's
Bitcoin 101 Blackboard series. Some excellent writing on Bitcoin's value proposition and future can be found at the
Satoshi Nakamoto Institute.
If you are technically or academically inclined check out
developer resources and peer-reviewed
research papers, course lectures from both
MIT and
Princeton as well as future
protocol improvements and
scaling resources. Some Bitcoin statistics can be found
here,
here and
here. MicroStrategy's
Bitcoin for Corporations is an excellent open source series on corporate legal and financial bitcoin integration.
You can also see the number of times Bitcoin was
declared dead by the media (LOL) and
what you could have earned if you didn't listen to them! XD
Key properties of Bitcoin
- Limited Supply - There will only ever be 21,000,000 bitcoin created and they are issued in a predictable fashion per the inflation schedule. Once they are all issued Bitcoin will be truly deflationary. The halving countdown tells you how much time until the next drop in block rewards.
- Open source - Bitcoin code is fully auditable. You can read and contribute to the source code yourself.
- Accountable - The public ledger is transparent, all transactions are seen by everyone.
- Decentralized - Bitcoin is globally distributed across thousands of nodes with no single point of failure and as such can't be shut down similar to how Bittorrent works. You can even run a node on a Raspberry Pi.
- Censorship resistant - No one can prevent you from interacting with the bitcoin network and no one can censor, alter or block transactions that they disagree with, see Operation Chokepoint.
- Push system - There are no chargebacks in bitcoin because only the person who owns the address where the bitcoin resides has the authority to move them.
- Low fee scaling - Most wallets calculate on chain fees automatically but you can view fee estimates and mempool activity if you want to set your fee manually. On chain fees may rise occasionally due to network demand, however instant micropayments that do not require confirmations are happening via the Lightning Network, a second layer scaling solution currently rolling out on the Bitcoin mainnet.
- Borderless - No country can stop it from going in/out, even in areas currently unserved by traditional banking as the ledger is globally distributed.
- Trustless - Bitcoin solved the Byzantine's Generals Problem which means nobody needs to trust anybody for it to work.
- Pseudonymous - No need to expose personal information when purchasing with cash or transacting.
- Secure - Blocks and transactions are cryptographically secured (using hashes and signatures) and can’t be brute forced or confiscated with proper key management such as hardware wallets.
- Programmable - Individual units of bitcoin can be programmed to transfer based on certain criteria being met
- Nearly instant - From a few seconds on the lightning network to a few minutes on-chain depending on need for confirmations. Transactions are irreversible by normal users after one confirmation and irreversible by anyone (including miners) after 6 confirmations.
- Peer-to-peer - No intermediaries taking a cut, no need for trusted third parties.
- Portable - Bitcoin are digital so they are easier to move than cash or gold. They can be transported by simply carrying a seed (a string of 12 to 24 words) on a device or by memorizing it for wallet recovery (while cool, memorizing is generally not recommended due to potential for forgetting the seed and the potential for insecure key generation by inexperienced users. Hardware wallets are the preferred method for most users for their ease of use and additional security).
- Scalable - While the protocol is still being optimized for increased transaction capacity, blockchains do not scale very well, so most transaction volume is expected to occur on Layer 2 networks built on top of Bitcoin.
- Divisible - Each bitcoin can be divided down to 8 decimals, which means you don't have to worry about buying an entire bitcoin.
- Designed Money - Bitcoin was created to fit all the fundamental properties of money better than gold or fiat
Where can I buy bitcoin?
Bitcoin.org and
BuyBitcoinWorldwide.com are helpful sites for beginners. You can buy or sell any amount of bitcoin (even just a few dollars worth) and there are several easy methods to purchase bitcoin with cash, credit card or bank transfer. Some of the more popular resources are below, also check out the
bitcoinity exchange resources for a larger list of options for purchases.
You can also purchase in cash with
local ATMs. If you would like your paycheck automatically converted to bitcoin use
Bitwage.
Note: Bitcoin are valued at whatever
market price people are willing to pay for them in balancing act of supply vs demand. Unlike traditional markets, bitcoin markets operate 24 hours per day, 365 days per year.
Securing your bitcoin
With bitcoin you can
"Be your own bank" and personally secure your bitcoin
OR you can use third party companies aka
"Bitcoin banks" which will hold the bitcoin for you.
- If you prefer to "Be your own bank" and have direct control over your coins without having to use a trusted third party, then you will need to create your own wallet and keep it secure. If you want easy and secure storage without having to learn computer security best practices, then a hardware wallet such as the Trezor, Ledger or ColdCard is recommended.
- If you cannot afford a hardware wallet there are many software wallet options to choose from depending on your use case. Mobile wallets like BlueWallet are generally more secure than desktop wallets. Beware of fake mobile wallets and check reviews from reputable Bitcoin websites. Avoid paper wallets or brain wallets.
- If you prefer to let third party "Bitcoin banks" manage your coins, try Gemini or Unchained Capital but be aware you may not be in control of your private keys in which case you would have to ask permission to access your funds and be exposed to third party risk. There is a saying in the community, "Not your keys, not your coins" meaning if you don't store your coins in a wallet that you control the keys to then you do not really own your bitcoin as you have to ask permission from the third party in order to move them.
Note: For increased security, use Two Factor Authentication (2FA) everywhere it is offered, including email! 2FA requires a second confirmation code or a physical security key to access your account making it much harder for thieves to gain access. Google Authenticator and Authy are the two most popular 2FA services, download links are below. Make sure you create backups of your 2FA codes.
Avoid using your cell number for 2FA. Hackers have been using a technique called "SIM swapping" to impersonate users and steal bitcoin off exchanges.
Physical security keys (FIDO U2F) offer stronger security than Google Auth / Authy and other TOTP-based apps, because the secret code never leaves the device and it uses bi-directional authentication so it prevents phishing. If you lose the device though, you could lose access to your account, so always use 2 or more security keys with a given account so you have backups. See
Yubikey or
Titan to purchase security keys.
Both Coinbase and Gemini support physical security keys.
Watch out for scams
As mentioned above, Bitcoin is decentralized, which by definition means there is no official website or Twitter handle or spokesperson or CEO. However, all money attracts thieves. This combination unfortunately results in scammers running official sounding names or pretending to be an authority on YouTube or social media. Many scammers throughout the years have claimed to be the inventor of Bitcoin. Websites like bitcoin(dot)com and the r / btc subreddit are active scams. Almost all altcoins (shitcoins) are marketed heavily with big promises but are really just designed to separate you from your bitcoin. So be careful: any resource, including all linked in this document, may in the future turn evil. As they say in our community,
"Don't trust, verify".
- Avoid using ad-based search engines like Google or Yahoo: ads are shown based on how much the advertiser bids, and scammers can easily outbid legitimate providers for ad space, since immoral ways of earning money are far more lucrative than moral ways. Use DuckDuckGo instead, which has no ads, and never tracks you as well.
- Ignore private messages offering services.
- Never enter your seed words in a website of any kind. Hardware wallets will recover by displaying possible seed words on their own interface, never on a website.
- Always check addresses on your hardware wallet before sending or receiving. Some malware has been known to replace addresses in your web browser or that you copy-and-paste.
- Avoid clicking on links like that look like links, such as https://www.google.com/, without first hovering over it and actually checking where they go to. Just because a link is labelled with an HTTPS address does not mean it actually sends you to that address. It is trivial for someone to comment a link on Reddit that looks like it will send you to one website when it actually sends you to another, and you might not notice the difference until a scammer has gotten all your money, or you have downloaded and installed software that steals your money.
Common Bitcoin Myths
Often the same concerns arise about Bitcoin from newcomers. Questions such as:
- Is Bitcoin a Ponzi scheme?
- Will governments ban Bitcoin?
- Will quantum computers break Bitcoin?
All of these questions have been answered many times by a variety of people. Here are some resources where you can see if your concern has been answered:
Where can I spend bitcoin?
Check out
spendabit or
bitcoin directory for millions of merchant options. Also you can spend bitcoin anywhere visa is accepted with bitcoin debit cards such as the
CashApp card or
Fold card. Some other useful site are listed below.
| Store | Product |
| Bitrefill, Gyft | Gift cards for thousands of retailers worldwide including Amazon, Target, Walmart, Starbucks, Whole Foods, CVS, Lowes, Home Depot, iTunes, Best Buy, Sears, Kohls, eBay, GameStop, etc. |
| Spendabit, Overstock and The Bitcoin Directory | Retail shopping with millions of results |
| NewEgg and Dell | For all your electronics needs |
| Piixpay, Bitbill.eu, Bylls, Coins.ph, LivingRoomofSatoshi, Coinsfer, and more | Bill payment |
| Menufy and Takeaway | Takeout delivered to your door |
| Expedia, Cheapair, Destinia, Abitsky, SkyTours, the Travel category on Gyft and 9flats | For when you need to get away |
| Cryptostorm, Mullvad, and PIA | VPN services |
| Namecheap, Porkbun | Domain name registration |
| Stampnik | Discounted USPS Priority, Express, First-Class mail postage |
Coinmap and
AirBitz are helpful to find local businesses accepting bitcoin. A good resource for UK residents is at
wheretospendbitcoins.co.uk.
There are also
lots of charities which accept bitcoin donations.
Merchant Resources
There are several benefits to accepting bitcoin as a payment option if you are a merchant;
- 1-3% savings over credit cards or PayPal.
- No chargebacks (final settlement in 10 minutes as opposed to 3+ months).
- Accept business from a global customer base.
- Increased privacy.
- Convert 100% of the sale to the currency of your choice for deposit to your account, or choose to keep a percentage of the sale in bitcoin if you wish to begin accumulating it.
If you are interested in accepting bitcoin as a payment method, there are several options available;
Can I mine bitcoin?
Mining bitcoin can be a fun learning experience, but be aware that you will most likely operate at a loss. Newcomers are often advised to stay away from mining unless they are only interested in it as a hobby similar to
folding at home. If you want to learn more about mining you can read the
mining FAQ. Still have mining questions? The crew at
/BitcoinMining would be happy to help you out.
If you want to contribute to the bitcoin network by hosting the blockchain and propagating transactions you can
run a full node. You can view the
global node distribution for a visual representation of the node network.
Earning bitcoin
Just like any other form of money, you can also earn bitcoin by being paid to do a job.
| Site | Description |
| WorkingForBitcoins, Bitwage, Cryptogrind, Coinality, Bitgigs, /Jobs4Bitcoins, BitforTip, Rein Project | Freelancing |
| Lolli | Earn bitcoin when you shop online! |
| OpenBazaar, Purse.io, Bitify, /Bitmarket | Marketplaces |
| /GirlsGoneBitcoin NSFW | Adult services |
| A-ads, Coinzilla.io | Advertising |
You can also earn bitcoin by participating as a market maker on
JoinMarket by allowing users to perform CoinJoin transactions with your bitcoin for a small fee (requires you to already have some bitcoin).
Bitcoin-Related Projects
The following is a
short list of ongoing projects that might be worth taking a look at if you are interested in current development in the bitcoin space.
Bitcoin Units
One Bitcoin is quite large (hundreds of £/$/€) so people often deal in smaller units. The most common subunits are listed below:
| Unit | Symbol | Value | Info |
| bitcoin | BTC | 1 bitcoin | one bitcoin is equal to 100 million satoshis |
| millibitcoin | mBTC | 1,000 per bitcoin | used as default unit in recent Electrum wallet releases |
| bit | bit | 1,000,000 per bitcoin | colloquial "slang" term for microbitcoin (μBTC) |
| satoshi | sat | 100,000,000 per bitcoin | smallest unit in bitcoin, named after the inventor |
For example, assuming an arbitrary exchange rate of $10000 for one Bitcoin, a $10 meal would equal:
- 0.001 BTC
- 1 mBTC
- 1,000 bits
- 100k sats
For more information check out the
Bitcoin units wiki.
Still have questions? Feel free to ask in the comments below or stick around for our weekly Mentor Monday thread. If you decide to post a question in /Bitcoin, please use the search bar to see if it has been answered before, and remember to follow the community rules outlined on the sidebar to receive a better response. The mods are busy helping manage our community so please do not message them unless you notice problems with the functionality of the subreddit.
Note: This is a community created FAQ. If you notice anything missing from the FAQ or that requires clarification you can edit it here and it will be included in the next revision pending approval.
Welcome to the Bitcoin community and the new decentralized economy!
It's probably just a coincidence that a
global hard drive shortage occurred at the same time that the
NSA broke ground on the largest data center in history, codenamed 'Bumblehive', it has the capability to process "all forms of communication, including the complete contents of private emails, cell phone calls, skype, video game chat, voice and text wherever it occurs, and Internet searches, as well as all types of personal data trails—parking receipts, travel itineraries, bookstore purchases, license plate readers, intersection speed cameras, and other digital 'pocket litter', such as whether you are walking or driving, stopped, in the bathroom or masturbating, these all provide different patterns to your accelerometer and can be time and date stamped.
Thanks to the
2007 Protect America Act, PRISM and the FISA court evolved from the ECHELON/FIVE EYES of the 80s, 90s, and 2000s. Combining massive computing power and access to massive commercial databases such as google and ATT with real-time voice analysis and semantic search allowed the retiring of the traditional wiretap with a human agent listening under approval of a warrant to make way for an automated and complete real-time surveillance tool that can capture everything, analyze everything, and store everything.
It wouldn't be until 2013 that Snowden leaked PRISM and the over-collection of foreign and domestic data. But by then, the "
Manhattan Project of surveillance" was already 10 years old under the US Information Awareness Office policy and program codenamed 'Total Information Awareness', renamed 'Terrorist Information Awareness' just after entry into Iraq/Afghanistan in 2003.
And only a year after Snowden, real-time aerial video was integrated with the completion of the
BAE systems ARGUS-IS loitering WAPS (Wide Area Persistent Surveillance). Capable of taking 2 EXAbytes per day of video at high resolution over a 36 square mile area, it has integrated computer vision and detection capabilities, as demonstrated in a PBS Nova documentary from the time.
Plus all video and cell phone feeds can be ran through computer vision software that operates in real time. Using a combination of
NSA PRISM plugins, such as GUMSHOE and CAPTIVATEDAUDIENCE all cameras and microphones of any device can be activated remotely through
hardware backdoors built into all chips, a policy stated in their
budget request which made headlines in 2013.
It's also worth noting that
all online banking, password hashing, modem and router logins, facebook passwords, and much more all use an encryption standard known as SHA-2, literally created and introduced by the NSA. It's pretty cool that they can integrate a fingerprint scanner into a touch screen and also embed a camera underneath all of that! And did you know that the
only difference between a microphone and a speaker is quality? Everything else works the same.
All you have to do is plug the earbuds or headphones into the microphone jack instead of the headphone jack, start up a recording app, and you’re good to go.
Note that in the wiki article for the TIA of the NSA, it is noted that the program started under a program called Genoa back in the 90s, only later evolving into the
Genisys that attempted
pre-crime, eventually becoming public policing tool And I'm sure you already knew they fly FLIR cameras on helicopters to look into houses, and Ring Doorbells and Alexa's, too, but what about the rest of the house? Well, introducing this tech:
whole-home sensing and recognition of human gestures and locations using ambient wireless signals which do not require line-of-sight and can traverse through walls, WiSee achieves this goal without requiring instrumentation of the human body with sensing devices, like VR hands without the gloves.
The original name of Facebook was gonna be an NSA program called LifeLog, and remember that web 2.0 was founded by CIA/NSA, in so far as that Google as a startup was founded by InQTel, a known CIA front company who couldn't operate on domestic targets, but could get google to forward collect and forward that info to them the same way Five EYES did with the UK and the rest.
I'll show you mine if you show me yours. Recently, facebook has been studied and has admitted and has had whistleblowers who have all stated that their platform influences public opinion, and of course twitter does, too, complete with machine learning hashtags entered with every thought, and all tweets only large enough to express one thought at a time so the semantic AI can be trained more accurately. Keep that in mind as you contemplate the role propaganda and news has on your opinions about the world.
Then add that on top of all of this, no significant progress has been made on any of the main fronts, such as the war on poverty, war on drugs, war on immigration, war on terror, etcetera. The whole budget is always spent and the plan is always approved, but the results are like cold fries, decade after decade. remember how campaign finance reform was gonna take special interests out of Washington because of all the corruption it caused? Then immediately they created the SUPERPAC and it was business as usual, LMFAO. Still to this day!!!
Remember Occupy Wall Street? Arab Spring? Civil Rights? Abortion? We've been doing the cycle every decade for the last century. You people thought voting was gonna make the difference, LMFAO!!! You can't even stop NESTLE from stealing all the water like a literal Bond villain, LMMFAO.
Good luck with whatever movement you try that isn't shoot and scoot. Them ballots been working really good for you the last hundred years. I love how you defeated gerrymandering, by the way.
Updated January 8, 2020
DISCLAIMER: I wear my mask, wash my hands and try not to touch my face. I limit my social interactions. I follow most rules, even though many don't make sense. This is NOT a “COVID hoax” or “anti-vaxxer” post.
I agreed with lockdown measures that were taken in March 2020, when a lot was unknown. We did not have full knowledge of whom the virus affected and we did not have better treatment measures.
But science and data over the last 10 months has clearly shown that our approach needs to change.
“Where all think alike, no one thinks very much” Walter Lippmann, 2-time Pulitzer Prize winner SO WHO IS COVID DEADLY FOR? Data from government public health websites.
PUBLIC HEALTH CANADA
https://health-infobase.canada.ca/covid ... s.html#fn1 Out of 16435 COVID related deaths in Canada, 89.2% are in the 70+ age group. Percentage of COVID deaths in the 0-49 age group: 1.1% (this is a total of 192 COVID related deaths in Canada) NOTE: It is important to make the distinction that just because someone dies WITH COVID does not mean that they died BECAUSE of COVID. COVID deaths may be inflated due to this distinction. False positive cases may further inflate this number (more on this later). LONG TERM CARE HOMES
https://ltc-covid19-tracker.ca 70.3% of all COVID related deaths in Canada have been in long term care homes
PUBLIC HEALTH ALBERTA
https://www.alberta.ca/stats/covid-19-a ... istics.htm Average age of COVID-related death in Alberta: 82 years old. Out of 1241 COVID related deaths in Alberta, 97.1% have had 1 or more co-morbidities. Here is the breakdown: * 3 or more comorbidities: 75.0% * 2 comorbidities: 14.4% * 1 comorbidity: 7.7% * No comorbidity: 2.9% (highly likely to be in the older age demographic)
NOTE: Comorbidities included are: Diabetes, Hypertension, COPD, Cancer, Dementia, Stroke, Liver Cirrhosis, Cardiovascular diseases (including IHD and Congestive heart failure), Chronic Kidney disease, and Immuno-deficiency. STATSCAN REPORT: COVID 19 DEATH COMORBIDITIES IN CANADA (from the first wave, until July 31, 2020)
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/45- ... 87-eng.htm - 90% of all COVID-involved deaths had at least 1 comorbidity.
- ALL COVID-involved deaths in Canada under the age of 45 had at least 1 other disease/condition certified on the medical certificate of death.
WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN? We must acknowledge that these stats are all people and each number represents a human loss. We are all empathetic to that.
Now, the data clearly states the obvious: 1. A LARGE majority of COVID related deaths have and are still occurring in long term care homes. 2. COVID is a deadly threat to persons with co-morbidities and/or persons above the age of 70. It is not a LONE killer by itself. Note that any disease is dangerous to this population set, not just COVID. 3. For a healthy person below the age of 70, there is greater than 99% chance of COVID recovery. This is no worse than the flu.
This is all good news, because we know who COVID affects and who we desperately need to protect. We also have other good news…
GOOD NEWS #1: VITAMIN D3 DATA Vitamin D acts a key function for strengthening our immune system and is primarily acquired through sunlight exposure. There is a strong correlation that a Vitamin D deficiency will likely result in a serious case of a COVID infection, lowering hospitalizations, deaths and long-term COVID effects.
Vitamin D3 was shown to be deficient in 80% of hospitalized COVID patients in Spain [2].
The most comprehensive scientific study of Vitamin D deficiency in correlation to COVID patients was conducted in India over a span of 6 weeks [3]. Out of 154 patients, 63 severe cases needed ICU. Out of these, 61 patients (97%) had a Vitamin D deficiency. Overall, India has shown to have a lower strain of COVID, possibly because Vitamin D deficiency hits a much lower percentage of the population (due to more sunlight).
The UK government has already promoted Vitamin D to the entire population and is giving out free vitamin D handouts to persons most at risk for COVID [4].
4000 IU daily is recommended to create a strong immune response to COVID [5].
GOOD NEWS #2: BETTER COVID TREATMENTS Doctors have improved the mortality rates of severe COVID cases, using better ICU procedures. A person hospitalized in March 2020 was 3 times more likely to die than someone hospitalized in August 2020 [6].
GOOD NEWS #3: ASYMPTOMATIC % At least 17% of the population is estimated to be asymptomatic to COVID [7]. Many are immune to the danger of COVID.
The converse argument, of course, is the possible asymptomatic spread of infection which is difficult to detect. However, if an asymptomatic person does not interact with the vulnerable portion of the population, then what difference does it make?
Instead, why not focus on controlling spread in the SMALLER vulnerable demographic where it really matters?
BAD NEWS #1: LOOKING AT CASE NUMBERS USING FLAWED PCR TESTING PCR tests, in their current form, are faulty and ineffective [9]. In Dec 2020, the World Health Organization confirmed what was known for months; that high cycle threshold PCR tests result in a high amount of false positives and that testing labs around the world need to reduce their threshold values [10]. The US FDA has also warned of the risk of false positives from PCR tests [8].
It is important for everyone to understand what a Polymerase Chain Reaction test does. A PCR test is looking for RNA, which is a small particle of any cell (just like DNA). In this case, we are looking for the coronavirus RNA.
The amount of RNA in a saliva/nasal swab is very small, so PCR tests amplify the sample to help detect it. Each cycle doubles the material. One becomes two. In the next cycle, two is amplified to four, and so on. In Canada, and most of the world, specimens are amplified to a minimum value of at least 35 cycle thresholds (Ct). That creates over 17 billion copies of the material, enough to be able to detect any viral particle.
However, a Canadian National Microbiology study stated that specimens with Ct values greater than 24 were found to be viral culture negative [11]. What does this mean?
That if RNA is found at a Ct value of 35, the virus cannot be cultured. It cannot be grown. Because it is DEAD. The RNA is simply a remnant of a past COVID infection. A FALSE POSITIVE CASE. This case does not reflect an active infection nor is it contagious. That person was infected weeks or months ago.
This has been known irrefutable scientific fact for months: PCR tests are not reliable unless we REDUCE Ct values. Why are we creating worldwide mitigation policies based on this?
Lastly, and most importantly, using number of cases for policy making does not reflect the bigger picture. Someone with little or no symptoms of illness is NOT a case.
Instead, our main concern should this: How many of those cases are getting HOSPITALIZED and who is DYING?
THE BAD NEWS #2: LONG COVID Long term effects of COVID; persistent symptoms such as fatigue, headaches, respiratory, brain and heart issues can continue for weeks and months for some COVID cases. While there is still more research to be done, here is what we know so far.
King’s College London and the UK National Health Service have compiled the largest data set on this topic, using information from 4182 confirmed COVID cases [12]. Here was the breakdown of how many experienced long COVID, by duration of symptoms. The study also states that these numbers were comparable to Sweden and USA.
- 4 weeks: 13.3% (1 out of 7 cases)
- 8 weeks: 4.5% (1 out of 20 cases)
- 12 weeks 2.6% (1 out of 50 cases)
The susceptibility to experience long COVID is increased by the following factors, but can occur in low proportions in healthy individuals as well:
- Increased age
- Severity of COVID infection (i.e. number of COVID symptoms experienced in the first week)
- Obesity
Long COVID is a definitely a concern, but it does not warrant ignoring the negative long-term health effects of a lockdown.
BAD NEWS# 3: LOCKDOWNS DO MORE HARM THAN GOOD If you believe that a lockdown puts life and health ahead of the economy, you have been gravely misled. Lockdowns kill and destroy more lives than save lives.
The World Health Organization themselves do not advocate for lockdowns as the primary means of control of this virus [13].
The first and very comprehensive cost-benefit analysis of a lockdown in Canada was performed by Dr. Ari Jaffe, an infectious disease expert, who initially supported lockdowns but is now a strong opponent. His study concluded that the lockdowns in Canada will result in 10 statistical lives lost for every 1 COVID life saved [14].
Reasons for these lockdown deaths is due to restricted medical care such as
- delay of elective surgeries
- undiagnosed heart and cancer patients
- lack of accessible treatment for current patients
Moreover, the following repercussions of a lockdown are also not taken into account. All of these have a negative impact on life expectancy and illness.
- Mental Health
- Social Isolation (top 3 predictor of heart disease)
- Suicides
- Domestic Abuse
- Drug Abuse and Alcoholism
- Poverty and accompanying Malnutrition/Starvation
- Children’s Education and Childhood Trauma
The Canadian Mental Health Association concluded a study on all of the above, with 3027 participants Canada wide [15]. Here are some highlights:
- 10% experienced recent thoughts or feelings of suicide (up from 2.5% pre-pandemic).
- 40% have had their mental health decline during the pandemic
- 27% are worried about putting food on the table
- 18% report fearing physical and mental abuse while trapped at home
- Ontario experienced a 38% increase in drug overdose deaths during the 15 weeks of the first wave lockdown[36]
A Canadian Psychiatric Research report has projected an increase of between 418-2114 excess suicides in Canada (depending on 1.6% to 10.7% increase in unemployment) [16].
Lastly, lockdowns are causing our general health and immunity to be being lowered. We are locked down at home, with increasing mental health issues, stress, lack of sunlight and lack of exercise. This further lowers our bodies’ response to any sort of infection, including COVID.
Using lockdowns, we have only looked at short term gratification, while disregarding long term destruction.
BAD NEWS #4: HOSPITAL OVERCAPACITY The ideal measure to avoid a lockdown is to increase hospital capacity as much as possible.
Unfortunately, hospital space and staff shortages have always been a problem, even before the pandemic [17]. Every flu season in the last 3 years has had hospitals running at over capacity. Don’t let COVID distract you from the historical failures of the government.
This may sound ludicrous, but a simple online search will prove it. Here are a few news articles from previous years addressing that concern:
Dec 2017:
https://bit.ly/38wEqwn Feb 2018:
https://bit.ly/2M5dIU4 Jan 2020:
https://bit.ly/3nZ5laR Canada, despite being one of the biggest spenders for health care, sits far behind for services provided. As of 2019, out of 28 developed countries, here is how Canada ranked [18]:
- Doctors: 26th (2.8 doctors per 1000 people)
- Hospital Beds: 26th (2 beds per 1000 people)
Between Mar 15-Jun 13, 2020 (the first lockdown), the Ontario surgical backlog had an average increase of a whopping 11413 surgeries per week.
This led to a total of 150000 backlogged surgeries, which is estimated to take 84 weeks to clear (almost 1.5 years) [19].
We were completely unprepared for additional medical concerns, let alone a pandemic. Why has the government not addressed the hospital capacity issue? This is the most IMPORTANT factor in avoiding a lockdown.
Why is the public paying the price for government inadequacy? BAD NEWS #5: CANADA’S ECONOMIC SITUATION Socio-economic factors are the greatest indicator for the health of the population. Lack of finances do affect mental health, physical health and life expectancy. Look at any third-world country. Look at the impoverished demographic of any population set.
Canadian Annual Deficit: 2019: $19.8 Billion [20] Projected for March 2021: $381.6 to $398.7 Billion [21] This is an increase in deficit of almost 2000%. THIS IS REAL. This is NOT a typo. Imagine your $20,000 student loan becoming $398,000. By far, this is the HIGHEST deficit in Canadian history.
Within the last year, Canada has had the worst increase in Debt-to-GDP ratio in the world, which has risen by 80% [22]. We have spent the most amount of money in proportion to what our economy generates.
Our Minister of Finance resigned during the summer. A day after the Fall Economic statement was released on Nov 30, 2020, our Deputy Minister of Finance also resigned.
Our current Minister of Finance has no background in this field. Watch this video of her in Parliament:
https://fb.watch/23ypw_Ru1_/ The following industries have been devastated: Aviation, Tourism, Entertainment, Hospitality, Restaurants, Fitness, Retail
Our official unemployment rate in October 2020 was listed at 8.9% [23]. This is deceiving. This is artificially held low by government subsidies and by ridiculous requirements to be considered “unemployed”.
The true unemployment number could be as high as 30%, if not more [24]. That means a staggering 10 million Canadians unemployed.
218000 small-to-medium businesses are at risk of closing permanently [25]. That is 1 out of every 5 businesses. This was based on July 2020 data, before a second lockdown was announced, and is clearly much worse now.
On the other hand, large corporations are thriving. The price of a lockdown is not equally borne across the Canadian population.
We are all in the SAME storm, but not the SAME boat.
WHY IS THE GOVERNMENT STILL IMPLEMENTING SUCH DAMAGING POLICIES? This all started with a wildly incorrect and catastrophic model of COVID deaths by Dr. Neil Ferguson, from the Imperial College in the U.K. He projected that, unmitigated, COVID-19 would kill 326,000 in Canada this year [26]. Similar projections were made for other countries. Dr. Ferguson’s faulty projections, without being reviewed, led to a swift global lockdown and mass hysteria.
Using the Wuhan lockdown as a example, with a “75% reduction in interpersonal contact rates” however, he predicted deaths would fall to under 46,000 in Canada. Coming to the end of 2020, we are at approximately 15000 COVID related deaths in Canada [1]. While that is still a tragic number, it is nowhere close to what was predicted.
Dr. Ferguson has a history of incorrect modeling, apart from COVID. [26] [27]
- predicted 40000 COVID deaths in Sweden by May 2020, with no lockdown. By then, Sweden actual deaths were under 3000.
- 2002: predicted 150000 deaths from Mad Cow Disease. Actual toll was 2704.
- 2005: predicted 150 million people would be killed by the bird flu. Between 2003-2009, actual toll was 282.
- 2009: predicted swine flu could lead to 65000 U.K. deaths. Actual toll: 457 people.
In March 2020, Dr. Ferguson admitted that his COVID modeling was based on a 13-year old computer code that was intended for a “feared influenza pandemic”.
We shut down the world based on this? No one looked for a second opinion? His reckless advice set a dangerous precedent for lockdown policies and abuse of human and constitutional rights.
If the government realized and changed their approach now, it would essentially mean admitting they are wrong. (Personally, I feel they have succumbed to tunnel vision).
How can they reverse course without getting politically skewered for going all in on what is now by far the largest public spending campaign ever, the most significant restriction on free society ever and the greatest peacetime damage ever inflicted on a generation, socially and economically, in modern history when it turns out it didn't make much of a difference? (Credit: Josh Kocher)
Instead, politicians have used the new “science” of DEMAGOGY -
political activity or practices that seek support by appealing to the desires, prejudices and emotions of ordinary people rather than by using rational argument. Implement measures that make us FEEL safe instead of what is ACTUALLY safe. With only COVID in the spotlight, actions are based on “optics”. As long as COVID lives are down, why bother with the collateral damage from a lockdown and its accompanying non-COVID deaths? Politicians don’t have to wipe that blood off their hands. Ignorance is bliss. Let’s save 1 COVID life that is in the public eye, but it will cost 10 lives down the road, not in the public eye. This is known as the Corona Dilemma (see attached pictures) [14].
If we had always put health ahead of the economy, here’s what would have happened a long time ago.
- Alcohol would be banned
- Tobacco would be banned (21918 deaths/day globally) [14]
- Highly processed and fried foods would be banned
- MORE climate change and air pollution prevention measures would be put in place.
- Driving would be banned (3699 deaths/day globally) [14]
- We would instill a lockdown during every flu season to conserve hospital capacity. NOTE: 230000-650000 people die globally of the common flu every year [28].
Doing the above would save millions of lives globally. But we accept those risks despite high fatality numbers, in order to stimulate the economy. We leave the decisions to drive cars, consume alcohol, eat fried foods and smoke in the hands of the people. (Yes, they are not CONTAGIOUS so it’s a different form of threat, but a death is a death, specially if it is statistically preventable).
Another important point to consider is that politicians are making decisions while being completely protected from the consequences of their decisions. Their salary stays the same and their large pensions fully protected. This is a position of PRIVILEGE.
WHY IS THE PUBLIC SUPPORTING THESE POLICIES? For the general public, there are many working from home with pay. They have little to lose with a lockdown, so it is easy to support it. Again, a position of privilege. They are unaware of our country’s disastrous economic situation or the dangerous effects of a lockdown.
But more importantly, public support is being driven by mass hysteria; from the fear-mongering and sensationalizing of news by irresponsible journalism and incompetent politicians.
QUESTIONS FOR THE GOVERNMENT QUESTION: Why are high cycle threshold PCR tests still being used as the lone source for creating broad policies, despite their known inaccuracy and unsuitability? Can we stop with the constant regurgitating of daily case numbers?
QUESTION: Why are long term care facilities still experiencing COVID related deaths and not being protected better?
QUESTION: Why is the rest of Canada shut down when a distinct majority of the COVID related deaths are occurring in long term care homes, in age groups of 70+ and persons with co-morbidities?
QUESTION: Why do thousands of small businesses have to suffer when there is no proof that they are responsible for COVID transmissions?
Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table [29]: Restaurants, bars and clubs were the source of 0.7% of all COVID transmissions in Ontario. In fact, 58% of COVID cases do not know how and where the person was infected. The primary known source, close contact, adds up to 45% of Ontario COVID transmissions [29]. This means an unmasked setting for a prolonged period near someone close to you.
Have we seen Walmart and Costco take the contact information of every customer that enters the premises? No tracing = no cases = let them stay open.
Our politicians are blindly flailing at theories and superstitions to control this virus. How can a politician rob someone of their entire livelihood based on a hunch?
QUESTION: What is considered essential? Who decides this? Why is the LCBO (alcohol store ) open but gyms are not? To every person who is about to lose their job or business, is that not considered ESSENTIAL?
QUESTION: Why is a cost-benefit-result analysis not mentioned in any government policy? QUESTION: Why has the government not put out a simple disclaimer to increase our Vitamin D3 intake, especially during the winter months? This one measure can possibly yield the MOST result with LEAST effort and collateral damage.
QUESTION: Why has the government not volunteered to take a pay cut, given that most of the population is suffering economically? Don’t CEOs take a pay cut when their company is in financial trouble?
NOTE: The New Zealand PM and her ministers took a 6-month 20% pay cut in April 2020 [30].
SIDENOTE: A Canadian MP who only holds 6 years in office gets a lifelong pension. Even a war veteran does not get this benefit [31]
QUESTION: Why are these policies being made behind closed doors? The Ontario government has abused its arbitrary emergency powers to make policies without the input of ALL members of Parliament. When did we give up democracy? Watch The Ontario Government Being Questioned About This In Parliament:
https://fb.watch/22j-hpTDiL/ Why have those affected financially not been given a choice? If someone has to worry about putting food on the table and a roof over their head, they should have the right to go out and make a living. Let them decide for themselves whether they are willing to risk contracting COVID (a disease with a lethality rate of under 1% for the younger healthy working population).
QUESTION: Why is every international arrival subject to an archaic 14-day quarantine, when the Canada’s chief public health officer Dr. Tam herself has said that there is little - if any - evidence of COVID transmission aboard aircraft? [32]
COVID transmission through travel primarily occurred BEFORE mitigation measures were implemented. Now, it is one of the safest public places you can be in.
As of Jan 2, 2020, travel has only accounted for 2.5% of all COVID cases in Canada (with a known exposure setting). Most of these travel related cases are from early in the pandemic, before restrictions were placed [1].
Read the following fact-based article: The Irrational Fear Around Air Travel Needs To Stop (And We Need To Use Science Based Measures Instead): https://bit.ly/3rnS3GT Why is rapid testing not conducted on arriving passengers? Results from the McMaster Health Lab rapid test study at Toronto Pearson airport:
99.7% were cleared or detected for COVID on arrival [34].
QUESTION: If someone got COVID and has recovered, they have built natural immunity. Why do they need to be vaccinated?
DOCTORS AROUND THE WORLD ARE SPEAKING OUT Great Barrington Declaration:
https://gbdeclaration.org World Doctors Alliance: Letter to Citizens and Governments of the World:
https://worlddoctorsalliance.com MOVING FORWARD: WHAT DO WE DO NOW? We have had 11 months to prepare and learn more. A lot is still unknown about COVID but A LOT IS KNOWN.
COVID is here now and we cannot stop it; that’s the harsh truth. Risk and harm cannot be completely eliminated. COVID will affect some people; that is unavoidable. It cannot be the SOLE reason behind making broad policies.
COVID is a harmful virus but not the killer virus it was projected to be.
There is a fine line between learning to live with COVID vs paralyzing our lives due to COVID, which we crossed a long time ago. Why are we hiding from COVID when we should use our knowledge to fight against it? Let’s stop the shortsighted and reactionary decision making.
We are we so focused on “number of cases and infections”? The test results are not reliable, and infections pose little or no harm to most of the younger healthy population. The important data is “number of hospitalizations and deaths”. In other words, shift our energy from “how do we limit COVID SPREAD?” to “how do we limit COVID DAMAGE?”
The long-term health and financial effects of a lockdown need to be considered. A lockdown will only transfer lives lost and destroyed. It will not save the overall excess deaths to a population. In fact, it will increase them in the long term.
The ONLY way out of this pandemic is through herd immunity, either naturally or through a vaccine. That vaccine is at least more than a year away for most people (another governmental failure). Moreover, there are many who will choose not to take a vaccine (personally, I will take it). We cannot have another 6 months of lockdowns. Every single day adds incredible amounts of short and long term damage.
A SUMMARY OF WHAT SHOULD BE DONE: (Edit) Firstly, we should continue precautions to limit COVID spread. These are mitigation measures that
may yield results without collateral damage: masks, wash hands frequently, don’t touch your face, reasonably limit social interactions.
I hope it’s clear: the problem isn’t number of cases. It’s the number of deaths and number of hospitalizations.
We know one thing for sure: Lockdowns should be our absolute last measure and that they will still come at a serious cost to society. Lockdowns are a REACTIVE measure to avoid getting hospitals overloaded.
Our most helpful measure to avoid a lockdown would have been to increase hospital capacity, but the government has failed us there.
Moreover, implement the actions below:
- Offer Focused Protection for the following: long term care homes, the vulnerable population and those that have UNAVOIDABLE interaction with them. The measure alone may reduce COVID related deaths by 90+%. Even if the above demographic is half of the Canadian population, at least the other half don’t need to be locked down.
- Let everyone else live normally, if they CHOOSE (of course, with cautionary measures)
- Promote a healthy lifestyle, nutritious diet and increase Vitamin D intake for EVERYONE. This alone may reduce the number of hospitalizations, severe cases and long COVID.
- BONUS MEASURE: All politicians need to take a pay cut. Sign the following petition: https://www.truenorthinitiative.com/politicians_need_to_cut_their_salaries
LET ME BE CLEAR. This is not about Lives VS. Economy. Health policy has been mistakenly sold as such. The truth is that a Focused Protection approach will save more lives and protect the economy. It’s a win-win.
This is about using everything we know to have an all-inclusive approach and look at the bigger long-term picture. To make decisions using science, data and logic, as opposed to fear and emotion.
Enough damage has been done. Don’t make the CURE worse than the virus. Don’t let political agendas get in the way of real help.
Free discourse is important because it helps to prevent bad ideas from blossoming and spreading.
We cannot simply accept the first viewpoint presented to us. Science requires many different points of view, rigorously tested, before arriving to a conclusion [35]. Science DEMANDS opposing opinions. Propaganda, on the other hand, silences it.
Something is VERY wrong when there is massive blowback to any questioning of the narrative. Something is VERY wrong when fear has become a virtue and courage a vice [35].
Something is VERY wrong when law enforcement questions the government about why they are forced to abandon their oath to the Charter Of Rights & Freedoms. Read their letter: https://bit.ly/3nW0Mhu
Please copy, paste or share this message if you agree.
SHARE ORIGINAL FACEBOOK POST: https://bit.ly/2IRbRRC
Samad Kadri
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REFERENCES
[1] https://health-infobase.canada.ca/covid ... s.html#fn1
[2] https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/more-than ... -1.5162396
[3] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-77093-z
[4] https://www.theguardian.com/society/202 ... n-d-supply
[5] https://www.nutraingredients.com/Articl ... in-D-alarm
[6] https://www.snopes.com/news/2020/11/03/ ... s-improve/
[7] https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-03141-3
[8] https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/saf ... RHTwitterD
[9] https://cormandrostenreview.com/report/
[10] https://www.who.int/news/item/14-12-202 ... -ivd-users
[11] https://academic.oup.com/cid/article/71/10/2663/5842165
[12] https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101 ... 20214494v2
[13] https://www.narcity.com/en-ca/news/lock ... rol-method
[14] https://www.preprints.org/manuscript/20 ... 2/download
[15] https://cmha.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020 ... NAL-EN.pdf
[16] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/a ... 8120310386
[17] https://globalnews.ca/news/7464926/coro ... -capacity/
[18] https://www.fraserinstitute.org/sites/d ... mary_0.pdf
[19] https://www.cmaj.ca/content/192/44/E1347
[20] https://www.budget.gc.ca/2019/docs/plan/toc-tdm-en.html
[21] https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/federal ... -1.5209807
[22] https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/12/ ... dp-covid19
[23] https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-q ... 6a-eng.htm
[24] https://www.thestar.com/business/opinio ... ke-30.html
[25] https://www.cfib-fcei.ca/sites/default/ ... losing.pdf
[26] https://www.iedm.org/the-flawed-covid-1 ... wn-canada/
[27] https://www.nationalreview.com/cornep ... grace/amp/
[28] https://www.health.com/condition/cold-f ... every-year
[29] https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2020/1 ... tario.html
[30] https://globalnews.ca/news/6820459/jaci ... s-pay-cut/
[31] https://www.canada.ca/en/treasury-board ... -plan.html
[32] https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/covid- ... -1.5797065
[33] https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/coronavirus-disease-covid-19/epidemiological-economic-research-data.html
[34] https://mcmasterhealthlabs.ca/pdf/MHL%2 ... Tr6W2NgSCw
[35] https://financialpost.com/opinion/2020- ... he-science
[36] https://www.publichealthontario.ca/-/media/documents/o/2020/opioid-mortality-covid-surveillance-report.pdf?la=en
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