A few days ago, I wrote in the Gato substack comments about the Covid Pass in my country of Lithuania.
In our country, it's called the Opportunity Pass.
Without the Opportunity Pass, you don't have the opportunity to participate in society. You cannot shop in any non-essential stores, go to any restaurant or bar, enter any public indoor spaces, enter banks for most issues, visit patients in medical facilities in most cases..... and many more restrictions.
I wrote an article about the fundamental transformation in society which has occurred in just the last month. The new regime has significantly altered both the concept of individual rights as well as the relationship between the individual and the state.
I posted the article in the substack comments. Many of you took the time to comment on it, link to it and forward it on, and to email me. I'd like to say thank you very much to all of you :-)
For those who haven't seen the article, take a look! (link at bottom of this comment)
And for those who already saw the article: I've updated it with pictures of how the Opportunity Pass works in practice, showing what you now have to do in order to enter shopping centers, hypermarkets, restaurants, and pretty much any indoor space. The pictures are eye-opening,
Also, although it's not a surprise, I've updated the article to reflect as well that my wife and I were both suspended without pay today from our jobs because we don't have the Opportunity Pass.
There's little protest here against the restrictions. Voices opposed to vaccine mandates are rarely featured in any mainstream media in our country. Principled opposition is twisted and caricatured by both the government and the media as far-right, anti-LGBTQ, conspiracy theorists, and neo-Nazis.
Opponents to vaccine mandates are muted with the dreaded label of "anti-vaxxers", which in our post-Soviet society is seen as a person who is irrationally fatalistic, mystical, illiterate, selfish, anti-modern, and anti-science.
This social stigmatization of opposition has worked. Protests are rare, opponents remain silent, and most people just meekly acquiesce to the new rules. People are now more afraid of the social stigma than of the virus itself.
The contrast with history is stark. Lithuania was occupied for decades by the Soviet Union. We fought for - and won - a revolution of independence 30 years ago.
But now, three decades later, our current population is apathetic about losing freedoms which the previous generation fought for.
We battled against the government-led propaganda and "Show me your documents!" authoritarianism of the USSR, only to acquiesce meekly in 2021 to a new regime of media-led propaganda and technocratic, fear-driven health authoritarianism of "Show me your Covid QR Code!".
I'd like to ask your help.
I'm not social media savvy. I have zero platform. I don't want personal publicity, I have no interest in building an online brand, and - despite suggestions of well-meaning people who've emailed me - I won't make videos of myself and my children to highlight the situation here. I'm not involved in politics. I'm just an ordinary person trapped in an absurd world.
In short, I'm not a political activist and I'm not a good marketing person. I mean, my favorite activity is foraging for mushrooms in the forest with my wife and children (it's mushroom season now; the chantarelles are heavenly!).
Last week, I posted the article on Reddit. In 11 hours on Reddit it drew eyeballs here in my country. But then Reddit banned the post and me (details on that in the article).
That's why I think that if I can draw more attention - this time, by asking for the help of strangers like you rather than relying on Reddit's huge in-built audience - it could have an impact.
So I'd appreciate if all of you could share the article and information on social media.
Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, whatever you think best... I'd appreciate any help to get attention to the Covid Pass restrictions here.
If you have any other ideas to draw attention to the Opportunity Pass regime in Lithuania - things you could do yourself, people I should contact by email, suggestions of other things I should do - please let me know, here or by email. I'd be enormously grateful.
And in a personal request to Gato: My wife and I have followed your writing for 18 months, from the bluebird days to here on substack. Your detailed analysis and experienced insight of medical trials has been extremely helpful to us. And on all Covid topics, I've found that you not only give clear explanations of complex issues, but using wit, satire, and a large handful of memes, you also show the absurdity and lack of logical thinking behind much of government policy and social norms. So that's why I'd like to share this information about my country with you. Based on both your topics of interest, as well as the deeper values which are reflected in your writing, I think you'll find the article interesting, particularly as it's a story which has received little attention in the English-language media. I'd deeply appreciate any help you could give to draw attention to the Covid Pass regime in Lithuania and Europe.
-----
My wife and I don't want to leave our country. We shouldn't have to become refugees from absurdity. It's our home, our language, our culture, our forests.
Instead, we'd like our society to find a way out of the madness, the authoritarianism, and the hate and othering that have somehow become acceptable. What we want is a way back to normalcy. I hope with our efforts, we can turn attitudes back to 2019. It was far from perfect then, but it was incomparably better than our present madness.
And then I can focus again on mushroom hunting instead of Covid Pass regimes. :-)
We are far, far beyond this all being merely reprehensible. It is an ongoing human rights crime of biblical proportions. It has long since gone beyond partisan politics and entered the realm of pure malevolence. Those responsible should be facing not censure and ridicule but trials and capital punishment.
Good that they question the boosters, but this part is a little too clever for me: "...even in populations with fairly high vaccination rates the unvaccinated are still the major drivers of transmission and are themselves at the highest risk of serious disease. [16]"
Meanwhile, ref. 16 discusses risk of disease, but not transmission.
Krause and Gruber are still employed by the FDA, Krause through November. Both publish using their FDA office and titles. Krause appears co-author this Lancet piece and uses his FDA office and email for correspondence. FDA countering the White House??
I remember taking a PoliSci class where the prof. said that it was not so clear if the field could really be called a science. Who knew that 20 years later, most science would be political science (in the sense of politicized).
when the mengeles forcing humans to be lab rats say 'the shot is approved' they are using false authority. how does fda approve a shot that is short lived and has no safety conclusions? the eua is bogus for all the shots as well.
desantis wrote a counter order that imposes a $5000 fine on any business denying people in florida the right to decide if the fda is filled with criminals.
El gato… do you read any of Alex Berenson‘s stuff? He keeps pointing out a pretty grim picture of what’s going on in the UK which is highly vaccinated. Your take is quite a bit more positive for the vaccines. Can you explain the discrepancy? If I’m not mistaken he’s looking at some excess death issue.
This is the kind of insight and information that *should* make those who are all, "punish the unvaxxed" shut the hell up. My guess? It will not do that. (I know, Bad Cat. I am way too pessimistic!) I will do better!
Please register a HUGE THANK YOU to Marion Grueber and Philip Krause (and to you el Gato, Alex Berenson, America's Frontline Doctors and a handful of others) for standing up FOR and WITH supporting data and facts.
Do you believe this to be the beginning of a true awakening among the masses with respect to COVID risk/benefit? Or just another blip of a warning that is ignored?
This is good. The same arguments could be applied to mass vaccination of younger adults and children. Interesting whether this reflects a longer-term discomfort with FDA decisions.
the world has gone vaccine crazy. Unfortunately the less objective people are falling right into line because they are so afraid. the problem with all the vaccine efficacy studies is that they ignore the initial complications of vaccination. They also dont account for infection during the vaccination process.
the Pfizer 6 month randomized trial showed no benefit in survival. None. Zero.
Now Great Britain has decided to Vax the 11-15 year olds even though the advisory group advised against it. I hope we hold these people accountable.
A vindication for your initial call on their resignation, it would seem.
Still farcical. Their objection to the "boosters" is valid, but the are only making the objection because the boosters represent a novel violation of the orthodox, pseudo-scientific sacred quality of "vaccines." They are just behind the times. They are butt-hurt that no one else in the bureaucracy thinks the "vaccines" they so diligently rushed and suppressed VRBP review for are actually supposed to work.
A pair of fanatical, pro-vaxx clowns who can't grok that there's a new pope in town. They should be in front of the line at the Nuremberg Trial for these poisons, if we ever have one.
Hi Gato and Gato-pals,
A few days ago, I wrote in the Gato substack comments about the Covid Pass in my country of Lithuania.
In our country, it's called the Opportunity Pass.
Without the Opportunity Pass, you don't have the opportunity to participate in society. You cannot shop in any non-essential stores, go to any restaurant or bar, enter any public indoor spaces, enter banks for most issues, visit patients in medical facilities in most cases..... and many more restrictions.
I wrote an article about the fundamental transformation in society which has occurred in just the last month. The new regime has significantly altered both the concept of individual rights as well as the relationship between the individual and the state.
I posted the article in the substack comments. Many of you took the time to comment on it, link to it and forward it on, and to email me. I'd like to say thank you very much to all of you :-)
For those who haven't seen the article, take a look! (link at bottom of this comment)
And for those who already saw the article: I've updated it with pictures of how the Opportunity Pass works in practice, showing what you now have to do in order to enter shopping centers, hypermarkets, restaurants, and pretty much any indoor space. The pictures are eye-opening,
Also, although it's not a surprise, I've updated the article to reflect as well that my wife and I were both suspended without pay today from our jobs because we don't have the Opportunity Pass.
There's little protest here against the restrictions. Voices opposed to vaccine mandates are rarely featured in any mainstream media in our country. Principled opposition is twisted and caricatured by both the government and the media as far-right, anti-LGBTQ, conspiracy theorists, and neo-Nazis.
Opponents to vaccine mandates are muted with the dreaded label of "anti-vaxxers", which in our post-Soviet society is seen as a person who is irrationally fatalistic, mystical, illiterate, selfish, anti-modern, and anti-science.
This social stigmatization of opposition has worked. Protests are rare, opponents remain silent, and most people just meekly acquiesce to the new rules. People are now more afraid of the social stigma than of the virus itself.
The contrast with history is stark. Lithuania was occupied for decades by the Soviet Union. We fought for - and won - a revolution of independence 30 years ago.
But now, three decades later, our current population is apathetic about losing freedoms which the previous generation fought for.
We battled against the government-led propaganda and "Show me your documents!" authoritarianism of the USSR, only to acquiesce meekly in 2021 to a new regime of media-led propaganda and technocratic, fear-driven health authoritarianism of "Show me your Covid QR Code!".
I'd like to ask your help.
I'm not social media savvy. I have zero platform. I don't want personal publicity, I have no interest in building an online brand, and - despite suggestions of well-meaning people who've emailed me - I won't make videos of myself and my children to highlight the situation here. I'm not involved in politics. I'm just an ordinary person trapped in an absurd world.
In short, I'm not a political activist and I'm not a good marketing person. I mean, my favorite activity is foraging for mushrooms in the forest with my wife and children (it's mushroom season now; the chantarelles are heavenly!).
Last week, I posted the article on Reddit. In 11 hours on Reddit it drew eyeballs here in my country. But then Reddit banned the post and me (details on that in the article).
That's why I think that if I can draw more attention - this time, by asking for the help of strangers like you rather than relying on Reddit's huge in-built audience - it could have an impact.
So I'd appreciate if all of you could share the article and information on social media.
Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, whatever you think best... I'd appreciate any help to get attention to the Covid Pass restrictions here.
If you have any other ideas to draw attention to the Opportunity Pass regime in Lithuania - things you could do yourself, people I should contact by email, suggestions of other things I should do - please let me know, here or by email. I'd be enormously grateful.
And in a personal request to Gato: My wife and I have followed your writing for 18 months, from the bluebird days to here on substack. Your detailed analysis and experienced insight of medical trials has been extremely helpful to us. And on all Covid topics, I've found that you not only give clear explanations of complex issues, but using wit, satire, and a large handful of memes, you also show the absurdity and lack of logical thinking behind much of government policy and social norms. So that's why I'd like to share this information about my country with you. Based on both your topics of interest, as well as the deeper values which are reflected in your writing, I think you'll find the article interesting, particularly as it's a story which has received little attention in the English-language media. I'd deeply appreciate any help you could give to draw attention to the Covid Pass regime in Lithuania and Europe.
-----
My wife and I don't want to leave our country. We shouldn't have to become refugees from absurdity. It's our home, our language, our culture, our forests.
Instead, we'd like our society to find a way out of the madness, the authoritarianism, and the hate and othering that have somehow become acceptable. What we want is a way back to normalcy. I hope with our efforts, we can turn attitudes back to 2019. It was far from perfect then, but it was incomparably better than our present madness.
And then I can focus again on mushroom hunting instead of Covid Pass regimes. :-)
Thanks again to Gato and all the Gato-pals here.
Best wishes,
- Gluboco
The link to the article I wrote is:
https://txti.es/covid-pass/images
(My email is at the bottom of the article. Thanks! :) )
We are far, far beyond this all being merely reprehensible. It is an ongoing human rights crime of biblical proportions. It has long since gone beyond partisan politics and entered the realm of pure malevolence. Those responsible should be facing not censure and ridicule but trials and capital punishment.
Good that they question the boosters, but this part is a little too clever for me: "...even in populations with fairly high vaccination rates the unvaccinated are still the major drivers of transmission and are themselves at the highest risk of serious disease. [16]"
Meanwhile, ref. 16 discusses risk of disease, but not transmission.
Krause and Gruber are still employed by the FDA, Krause through November. Both publish using their FDA office and titles. Krause appears co-author this Lancet piece and uses his FDA office and email for correspondence. FDA countering the White House??
I remember taking a PoliSci class where the prof. said that it was not so clear if the field could really be called a science. Who knew that 20 years later, most science would be political science (in the sense of politicized).
https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/science/articles/pandemic-science
Not that this started with COVID.
political!!! the end game is your rights.
when the mengeles forcing humans to be lab rats say 'the shot is approved' they are using false authority. how does fda approve a shot that is short lived and has no safety conclusions? the eua is bogus for all the shots as well.
desantis wrote a counter order that imposes a $5000 fine on any business denying people in florida the right to decide if the fda is filled with criminals.
El gato… do you read any of Alex Berenson‘s stuff? He keeps pointing out a pretty grim picture of what’s going on in the UK which is highly vaccinated. Your take is quite a bit more positive for the vaccines. Can you explain the discrepancy? If I’m not mistaken he’s looking at some excess death issue.
This is the kind of insight and information that *should* make those who are all, "punish the unvaxxed" shut the hell up. My guess? It will not do that. (I know, Bad Cat. I am way too pessimistic!) I will do better!
Please register a HUGE THANK YOU to Marion Grueber and Philip Krause (and to you el Gato, Alex Berenson, America's Frontline Doctors and a handful of others) for standing up FOR and WITH supporting data and facts.
Do you believe this to be the beginning of a true awakening among the masses with respect to COVID risk/benefit? Or just another blip of a warning that is ignored?
This is good. The same arguments could be applied to mass vaccination of younger adults and children. Interesting whether this reflects a longer-term discomfort with FDA decisions.
The Lancet link no longer works
They were cowards to resign.
They should have stayed and told the truth, make Marks fire them.
They let much happen, and then ran
the world has gone vaccine crazy. Unfortunately the less objective people are falling right into line because they are so afraid. the problem with all the vaccine efficacy studies is that they ignore the initial complications of vaccination. They also dont account for infection during the vaccination process.
the Pfizer 6 month randomized trial showed no benefit in survival. None. Zero.
Now Great Britain has decided to Vax the 11-15 year olds even though the advisory group advised against it. I hope we hold these people accountable.
A vindication for your initial call on their resignation, it would seem.
Still farcical. Their objection to the "boosters" is valid, but the are only making the objection because the boosters represent a novel violation of the orthodox, pseudo-scientific sacred quality of "vaccines." They are just behind the times. They are butt-hurt that no one else in the bureaucracy thinks the "vaccines" they so diligently rushed and suppressed VRBP review for are actually supposed to work.
A pair of fanatical, pro-vaxx clowns who can't grok that there's a new pope in town. They should be in front of the line at the Nuremberg Trial for these poisons, if we ever have one.
I love their snide "Given the data gaps..." and our need to "plan to gather reliable data". Indeed.