Tom O’Connor
Semi-retired Journalist & Political Commentator
Tom wrote a weekly political commentary column and a history column for the Waikato Times. He also wrote a political commentary for the Taranaki Daily News which focussed on the New Zealand Land Wars.
Tim wrote in the Stuff Website an article entitled:
Covid vaccine not a freedom threat, unvaccinated host population is.
In the article he wrote:
“none of the rights and freedoms we take for granted in New Zealand are under threat“
Sorry Tom, there are many who dispute this. And this is still proceeding through the legal process.
“We have, as of right, a comparatively free primary and secondary education system. We can live where we choose provided, we can afford the cost of a house or the rent. We can marry anyone we choose, apart from close relatives and these days regardless of gender, or simply set up home with a chosen willing partner without any formal recognition by the state or church.
We are also allowed to work at whatever occupation we choose, provided we have the appropriate qualifications and skills and meet other employment conditions.”
And I do not think anyone could disagree with you. They are all based on sound logic, and development of our society over millenia.
“These precious rights are however not absolute and all are qualified to some degree, particularly in time of war or civil emergency, and we are in the midst of a serious civil emergency.”
And this is where you diverge from reality.
a serious civil emergency
Covid-19 has the the same order of magnitude of mortality as seasonal flu. It is more infectious, meaning that it travels faster, but the virulity and hence mortality is not much different (see graph below).
Also you may like to listen to Dr Robert Malone, the researcher who developed the basic mRNA technology used in these latest vaccines, where he says categorically “You are not going to die from this“.
And this is the big lie society is finaling coming to realise.
When the pandemic was called, little was known about it, other than reports that gave rise to a huge wave of panic, that was seized upon by politicians and Pharmaceutical industries alike, to benefit from it in their own individual ways.
Politicians have been able to use it to bolster their image, and divert attention away from a huge raft of unflagged legislation:
- Three Waters
- He Puapua
- Remove 3 Strikes
- Changes to Local Government
- etc…..
Pharmaceutical companies have used it to further entrench their hold over governments with secret agreements that appear to give them immunity, and carte blanche control to inoculate their citizens not once, not twice, but for what it seems forever. Just look at their profits. What an amazing business model. No wonder Bill Gates is right in there.
national security
“These legal constraints are designed either for national security or to protect public safety only.”
If you really believe that, boy have I a bridge I can sell you.
99.7% recover from Covid-19 with no issues. The death profile around the world has not changed since Covid-19 arrived. So the same people who were dying from seasonal flu and pneumonia are now dying of Covid. And now it seems getting shot in the head in a gang fight is also a death from Covid if you were so infected.
“If we want to drive a truck, a bus or an aircraft we need a licence which proves we are competent, for no other reason than the safety of the public. If we want to become a medical professional or a school teacher, we need to undertake significant training and pass examinations to prove we are capable of undertaking those tasks to an acceptable and safe standard.”
These are practical processes that have been developed over a period of centuries, to manage the day to day activities of normal life. No-one is in any way saying these are “debatable”.
What you are conflating are two entirely different principles.
Not wanting to get vaccinated is a personal choice, protected by various constitutional legislative enactments around the world, and also the Hippocratic oath, a principle dating back millennia that is recognised as a fundamental principle of medicine around the world.
The power and influence of the mightly powerful pharmaceutical seems to be finally removing that last bastion of sensibility.
It must be remembered that the original Pfizer-BioNTech drug used in New Zealand has only every received approval for emergency use, and hence can only be classified as experimental.
Comirnaty (BNT162b2, Pfizer-BioNTech) COVID-19 Vaccine, that has the FDA full approval (for what that is worth -see below) is not available in New Zealand.
The FDA “full approval” is a fast tracked process, reducing the industry norm of 8 – 10 years to less than 2.
“That simple logic seems to have been lost on a growing number of people who bleat and bellow about the loss of the individual rights to employment because they choose not to be vaccinated against Covid-19.”
It was people taking to the streets “bleating” in 1981 that helped bring down apartheid in South Africa. It was people “bleating” in 1989 and taking to the streets in Romania that saw the end of the oppressive Ceaușescu reign.
It was the lack of “bleating” and taking to the streets in any effective way in the 1930’s that allowed Hitler and the Nazi’s to visit hell on earth.
We currently have the most oppressive and supercilious government in New Zealand’s history. Cynically taking advantage of a pandemic that never was, to visit hell on earth in New Zealand. Cloaking themselves with the holier than thou’ of mantle of protecting New Zealanders from a peril that they are acting as if it was Ebola or Marburg. Which it is not and comes no where as bad. (1)
With full control of mainstream media, and a trusting and compliant citizenry, they have full reign to pass their legislative programme that will further erode our freedoms and enjoyment of life.
“We have a right to deny access to unvaccinated people to our homes, families or businesses and local authorities can deny access by unvaccinated people to libraries, public swimming pools and other public facilities in the interests of public safety.”
This is a most dangerous opinion, and goes against the statements about public health made by Professor Grant Schofield of AUT where he said: (6)
“These people were not “lunatic fringe anti-vaxxers” but “people often making their own rational decision”
“This will cause serious harm. It almost certainly will mean that our already overwhelmed health and education systems will not have the staff to carry out normal duties.”
“I fear we are choosing more harm than good, and in my field that’s just not acceptable.”
There is now signficant research and investigations now coming to light about the lack of safety surrounding these drugs:
- Safety of Pfizer Phase 3 research on which all policy for New Zealand use was made. (2)
- Spike Protein created by vaccine implicated in loss of DNA to repair itself (3)
- Diminished immune response in vaccinated individuals (4)
- Transparency in Clinical trials abysmal (BMJ) (5)
We encourage Tom O’Connor to review his opinion piece, and update it based on the arguments put forward here.
Somehow we doubt that will happen, as he, like so many in the fourth estate have found a comfortable and profitable nest to place themselves, from which they have no responsibility to the result of their written words, protected by a benevolent, but totalitarian government. $55 Million has bought a lot of support.
(1) Mortality of major infections rates Covid-19 and Seasonal Flu at below 2%, with Ebola and others 40-80%
(2) https://www.bmj.com/content/375/bmj.n2635
(3) https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/13/10/2056/htm
(4) https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.05.03.21256520v1
(5) https://ebm.bmj.com/content/early/2021/08/08/bmjebm-2021-111735
(6) https://www.facebook.com/Prof.Grant