![[Paul Lismore] LOGIC TELLS YOU THAT FACTS AND FIGURES NEVER LIE....UNLESS IT IS THE GOVERNMENT'S FACTS AND FIGURES](https://www.zinfos-moris.com/photo/art/grande/45967769-36909559.jpg?v=1589213385 "[Paul Lismore] LOGIC TELLS YOU THAT FACTS AND FIGURES NEVER LIE....UNLESS IT IS THE GOVERNMENT'S FACTS AND FIGURES")
![[Paul Lismore] LOGIC TELLS YOU THAT FACTS AND FIGURES NEVER LIE....UNLESS IT IS THE GOVERNMENT'S FACTS AND FIGURES](https://www.zinfos-moris.com/photo/art/default/45967769-36909559.jpg?v=1589213387 "[Paul Lismore] LOGIC TELLS YOU THAT FACTS AND FIGURES NEVER LIE....UNLESS IT IS THE GOVERNMENT'S FACTS AND FIGURES")
I am not going to accuse the government of lying to us, despite the fact that lying seems to be a hobby that ranks very highly on the CV of politicians of all parties.
I am instead going to show tremendous goodwill by accepting the figures given to us every evening about the incidence of Covid-19 in Mauritius as the Gospel Truth. Yes, we really are an amazing little island that has managed to combat this virus far more efficiently than countries with scientists and doctors who regularly win the Nobel Peace Prize in various disciplines....
So, let me make my position very clear here: in an island of 1.2 million inhabitants and several thousands of stranded foreigners, we have had only 332 positive cases of virus infection, with 320 of them considered to be 'guerris'.
For the last 14 days, we have not had even one additional case of Covid-19 infection, and it is to the credit of the government that this incredibly healthy situation now prevails in our gorgeous little island. I hope people reading this will also show some openness of mind and accept the figures as real, and congratulate the government for doing such a sterling job....
Having accepted those figures as real and a true reflection of the hard work of this government, let us now look at the logical asymmetry of the proposed amendments to existing laws, and the obvious dangers some of them are to our civil liberties. I do not propose to go through every amendment, because that would be too boring for you and for me, and I would rather leave that aspect to our syndikalistes, especially those who are sponsored by the manufacturers of Mogadon....
Let me instead go through the many contradictions that follow as a result of old Pussy Face, the part time Attorney General's proposed amendments.
1/ First of all, why now? Why make those amendments now when we seem to be on top of this epidemic and we have not had even one new case of infection for the last 14 days, and only one or two in the fortnight preceding that? This seems to be a case of using a sledgehammer to crack a nut, except that there is no nut, as it seems to have fucked off...but only if we rely on the official figures as the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
2/ These measures, and there are are several that merit our indulgence and support, SHOULD have been taken at the BEGINNING of the epidemic and when the damage/destruction of our economy was starting to become apparent.
Instead, we still have nightmares about the dentist Rawoo and his incredibly silly smile, and the man who looks strangely like a condom stretched tightly over a penis, Jagutpal, mocking Arvind Boolell when the latter was rightly warning us about the dangers of this virus. A nightmare scenario with the idiotic and zombified table thumpers in the National assembly providing the background music...
3/ The amendment that fines people Rs 5000 for spitting, a measure that is inherently laudable because it attacks a terribly anti social behaviour, is nevertheless a desperate measure to please the gallery. Will the police collect the specimen of sputum as evidence and then present it at court? How will it be preserved as evidence? After how many years? How many people will be able to afford the fine, as unfortunately it is mostly the uneducated and people from poor backgrounds who sometimes think it is ok to retch up a huge amount of disgusting phlegm and then see how far the resultant spit will reach....or how long it takes for the disgusting thing to reach the bottom frame of the bus window...
4/ The measures to reduce local leave? I can't really condemn this as I have often talked about the holidays that we get in our little island compared to those given in much richer and more productive countries.
5/ The measures to force people to give their correct medical and travel histories to their doctors are ok, but again, I have to ask the same question: WHY NOW? Why when our borders have been closed and no one can get in or out of the island have we decided that it is time to medically examine thoroughly people who have not been able to travel? Again, this should have been enacted in March and not in May when we have not had any infection for the last 14 days!
6/ Whenever any country, invariably a dictatorship, tells its police force that it can arrest anyone WITHOUT a warrant, we should worry, because that is the slippery slope to authoritarianism. Let me give an example to those who will say, " Ah but this is only for those who need to be quarantined!".
In a repressive atmosphere, what is to stop a corrupt, nasty politician from telling a useless police Commissioner: "Al arete sa ggt la! ene gran la guele sa ki nek kontan kritiker. Al arete li et dire ki zot in gagne info ki li ti en kontak avek x,y,z ki nou suspect p carry sa virus la". By the time the 'tests' are carried out, and if some dodgy doctor decides to inject you with some crap that has nothing to do with the virus, there won't be much difference between you and a kalbasse when you are released.
You think this is far fetched? Read up on what happens in countries where arrests without warrants have become the norm!
According to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, there are numerous examples of countries with secretive governments who have used the Covid-19 epidemic as a front for some quite disgusting repressive measures.
In Panama, for example, the government – as a result of coronavirus – has executed million-dollar contracts that are not open to public scrutiny, as required by law. Journalists in Chile, Mexico and Brazil are struggling both to access data and to highlight the inconsistencies in official COVID-19 data they have obtained.
The Philippine Government passed a law that gives the president emergency powers to enable him to quickly respond to COVID-19. This law includes a provision penalising “fake news,” which can easily be used by those in power to file complaints against individuals...something that seems to have become quite prevalent in Mauritius too. In Spain, the government transparency website – where Freedom of Information (FOIA) requests are processed – is not operational during the coronavirus crisis!
In Hungary, only the government body in charge of the epidemic can answer questions about how the healthcare system is handling it, and not the hospitals or the doctors providing the treatment! To make matters worse, the governing majority approved a law that threatens jail terms of up to five years for those who spread "false information" that hampers the fight against the pandemic! Does this remind you of something closer to home?
Finally, here is a piece of logic that some may find oddly illogical: When a crate of oranges contain a few that are damaged or have become mouldy, do you condemn the whole crate of otherwise good oranges? Or do you make sure that the 'bad ones' are kept separate from the healthy ones? So, why, if the figures are true and we have had only 332 positive cases and none in the last 14 days, is the government imposing some quite draconian, some would say dictatorial, measures on the rest of us?
When we know that the virus often comes back to those who have been 'guerri', and crucially, when no one is allowed in and out of the country, why subject the overwhelming majority of the population to measures that make no sense now? Why not instead, for example, keep the 332 in confinement for longer so that they don't accidentally infect us? If needs be, confine them in 'luxurious' surroundings and give them some adequate monetary compensation at the end of the confinement.
Does it make sense to you to continue to confine 1.2 million inhabitants and destroy our economy, and to let loose the 332 who unfortunately have the most potential to infect us?
If the virus is passed human to human, and from the figures given to us if they are correct, then it is those 332 who should be confined and not the rest of us. The evidence from the government shows that the vast majority of us do not carry the virus, and if there is any doubt, then do many more tests. Remember the crate of oranges?
ALL governments have this enormous itch to take away our freedoms, esp when they fuck up and they do not seem to have a clue on how to move forward. I am afraid old pussy face is doing exactly that. His amendments show clearly that the government does not believe its own figures and, worse, they want to stop us from talking about how stupid and useless they have been in the way they have tackled this virus.
I repeat: those amendments should have been brought in in March and not in May when you say and brag that you have controlled the virus! Most of the amendments make no sense at all now and are quite irrelevant now that the danger seems to have passed.
You cannot control the weeds in your garden by digging up all the good plants too....unless if you don't want the good plants to tell you what a fucking weed you really are.
I am instead going to show tremendous goodwill by accepting the figures given to us every evening about the incidence of Covid-19 in Mauritius as the Gospel Truth. Yes, we really are an amazing little island that has managed to combat this virus far more efficiently than countries with scientists and doctors who regularly win the Nobel Peace Prize in various disciplines....
So, let me make my position very clear here: in an island of 1.2 million inhabitants and several thousands of stranded foreigners, we have had only 332 positive cases of virus infection, with 320 of them considered to be 'guerris'.
For the last 14 days, we have not had even one additional case of Covid-19 infection, and it is to the credit of the government that this incredibly healthy situation now prevails in our gorgeous little island. I hope people reading this will also show some openness of mind and accept the figures as real, and congratulate the government for doing such a sterling job....
Having accepted those figures as real and a true reflection of the hard work of this government, let us now look at the logical asymmetry of the proposed amendments to existing laws, and the obvious dangers some of them are to our civil liberties. I do not propose to go through every amendment, because that would be too boring for you and for me, and I would rather leave that aspect to our syndikalistes, especially those who are sponsored by the manufacturers of Mogadon....
Let me instead go through the many contradictions that follow as a result of old Pussy Face, the part time Attorney General's proposed amendments.
1/ First of all, why now? Why make those amendments now when we seem to be on top of this epidemic and we have not had even one new case of infection for the last 14 days, and only one or two in the fortnight preceding that? This seems to be a case of using a sledgehammer to crack a nut, except that there is no nut, as it seems to have fucked off...but only if we rely on the official figures as the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
2/ These measures, and there are are several that merit our indulgence and support, SHOULD have been taken at the BEGINNING of the epidemic and when the damage/destruction of our economy was starting to become apparent.
Instead, we still have nightmares about the dentist Rawoo and his incredibly silly smile, and the man who looks strangely like a condom stretched tightly over a penis, Jagutpal, mocking Arvind Boolell when the latter was rightly warning us about the dangers of this virus. A nightmare scenario with the idiotic and zombified table thumpers in the National assembly providing the background music...
3/ The amendment that fines people Rs 5000 for spitting, a measure that is inherently laudable because it attacks a terribly anti social behaviour, is nevertheless a desperate measure to please the gallery. Will the police collect the specimen of sputum as evidence and then present it at court? How will it be preserved as evidence? After how many years? How many people will be able to afford the fine, as unfortunately it is mostly the uneducated and people from poor backgrounds who sometimes think it is ok to retch up a huge amount of disgusting phlegm and then see how far the resultant spit will reach....or how long it takes for the disgusting thing to reach the bottom frame of the bus window...
4/ The measures to reduce local leave? I can't really condemn this as I have often talked about the holidays that we get in our little island compared to those given in much richer and more productive countries.
5/ The measures to force people to give their correct medical and travel histories to their doctors are ok, but again, I have to ask the same question: WHY NOW? Why when our borders have been closed and no one can get in or out of the island have we decided that it is time to medically examine thoroughly people who have not been able to travel? Again, this should have been enacted in March and not in May when we have not had any infection for the last 14 days!
6/ Whenever any country, invariably a dictatorship, tells its police force that it can arrest anyone WITHOUT a warrant, we should worry, because that is the slippery slope to authoritarianism. Let me give an example to those who will say, " Ah but this is only for those who need to be quarantined!".
In a repressive atmosphere, what is to stop a corrupt, nasty politician from telling a useless police Commissioner: "Al arete sa ggt la! ene gran la guele sa ki nek kontan kritiker. Al arete li et dire ki zot in gagne info ki li ti en kontak avek x,y,z ki nou suspect p carry sa virus la". By the time the 'tests' are carried out, and if some dodgy doctor decides to inject you with some crap that has nothing to do with the virus, there won't be much difference between you and a kalbasse when you are released.
You think this is far fetched? Read up on what happens in countries where arrests without warrants have become the norm!
According to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, there are numerous examples of countries with secretive governments who have used the Covid-19 epidemic as a front for some quite disgusting repressive measures.
In Panama, for example, the government – as a result of coronavirus – has executed million-dollar contracts that are not open to public scrutiny, as required by law. Journalists in Chile, Mexico and Brazil are struggling both to access data and to highlight the inconsistencies in official COVID-19 data they have obtained.
The Philippine Government passed a law that gives the president emergency powers to enable him to quickly respond to COVID-19. This law includes a provision penalising “fake news,” which can easily be used by those in power to file complaints against individuals...something that seems to have become quite prevalent in Mauritius too. In Spain, the government transparency website – where Freedom of Information (FOIA) requests are processed – is not operational during the coronavirus crisis!
In Hungary, only the government body in charge of the epidemic can answer questions about how the healthcare system is handling it, and not the hospitals or the doctors providing the treatment! To make matters worse, the governing majority approved a law that threatens jail terms of up to five years for those who spread "false information" that hampers the fight against the pandemic! Does this remind you of something closer to home?
Finally, here is a piece of logic that some may find oddly illogical: When a crate of oranges contain a few that are damaged or have become mouldy, do you condemn the whole crate of otherwise good oranges? Or do you make sure that the 'bad ones' are kept separate from the healthy ones? So, why, if the figures are true and we have had only 332 positive cases and none in the last 14 days, is the government imposing some quite draconian, some would say dictatorial, measures on the rest of us?
When we know that the virus often comes back to those who have been 'guerri', and crucially, when no one is allowed in and out of the country, why subject the overwhelming majority of the population to measures that make no sense now? Why not instead, for example, keep the 332 in confinement for longer so that they don't accidentally infect us? If needs be, confine them in 'luxurious' surroundings and give them some adequate monetary compensation at the end of the confinement.
Does it make sense to you to continue to confine 1.2 million inhabitants and destroy our economy, and to let loose the 332 who unfortunately have the most potential to infect us?
If the virus is passed human to human, and from the figures given to us if they are correct, then it is those 332 who should be confined and not the rest of us. The evidence from the government shows that the vast majority of us do not carry the virus, and if there is any doubt, then do many more tests. Remember the crate of oranges?
ALL governments have this enormous itch to take away our freedoms, esp when they fuck up and they do not seem to have a clue on how to move forward. I am afraid old pussy face is doing exactly that. His amendments show clearly that the government does not believe its own figures and, worse, they want to stop us from talking about how stupid and useless they have been in the way they have tackled this virus.
I repeat: those amendments should have been brought in in March and not in May when you say and brag that you have controlled the virus! Most of the amendments make no sense at all now and are quite irrelevant now that the danger seems to have passed.
You cannot control the weeds in your garden by digging up all the good plants too....unless if you don't want the good plants to tell you what a fucking weed you really are.
