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-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Why Does No One Ever Talk About Sweden Anymore?
2021-09-17
[IAN] One of the most consistently repeated trends of COVID has been the premature declarations of victory from areas with a perceived level of "success" in "controlling" the pandemic.

It’s happened in countries all over the world — Vietnam, Japan, Taiwan, Australia, Mongolia — just to name a few examples. They all have been praised for their ability to "control" the virus with masks and public health measures, only to then see cases invariably skyrocket.

Incompetent media reporting and dangerously ignorant "expert" pontifications have been an infuriatingly persistent aspect of COVID messaging, with their incoherent ravings becoming increasingly desperate as time wears on.

On the flip side to inaccurate praise, the incomprehensible inability of experts to get anything right is perhaps best exemplified by Sweden.

"Experts" and the media declared Sweden was the world’s cautionary tale, a dangerous outlier who shunned The New Science™ of masks and lockdowns and stuck to established public health principles and pre-pandemic planning.

Over much of 2020 and into 2021, Sweden was persistently criticized by the media and on Twitter arguments due to comparisons to their neighbors, a standard curiously not applicable to most other countries around the world. Yet as we’ve progressed further into 2021, those same media outlets have suddenly gone quiet as their chosen victors have flailed unsuccessfully against ever increasing outbreaks.

So let’s see what’s transpired recently which resulted in the deafening silence, and examine what that means for The Science™, shall we?
Posted by:Besoeker

#35  So to answer the question, why does no one talk about Sweden anymore? It’s because it’s no longer useful for the media to promote their agenda.

When Sweden’s numbers looked disproportionately bad, it was a valuable tool in the media playbook of masks, lockdowns and endless, condescending fear-mongering. “Look at what happens if you don’t do what we tell you, peasants.”

Now that Sweden has dropped to 40th in COVID mortality rate, and continued to report extremely low recent rates of both cases and deaths, they’re suddenly uninterested.

It’s a microcosm of the disastrous, indefinite mess we’re living through — experts incorrectly, hysterically screeched that masks and business closures and capacity limits were absolutely necessary to keep COVID “under control,” and the media immediately assumed their role as promoters of incompetent groupthink and professional scolds of any who disagreed.
Posted by: Woodrow   2021-09-17 23:16  

#34  Sweden? Who cares it's full of swedes. Similar to Norwegians, if you removed 99% of their brains.
Posted by: Woodrow   2021-09-17 22:41  

#33  Why? Because of the pickled herring. Oh the whiff....
Posted by: DarthVader   2021-09-17 21:46  

#32  #30 - that's a panel, not the full FDA complement of Top. Men.
Posted by: Bobby   2021-09-17 17:39  

#31  ^ Wanna bet that gets "re-considered" after a couple phone calls?
Posted by: M. Murcek   2021-09-17 17:18  

#30  BREAKING: FDA Panel Rejects Pfizer's COVID-19 Vaccine Booster
Posted by: Angstrom   2021-09-17 16:50  

#29  A new bug blows through a population. It stresses the system. Over time natural immunity builds up, treatment improves and the whole thing becomes part of the natural background. No surprises here. The only way to really f*^k it up is -- well, you've all seen it.
Posted by: Angstrom   2021-09-17 15:10  

#28  Are you actually making the argument that the infection numbers in Israel look good?

No unvaxxed, I'm making an an argument that the only connection to Israel in that tread is me. But nevertheless your fellow traveler Bobby immediately extended the argument to Israel (i.e. all Jewish people). Think about this, I'm sure it'll come to you - eventually.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2021-09-17 14:56  

#27  The infection numbers look horrendous anywhere that positive test results are the sine qua non of "battling COVID."
Posted by: M. Murcek   2021-09-17 14:05  

#26  Eliminate the Somalis and other mooselimbs from Sweden's totals and run those #s again.

V unlikely that any nation has done better than Swedish Sweden
Posted by: Ursula, Undress please   2021-09-17 14:04  

#25  Since the article (is a piece of agitprop is really an article?) doesn't actually mention Israel, I'm surprised.
Just kidding, just kidding. Dimona association of mushroom growers is a great comfort to every Jew who remembers.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru



Are you actually making the argument that the infection numbers in Israel look good?
Posted by: The Walking Unvaxed   2021-09-17 13:54  

#24  "COVID, COVID, COVID....
In the Branch Covidian world"
- sung to tune of 'Money Money Money'
Posted by: BjornBennieIngridUrsula   2021-09-17 13:45  

#23  ABBA has mutated. They are now ATTG.
Posted by: SteveS   2021-09-17 13:31  

#22  Why Does No One Ever Talk About Sweden Anymore?

I dunno. Wasn't there an article here at Rantburg a week or so ago about ABBA reuniting?
Posted by: Abu Uluque   2021-09-17 12:04  

#21  Now factor in the deaths/suicide, closed businesses, economic destruction, riots…. Avoided by Sweden by not locking down.
Posted by: Airandee   2021-09-17 11:32  

#20  I'm afraid the article make Israel look bad (in my eyes) compared to Sweden.

Since the article (is a piece of agitprop is really an article?) doesn't actually mention Israel, I'm surprised.
Just kidding, just kidding. Dimona association of mushroom growers is a great comfort to every Jew who remembers.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2021-09-17 11:26  

#19  Same thing happened to the Sturgis crowd.
Posted by: swksvolFF   2021-09-17 11:15  

#18  ^ You are busted. Only the ADL, J Street, The NYT, WP and dems are allowed to make Israel look bad.
Posted by: M. Murcek   2021-09-17 11:00  

#17  I'm afraid the article make Israel look bad (in my eyes) compared to Sweden.
Posted by: Bobby   2021-09-17 10:51  

#16  Nice entry, B, but a good pejorative word / brand name has to have sharp percussives to sound threatening.
Posted by: M. Murcek   2021-09-17 10:24  

#15  Our theme song. Paul Cebar and the Milwaukeeans. I Can't Dance For You
Posted by: M. Murcek   2021-09-17 10:21  

#14  Covorasterians ?
Posted by: Besoeker   2021-09-17 10:19  

#13  We need a word like rayciss to describe being insensitive to Covidians' religious beliefs. Let the entries begin!
Posted by: M. Murcek   2021-09-17 10:13  

#12  ^ It's a vaccine! It's a way to curtail your rights! It's a way to fix all future elections! Comint soon, the booster will also be a floor polish and a dessert topping!
Posted by: M. Murcek   2021-09-17 10:11  

#11  /\ JAB side effects? Would an escalating disdain for the our government qualify ?

I didn't think it could get any worse. I was wrong again.

Posted by: Besoeker   2021-09-17 10:09  

#10  COVID's other major side effect is making people stupid. I've never tested positive, both naturally immune and vaccinated and I've had that side effect anyway.
Posted by: M. Murcek   2021-09-17 09:36  

#9  #8 There is difference between censorship on inappropriate language, and censorship on ideas. Of course, some people find some ideas a lot more offensive than (rather feeble I must say) profanity.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2021-09-17 09:35  

#8  It's a valid approach. Deciding to not commit crimes has totally kept me out of jail for 62 years, though the authorities are working overtime to chance that.
Posted by: M. Murcek   2021-09-17 09:34  

#7  Sucks to have a comment removed, doesn't it?
Posted by: Raj   2021-09-17 09:26  

#6  Yeah, and I didn't comment to attack G. Just said it as I see it. The two-sided coin of non-mathematical language. Anyone can read anything into it they want. But that's on them, not me.
Posted by: M. Murcek   2021-09-17 09:20  

#5  Explaining why Sweden has low infection rates (i.e. kids are principal spreaders and they have none) is NOT picking a fight. Put my post back.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2021-09-17 09:18  

#4  Don't start picking fights.

Not today.
Posted by: badanov   2021-09-17 09:05  

#3  Sweden as a society gave up on having kids well before COVID. It probably doesn't bother them much that suppressed rates of childbirth is one of COVID's most "successful" side effects.
Posted by: M. Murcek   2021-09-17 08:30  

#2  Sweden 1,446 deaths per million. Better than most USA states, but - considering:
Characteristic Number of households
Single without children 1,925,939
Cohabiting/married without children 1,145,562
Cohabiting with children aged 0-24 984,390
Single with children aged 0-24 285,733
hardly a success story
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2021-09-17 08:13  

#1  The dog that didn't bark.
Posted by: M. Murcek   2021-09-17 08:01  

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