Covid denial has been occupying my thoughts for a while. You can tell from my stories over the past few months: ‘Why Covid-19 Is Much Worse Than The Flu’, ‘Everything We Get Wrong About COVID-19’, and ‘Why Is Screening Asymptomatic People For COVID-19 So Difficult?’

Driven though I may have been to dispel myths about the pandemic and clear things up, I’ve struggled to really think about why we get so much misinformation, disinformation, and denial in our public discourse. The vehicles for the spread of this misinformation are fairly obvious: social media is the chief culprit, but the media world is far more diverse generally than it was thirty or forty years ago, with new talk radio stations, internet forums, and news networks. …

Jan. 19 was a historic day — for many reasons. Most people will remember it as the final full day in the White House for Donald Trump. But something far more important consumed the day, as, on both sides of the Atlantic, politicians gave their verdict on the genocide and human rights abuses against the Uyghur people in Xinjiang, China.

It was a tale of two countries.

Both the outgoing Trump administration and the incoming Biden administration condemned Chinese rights abuses in Xinjiang, calling it a “genocide”. The state department’s report was highly critical, and rightly so. …

There are three big hidden forces acting in American politics, and we’re reaching the crux moment of their long destabilisation of Capitol Hill.

That destabilisation manifested itself quite literally Jan. 6, as the now-infamous Capitol riot shocked those who hadn’t been paying attention, and exasperated those who had. The insurrectionists came within seconds of capturing and attacking Vice-President Pence and Speaker Pelosi, and they had come prepared, with the zip-ties and weapons to boot.

The insurrection was the product of the single most destabilising force of all: the right-ward shift of the Republican party over decades, into authoritarianism, the rejection of democratic norms, and extreme social conservatism. …

I’ve been writing for over a year now about what I saw as the trajectory of American politics. It’s fair to say that, at the genesis of my theory of the zero-hour political revolution, I was pretty glum about the state of the political landscape, writing:

You’d be forgiven right now for thinking that there is now permanent and irreparable damage to the political system — gerrymandering and high incumbency rates are pushing the parties further and further apart, the GOP is, erm, insane, and most Democrats, and indeed the majority of the American people, are left pretty bewildered by the state of the Republican Party. …

December 24th — Christmas Eve — and the UK and EU were unveiling the deal that had been haggled over for 11 long months, all the while with the pandemic that has taken over the world this year distracting the leaders on both sides.

Lord Frost and Michel Barnier, the lead negotiators for the UK and EU sides respectively, worked through the majority of the deal at speed, and yet, in the final few months of the transition period, it seemed like no progress had been made at all.

As I wrote at the exact time that a deal seemed the least likely it ever had in the process, the EU were standing firm on their demands that the EU continue to have access to British waters and that the UK either align with its standards to ensure the integrity of the single market, or face tariffs on its exports. …

December 14th, and Health Secretary Matt Hancock was on his feet in the House of Commons, delivering some sobering news about the ongoing pandemic: the virus had mutated, and the mutated strain was thought to be spreading faster, driving the rise in cases in London and the South-East. London and many parts of the South-East were to be upgraded to Tier 3 restrictions, with all restaurants, pubs, and bars all closed.

He explained that he was first briefed on the new strain on Friday, December 11th, and was given more information over the weekend between then and his announcement in the House of Commons. …

In 2019, transport was the sector with the highest levels of carbon dioxide emissions in the UK, with a 34% share of the UK’s total emissions. That’s more than even energy supply, which stood at 25% of the UK’s emitted CO2. It’s clear that, if we’re going to make any kind of progress towards the net-zero emissions target, then how we travel will have to be radically re-thought over the coming years.

Energy supply has already largely been diversified in the UK, with coal being virtually entirely phased out. Nuclear and renewables accounted for 54% of the UK’s energy supply last year, explaining some of the big drop in energy emissions over the last few years. More efficient technology is constantly being developed too, reducing the need for energy and electricity, and while we should be looking to rapidly quicken the pace, energy emissions are declining promisingly. …

Our first (partial) year as a publication is coming to an end. After launching in April, almost entirely because I was bored in lockdown, we’ve built a great platform, with a rapidly growing following which now stands at 551.

We’ve seen some great articles on the publication this year, and as the year (from hell) draws to an end, why not share some of the very best with you all, to boost spirits and give some inspiration for the New Year? (below)

With season’s greetings,

Dave Olsen

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