Note:  This page holds the coronavirus news and commentary from the dreadful year 2020.  It is anticipated that nothing will change on this page.

For timely news, click here.)

How to Steal an Election in Four Steps.  It was January and the Democrats had a problem:  things were too good in America.  No wars, improved border security, lower drug prices, lower taxes, and a bull market would likely conspire to get Trump reelected in November.  In February covid 19 reached our shores.  While most of us were trying to figure out how serious it was, America's top leftists formulated an ingenious if sadistic plan to use covid 19 to steal the presidency in November.  Step one: promote the virus as potentially world-ending.  Regardless of how severe it turned out to be in the USA, it would be publicized as contagious and deadly; people could not be allowed to assemble in groups for fear of spreading it.  Government agencies, prominent Democrats, and the media would paint it as a once-a-century pandemic like the one in 1918 that killed 30 million people.  They'd close businesses and mandate wearing masks to help embed the notion.

5 Reasons Why You're Not Crazy to Question the Election Results.  [Scroll down]  While Trump took hits for leadership lapses in the COVID response, complaints were usually uttered by leftists who wished he'd done more to lock down, force vaccinations, and take a greater hand in shutting down the economy.  Trump's approach and his sideline Twitter sniping let people know he didn't want a wholesale shutdown.  He'd hoped to reopen the economy "by Easter" and tried to cajole Democrat governors into lifting the reigns on the people and the shutdown of the economy.  Democrats like Governors Jay Inslee, Kate Brown, Gavin Newsom, and Gretchen Whitmer did the exact opposite.  Citizens organized recall efforts to respond to the governors' autocratic response.

42 people are mistakenly injected with the Regeneron antibody treatment instead of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine in blunder at West Virginia clinic.  A review has been launched after more than 40 people were mistakenly injected with the Regeneron antibody treatment instead of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine at a West Virginia clinic.  The West Virginia National Guard announced the monumental blunder Thursday revealing that 42 people were given the antibody cocktail at a vaccination clinic in Boone County in the southwestern part of the state the day before.  Officials insisted the antibody injection is 'not harmful' to the individuals but said the health department will follow up 'regularly' with them anyway.  The group has also been prioritized and offered the real vaccine Thursday [12/31/2020].

Teachers Union Leader Encouraged Strikes to 'Stay Safe' From COVID, Then She Got Caught in a Compromising Position.  Is there any profession that has taken a bigger hit in the credibility department over the course of the COVID pandemic than teaching?  That's unfortunate given the fact that many teachers simply wanted to get back in the classroom as soon as possible, recognizing the dangers prolonged lockdowns represented to students.  Yet, there have been so many high profile cases of teachers and their union leaders ignoring science for their own personal gain and laziness that it has unfairly tarnished everyone.  One of the most recent cases involves a woman named Sarah Chambers from Chicago (because of course she's from Chicago).  Chambers, a member of the Chicago Teachers Union Board, was encouraging teachers to stay home because it was supposedly unsafe to return to work.  But it was what she had posted a few hours later that got her caught in a compromising position.

Canadian finance minister resigns after posting pre-recorded Twitter videos pretending to be at home on lockdown — from the beach in St Barts!  Ontario's finance minister has been forced to resign after going on a lockdown-busting St Barts vacation and posting a fake Christmas Eve video in an effort to hide his real location.  Rod Phillips shared a video of himself drinking eggnog in a sweater in front of a fireplace with a gingerbread house and a little Christmas tree.  He thanked Ontarians staying home and avoiding nonessential travel because of the pandemic over the Christmas holidays, telling them: 'I want to thank every one of you for what we are doing to protect our most vulnerable.'  Except that Phillips was enjoying a Caribbean vacation at the time on the French island of St. Barts, a popular spot for the rich and famous, Newstalk 1010 first reported.

Oregon Mayor Urges Residents to Disobey Governor's COVID-19 Restrictions.  Not every elected official in Oregon is going along with the COVID program.  Stan Pulliam, the Republican mayor of Sandy, Oregon, is encouraging business owners in the state to ignore coronavirus restrictions from Governor Kate Brown, who declared a state of emergency that will last through March 3, 2021 after the previous executive order was scheduled to expire on January 2, 2021.  "I think all Oregonians should take pause, stand up and say 'this must stop,'" Pulliam said on Fox News' America's Newsroom program.  "What we're talking about doing is having the mass movement opening across the state of Oregon throughout all of our local communities on January 1st, New Year's Day," Pulliam said, going on to argue that small businesses should open just "one level under" Governor Brown's guidelines, which includes wearing proper face masks while social distancing and sanitizing.  "We want to get the storefronts open and get employees back to work," he said.

Feds reverse course on $14k fee for distillers that made hand sanitizer.  The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has directed the Food and Drug Administration to cease plans to levy a $14,060 fee on craft distillers who produced hand sanitizer during the coronavirus pandemic.  "Small businesses who stepped up to fight COVID-19 should be applauded by their government, not taxed for doing so.  I'm pleased to announce we have directed FDA to cease enforcement of these arbitrary, surprise user fees.  Happy New Year, distilleries, and cheers to you for helping keep us safe!" HHS Chief of Staff Brian Harrison said in a statement.

Anti-Mask Flash Mobs Begin to Show Up in Stores Around the Country, Loudly Encouraging Freedom.  There's been a growing movement that's just starting to get some attention.  But it's spreading in various areas throughout the country, and it's not hard to understand why.  That's the anti-mask flash mob.  As more and more news comes out that asymptomatic spread is basically zero and the science behind the efficacy of masks is questionable, more and more people are saying enough:  open everything up and stop with the masks and restrictions.  The flash mobs go on masse to a store, speak against wearing masks and then go out again.  This one involved immigrants from Communist China who have some experience with oppressive government regulations and were urging others not to go along with it.  [Tweet]

COVID "Mutation" Stories Show That The Lockdowns Are Designed To Last Forever.  For many months now I have been warning that the design behind the pandemic lockdowns is a perpetual one; meaning, the lockdowns are MEANT to last forever.  We can see this in the very commentary of the establishment elites that are pushing for the mandates; their most frequent argument being that the pandemic restrictions are the "new normal". This assertion is outlined by globalists like Gideon Lichfield of MIT in his article 'We're Not Going Back To Normal'. [...] The so-called "great reset" and "Fourth Industrial Revolution" has been in development since at least 2014 when the terms were first being injected into the mainstream economic media.  The ideas of a cashless society, the "sharing economy", biometric mass surveillance, social credit scores, etc, have all been part of the globalist agenda for decades.  The coronavirus is merely a useful crisis for them to exploit as a rationale for the draconian measures they have always wanted.

Give Me Liberty or Give Me a Face Diaper.  We were going to enjoy our unmasked walk no matter how many compliant sheep we had to pass.  Lone bikers, near no one, were masked.  Lone joggers were masked.  One jogger would pull up her mask when she passed someone and then pull it down after passing.  Little kids were masked.  Mothers, fathers, teens on dates, and young guys were all masked.  I couldn't help but think how government school indoctrination had worked wonders on these obedient serfs.  Have years of helicopter parenting created such a pathetic generation of infant like rule followers?  Are they so willfully ignorant they can't do the basic research to realize masks don't work, based on CDC studies and the actual case rates in states and cities with mandatory masking and lockdowns?  Based on my observations, at least 60% of these people, out getting exercise and fresh air (not too fresh with a filthy diaper on their faces), were obeying their tyrannical politicians and bureaucrats, or entrapped in fear by a flu with a 99.7% survival rate.

Silent Obedient Consent.  I am saddened by how easily the totalitarians have been able to use fear, propaganda, lies and misinformation to turn the vast majority of Americans into compliant sheep.  It is so clear to me that this engineered flu panic is nothing more than another chapter in the scheme to enslave global populations under the thumb of global elitist billionaires who want to control us and enrich themselves.

Minnesota man thrown from an automobile listed as a Covid death in Minnesota.  Minnesota state Representative Mary Franson and Senator Scott Jensen conducted a little research, collecting 2800 death certificates provided by the Minnesota Department of Health.  Franson had a team comb through them for causes of death.  They both had a suspicion that Covid deaths were being overcounted.  Senator Jensen is himself a doctor. [...] He came to some notoriety back in April when he first sounded the alarm bells noting the financial incentives for attributing deaths to Covid. [...] As Jensen explains, typically you look to the "UCOD" or "Underlying Cause Of Death" for classification purposes.  There may be a more immediate cause, say, pneumonia, but had the pneumonia come about due to some coronary issue, the UCOD would identify the coronary issue.  As he put it, you have an "immediate" cause, "intermediate" cause(s) and then an "underlying" cause.  The practice the CDC had always required in classifying deaths was to use the UCOD.  That changed with Covid.

Salon Owner Files Lawsuit Over Oregon Governor Threatening to Have CPS Take Her Kids for Defying Lockdown.  An Oregon salon owner has filed a $100,000 lawsuit against Gov. Kate Brown for threatening to have Child Protective Services take her children away.  The lawsuit also outlines damages she sustained due to extended closures and excessive fines issued against her.  Glamour Salon owner Lindsey Graham says that the governor began "terrorizing" her after she defied lockdown orders and reopened her salon in May.  She was fined $14,000 for the defiance.  "As soon as I tried to open my doors against the governor's mandate back in May, she came at me with the full weight of the state," Graham told Fox News during an interview with The Ingraham Angle on Monday [12/28/2020].

Buffalo Bills' plan for testing fans could be the new normal for events.  There will be fans on the stands at the upcoming Buffalo Bills playoff game, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced at his press briefing Wednesday, joined by Bills owners Kim and Terry Pegula.  "We're all so excited about the Bills," Cuomo said.  It's the football team's first home playoff game in over two decades, and 6,700 fans will be allowed inside the outdoor stadium to take part in a pilot test.

Really?  When kwanzaa is over, will the pandemic be over?
Bill de Blasio urges New Yorkers to embrace 'Kwanzaa principles to see them through pandemic.  New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio says New Yorkers trying to navigate through the confusion caused by the coronavirus pandemic should turn to "the Kwanzaa principles" of "cooperative economics" for answers. [...] "We're here in the Kwanzaa season," Mr. De Blasio said.  "It's a time that really helps us think about principles that are so powerful for guiding our lives, particularly in a crisis.  I gotta tell ya, the Kwanzaa principles, they make so much sense any time, but particularly in the tough times we're going through, they really shine through.  So, today is the fourth day of Kwanzaa.  Today's principle is Ujaama, or cooperative economics.  It's a powerful concept."

The Editor says...
That sounds a lot like a state endorsement of a specific religion to me.

More about Kwanzaa.

China clamps down in hidden hunt for coronavirus origins.  Deep in the lush valleys of southern China lies the entrance to a mine shaft that once harbored bats with the closest known relative to COVID-19.  The area is of intense interest because it may hold clues to the origins of the coronavirus that has killed more than 1.7 million people worldwide, but has become a black hole of no information because of political sensitivity.  A bat research team that visited recently had their samples confiscated, two people familiar with the matter said.  And a team of Associated Press journalists was tailed by plainclothes police in multiple cars who blocked access to sites in late November.  More than a year since the first known person was infected with the coronavirus, an AP investigation shows the Chinese government is strictly controlling all research into its origins while promoting fringe theories that the pandemic originated elsewhere.

COVID Madness, California State Authorities Raid Beauty Salon, Local Authorities Refuse Cooperation.  A slight shift in this COVID compliance and resistance example.  The California state regulatory authorities raid a beauty salon citing COVID compliance demands; however, the local authorities refuse to cooperate with the state intent.  Pomp Hair Salon in Stockton California was raided by state officials who cited the salon for continuing operations.  The subsequent misdemeanor citation comes from the state.  However, local law enforcement and county prosecution say they will not participate in the enforcement mechanism.  This creates an unusual dynamic as the state has threatened to revoke licenses for the salon and the workers; but what "enforcement" action could the state undertake?

LA Orders Everyone to Stay Home; Asks Hollywood to Maybe Pause.  If anyone needed any further reminders that not only are we not all in this together, but a handful of powerful special interests are calling all the shots.  The essential and non-essential categories are gigantic scams.  In California, not only is Hollywood considered essential, but while people are being ordered to stay home, Hollywood is being asked nicely if it wouldn't possibly consider pausing production. [...] This isn't the treatment that restaurants are getting.  It's also not the treatment that so many other businesses are on the receiving end of.  Small businesses that are told to close and don't close, are harassed by inspectors.  [B]ut Hollywood is politely requested to maybe please consider pausing production.  Don't expect the entertainment industry, which pays the bills of California Democrats, to abide by this any more than they abided by the early proposed curfew for filming, which was almost immediately rescinded.  We're not all in this together.

Top Pandemic Scientist Admits Emulating Communist Chinese Model To Strip Civil Liberties Away.  Professor Neil Ferguson, an epidemiologist who played a key role in convincing the British government to adopt lockdowns, revealed that the country's lockdowns were meant to emulate those carried out by the Chinese Communist Party — modeled to strip civil liberties and exert authoritarian control over citizens.  In Ferguson's recent interview with The Times, he revealed that lockdowns he championed as part of Britain's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) Board, were rooted in those carried out by the Chinese Communist Party.  Dubbed "Professor Lockdown" by many for his contributions to swaying the British government to adopt stringent lockdown measures, Ferguson ultimately stepped down from the SAGE board after he violated his own lockdown protocols.

The Editor says...
Covid-19 is not about public health.  Maybe it was at first, but now it's about authoritarianism and control.

Anti-mask flash mob shows up loud and proud at CVS as trend catches on across US.  In what is being described as a purported anti-mask flash mob, a woman shouting "freedom" accuses CVS of working with communist China and what the company is doing "is illegal under the U.S. Constitution."  In the footage that has gone viral with about 470,000 hits so far, the woman says "do not ever touch us," and claims that while she was shopping, "CVS customer service attacked me," possibly for not wearing a face mask, although the specific details behind this incident, and at which pharmacy it occurred, are as yet still undefined.  According to one Twitter user, "These customers are freedom-loving immigrants."  Pro-or con mask confrontations have consumed a lot of online video bandwidth in 2020. Most people have complied with mask mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic, however, whether imposed by government or by the private sector, to help stop the spread or as a cost of doing business.

Holiday in Handcuffs?  Our state is governed by a petty tyrant.  We've had a mask mandate since June and because he has unchecked power and was just reelected, he extends mandates in perpetuity.  He has done his best to suck joy out of everything.  Unlike Cuomo, our southern king issues edicts in secret.  He actively avoids the press and has deputized a legion of Karens to help with enforcement.  Unfortunately, we ran into one at church.  We arrived to Mass early and sat in our usual pew.  As we have done since the church reopened in May, we went maskless.  I've learned to ignore the stares and no one has ever said anything.

UK Woman Arrested For Filming Inside Empty Hospital.  A woman in the UK was arrested by police after she filmed a video inside an almost completely empty hospital and posted it online.  The clip shows the woman walking through virtually empty corridors and filming empty wards at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital.  "This is a disgrace... it is so dead... all the people in our country desperately waiting for treatment, cancer treatment heart disease, honestly this is making me so angry," she states as she films a row of empty waiting chairs.  The woman expressed shock at how quiet the hospital was, saying she expected there to be "a few more people around, there's absolutely nobody."  [Video clip] [...] While the footage shows the inside of the hospital to be virtually empty, UK health authorities have continually asserted that the NHS is at risk of being "overwhelmed" as a result of rising COVID-19 infections.

4 California Small Business Owners Share Their Struggles to Survive Under Lockdowns.  California small businesses are crumbling under the weight of a new stay-at-home order and a lack of meaningful financial assistance.  Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, issued a new region-based lockdown order for California on Dec. 3, forcing more California businesses to close their doors or severely limit operations.  "We are at a tipping point in our fight against the virus, and we need to take decisive action now to prevent California's hospital system from being overwhelmed in the coming weeks," Newsom said in a statement announcing the new restrictions.

The Editor says...
Various governors and county kingpins have been saying things like, "We are at a tipping point in our fight against the virus," for almost a year now.  According to them, we're always at a critical moment in history:  We must act immediately if we are to forestall disaster!  This moment is critical!  Don't ask any questions, just do as we say!  It's only for a few (more) weeks!  Trust us!

2nd Circuit Court Takes On 'Essential' Discrimination.  After practically a year of this, the courts are finally tackling some of the basic lockdown questions.  One of the most basic of these is the entire premise that some businesses are essential while other businesses are non-essential.  And that these decisions about which business is essential and which business is non-essential can be made by political leaders.

Spain to create registry of people who refuse COVID-19 vaccine.  Spanish Health Minister Salvador Illa said on Monday that his country will create a registry to keep track of citizens who refuse to be vaccinated against COVID-19.  He told Spanish television channel La Sexta that the names of people who refuse to be vaccinated "will be kept in a register" that would be shared with other European Union nations, according to the New York Times.  "We all see that the best form to defeat the virus is to get all vaccinated, the more, the better," Illa said.  He added that being vaccinated should be seen as "an act of solidarity toward our loved ones and our citizenship."

Russia admits its Covid death toll is the world's third worst at 186,000 — three times higher than it claimed.  Russia has admitted having the world's third highest Covid death toll with more than 186,000 fatalities — three times higher than previously acknowledged and a higher per-capita rate than in Britain or America.  President Vladimir Putin has previously claimed the country has done a 'better' job managing the pandemic than Western nations, despite some Russian experts saying the government was playing down the outbreak.  But the Rosstat statistics agency said that 186,057 people had died from coronavirus in the country between the start of the pandemic and November, compared to the official death count of just 55,265.

ER nurse tests positive for COVID-19 eight days AFTER he received Pfizer vaccine.  A California nurse has tested positive for COVID-19 eight days after receiving the vaccination.  ER nurse Matthew W., received the Pfizer vaccine on December 18, according to a post from Instagram. [...] But on Christmas Eve, Matthew, who works at two different hospitals in San Diego, began feeling sick after working a shift in the COVID-19 unit.  Regulators of the Pfizer vaccine have found that the best immunity against coronavirus comes seven days after the second dose, which is given three weeks after the first, meaning there is a possibility that someone who had received the vaccine could still contract the virus within that time frame.  All patients need two doses of the vaccine to achieve immunity.

ER Nurse Gets Sick, Tests Positive For COVID 8 Days After Getting Vaccinated.  Health experts are weighing in after a local nurse tested positive for COVID-19 more than a week after receiving the Pfizer vaccine.  In a Facebook message posted on December 18, Matthew W., an ER nurse at at two different local hospitals, talked about receiving the Pfizer vaccine that day.  He told ABC 10News his arm was sore for a day but he suffered no other side effects.  Six days later on Christmas Eve — after working a shift in the COVID-19 unit — he became sick.  He got the chills and later came down with muscle aches and fatigue.

Where the Real Stupidity and Delusion About COVID-19 Is.  Two things can be true at the same time about COVID-19.  For one, people can take the virus seriously, believe it's an issue, and believe everyone needs to take the necessary precautions in order to limit the spread of the virus or avoid it altogether.  On the other end, the same person who takes the COVID-19 virus seriously can also be a person who recognizes that a societal collapse could do far more damage to the people than this virus can, and do what's necessary to keep society afloat by living out their lives as normally as possible.  In the age of the internet, nuance tends to get lost on people.  We're practically encouraged to retreat to one side or another and hold that ground no matter what.

Rubio Writes Scathing Piece About Fauci Lying to America to Manipulate Us.  If you didn't know that Dr. Anthony Fauci admitted that he lied to the American people in order to manipulate us into behaving in a way he thought was right, I wouldn't blame you.  The bombshell revelations didn't exactly make it into mainstream consciousness thanks to the media nearly shrugging it off completely.  The story was reported by only a handful of places, including this one.  "When polls said only about half of all Americans would take a vaccine, I was saying herd immunity would take 70 to 75 percent ... Then, when newer surveys said 60 percent or more would take it, I thought, 'I can nudge this up a bit,' so I went to 80, 85," said Fauci.  "We need to have some humility here....  We really don't know what the real number is.  I think the real range is somewhere between 70 to 90 percent.  But, I'm not going to say 90 percent."  CNN asked Fauci about the lie themselves but Fauci's answer effectively amounted to saying that he has no real numbers to achieve herd immunity, he's just guessing.

2 Men Charged After Two Large Gatherings Held at Ontario Church.  Two men were charged by police over large gatherings in a Wheatley, Ontario, church this weekend.  Chatham-Kent police said they received reports of large gatherings held at the Old Colony Mennonite Church on Dec. 26 and Dec. 27 respectively.  When police arrived on both days, they found over 100 people not wearing masks inside the church.  A 50-year old man from Merlin, Ontario, who took responsibility for the gathering, was charged on the first day, and another 43-year old Merlin man was charged on the second day.  Both men were charged for failing to comply with the Reopening Ontario Act, police said.  The Act prohibits churches to hold services with more than 10 people indoors or outdoors during lockdown which went into effect on Dec. 26 at 12.01 a.m.

The Editor says...
The First Amendment doesn't operate in Canada.

"I'm Not Crazy!" — This American Has Had Enough.  As [2020] comes to an end, public outcries against various officials' authoritarian orders grow louder in the face of an increasing body of scientific studies exposing the lies (that Fauci just admitted to).  As more and more 'members of the public' educate themselves on the reality of the virus — its contagiousness, its deadliness, the ineffectiveness of mitigation techniques, and the fallacies of COVID test results — at least one American has "had enough", in her own words, "I'm not crazy... I'm done!"

New York passes strongest COVID-19 eviction moratorium in the nation.  New York State passed the strongest COVID-19 eviction moratorium in the nation Monday [12/28/2020].  State Senator Brian Kavanagh wrote the COVID-19 Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure Prevention Act.  "We estimate that there are 4.1 million renter households in New York and we think about a quarter of them, maybe 20 or 25% of them, are behind on their rent," Senator Kavanagh told PIX11 News.  Under the new law, tenants will be able to use a standardized form to declare a hardship due to the coronavirus pandemic.  Tenants can file the form in court or directly with their landlord.

The Editor says...
That's wonderful news, unless you're a landlord.

De Blasio's Perfect Patsies.  Are the Jews to blame for spreading COVID-19 throughout New York City?  That's what Mayor Bill de Blasio suggested in an inflammatory tweet back in April, which, in his typical bumbling fashion, he defended for six months before kinda, sorta walking it back.  Never mind all that.  The city is serious!  It believes in science!  Earlier this week, the mayor's office launched its "NYC Vaccine for All" campaign, announcing that it will begin offering the COVID vaccine soonest.  Who will get it first?  Naturally, the neighborhoods "hardest hit" by the pandemic, the mayor's office assured us, 27 of them in total.  Hallelujah!  So now we have an official record of the hardest hit corners of New York, which means that if the mayor's criticism was correct, we should find many familiar ZIP codes among those singled out for urgent care.  Let us, then, turn to the list and search for the neighborhoods heaviest populated by Orthodox Jews, the clear target of the mayor's ire.

California Bar Owner Reaches Desperation Point — Blocks COVID Health Dept Enforcer, Confronts Police.  Carlos Roman is the owner of a Bread & Barley restaurant in Covina, California, who reached his breaking point with health inspectors and COVID compliance officers when a public health dept. official ordered his restaurant to shut down.  Mr. Roman decided if he was going to lose everything; if his employees were going to lose their livelihoods; if the system was going to destroy them under the weight of unilateral decrees and fiats; then he was going to block the health inspector from doing his job.  The police were called-in to deal with Carlos Roman's act of defiance.

Liberals Keep Trashing Florida, and It's Obvious Why.  If you simply listened to the mainstream news media, you'd get the impression that Florida has been hit uniquely hard by the coronavirus pandemic.  At obsessive levels, the Sunshine State has been lambasted for daring to keep their economy open while not enacting pointless, draconian mitigation measures.  Of course, the reality is far different from the media's perceptions.  Florida still only has about half the deaths per 100,000 compared to New York and New Jersey despite countless challenges to "just wait two weeks" that date all the way back to the spring.

Cashing in on COVID: Pandemic turns 50 doctors and scientists into Billionaires-with more than half hailing from China, Forbes reveals.  The COVID-19 pandemic has helped 50 healthcare leaders become billionaires, with 28 hailing from China, where the virus first emerged in December 2019.  The first case of the coronavirus was reported in Wuhan last year before quickly spreading across the world and killing more than 1.7 million people.  In the US alone, there are more than 19 million confirmed infections and at least 332,723 Americans have died.  Government officials immediately turned to the healthcare industry for help with rolling out a vaccination.  Moderna and Pfizer have both made good on their promises to create a vaccine for the virus by the end of 2020.

Rubio is right:  Fauci has repeatedly lied because he thinks you're stupid.  Nearly a year into our 15 days to slow the spread, our political class still refuses to call out our supposed medical experts for repeatedly discrediting themselves with noble lie after noble lie.  Finally, Sen. Marco Rubio has rightly called out Anthony Fauci for lying to the public because our ruling class believes us plebians to be too stupid to understand the actual science about the coronavirus.  [Tweet]  In the year since the Chinese Communist Party unleashed the novel coronavirus across the globe, we've learned an abundance about the virus that could have informed far less onerous mitigation measures.  If we had known as we do now that young children are not significant vectors spreading the virus, we would have never shut down the kindergartens and elementary schools.  If we had known that the outdoors, especially in direct sunlight, are orders of magnitude safer than indoors, we would have never closed off beaches and hiking trails, and city centers would have almost certainly closed off streets to allow restaurants greater capacity for outdoor dining.

Also posted under Liberals think you're stupid.

Still More Evidence That Biden Is Wrong About Mask Mandates.  A poll out last week found that 75% of Americans say they support a nationwide mask mandate to fight COVID-19. Why shouldn't they, since the public has been told repeatedly by politicians and public health officials that these steps will slow the spread of the disease and save lives.  Yet new research provides clear evidence that — whatever the lab results of mask-wearing and disease spread might suggest — real-world mask mandates do little, if anything, to slow COVID-19.  The survey, conducted by STAT and the Harris Poll, found there is a partisan split on a mask mandate: 60% of Republicans favor a mandate, compared with more than 85% of Democrats.  Joe Biden promises that, once in the White House, he will order masks on federal property and interstate travel, while pressing state and local leaders to push for mandates.  The oft-repeated claim is that this would save hundreds of thousands of lives.

Study Finds 'No Statistically Significant' Link Between Gyms and COVID Cases.  In the Philadelphia suburb of Bellmawr, New Jersey, the owners of Atilis Gym are currently facing over $1 million in fines.  Why?  They stayed open when the state has decreed gyms must be closed.  Also, let's be clear:  It's not as if they stayed open and New Jersey officialdom just sighed, shrugged and began issuing pro forma fines.  The gym has been boarded up and padlocked; the owners had to break in to their own business.  They've also been arrested.  The police have been frequent visitors.  And yet, after all this, the state of New Jersey has linked not a single case to the gym.

Bill Gates' Savior Complex Spirals Out of Control, Funds Sun-Dimming Plan To Save the Human Race.  Bill Gates is now best known as a philanthropist, not the guy who started Microsoft or was the avatar for everyone's annoyance with Windows 95.  He's also known for wanting to save us from ourselves.  Now, apparently, he wants to save us from the sun.  Gates, for those of you who don't follow these things, has been big on both vaccination and pandemic prevention.  Fair enough.  That certainly means his moment has arrived.  However, he's about as much of a lockdown guy as you can get — which is just fine if you're a billionaire who can afford to hide away as if this were Poe's "The Masque of the Red Death," but the real-world consequences for the rest of us can be, ahem, problematic.

Most Healthcare Workers Are Not Heroes, Many Are Sociopaths and We Must Keep That in Mind When Dealing With Them.  [Scroll down]  To be clear, I don't know this person but just want to make the observation that getting up, going to work, caring for your family, and participating in the social/political life of your community [...] is not heroism, it is something that adults have historically done.  If you are in the healthcare field, working around people with infectious diseases is what you chose to do for a living.  Don't complain about doing your job and then claim to be heroic.  As the "public health emergency" has dragged on, we've been treated to all manner of self-proclaimed healthcare heroes trying to inspire us through their pluckiness.  [Tweets]  Nice to see those supplementary payments hospitals get for classifying heroin overdoses and gunshot-riddled gangbangers as Wuhan virus cases are being well used on staff overtime.  They have hectored us with their self-righteousness.

Photos: A really good way to catch COVID, for free.  I thought it might be a good course to take a COVID test.  The County of San Diego offered them at several locations for free.  They'd collect data of course, but it seemed low risk in exchange for some important information.  Was I in for a surprise. [...] Long lines, extended exposure, some waiting inside, it seems outright ideal conditions for catching COVID, even with everyone wearing flimsy non-medical-grade masks.  Are the officials dismissing everyone in line as already having COVID? A lot of people in line seeking the free test probably did have it.  Their presence there could well have spread it to those who didn't. [...] For all the complaints and fears about voting lines, the long lines at the COVID testing sites seem strikingly unaddressed.  Is it just politics that activates press scrutiny?  Why is no one asking about this?

5 Armed Police Disgracefully Shuts Down California Hair Salon!  Without warning, Wednesday, uniformed officers with the California Department of Consumer Affairs entered the Pomp Salon in North Stockton's upscale Lincoln Center.  "About five armed state police officers burst into our salon shouting drop everything you're doing.  Stop, you're being shut down," said Vicki Kirk, salon co-owner.  [Video clip]

Restaurant Owner Gives The Speech Of A Lifetime For Freedom.  Not sure who this gentleman is or which business he owns but his speech about a revolution that needs to be had is one for the ages.  This man is correct, there will never be a return to normal, now that the dark forces have discovered what control America's overlords can have over the people, bypassing the Constitution in the name of a so-called pandemic.  [Indeed], they were even to steal an election in broad daylight while using COVID as a battering ram.  [Video clip]

A Lone Woman Stands Up To COVID Tyranny IN CVS, Spits Facts, The Sheep Keep Sheeping.  This woman has had enough and isn't going to take it anymore.  While in CVC [sic], this unmuzzled woman was confronted by CVC [sic] staff and told to obey her overlords and place her face shackle back on and get back into the heard.  The brave lady was having none of it.  She knows this video will be posted on Reddit and Twitter and all the low information robot Millenials and gen x-ers will mock her and call her Karen but she is 100% correct.  A new study proves that asymptomatic and nonsymptomatic people can not spread COVID.  [Video clip]

Fauci warns of 'post-seasonal surge' as U.S. cases pass 19M.  Dr. Anthony Fauci on Sunday warned of a "post-seasonal surge" of COVID-19 cases following holiday gatherings as the United States nears 19 million cases.  When asked during an appearance on CNN's State of the Union if he believes the "worst is still yet to come" in the pandemic Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said "I do" citing high levels of holiday travel.

UNITE, Now is The Time — If Not Now, When?  Now is the time to unite, resist and push back against the unilateral decrees of local and state officials who have weaponized COVID compliance to destroy our nation.  An impassioned plea directly into the heart of patriots from coast to coast. [...] Those who construct the systems of control need to weaponize fear.  Fear of arrest; fear of losing a business; fear of losing liberty or financial security.  Local, regional and state officials rely on fear.  As soon as the people are no longer fearful, the control ends.  The overwhelming majority of dictates around COVID-19 mitigation are not laws.  There was no debate; no input from representative government; and no option for the public to weigh-in on the decisions.

Chinese citizen journalist jailed for four years for Wuhan virus reporting.  A Chinese citizen journalist was jailed for four years for her livestream reporting from Wuhan as the Covid-19 outbreak unfurled, her lawyer said Monday, almost a year after details of an "unknown viral pneumonia" surfaced in the central China city.  Zhang Zhan, a former lawyer, was sentenced at a brief hearing in a Shanghai court for allegedly "picking quarrels and provoking trouble" for her reporting in the chaotic initial stages of the outbreak.

If you want to travel next year, you may need a vaccine passport.  Now that coronavirus vaccines are starting to roll out in the US and abroad, many people may be dreaming of the day when they can travel, shop and go to the movies again.  But in order to do those activities, you may eventually need something in addition to the vaccine: a vaccine passport application.  Several companies and technology groups have begun developing smartphone apps or systems for individuals to upload details of their Covid-19 tests and vaccinations, creating digital credentials that could be shown in order to enter concert venues, stadiums, movie theaters, offices, or even countries.

The First COVID Christmas.  There was plenty of space under the tree this year.  Not anything to do at all with being good or bad.  Rather, that the usual bulk of boxes, fruit baskets, bangles, and bows have been replaced by a coterie of cute little string-handle bags containing a variety of personal protective equipment and all of its accoutrement.  Ugly Sweaters with mismatched patterns have given way to costly designer masks, and perfumes and colognes to hand sanitizers.

The Real Reason Why Your Kids Can't Go Back To School (Hint:  It's Not COVID-19).  Schools have been closed for the better part of a year now, for the putative reason that COVID-19 makes them unsafe.  Only distance learning and Zoom and other online classes are safe enough for both teachers and kids, we're told.  Even though the science says otherwise, powerful teachers unions keep schools closed anyway.  But why?  Let's start with a blunt fact:  The teachers unions — including the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the National Education Association (NEA), along with a host of radicalized local unions — don't have your kids' best interests at heart, despite their well-funded, slick propaganda to the contrary.  They oppose reopening schools, despite overwhelming evidence they should be reopened immediately.

This Tennessee Data for Masked vs. Unmasked Counties Would Be on Every Front Page, if the Results Were Different.  As you may have heard, we've sort of got a "casedemic" problem here in Tennessee.  That means lots and lots (and lots) of people are testing positive for COVID-19.  That's about all we know for sure, of course.  Nevertheless, hand-wringing from media, politicians, and local 'health authorities' is seemingly neverending, as are local reporters in my neck of the woods being filmed standing in front of that FEMA body truck they don't bother to tell us has been sitting in front of the regional hospital, unused, SINCE MARCH.  Hospitals aren't overwhelmed by any measure, and even the death toll isn't really all that impressive either considering that Tennessee is actually below the national average in deaths per million and most people who are dying are either already super old or super sick.  Indeed, while COVID does tragically hit some people hard, most 'cases' are quite mild and often non-symptomatic, driven by panic at every sniffle or people being forced to test for work and other reasons.  And there is increasingly solid evidence that not everyone counted as a 'COVID death' is really a death caused by COVID, but rather someone who had a positive PCR test at some point in 2020 before dying.  When you have a highly contagious respiratory virus going around, particularly one that is seasonal and seems to be boxing out the flu, an increasing percentage of those who die will likely have it.  These 'scary' numbers lie at the root of the ongoing panic and give continued justification for our overlords to continue to exercise control over society.

After Review, Minnesota Lawmakers Say COVID Deaths [are being] Heavily Inflated.  Two Minnesota lawmakers, Rep. Mary Franson and Sen. Scott Jensen, are causing waves after making a bombshell claim that COVID deaths are being heavily inflated.  This happened last week after a review of thousands of death certificates.

Anthony Fauci Has Known Since January That There's No Such Thing As Asymptomatic Spread.  [Tweet]  Remember that the reason you're wearing a diaper on yourself face and locked up at hone is because of fear of asymptomatic spread.  Turns out — that's not a thing and we've known that since January.

Brooklyn clinics face criminal probe over unauthorized COVID-19 vaccines.  A health-care network with clinics in Boro Park, Bensonhurst and Williamsburg is under a criminal investigation for giving unauthorized COVID-19 vaccines, officials said Saturday [12/26/2020].  ParCare Community Health Network "may have fraudulently obtained COVID-19 vaccine, transferred it to facilities in other parts of the state in violation of state guidelines and diverted it to members of the public," state Health Commissioner Howard Zucker said in a news release.  The statement came hours after The [New York] Post questioned a state health department spokesman about ParCare giving the coveted inoculations.  The network's actions appear to violate the state's plan to administer the limited supply of vaccines first to frontline healthcare workers, along with nursing home residents and staffers, Zucker said.

Donald Trump was right again, this time about UV light and Coronavirus.  UV light kills 99% of the coronavirus, just as Donald Trump suggested.  He was mocked for it.  Ultraviolet radiation is a common method of killing bacteria and viruses.  Now, researchers from Tel Aviv University have proven that the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, can be killed efficiently, quickly, and cheaply using ultraviolet (UV) light-emitting diodes (UV-LEDs) at specific frequencies.  The Jerusalem Post reports.  "We discovered that it is quite simple to kill the coronavirus using LED bulbs that radiate ultraviolet light," said Prof. Hadas Mamane, head of the Environmental Engineering Program at Tel Aviv University's School of Mechanical Engineering, who led the study with Prof. Yoram Gerchman and Dr. Michal Mandelboim.

How the 'pandemic' will change if/when Biden takes office.  Going forward into 2021, it will be interesting to see just how the left plans to deal with the pseudo-pandemic.  The way I see it, they have two options.  Well, I guess actually three, but the third is a non-starter, which is coming clean and admitting to everyone that they lied about the severity of COVID for most of the population and they purposely inflated both the contraction and death rates to gain an election advantage.  The other two are 1: Now that a Democrat is president (assuming this ends up being the case), COVID will magically begin to lose its planet-killing status, and, thanks to our new president, things will begin to normalize a bit.  Or 2: Lockdowns will increase, despite vaccinations.  Masks will become mandatory inside and out.  All other controls will remain or be ramped up.  But there will be one change:  The press will all of a sudden begin to put a happy face on the whole mess.  We will start to see the brighter side of the pandemic.

Democrat Governors Freed the Criminals and Killed the Elderly.  In March, Governor Cuomo's administration ordered nursing homes to accept infected coronavirus patients and prohibited even testing incoming patients for the virus.  The same month that Cuomo began the process of infecting countless nursing home residents with the virus, he also began freeing thousands of criminals from prison to protect them from the virus.  Over 3,000 criminals have been freed from New York State prisons to protect them from the virus, and New York City's Mayor Bill de Blasio freed 1,500 criminals, and they swiftly began committing a variety of crimes, but despite the media hype claiming that prison was a death sentence and a campaign by woke celebs like John Legend, criminals were not at risk.  Only 19 inmates in New York State actually died of the virus.

What the Lockdown Leviathans Don't Get.  Sure — usually "it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas" by, say, the end of November.  But Meredith Willson's classic Holiday tune didn't quite come true this year.  After all, here's just a starter list of things that were either banned or restricted this holiday season:  Christmas family gatherings; Christmas concerts; Christmas tree lighting ceremonies; Christmas parties; Christmas worship services; Christmas sing-alongs; Christmas season sporting events; Christmas shopping trips; and even Christmas visits with Santa.  More broadly, nearly every conceivable social activity, aside from popping out to a grocery store to stave off starvation (or, possibly, suicide) for another week, was either banned or severely restricted this year for millions of us.

China's Oppressed Uighurs [Slaves] Made COVID-19 Protection Sold Throughout Europe.  Medical masks and protective equipment made by Uighur laborers in China are being sold across Europe by at least two major distributors, and have been bought by governments and health bodies in at least five countries, an investigation by OCCRP and partners has found.  The workers are ethnic Uighurs from the western Chinese region of Xinjiang who have been sent to factories in other parts of the country under a controversial "labor transfer" program that experts say is coercive and prone to abuses. [...] Campaigners have been pushing for Western companies and governments to stop buying products made with Uighur labor.

Michigan House Repeals Emergency Law Used by Whitmer to Decree COVID Restrictions.  Michigan's Governor, Gretchen Whitmer (D), has used every tactic at her disposal to keep the State of Michigan in an almost terminal lockdown because of the COVID virus.  But the Michigan State Legislature has started to unravel the convoluted web of her authority.  In an early vote Friday morning [12/18/2020], the Michigan House of Representatives voted to repeal the Emergency Powers of the Governor Act of 1945; the legislation used by Whitmer to claim authority to use public health orders to close down her state.  The 1945 Emergency Powers law authorized the governor to declare a state of emergency but it also excluded an oversight role for the state legislature so that any decree might be rejected or that any extension might be denied.  It also fails to establish a time limit on such an emergency declaration.

COVID-19 and Resisting Government Malfeasance.  The COVID-19 pandemic was at first a mysterious adversary.  Its infectiousness and deadliness were unknown.  So the citizens initially accepted the imposition of limits to their innate rights to move freely and work, but since the arrival in our country of this new virus, we have clearly learned that:
  [#1]   COVID-19 is not as deadly as initially feared.
  [#2]   The risk of death is very much limited to those who are elderly and infirm.
  [#3]   Various low-cost and low-risk medications effectively treat the disease.
  [#4]   Public health officials cannot accurately forecast the spread of the virus.
  [#5]   Tabulations of deaths from the virus are inflated.
  [#6]   Nobody knows how effective masks are.
  [#7]   And government directives are arbitrary, inconsistent, and contradictory.
Our governments cannot credibly refute any of these seven lessons learned.  They have had a year to deal with this supposed emergency, yet they offer no specifics regarding why it should continue to be treated as such.

Media idolatry of Dr. Fauci becoming patently and verifiably absurd.  Dr. Anthony Fauci is willing to lie about measures to control the Chinese virus in order to manipulate public opinion, and is therefore an extremely useful tool for those who seek to shut down American as long as possible.  As Peter Barry Chowka discovered nine months ago, when he challenged the cult of personality being built around him, the mainstream media already were ready to viciously attack those who raised questions about Fauci.  Now that Fauci is moving the goalposts around herd immunity to preserve the lockdown, all sorts of phenomena are being attributed to him, as if he were a prime mover of the social universe, faintly resembling the cults built around Mao Tse-tung and Kim Il-sung.

'It's Like Wearing Your Underwear' on Your Face:  Sen. Paul Blasts Mask Mandates in Interview.  Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky slammed coronavirus mask mandates in an interview Saturday [12/19/2020], saying they're unscientific and comparing the effectiveness of most masks to "wearing your underwear" on your face.  Paul, a physician, noted that places with strict mask mandates have experienced a spike in COVID-19 infections.  "Every one of the mandates — and you look in country after country, state after state — you look at when the mask mandates went in — the incidents went up exponentially after the mandates," the senator told Breitbart News.  "Restaurants, nobody can eat in a restaurant, there's no science behind any of that."

Rand Paul:  Americans Should Never Have Allowed Governors to Become 'Dictators' Over COVID.  Sen. Rand Paul [M.D.] is sounding the alarm again over our continuing loss of liberty in the age of the coronavirus, and he's certainly not wrong.  In particular, the Kentucky Republican says Americans should really be pushing back — hard — on governors who have become "dictators" with their lockdowns, restrictions, and mandates, none of which, at this point, have anything at all to do with 'the science.'  "You know, nobody ever intended that governors would be sort of czars or dictators in charge of the economy," said Paul in a Christmas morning interview with Newsmax.

Giving the Vaccine Based on Race Will Actually Kill More Black and Hispanic People Than It Saves.  Throughout the summer, public health professionals ignored perfectly obvious dangers surrounding mass protests over alleged racial injustice; many of those top health professionals suggested that the risks of racism in American society amounted to a health problem all their own.  Throughout the pandemic, public health officials have caved to the political incentive toward overboard lockdown policies, simultaneously exempting themselves from the rules.  Now we learn that public health officials pushed for vaccine distribution not based on health risk but on racial factors.  As the U.K.'s Daily Mail reported this week:  "Every US state has been advised to consider ethnic minorities as a critical and vulnerable group in their vaccine distribution plans, according to Centers for Disease Control guidance.  As a result, half of the nation's states have outlined plans that now prioritize black, Hispanic and indigenous residents over white people in some way."  This insanity is rooted in eugenic concerns.

It Is Long Past Time for the CDC and NCHS to Clean Up the COVID-19 Death Counts.  Some of us have been questioning the COVID-19 death counts reported by the CDC through the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) for some time.  Of course, CNN and the corporate media love the likely elevated counts to push their narrative.  Lockdown Inc. loves them to justify their destruction of lives and livelihoods.  A report from the Freedom Foundation, a Washington State think tank, explains why.  The foundation's original analysis of deaths in the state found the number may have been inflated by as much as 13%.

We Had the Vaccine from the Start — You Just Weren't Allowed to Take It.  Few people realize that the Moderna vaccine against COVID-19 — which the FDA has finally declared "highly effective," and which is now being distributed to Americans — has actually been available for nearly a year.  But the government wouldn't let you take it.  The vaccine, a triumph of medical science known as mRNA-1273, was designed in a single weekend, just two days after Chinese researchers published the virus's genetic code on January 11, 2020.  For the entire duration of the pandemic, while hundreds of thousands died and the world economy was decimated by lockdowns, this highly effective vaccine has been available.  But you, and all the people who died, were prohibited by the government from taking it.

Nationwide analysis suggests masks increased the spread of COVID-19.  A analysis of all fifty states suggests the mandate to wear masks might have actually increased the spread of COVID-19 rather than reduced it. [...] Under the mandates, everyone uses and reuses the same mask, wearing it continuously for hours, or if not, putting it on and off and storing it in an unsanitary manner in-between.  People also touch the mask continuously, and allow it to get wet and dirty without a second thought.  As the above WHO graph (that I have repeatedly posted) bluntly notes, doing this actually makes the mask a pathogen bomb that you wear on your face.  The data of the above report reinforces this fact.  That this reality has also been documented by scientific research and common sense for more than a century should also carry some weight as well.  Sadly, in today's society it does not.  I have repeatedly agreed that it is likely true that if everyone wore the right kind of masks, and wore them properly, for short periods and only when exposed to a symptomatic individual or when symptomatic themselves and in the presence of others, than maybe, maybe, masks would have a benefit.  (Note that the data now confirms that only symptomatic individuals can infect others, and that if you have no symptoms you are almost certainly not going to spread the disease to others.)

The Thanksgiving Surge Never Happened, But That Won't Stop Them From Banning Christmas.  For weeks, Democrat governors, their pet public health experts, and the media threatened the public with a "Thanksgiving surge" if people spent the holiday with their families.  When the threatened surge never materialized, they ghoulishly kept holding out hope for more deaths.  "Mayo Clinic says a possible post-Thanksgiving COVID-19 surge is still looming," is how a media outlet headlined a story reporting that the number of hospitalized coronavirus patients and positive tests had actually dropped at its facilities.  Because you've gotta have hope.  "The travel, the congregate setting, not wearing masks — the chances are that you will see a surge superimposed upon a surge," Dr. Fauci had claimed.  "What we're doing now is going to be reflected two, three weeks from now."  Early December brought with it a wave of, "When Will We See the Thanksgiving Surge of COVID-19 Cases?" stories, with reporters waiting breathlessly for the bodies that didn't come.

New studies indicate immunity to virus lasts at least 6-8 months after recovery.  New studies are boosting assessments that immunity to COVID-19 lasts at least 6-8 months after recovery from the disease.  Research published in Science Immunology this week examined 25 patients recovering from the illness.  Though antibodies — the immune system proteins that attack virus particles — began dropping in blood samples some 20 days after symptoms appeared, memory B cells that produce antibodies continued to rise in the blood for 150 days and remained high until the 240-day point.  This signals subjects' bodies were primed to fight off the virus for some eight months.

Vitamin D and COVID 19: The Evidence for Prevention and Treatment of Coronavirus (SARS CoV 2).  Professor Roger Seheult, MD explains the important role Vitamin D may have in the prevention and treatment of COVID-19.  Dr. Seheult illustrates how Vitamin D works, summarizes the best available data and clinical trials on vitamin D, and discusses vitamin D dosage recommendations.  Roger Seheult, MD is the co-founder and lead professor at MedCram[.]  He is an Associate Professor at the University of California, Riverside School of Medicine and Assistant Prof. at Loma Linda University School of Medicine[.]  [Video clip]

Bidens, First Responders Serenade Fauci; Fauci Violates His Own Rules.  Dr. Anthony Fauci has been getting a lot of coverage today [12/24/2020].  As we reported earlier, even CNN folks posted about him for his birthday, calling him the "lord and savior of 2020" and brandishing a bobblehead doll of their cult god.  The adulation was effusive, despite the report that Fauci admitted that he hadn't told Americans the truth when he started talking about herd immunity, because he had judged we weren't capable of handling the truth earlier.

Fauci Admits He Didn't Tell Truth, Moved Goalposts Because People Not 'Ready to Hear Truth'.  [A]ccording to the edict of D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, it's "Dr. Anthony Fauci Day," a day to celebrate Fauci for all he has done.  So perhaps it's appropriate that there's a report today about Fauci admitting that he hasn't been telling us the truth about the virus.  We already saw him say something like this when it came to masks.  Initially he said in March that he didn't think people generally should be wearing masks because they really weren't all that effective in preventing the spread.  But on the other hand, the constant touching, fiddling with and adjusting of the mask could make it worse.  He later backtracked on that, saying that he'd said that to discourage people because masks were scarce and he wanted there to be enough for medical workers.  So was he lying then about masks or lying now?  The problem with stuff like this is that when you do this, you torch your credibility, not to mention thinking you can manipulate people and treat them like children.

Report: Fauci Admits He Lied Because 'Country Wasn't Ready' To Hear The Truth.  Dr. Anthony Fauci reportedly said in a phone interview that he has been deliberately changing his public statements regarding the COVID-19 pandemic because he didn't think people were ready to hear his true beliefs, according to the New York Times.  Fauci has been slowly increasing the number of Americans he says need to be vaccinated for the U.S. to reach "herd immunity" in public statements, the New York Times reported Thursday morning [12/24/2020].  He reportedly told the Times he has done so "partly based on new science, and partly on his gut feeling that the country is finally ready to hear what he really thinks."

Restaurants That Refused To Shut Down After Gov. Tom Wolf's Indoor Dining Ban Lose Lawsuit.  Two restaurants from Hershey, Pennsylvania, and a restaurant association have lost their lawsuit against Democratic Governor Tom Wolf's indoor dining ban after a judge refused to block the order from the governor.  The lawsuit was filed by the Hershey Independent Restaurant Association (HIRA), and two Hershey restaurants, Fenicci's of Hershey and the River House Bar and Grill, according to Pennlive.  The judge, Christopher C. Conner of the U.S. Middle District explained that he understood the stressful situation restaurant owners are in, but that his court would be unable to intervene since the HIRA, Fenicci's of Hershey and the River House Bar and Grill lacked proof of a civil rights violation.

British Government Contracts Firms To Make COVID 'Freedom Passports'.  The British government has contracted two firms to develop COIVD 'freedom passports', that would be used to segregate society between those who have been tested or vaccinated against COVID and those who have not.  While the government is still saying that it will not introduce such a system, the firms have been given instructions to develop an app based system to integrate a QR code linking to a digital passport.  The QR code would be used to gain entry into pubs, clubs, venues, cinemas, basically anywhere in public.  "After scanning in the code, the venue could refuse entry to those without a recent negative result," the Daily Mail notes.

Travel numbers spike despite calls to cancel Christmas.  Americans are hitting the road in record numbers despite government warnings that people should stay home during the Christmas holidays to limit the spread of COVID-19.  A fresh load of infections, hospitalizations and even deaths — on top of an already devastating year — has prompted a new round of travel bans and lockdown measures in some states.  There is no blanket restriction nationwide, though, and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screened more than 1.1 million passengers at airline security checkpoints nationwide on Wednesday, the most since March 16.

Black doctor dies of COVID after alleging hospital mistreatment: 'This is how Black people get killed'.  Lying in a hospital bed laboring for breath despite being on oxygen, Dr. Susan Moore, a 52-year-old Black physician, stared into her cell phone and recorded a video alleging her battle with COVID-19 was made worse by the treatment she received from a doctor at a suburban Indianapolis, Indiana, hospital.  Moore died on Sunday [12/20/2020] from complications of coronavirus, her son said.  She had claimed that a physician treating her repeatedly ignored her complaints that she was in excruciating pain, and wanted to send her home.  That doctor, she alleged, initially told her he felt uncomfortable giving her painkillers and "made me feel like a drug addict," she said on social media.

WHO Deletes Naturally Acquired Immunity from Its Website.  Maybe you have some sense that something fishy is going on?  Same.  If it's not one thing, it's another.  Coronavirus lived on surfaces until it didn't.  Masks didn't work until they did, then they did not.  There is asymptomatic transmission, except there isn't.  Lockdowns work to control the virus except they do not.  All these people are sick without symptoms until, whoops, PCR tests are wildly inaccurate because they were never intended to be diagnostic tools.  Everyone is in danger of the virus except they aren't.  It spreads in schools except it doesn't.  On it goes.  Daily.  It's no wonder that so many people have stopped believing anything that "public health authorities" say.  In combination with governors and other autocrats doing their bidding, they set out to take away freedom and human rights and expected us to thank them for saving our lives.

Singapore's Covid Experience and Overestimated Death Rates.  [Scroll down]  What has happened in Singapore is certainly a human rights violation but it has also acted as an unintentional controlled experiment that has yielded interesting information about Covid-19. There are few if any places in the world that such a controlled and thorough natural experiment occurred.  The virus was let to spread rapidly through a population of low socioeconomic status, in universal as well as unsanitary living conditions, and what can be assumed to be working age.  The result was only two deaths and 25 ICU admissions out of an infected population of over 152,000. Such an occurrence runs entirely counter to the prevailing narrative surrounding Covid-19.

France: People Who Refuse Covid Vaccine Banned from Public Transport.  To put it simply, France (and soon other countries, that's the modus operandi of the NWO) is now saying: okay peasants, we are not FORCING you to take the vaccine, but if you choose to not take it, you will not be able to function in society.  As in, if you don't take the vaccine, we will socially punish you.  ["]French citizens who decline to take the coronavirus vaccine will be barred from public transportation, among other places, under a controversial 'Green Passport' plan set out in a draft law that's now on its way to parliament.  Gaining the support of Prime Minister Jean Castex's cabinet earlier this week, the bill proposes to deny 'access to transport or to some locations, as well as certain activities' to those unable to prove that they received a 'preventative treatment' for Covid-19, including a vaccine, or produce a negative virus screening.["]

Prominent doctor fired for questioning coronavirus lockdown.  A prominent California doctor says he was fired after questioning his county's coronavirus stay-at-home orders.  Dr. Michael Deboisblanc — the trauma medical director for John Muir Health before he wrote to health officials in Contra Costa County, California — explained in an interview Wednesday he was advocating for parents who want their children to go back to school.

Mask Mandates Seem to Make CCP Virus Infection Rates Climb, Study Says.  Protective-mask mandates aimed at combating the spread of the CCP virus that causes the disease COVID-19 appear to promote its spread, according to a report from RationalGround.com, a clearinghouse of COVID-19 data trends that's run by a grassroots group of data analysts, computer scientists, and actuaries.  Researchers examined cases covering a 229-day period running from May 1 through Dec. 15 and compared the days in which state governments had imposed mask mandates and the days when they hadn't.  In states with a mandate in effect, there were 9,605,256 confirmed COVID-19 cases, which works out to an average of 27 cases per 100,000 people per day.  When states didn't have a statewide order — including states that never had mandates, coupled with the period of time masking states didn't have the mandate in place — there were 5,781,716 cases, averaging 17 cases per 100,000 people per day.  In other words, protective-mask mandates have a poor track record so far in fighting the coronavirus.  States with mandates in place produced an average of 10 more reported infections per 100,000 people per day than states without mandates.

The Real War On Women:  Nearly 1 Million Women's Jobs Lost Due to Liberal Lockdowns.  A recent report shows that more than 865,000 women dropped out of the workforce this fall.  However, the news got nary a look from liberal feminists who often complain about the effects of one political party's policies on women.  Those who did notice used the occasion to suggest that more government services are needed (read: universal free childcare, more stimulus, universal basic income, and a litany of the usual progressive, big-government remedies).  Yet, no one bothered to examine the real root of the problem: liberal leaders' lockdowns from New York City to California had women running for the emergency exits of their careers.  Naturally, liberals don't understand business owners in general so it's understandable how they missed the mark.  However, to misunderstand the plight of small businesses owners and working Americans altogether is to misunderstand women, given the significant role that women play in the workforce today.

The Year Populism Was Right and the Experts Weren't.  [Scroll down]  Little did we know about the appalling nature of government — or perhaps we knew but momentarily forgot.  And the ordeals got worse and worse and worse, while the virus did its own thing, entirely unperturbed by whatever measures the experts invented to conquer it.  The longer the farce went on, the more the people started to ignore them: almost as many Americans travelled for Thanksgiving as usual, despite our overlords publicly chanting against it.  Societies developed this game where officials made grandstanding speeches before they themselves cheated the very rules they imposed; the rest of us cheated the rules too, whenever we got a chance: ignore masks when nobody sees; go outside even when we're not allowed to; have friends over when nobody noticed; visit the park or the countryside even when prohibited; hold mass protests if your woke issue is important enough. [...] Deep down 2020 has taught us that officials don't have a clue, that they don't control what they pretend to control, and that their measures aren't targeted to or calibrated for stopping the spread of a virus.

NSA Whistleblower Kirk Wiebe Exposes Digital Election Rigging Using CIA's Hammer and Scorecard.  Is all talk about the use of CIA computer programs called Hammer and Scorecard to digitally change millions of votes and steal the election for Joe Biden sheer "nonsense"? It is according to Snopes, as well as the other establishment-anointed "fact checkers" such as PolitiFact.com, FactCheck.org, BuzzFeedNews.com, and MSN.com.  So that settles the matter, right?  Actually, it does not.  As has been reliably shown in critical reports by diverse sources (see here, here, here, and here), including The New American (see here), Snopes is notorious for its left-leaning bias.  Ditto for many of the other "fact checkers" that comprise the gaslighting chorus that pretends to debunk any claim that contradicts the party line laid down by the Fake News industrial complex:  "Nothing to see here, just silly conspiracy theories, move along."

Vaccines Have Arrived — Along With More Answers, More Questions.  America's Christmas present is not one but two vaccines for COVID.  Operation Warp Speed lived up to its name despite assurances from the media and political smart set that a vaccine would never be available this year.  President Trump promised a vaccine this year but last April, Dr Anthony Fauci, "Poured cold water on Trump's estimate, saying it would be more like a year to a year and a half."  For once the medical and government bureaucracies moved like a hare rather than a tortoise. [...] It's ironic that many who would not dare eat a genetically modified apple or tomato are happy to be injected with a vaccine that genetically modifies the person injected.

Good news, bad news... the left can't discern the difference.  The most puzzling thing about leftists is their stubborn resistance to good news.  Tell them the actual death rate for COVID sufferers is 0.05% and they will come after you like a rabid animal.  Explain to them that the COVID numbers are hugely inflated — nearly all deaths of the usual things people die of are now attributed to COVID — and they will do everything in their power to silence you.  Let a Stanford doctor suggest that face masks are useless in preventing the spread of COVID, a fact that should be obvious to everyone by now, and that doctor will be cancelled, shadow-banned, deleted.  Months ago, if any doctor uttered the truth about hydroxychloroquine, he or she would be called a charlatan, a freak, a liar, all because President Trump mentioned it early on as one possible treatment.  Thousands of lives might have been saved had the media told the truth about HCQ — used early, it works.

I'll be Home for Christmas.  This year, "I'll Be Home for Christmas," tells a different story.  It tells the story of the millions of Americans, at home, who will spend Christmas alone.  And not because they want to, but because their governors and mayors have obligated them to do so.  Christmas is canceled due to COVID.  It is now your moral duty to remain home.  Skip that Christmas Mass at your local church, cancel your visit to Grandma's, decline any holiday party that might make you feel human again.  Apparently, nine months of lockdowns, shutdowns, mask directives and social distancing, haven't done a thing to quell the spread, so let's throw in a few more unconstitutional mandates to keep the tyranny going.  In fact, according to the CDC, if you forgo their first guideline to "limit gatherings," you are encouraged to eat outdoors.  I guess catching pneumonia in the frigid cold is a small price to pay in stopping the spread of COVID.  Wear masks, even in between bites, according to California governor Gavin Newsom, a request so ridiculous he himself chose to forgo wearing a mask as he wined and dined on "Oysters and Pearls" at the lavish French Laundry restaurant in Napa Valley.

'Put your [...] mask on,' the man on the plane snarled.  "Put your [...] mask on" said a guy three seats behind me on a Southwest Airline flight heading to Washington, D.C. to the passenger walking down the aisle.  The man's mask had slid down under his nose as he negotiated his carry-on bag while holding his little daughter's hand.  I turned around to see who was making such a demand so rudely.  Just as I suspected, it was the guy who came aboard sporting a full N95 mask, face shield cover and surgical gloves.  Forget for a moment that the father's mask slipping actually posed zero risk to the hazmat-protected, delusional passenger.

Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine causing more allergic reactions than expected.  The chief scientific adviser for Operation Warp Speed said the frequency of allergic reactions to the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine is higher than what would be expected for other jabs, according to a report.  Dr. Moncef Slaoui said the last time he was updated on allergic reactions was Tuesday, when there were six cases, and added that the data on COVID-19 immunizations is lagging behind the actual numbers, CNN reported.  "That frequency, as it stood yesterday, is superior to what one would expect with other vaccines," he said.

Yet another Democrat leader tells people to stay home for Christmas, then announces she will travel to visit her relatives.  Democrat leaders like Governors Gavin Newsom, Andrew CVuomo, Gretchen Whitmer, and J.B. Pritzker, Mayors Lauri [sic] Lightfoot and London Breed, and now Mecklenburg (Charlotte), North Carolina County Executive Dena Diorio, have all exposed themselves as outright hypocrites and elitists by telling ordinary people to obey restrictions on their personal freedoms while flaunting those same limitations themselves.  It is as if some madness has gripped Democrat elected officials, compelling them to flaunt their contempt for those they are supposed to lead and their belief that they alone are capable of making rational decisions about which risks to take, while the ignorant sheep must be told what to do and contrained.  Yesterday [12/23/2020], in a virtual news conference, County Executive Dena Diorio made a fool of herself by telling county residents to stay home for Christmas, and then under questioning admitting that she would be traveling by car to Durham (142 miles) to spend Christmas with her family.

Former CDC director says COVID-19 'immunity passports' for vaccinated Americans could be the solution to getting U.S. 'back to a new normal'.  The former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday COVID-19 'immunity passports' for vaccinated Americans could be the solution to getting the United States 'back to a new normal'. Dr. Thomas Frieden told CBS that 'done right immunity passports could be one of a series of things that could help us get to a new normal as soon as possible'.  An alarming new red wave map shows that the vast majority of the US is currently one huge COVID-19 hotspot.  The country on Wednesday recorded its second deadliest day of the COVID-19 pandemic with 3,400 deaths.

The Editor says...
Did 3,400 people die on the same day, or were there 3,400 deaths reported on the same day?

California Gives Criminals Vaccine Before Elderly.  Criminals are currently the top victim class among Democrats.  And that means privileging killers, muggers, and rapists above everyone else.  California, as usual, leads the way in the pro-crime dystopia.

NC county manager told everyone to stay home for the holidays — And then this happened.  Mecklenburg County (NC) Manager Dena Diorio unwittingly made a point in favor of personal responsibility instead of government mandates during a virtual press conference.  She told county residents to stay home for the holidays and only associate with those in their own households.  And, just like that, she admitted that she would not be doing that herself.  Ms. Diorio plans to hop in her car and go to visit a home with two people in it for Christmas.  A reporter asked about that — isn't that precisely what she told people in the county not to do?  Well, yes, was her response, but she knows these people and there will be only two of them, you see.  She feels perfectly comfortable going for the visit.  She will travel to Durham, N.C. "to see some close family, small group."

The Sovietization of California.  [Scroll down]  Yet, here I am, sitting in a state where corruption reigns (one of the leading Democrats of the last half-century told me years ago that politicians in California are window dressing; the real power in California is wielded by unions) and where, for nine months, normal life has been shut down, schools have been closed and small businesses have been destroyed in unprecedented numbers.  During these last five days in Florida, a state governed by the pro-freedom party, I went anywhere I wanted.  First and foremost, I could eat both inside and outside restaurants.  At one of them, when I stood up to take photos of people dining, a patron who recognized me walked over and said, "I assume you're just taking pictures of people eating in a restaurant."  That's exactly what I was doing.  I even took my two grandchildren to a bowling alley, which was filled with people enjoying themselves playing myriad arcade games as well as bowling.  None of that is allowed almost anywhere in California.  It is becoming a police state, rooted in deception and irrationality.  Restaurants have been shut down (except for takeout orders), even for outdoor dining, for no scientific reason.  After ordering Los Angeles county restaurants closed, the health authorities of Los Angeles county acknowledged in court that they had no evidence that outdoor dining was dangerous; they ordered restaurants closed, even to outdoor dining, solely in order to keep people home.  The left's claim to "follow the science" is a lie.  The left does not follow science; it follows scientists it agrees with and dismisses all other scientists as "anti-science."

New Study Shows Mask Mandates Had Zero Effect in Florida or Nationwide, But the Lie Continues.  Obviously, no amount of evidence, data, trends, facts, studies, or science will ever convince most 'public health officials' that masks aren't doing squat to stop the spread of COVID-19.  Cases and deaths continue to spike (yes, many of these are super-sensitive PCR test-driven numbers, but still) despite the fact that well over 90% of the country are complying with their absurd mandates.  Yet, predictably, the virus keeps going right on virusing, as highly contagious respiratory viruses, unfortunately, tend to do, especially once cold weather hits.  Nevertheless, those of us who are mask skeptics have a difficult chore in front of us.  Given that most of the country is under a mask mandate of some form or another, we can point to spikes all day AFTER these mandates were put in place only to have our opponents simply say, "Look how bad it would have been WITHOUT masks!" [...] So, how DO we prove that things wouldn't have been worse without masks?  One way is to look at data from the few free states remaining.  In Florida, for example, most counties have so far bravely refused to implement mask mandates while others, usually in high population centers, have done so.

It's A Miracle!  The Flu Has Incredibly Disappeared In Colorado!  Colorado flu-related hospitalizations decreased by about 97% compared to this time last year, data from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) says.  This year the state has only reported 12 flu-related hospitalizations, compared to 471 this time last year, the CDPHE data says.  The sudden and miraculous drop in flu cases is in line with the CDC's sudden and miraculous drop in car accident deaths, heart attack deaths, and many other types of deaths we normally see from year to year.  [Video clip]

What a mess the US Congress is!.  Typically, an illegal taking is a term used when government grabs private land.  But it applies to any government taking, and current onerous government COVID restrictions have resulted in the demise of countless businesses and a plethora of bankruptcy filings.  Thus, we are witnessing illegal COVID governmental takings on a colossal scale.  There has been no compensation.  After months of inactivity, Congress has come up with a big fat multi-trillion-dollar COVID stimulus dud.  Legislators have endorsed Dostoyevsky-sized legislation for soaring handouts for foreign gender education enhancements and millions for border walls in foreign lands, while our border wall is sneered at.  In fact, putative president-elect Biden has talked of tearing down the southern border wall.  Struggling Americans, whose businesses have been decreed nonessential and arbitrarily shut down, are being belatedly doled out a measly $600.00 per person.  What an insult.

Study of Almost 10 Million Finds No Asymptomatic Covid Spread; Media Silent.  Whether or not coronavirus can be spread asymptomatically is perhaps the most important question surrounding the disease.  After all, the assumption that it can has been used to justify mask mandates and life-ravaging lockdowns.  This is why it's striking that a major study, involving almost 10 million people, has found zero cases of asymptomatic transmission — and that our COVID-panic-porn-peddling mainstream media have met it with deafening silence.

Trump deserves gratitude of all Americans for Warp Speed vaccine.  It is now an established fact that the numerous naysayers who predicted President Trump could never deliver a vaccine this year were wrong.  Thankfully, he did what they insisted couldn't be done.  But the no-can-do crowd now has a second puerile act: a miserly and grudging recognition of the miracle Trump and his team performed.  Those expressing pinched gratitude for a fact they can't deny include the man who has reason to be the most thankful of all Americans.  "I think that the administration deserves some credit getting this off the ground with Operation Warp Speed," Joe Biden said as he got his Trump vaccine shot.  "Some credit?"  Then who deserves the rest of the credit?

Unexplained explosion and fire destroy world's second largest pharmaceutical factory producing precursors for hydroxychloroquine.  Prepare for supplies to tighten for the cheap, effective therapeutic treatment for early stage Covid-19 infection, hydroxychloroquine (HCQ).  Just as the medical establishment in the US is relaxing its absurd and lethal suppression of the cheap, generic drug, following President Trump's endorsement of it early in the pandemic, HCQ's continued availability may suffer.  The world's second largest pharmaceutical facility producing the precursors for HCQ has been destroyed by an explosion and fire.

The five key events in the fake pandemic.  ONE: The false claim that a new virus was discovered and isolated.  No true isolation has been performed.  The so-called genetic sequencing of the virus was actually a concoction, a cobbling together of pieces of data referencing segments of RNA.  These segments were PRESUMED to be parts of the new virus — but researchers didn't have the virus, so their presumptions amounted to fraud.  TWO: The erecting of a diagnostic test (PCR) for the virus they didn't have.  Obviously, no such test has meaning.  It is built on the same sorts of absurd assumptions that led to the fictional discovery of the virus.  However, strategically speaking, the test has produced millions of "positive results," which are taken to mean "infected by the virus."  On this foundation of sand, the lockdowns were declared.  THREE: The Chinese lockdown of 50 million citizens, for no medical reason.  This unprecedented event provided the model for other governments, and for the CDC and the World Health Organization.  Now it was "acceptable" to imprison the global population and wreak economic devastation across the planet.  FOUR: The absurd computer prediction of 500,000 deaths in the UK and two million in the US, made by historically failed modeler, Neil Ferguson.  His institute at the Imperial College of London is bankrolled by Bill Gates.

Seniors Hostages of Left's Vaccine Hijacking.  You were warned about this first in July.  Now it's happening.  On Sunday [12/20/2020], the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, recommended that seniors ages 65 to 74 be moved toward the back of the line for the COVID-19 vaccine.  The reason, says ACIP, is that "racial and ethnic minority groups [are] under-represented" in this age group.  Put another way:  Seniors are too white.  Vaccines are already being administered to health workers and nursing-home residents.  The question is, who comes next?  ACIP want to push tens of millions of essential workers — such as transit workers, supermarket employees and uniformed public servants — to the front of the line, forcing 32 million seniors to wait.  Vaccinating these essential workers will consume the vaccine supply for several months.

CDC's Flawed Epidemiology: 299,000 'Excess' Deaths in 2020.  On Oct. 20, two weeks before the presidential election, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published online a flawed epidemiological study that claimed "299,000 excess deaths" occurred in America between late January and early October 2020.  The CDC report attributed 198,000 of these misleadingly labelled "excess deaths," or 66%, to the SARS-CoV-2 virus.  Focusing on the "age, race and ethnicity" of these 299,000 deceased Americans, the study inexcusably ignored a small group of incompetent Democratic governors, who are responsible for a disproportionate majority of the several hundred thousand additional deaths in 2020.

I Moved From Locked-Down Virginia To Open Florida, And Faces Came Back To Life.  Until recently, I've been at school in Loudoun County, Virginia, where Gov. Ralph Northam has been busy inflicting harsher shutdown orders.  Masks are required almost everywhere up there, and big gatherings are out of the question.  Multiple friends had to cancel their wedding receptions this month due to the new restrictions.  I got so used to wearing a mask that every time I watched a movie it seemed odd for the actors to be bare-faced.  Leaving a store, sometimes I'd make it all the way to the car before even realizing I still had my mask on.  It wasn't until I came home to Florida — where COVID-19 restrictions are much freer and usually left to local government — that I noticed how different life was.

A Pandemic of Misinformation.  America has been paralyzed by death and fear for nearly a year, and the politicization of the pandemic has made things worse by adding misinformation and vitriol to the mix.  With vaccines finally being administered, we should be entering a joyous phase.  Instead we endure still more inflammatory rhetoric and media distortion.  Americans need to understand three realities.  First, all 50 states independently directed and implemented their own pandemic policies.  In every case, governors and local officials were responsible for on-the-ground choices — every business limit, school closing, shelter-in-place order and mask requirement.  No policy on any of these issues was set by the federal government, except those involving federal property and employees.  Second, nearly all states used the same draconian policies that people now insist on hardening, even though the number of positive cases increased while people's movements were constrained, business activities were strictly limited, and schools were closed.  Governors in all but a few states — Florida and South Dakota are notable exceptions — imposed curfews, quarantines, directives on group gatherings, and mask mandates.

COVID-19 has now reached Antarctica, infecting 36 at research base.  It's now a global pandemic in every sense of the word.  The coronavirus scourge has affected all seven continents after COVID-19 cases were recorded in Antarctica for the first time Monday [12/21/2020].  The virus reportedly infected 36 people at a Chilean research base.  That number included 26 members of the Chilean army along with 10 maintenance workers, Newsweek reported.  The infected, who were stationed at General Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme, tested "positive for COVID-19" after the "administration of a PCR test," according to a statement by the Chilean army to local news outlet 24 Horas.  At least some of those infected exhibited symptoms before the positive tests.

Woman Gets Assaulted By Vancouver Cop For Now Wearing Mask Even With Medical Exemption Card.  This Vancouver cop confronts a woman without a COVID mask on the metro.  The woman shows him her medical exemption card as is required in Canada to go maskless.  The cop completely disregards the woman's medical condition and pushes forward on his request.  The two exchange words and eventually, the cop gets aggressive.  The woman gets assaulted by the officer as she grabs her to drag her off the train car.  [Video clip]

What the COVID Relief Deal Means for You.  Congressional leaders on Sunday [12/20/2020] announced they had finally reached a deal to provide a second round of coronavirus-relief stimulus.  With a vote expected Monday, the $900 billion package will include a direct $600 payment to most Americans and a $300-per-week bonus to unemployment insurance for eleven weeks.

British Airways says it will now force passengers to test negative for COVID before they fly to New York City.  British Airways and Delta say they will require passengers traveling from the UK to New York City to test negative for COVID-19 before they fly after being asked by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to take action to stop the new mutant variant of the virus arriving in the US.  The airlines agreed on Monday [12/21/2020] as 40 countries around the world banned travel from the UK over a new strain of COVID-19 that has been detected there.  The new strain is 70 percent more infectious than what has been seen previously.  Cuomo had asked the federal government to ban all travel from the UK but having had his request fall on deaf ears, he went to the airlines instead.

With only herself to blame...
Dr. Birx says she will retire after 'overwhelming' holiday travel scandal.  Dr. Deborah Birx has announced she plans to retire after being outed on Sunday [12/20/2020] for not following her own holiday travel guidance, calling the experience "overwhelming."  In an interview with Newsy, the White House coronavirus task force coordinator said she would help the incoming Biden administration but then planned to head for the exits.

Priority COVID Vaccine for Congress Sparks Feuds, Accusations of 'Cutting in Line'.  Lawmakers who have been among the first Americans to receive the coronavirus vaccine in recent days have been met with backlash and congressional infighting over the ethics and optics of politicians receiving the shots ahead of some frontline workers and at-risk groups.  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell received the vaccine on Friday.  A number of other lawmakers received shots over the weekend including Senators Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Ed Markey, Marco Rubio and Joni Ernst.  Republican New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu tweeted that it was "ridiculous" that lawmakers were "cutting in line" and receiving the vaccine ahead of long-term care residents.

2020 exposed the teachers unions for the frauds they are.  The coronavirus pandemic has brought too many failures of leadership to count.  But chief among them is remote learning and teachers unions' continued lobbying against reopening schools.  When the virus was still a novel concept and schools shut down in response, we understood why.  There was too much we did not know about COVID-19, and the risk of endangering students and teachers was too great.  As time went on, however, the science became overwhelmingly clear that COVID-19 posed little risk to children and that schools were not a major source of transmission.  It also became clear that distance learning has been a disaster both for students and for parents, especially those with limited resources.  Over the course of the year, it has become glaringly obvious that unions insisting on long-term school closures were not concerned about their students' health or teachers' safety so much as they were interested in what they could gain from the shutdown.

Our Government is Full of Egomaniacs, and Fox News is Playing Along.  Dr. Anthony Fauci got his coronavirus vaccine on live TV today.  Never one to turn down a television appearance, he exposed his slender arm, received his shot, mumbled that he has no questions or concerns, and then, as if he had just instituted world peace, gave two thumbs up for the camera.  And with that, yet another government official got their vaccine before the little people are privy to it.  [Video clip]

New Study Shows Mask Mandates Had Zero Effect in Florida or Nationwide, But the Lie Continues.  Obviously, no amount of evidence, data, trends, facts, studies, or science will ever convince most 'public health officials' that masks aren't doing squat to stop the spread of COVID-19.  Cases and deaths continue to spike (yes, many of these are super-sensitive PCR test-driven numbers, but still) despite the fact that well over 90% of the country are complying with their absurd mandates.  Yet, predictably, the virus keeps going right on virusing, as highly contagious respiratory viruses, unfortunately, tend to do, especially once cold weather hits.

AOC Claims 'National Security Policy' [is] Why She Got Vaccine Before More Vulnerable People.  Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) explained over the weekend why she received her first dose of the Pfizer vaccine before more vulnerable populations, attributing it to a national security policy that aims to "ensure the continuity of governance during national emergencies."  "I was actually surprised by this too," Ocasio-Cortez said during a Q&A posted to her Instagram over the weekend, taking questions after sharing a video of herself receiving the vaccine:  [Video clip]

UK Police Will Fine Britons Leaving Tier 4 Without Excuse.  The National Police Chiefs' Council has said that it will instruct forces to fine people trying to leave Tier 4 areas of England; however, the Police Federation has said officers have no power to stop travellers to check if they are making "unlawful" Christmas visits.  Last month, Prime Minister Boris Johnson had promised citizens five days of relaxed lockdown rules over the five days of Christmas, only at the last minute on Saturday to throw London and most of the South East of England — encompassing some 16 million people — into a newly-revealed Tier 4, not only prohibiting travel outside of the zone, but banning all households mixing without exception, effectively outlawing family Christmases.

Overdose Deaths Far Exceed COVID-19 Deaths In San Francisco.  The number of San Francisco residents who have died from drug overdoses during the past year far exceeds the number who have died from COVID-19.  A record high number of 621 people died from overdoses in 2020 compared to the 173 who have died from COVID-19, according to statistics reported by The Associated Press.  In 2019, 441 people died from drug overdoses in the city, which gives 2020 the grim distinction of having experienced a staggering increase of more than 40%.  The overdose statistics of 2019 were a 70% increase from those in 2018.

Were COVID-19 Vaccine Dangers Covered Up Prior to FDA Authorization?  There are ongoing reports of the COVID-19 vaccine causing severe allergic reactions in recipients throughout the world.  There is information that suggests that such allergic reactions, along with other dangers, were known to be associated with the COVID-19 vaccines but were covered up or wrongly downplayed prior to and during the emergency use authorization process.  Before providing that information, one should be reminded of what "Emergency Use Authorization" means.  Another COVID-19 vaccine has received Emergency Use Authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).  Much of the mainstream media and many public health officials are wrongly portraying the COVID-19 vaccines as "FDA-approved."  That is not true.  Emergency Use Authorization is not FDA approval.

Waffle House CEO reveals no evidence of coronavirus spread from 2,000+ locations.  There have been zero links to coronavirus spread across any of Waffle House's 2,100 U.S. locations, according to the breakfast chain's CEO Walter Ehmer.  Since the science doesn't match up with how state officials are responding, by closing dining rooms and restricting restaurants, Ehmer told Fox News' "America's News HQ" that the American people are just being unnecessarily harmed.  "We have proven, over these nine months, we have zero evidence of any spread being traced back to our restaurants for our people or our customers," he said.  "We've traced back all of our infections... and it all traces back to something away from the restaurant."

The Stupid Establishment's Lies Will Be Its Undoing.  The vaccine may actually be quite good — real doctors have told me it is.  I have no dog in the fight, since my bloodstream surges with powerful antibodies that have already defeated the puny COVID virus and render me invulnerable to its .05 percent death rate for my demographic.  But other people could use a vaccine, and yet tens of millions of them won't believe the vaccines are safe and/or effective entirely because the Establishment is stupid.  Here's how the Establishment is stupid.  It decided that we citizens were stupid and acted accordingly.  The Establishment decided that instead of having a vigorous debate and discussion over the safety and efficacy of these prophylactic potions, they would just short circuit the whole messy truth determination process that Western civilization has relied upon for a millennium — argument, debate, and eventually consensus after everything is fully and freely hashed-out — and move right to the Official Truth.

COVID-19 Study of Almost Ten Million Finds No Evidence of Asymptomatic Spread, Media Quiet.  An interesting article from the American Institute for Economic Research (AIER) is gaining increased attention as questions about asymptomatic spread of COVID-19, the baseline for all COVID mitigation, is being reconciled with the latest tracing data.  In essence, the larger question being asked is:  can people without coronavirus symptoms spread the COVID-19 virus?  This question is at the heart of all current COVID mitigation efforts.  If there is no asymptomatic spread then what is all of this mask wearing nonsense and shut-down mandates all about?  A research paper published on November 20th highlights a case study of almost 10 million people in China.  What the study found was there were 300 cases of Coronavirus in the population being carried without any symptoms at all.  So the scientists then tracked the asymptomatic carriers.  The contact tracing of 1,174 "close contacts" with the asymptomatic carriers showed ZERO transmission.

PA restaurant owner opens in defiance of shutdown orders.  Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf has continued to shut down or severely limit the operations of restaurants and bars around his state as part of his COVID response plan.  While this isn't unique in terms of what other states have done, the constant cycle of closing and opening has put a lot of owners on the brink of extinction and kept tens of thousands of workers in the food service industry on the unemployment lines.  But out in Washington County, Pennsylvania, just south of Pittsburgh, one owner of a popular eatery decided this week that enough was enough.  Michael Passalacqua, the owner of Angelo's Restaurant, announced earlier this week that his restaurant would be reopening on Friday with the usual social distancing protocols in place and the public was invited to come down for a meal.  And what will he do when Governor Wolf sends in the troops to bring him to heel?  He says he'll deal with it.

A thread on this viral map, which attempts to paint a very scary picture.  [D]epending on where you live, it is almost certain someone at your Thanksgiving gathering will have COVID.  Look at all that red!  But, the map has massive problems.  The map comes from the Washington Post, but it is based on the COVID-19 Event Risk Assessment Planning tool from GA Tech.  The goal of which is to show what the chances are of having a COVID positive person attend a gathering.  A worthwhile project. [...] This is the Washington Post map, side by side with the map from the actual data source.  Same map, but Wapo makes the "artistic" choice of making the reds much darker and scarier. [...] The larger problem lies at the bottom of the Wapo map.  It says the map "assumes actual case prevalence is 10 times as high as laboratory-confirmed case count."  This, for lack of a better word, is bonkers.

'New Variant' of COVID-19 Spurs Massive Lockdowns in Great Britain.  A new variant of the coronavirus in Great Britain that researchers say spreads 70 percent more effectively is causing Prime Minister Boris Johnson to shutter many parts of the country for Christmas.  The new strain of COVID-19 is no deadlier than the original virus, nor does it appear to make people sicker.  But it does spread more easily, and that has spooked the British government into basically canceling Christmas.  The researchers believe the vaccine developed by Pfizer will still be effective, but scientists are scrambling to confirm that.

Tulsi Gabbard: 'Heartless, Arrogant, Unelected CDC Bureaucrats' Giving Vaccine to Healthy Americans Before Elderly.  Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) says "heartless, arrogant, unelected" bureaucrats with the Center for Disease Control (CDC) are prioritizing healthy Americans for the coronavirus vaccine before elderly Americans who are the most vulnerable population.  In a video message posted online on Monday, Gabbard torched CDC officials for distributing the vaccine to healthy "so-called 'essential workers'" and politicians while elderly Americans and those with underlying health conditions have yet to receive the vaccine.

The study of 10,000,000 the pro-COVID lobby won't talk about.  Make no mistake, there are people out there who love COVID, people who view it as manna from Heaven, people who can't get enough of COVID and would extend it forever and ever.  Most, of course, are not restaurant or gym owners, ordered to shut down and wait.  They're the overclass and they're about amassing money and power.  Which may be why a gargantuan study on COVID transmission by asymptomatic individuals, from the city of Wuhan, China, is getting no attention, at least not here in the states. [...] Now why would anyone listen to anything coming out of Wuhan, given the Chinese record on the matter?  Quite simply, because the city was where the problem started, and the city has since gotten back to normal.  Over in America, things are another story.  The lockdowns extend and extend, with some so-called experts saying there won't be relief until 2022.  The vaccine won't do it, the masks and stay-at-home-orders, the business shutdowns and the school closures have got to remain in place forever.

TN Gov. Bill Lee Bans Public Gatherings Exceeding 10, Asks Residents to Limit Holiday Events to Household.  Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) is the latest state leader to urge residents to drastically limit their holiday gatherings by spending them only with members of the same household, signing an executive order limiting indoor public events to ten.  In a Sunday evening address, the Republican governor identified Tennesee as "ground zero for a surge in sickness," describing the ongoing pandemic as a "war."  Approximately 10,000 Tennesseans are getting sick daily, the governor said, largely attributing the spike to holiday gatherings — namely, the Thanksgiving gatherings.

The Editor says...
I have a couple of recommendations for Governor Lee.  Here is the polite one:  Turn off your television, take off your mask, and you will discover that nobody is sick and tyranny is worse than disease.  The virus fight is now almost a year old.  It is not a war.  Politicians who call it a war are exaggerating for political gain.

COVID Vaccines — A Deeper Dive into the Data.  Operation Warp Speed was well named.  The typically tortoise-paced government and pharmaceutical bureaucracies moved with hare-like speed bringing several vaccines to market and available to millions.  Hopefully this will soon return America to normal, although don't hold your breath on that.  The all-knowing Dr Fauci tells us that masks and social distancing will be with us for at least another year, despite his earlier assertions that distancing and masks were unnecessary in the early days of the pandemic.  So why the hoopla over a vaccine?  Vaccines are not the destination, but merely a pathway to the final goal of herd immunity.

AOC, Omar, and Squad Want to Free 500,000 Fat Criminals.  Obese rapists, insane serial killers, and child molesters over 55 years old could be on the loose in your neighbrohood if the Squad's latest social justice bill becomes law.  The bill to free all the fat criminals, sponsored by Rep. Tlaib, Rep. Lee, and Rep. Pressley, and co-sponsored by Rep. Ocasio-Cortez, Rep. Omar, and eight other Democrats, and endorsed by Black Lives Matter, calls for a mass jailbreak to protect criminals from the coronavirus.  The existing wave of coronavirus criminal releases already helped boost crime rates in major cities with double digit increases in homicides.  Robberies have shot up like a rocket with criminals stealing cars and looting businesses while knowing they won't be jailed.  But that's not enough for the Squad.  They want to free all the criminals.  Especially the fat ones.

More affected mentally by the crisis than infected by the coronavirus.  What if the isolation of lockdowns and stay-at-home orders and voluntary quarantining is causing more harm than the coronavirus itself?  More Britons have considered suicide because of the pandemic and the lockdowns than those who have been infected with coronavirus, numbers from multiple studies suggest.  To be more precise, the increase in suicidal thoughts over the course of the pandemic, when compared to past years, is greater than the infection rate in the United Kingdom.  There's no reason to think the United States is different.

Second wave of school closures is killing our children.  We know how many people have died from the coronavirus.  We know how many people have tested positive for it.  We know which states have the most cases.  We even know how many people are in hospitals because of it.  The numbers are shoved down our throats by the media daily and are being used to justify a new wave of lockdowns and school closures as 2020 winds down.  There's no question the coronavirus is harmful to some people — chiefly elderly people and those with preexisting conditions.  But the lockdowns have been deadly, too — a portion of the narrative that has conveniently been left out of the conversation.  Children are especially prone to the unintended consequences.

Legislators must reclaim power over health and elections or risk being sidelined.  In the Missouri state House, we represent the people.  Because of state legislators' small districts, we are more accountable to the electorate than either federal representatives or the governor.  The governor is not the "legislators' boss."  Rather, the branches are separate and equal.  It's time to remind legislators in every state of not only our power but also our obligations.  In 2020, when state legislators across the country faced massive executive overreach due to the pandemic and a deeply contentious election, it's more important than ever that we step up to defend our constitutional role as the mouthpiece of the voters.  This year, executive overreach has been more contagious than COVID-19.  Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued 192 executive orders with far-reaching consequences, making would-be laws on everything from school closures to turning Michiganders into criminals for operating their businesses — or even boating on the lake.

25 States Pledge To De-Prioritize White People For Vaccine Treatment.  States have considered an important component to their vaccine plans "racial equity" but equity isn't exactly what is being rolled out. [...] Equity as defined by Oxford is "the quality of being fair and impartial."  Prioritizing certain groups over others on the basis of race is not exactly fair or impartial.  Perhaps some racial minorities contract the virus at a higher rate.  However the common denominator is likely not their race, but their economic stance.  As we know blacks and Hispanics are disproportionately in poverty as compared to whites and this likely contributes a higher likelihood of becoming sick unfortunately.  So rather than prioritize people based on their skin color, would it not make more sense to prioritize those in poverty regardless of their race?

Every single US state is being advised to consider ethnic minorities as critical groups for vaccination.  Every US state has been advised to consider ethnic minorities as a critical and vulnerable group in their vaccine distribution plans, according to Centers for Disease Control guidance.  As a result, half of the nation's states have outlined plans that now prioritize black, Hispanic and indigenous residents over white people in some way, as the vaccine rollout begins.  According to our analysis, 25 states have committed to a focus on racial and ethnic communities as they decided which groups should be prioritized in receiving a coronavirus vaccine dose.

German virologist downplays fears about new mutation of COVID-19.  A leading German virologist on Monday downplayed fears about the new mutation of the coronavirus spreading through the UK — and questioned Prime Minister Boris Johnson's claim that the strain is 70 percent more infectious, according to reports.  "I wonder whether a scientist gave an estimate, perhaps asked what he would say if he had to give a figure, and then it takes on a life of its own," Christian Drosten said, the Daily Mail reported.  "Then it enters politics and politicians use this figure and the media takes it up.  Suddenly there's a figure out there — 70 percent — and nobody even knows what it means," he told Deutschlandfunk radio, the UK outlet reported.

The American Left Has Now Fully Embraced Racism.  There is no issue more important to the future and soul of our nation right now than the leftist bigotry threatening the very concept of what it means to be an American.  On the medical side, Dr. Harald Schmidt, a supposed expert on ethics and health policy at the University of Pennsylvania, told the New York Times that essential workers, not the elderly, should be the first to receive COVID-19 vaccines.  His reason?  "Older populations are whiter," he told the publication.  "Society is structured in a way that enables them to live longer.  Instead of giving additional health benefits to those who already had more of them, we can start to level the playing field a bit."  To be clear, the term "level the playing field" here means allowing people to die because of the color of their skin.  What's amazing about this is that just months ago to even question the efficacy of lockdowns meant to stop the spread of COVID-19 was met with accusations that one was killing grandma.  Now, it doesn't matter because grandma is probably white.

Democrats Have to Choose Between Ending the Pandemic and Open Borders.  Democrats are stuck between a rock and a hard place when it comes to the COVID vaccines.  I'm not talking about the fact that they are struggling to try to find a way to steal credit for it — the media will help with that — I'm talking about the choice they have between reopening the country safely and their desire for open borders.  Democrats may not realize it yet, but they can't have both.  The only downside with Operation Warp Speed's success and the speed with which it worked is we have no idea how long the immunity lasts.  Whether it lasts months or years, we won't know for a long time.  If it is temporary, perhaps only six months to a year, that means a constant influx of people from third-world countries could and would easily reintroduce the virus and set us right back to where we are now.  People sneaking across the border from countries with unreliable medical systems and/or corrupt governments will be breeding grounds for false documents claiming vaccination, which would make any official documents unreliable.

Operation Warp Speed General:  Sorry about that vaccine snafu.  United States Army General Gustave Perna is the man who was put in charge of Operation Warp Speed and coordinating the shipments of COVID vaccines around the nation this month.  The process in the early going has not been entirely smooth, however.  Some states are winding up receiving considerably fewer doses than anticipated for a variety of reasons and complaints have been coming from the governors of some of those states.  In Michigan, for example, they're going to be getting nearly 25,000 fewer doses in the first shipment than had been anticipated.  This led Governor Gretchen Whitmer to quickly politicize the situation and accuse the President of "slow-walking" the distribution.  For his part, General Perna did something you rarely see when dealing with politicians, as opposed to military professionals.  He went on camera, stepped up to the microphone, and took full and complete responsibility for the shortfalls.  And he did this despite the fact that he probably bears almost no personal responsibility for the inaccurate projections.

A Look at the COVID School Insanity in Minnesota.  [Scroll down]  The discredited Anthony Fauci told us not to wear masks until he did.  The World Health Organization told us to lock down until it didn't.  Scientific journals told us to avoid hydroxychloroquine at all costs until they didn't.  Kamala Harris said she wouldn't take the vaccine if it came from a Trump administration until she did.  Add school reopenings to the COVID list of mendacity and incompetence.  As far back as June, President Trump and prominent doctors declared that schools should be open by the fall.  This was based on sound empirical data and scientific literature garnered from observing the response of many European nations to keep schools open and initial data from American schools themselves.  Students seemed little affected by the virus, nor did they appear to be a significant vector of transmission, even to their adult (and potentially vulnerable) teachers.  Amazingly, even the director of the CDC, Robert Redfield, and the Academy of American Pediatrics both supported the president's position on preparing schools to welcome schools back for fall term.

Robert Kennedy Jr Warns of COVID Compliance Creating The Dystopian End Game.  There are many issues where we may disagree with Robert Kennedy Jr., the weaponization of COVID fear is not one of them.  In this short video Robert Kennedy Jr, a passionate advocate against forced vaccinations of all types, talks about how professional politicians will lie to create the underlying source of their power, dependency.  [Video clip]

Anti-lockdown protesters scuffle with police in London as city heads into new Tier 4 lockdown.  Anti-lockdown protesters clashed with police officers at a demo in London this afternoon (December 19).  Protesters were demanding an end to covid lockdown restrictions, and comes as the capital and South East were plunged into new 'tier 4' restrictions.  [Video clip]

How Fake Are The CDC COVID Death Counts?  This FAKE!  The Grand County, Colorado coroner is calling attention to the way the state health department is classifying some deaths.  The coroner, Brenda Bock, says two of their five deaths related to COVID-19 were people who died of gunshot wounds.  "[T]hese two people had tested positive for COVID but that's not what killed them," she said.  "The gunshot wound killed them."  The state of Colorado classifies COVID deaths in two ways:  A death due to COVID, where it was the underlying cause, and a death with COVID, where there was a positive test but it wasn't listed as the cause of death.  "Today, Colorado's reporting 4,156 COVID deaths, these are actually deaths among cases.  Then they show 3,230 deaths due to COVID, and so they're differentiating that, but I think it can maybe go a little further and I think the policy could be changed," said Richard Cimino, Grand County Commissioner for District One.  [Video clip]

California Dems Shut Down State Over Lack of ICU Beds, After Adding Only 7% More ICU Beds in 8 Months.  Governor Newsom's latest shutdown order closes down small businesses and warns residents to stay at home if their area's number of available beds in intensive care units drops below 15%.  "By invoking a Stay at Home Order for regions where ICU capacity falls below 15 percent, we can flatten the curve as we've done before and reduce stress on our health care system," Governor Newsom, fresh from partying at the French Laundry, declared.  Spring had given way to summer and then to autumn and winter, and California Democrats are still using the pretext of preserving "ICU capacity" and "flattening the curve".  The rationale of shutting down an entire state, not so much for the sake of stopping the virus, but for keeping enough beds open in intensive care units, never made much sense even back then.  It's insane now.

Choose Christmas Joy Over Covid Fear.  Christmas, a time of joy, family, birth, and renewal is just days away.  It is a time and season that we need now more than ever.  Since March the entire world has been running under a heavy umbrella of doom and gloom.  The virus has dominated everything.  Government intrusion into our lives, businesses, churches, and more has become all encompassing and, quite frankly, unConstitutional on many fronts.  As we noted this fall, the CDC was issuing guidelines on how to cancel Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.  Times of joy and family must now be suppressed.  And we are supposed to be ok with that.  We are supposed to follow and adhere to the latest warnings by Anthony Fauci.  He is canceling Christmas.

FDA investigates allergic reactions to Pzifer coronavirus vaccine.  It was bound to happen.  Every vaccine brings with it the possibility of side effects and the new coronavirus vaccines are not an exception to that rule.  As it turns out, some reports of side effects are already being reported after the initial rollout this week.  Reports of side effects are being reported in Alaska and in Illinois.  The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is investigating cases in multiple states.  The head nurse of a hospital in Tennessee fainted after taking the vaccine on live television as she took questions from the press.  She later said her reaction was not from ingredients in the vaccine but that it is a common reaction to pain for her.  She has a condition that causes her to faint when she experiences pain.  "It's common for me."  I'll take her at her word.

The Dehumanization of the Non-Compliant.  Way back at the beginning of the year, in what now seems like another life and another country, we were asked to wear masks and cut down on "non-essential" travel.  Maybe watch a movie at home this weekend instead of going out to the theater.  Maybe do take-out instead of dining out.  It's just for a few weeks.  We just need to flatten the curve a bit.  It's just to help out.  Except weeks turned into months.  Businesses closed forever.  Employees didn't get paid.  People feared how they'd support their family but they feared getting the virus more, and so they bought into it all... and bought everything they could get their hands on.  It wasn't just toilet paper that disappeared; any paper products, soaps, hand sanitizer, rubbing alcohol, and canned food flew off the shelves.  Milk and meat were in short supply too.  As the year has wore on, the concept of "lockdown" started as a necessary evil.  Putting massive numbers of people on what effectively amounts to house arrest was seen as The Right Thing To Do.  But that's the problem, isn't it?  Historically whenever a tyrannical government wants to control its people or use them for its own ends, they package their control efforts as "for your safety" or "for your own good and that of others."  The reason for this is because people are easily manipulated by social influences.

COVID Panic To Rule Biden's First 100 Days.  Team Biden will wring every last infected droplet out of the COVID-19 panic for at least the first 100 days of a Biden Administration.  Democrats and the Biden campaign shamelessly exploited the health crisis to damage President Trump, push for an unprecedented volume of absentee ballots that overwhelmingly favored the Democratic presidential nominee, and leveraged "social distancing" dogma to keep Republican poll watchers far away from mischievous Democratic canvassers in several key cities.  Why give up the political gift that keeps on giving?  The incoming president only has hosted a smattering of public appearances while successfully avoiding tough questions about investigations into his son.  A frail Biden coughed repeatedly during another "acceptance" speech Monday night and had to be guided out by his wife; the media dutifully reported later that Biden has a minor cold.  The coronavirus cover-up of Biden's obvious lack of focus, energy, stamina, and patience — he snaps at any reporter who dares to even mildly confront the next leader of the free world with legitimate questions — will continue into the foreseeable future.

COVID-19 Is Killing More Illinois Nursing Home Residents Than Ever, According To State Data.  COVID-19 case and death numbers in Illinois have been dropping for weeks following a fall surge, but nursing-home residents are contracting the illness and dying from it at their highest reported rates.  State public health regulators have recorded 605 deaths among residents of long-term care facilities, assisted-living centers and other congregate care sites over the past week, according to data posted Friday [12/18/2020].  Those fatalities account for nearly two-thirds of the state's 965 total coronavirus deaths reported over the past week.  Friday's nursing-home death tally also clobbers a record-setting 480 fatalities among residents reported for the week ending Dec. 4.

8,000+ Nursing Home Residents and 49 Criminals Died in Pennsylvania.  Guess Which Group Democrats Care About.  One of the most important and least discussed coronavirus subjects in this election was the decision by Democrat governors to infect huge numbers of nursing home residents by forcing nursing homes to accept coronavirus patients.  Governor Wolf in Pennsylvania and his health expert, Richard 'Rachel' Levine, were one of the worst offenders. [...] Let's compare and contrast.  8,047 nursing home residents dead isn't a crisis.  But 49 criminals dead is a death sentence.  These are Democrat priorities.  Free the criminals and kill the elderly.

Every year there will be another strain — in more ways than one.
London Under Lockdown as U.K. Struggles to Contain New Coronavirus Strain.  U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson placed London and parts of southeast England under a full lockdown Saturday as the government struggled to stop the spread of a new strain of the coronavirus.  Johnson had planned to ease pandemic restrictions for five days around Christmas, but will now ban household mixing in London and southeast England and will restrict inter-household social gatherings in the rest of the country to just Christmas Day, according to Bloomberg News.

Do you see the difference?  In casinos, theaters, and bowling alleys people don't talk to each other.
Michigan extends indoor dining ban but allows casinos, cinemas, bowling alleys to reopen.  Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and state officials have extended a ban on in-person dining at restaurants through Jan. 15, while reopening casinos, bowling alleys and stadiums as well as allowing for in-person learning at Michigan high schools.  The casinos, cinemas, bowling alleys and stadiums are allowed to reopen on Monday [12/21/2020] with restrictions, according to a Department of Health and Human Services document obtained by The Detroit News.  Their capacity will be capped at 100 people, food and drink concessions must remain closed and social distancing must be observed.  "These past few weeks, Michiganders across the state stepped up and did their part to slow the spread of COVID-19, and because of our collective hard work, we are now able to begin the steps to carefully lift some of the protocols we have in place," Whitmer said.  "I am encouraged by the progress we have made since early November, and will continue to monitor the data closely during and after the holidays."

A Christmas Message for Dr. Fauci.  No one can be this clueless.  Not even Democrats.  Not even moronic Democratic governors.  Not even nanny-state government bureaucrats like Dr. Anthony Fauci.  Fauci just asked Americans to cancel Christmas.  He said, "...it's just one of those things you're going to have to accept."  He reported he would not even allow his own three daughters to come home for Christmas this year.  He wants all Americans to "painfully" isolate.  He says he and his wife will be spending the holiday alone.  I have a message for Dr Fauci: "[...] This is America.  This is a free country.  If we want to celebrate Christmas, we will.  If we want to go to church, we will.  If we want to spend the holidays with our children, we will.  We're adults.  We make our own decisions.  This isn't a nanny state.  It's not the Soviet Union.  It's not Nazi Germany.  We don't need government bureaucrats telling us what to do, how to live our lives or how to spend the holidays.

Another bad idea from Democrat Andrew Yang.  Andrew Yang is what passes for 'innovative' among Democrats, and he's brimming with bad ideas.  The loopy tech entrepreneur is all in for industrial processes and one-size fits all technology, not applied to tech, but applied to people.  He favors a guaranteed income for all Americans whether they work or not, not exactly a Capt. John Smith, convinced such a concept could be administered by an all-reaching government, both efficiently and without corruption.  Now he has another doozy among his proposals:  Bar codes.  Kid you not.  Bar codes to prove you've been vaccinated. [...] Which is an unusually repugnant idea, redolent of stamping USDA Choice onto such grades of meat.

Tennessee Nurse Passes Out On Camera Minutes After Taking COVID-19 Vaccine.  A Tennessee nurse passed out on camera ten minutes after taking the COVID-19 vaccine.  Critical care nurse Tiffany Dover at CHI Memorial Hospital in Chattanooga was having a lucid discussion with WRCB-TV following her vaccination, when she became visibly impaired — holding her hand to her head and swaying.  She then apologized to the news crew, turned away from the camera, and fainted.  "Ten minutes after the shot, Dover became light-headed and passed out while speaking with us," the outlet reported.  [Video clip]

Woman born without hands kicked out of bookstore for not masking.  A Vancouver woman who was born with no hands was kicked out of an Indigo Chapters bookstore location for not wearing a mask.  When attempting to explain her medical disability exemption, staff threatened to call the police.  Elisabeth Walker-Young is a four-time Paralympic swimmer.  She was denied entry to a Vancouver Indigo location for not wearing a mask.  Walker-Young is physically unable to put on a mask because she was born with no hands, according to Global News.

Top Ranking Catholic Cardinal Says COVID-19 Used To Advance 'Godless And Murderous Agenda', Usher In 'Great Reset'.  In early November, an Italian archbishop and Pope Francis foe, Carlo Maria Vigano, launched an attack against those behind pandemic lockdowns across the globe, warning President Trump in a letter of the coming "Great Reset" whose architects are "a global élite that wants to subdue all of humanity, imposing coercive measures with which to drastically limit individual freedoms and those of entire populations."

Malia got married?  This is news!  Oh, wait...
Obama reveals daughter Malia's boyfriend quarantined with the family in the early days of the pandemic.  The Obamas had a guest during the early days of the pandemic:  daughter Malia's boyfriend, Rory Farquharson.  Like most families across the United States, the Obamas quarantined as the coronavirus pandemic began to rage in mid-March.  In comments made on The Bill Simmons Podcast on Thursday [12/17/2020], Barack Obama noted that Farquharson was part of the family's early quarantining.

Illegitimate Government and Control Mechanisms Require The Elimination of Communication.  It is not coincidental that bars and taverns have been targeted for closure and control under the auspices of 2020's COVID-19 fear and mitigation.  It is not coincidental that churches and fellowship gatherings have been targeted for closure and control under the auspices of COVID-19 fear and mitigation.  Both of these assembly points and gathering places have a deep history within the American rebellion. [...] Fast forward 250 years later and the modern rebellion against leftist authoritarianism is now facing an identical issue.  Individual members of the rebel alliance are having to use covert methods just to meet and discuss issues, grievances and concerns about liberty.  Additionally, modern social media communication has been intentionally throttled.  As seen in the recent actions by Google/YouTube any challenge to the command and control authority will not be permitted.  Any voices who raise questions about the legitimacy of our government will be silenced.  The effort to block communication is happening in real places (bars and taverns) and in the digital space (the internet).

The New Oligarchs Will Not Tolerate Secession.  Perhaps most important was the Wuhan virus, which provided an unexpected weapon for the oligarchy not only to consolidate their power but to terrorize the public into accepting oppressive government regulations that will probably extend into the indefinite future.  Some of the regulations have been exercises in raw power, having little or no rational basis and little effect on curbing the pandemic.  Most telling, however, is the fact that the pandemic has resulted in the greatest transfer of wealth in history from the lower and middle classes to the wealthy and corporate classes.  Whether the pandemic was an accident or not, the massive transfer of wealth was intentional.  The reaction to the pandemic was the beginning of the end of President Trump's attempt to survive the all-out assault mounted against him by combined forces of oligarchy.  Without the pandemic, Trump, in all probability, would have won reelection, and would have been better positioned to deal directly with the minions of the deep state, the Masters of the Universe, and those who supported them.

NYC mayor:  Restaurants need to close, but everyone should ride the subway.  New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said that subways are safe and encouraged New Yorkers to use mass transit on the same day he said the city should be ready for a full shutdown after restaurants were ordered to halt indoor dining amid a surge of coronavirus cases.  Speaking at his daily briefing Monday, de Blasio said, "it is important to let people know the subways are safe."  Prompted by a reporter, he floated the idea of setting an example by riding the subway himself to show there's nothing to fear, similar to how he plans to publicly take the COVID-19 vaccine, the New York Post reports.  "I like the idea of having a period of time to really emphasize to people that they're safe, by being out there," he said.

Gunshot Deaths Counted Among COVID-19 Fatalities in Colorado.  A pair of gunshot deaths that counted among COVID fatalities have earned the ire of a county coroner in Colorado.  Grand County, in the sparsely-populated (but breathtaking) northwestern quarter of the state, is home to fewer than 15,000 people and has been lucky enough to endure only a handful of deaths related to the Wuhan Virus.  But of those five deaths, County Coroner Brenda Bock says two actually died of gunshot wounds.  Bock sounded furious in her interview with CBS4 News in Denver, and with good reason.  Grand County's economy is heavily reliant on tourism, and as Bock told CBS4, "It's absurd that they would even put that on there."

Unemployment Claims Rise to Highest Point Since September as States Reimpose COVID Lockdowns.  The Labor Department announced on Thursday [12/17/2020] that about 885,000 Americans filed unemployment claims last week, the highest weekly total since September.  Last week's claims rose from the 862,000 recorded during the previous week, and come amid rising coronavirus cases, hospitalizations, and deaths across the U.S. Average weekly jobless claims from before the pandemic totaled roughly 225,000.  "The next few months will be pretty rough for the labor market as you do see businesses having to contend with this latest wave of Covid cases," Wells Fargo Securities senior economist Sarah House told the Wall Street Journal.  "You are seeing those government restrictions coming into play again."  There are currently 20.6 million Americans receiving some kind of unemployment benefits.

AMA Lied — How Many Died?  The American Medical Association has been adamantly against hydroxychloroquine as a therapeutic for COVID for the past year.  Just a few days before the presidential election they reversed course, reversing their opposition. [...] When the AMA talks, media and the public listen, due to their perceived clout.  Last spring, the AMA issued a statement critical of hydroxychloroquine as it was being used off-label in the treatment of COVID, not FDA-approved for this purpose with supposed "dangerous side effects."  Quietly at the end of October, the AMA issued a new statement, conveniently overlooked by the media, giving the green light to doctors prescribing HCQ to their COVID patients.

Minnesota AG sues bars that defied Walz ban on dine-in service.  The day after Alibi Drinkery co-owner Lisa Monet Zarza opened her business in defiance of state orders for bars and restaurants to remain closed to dine-in business, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison took her to court.  On Thursday [12/17/2020], Ellison's office announced that he has filed lawsuits against the Lakeville restaurant and a Princeton business called Neighbors on the Rum.  Later in the day, he filed for a temporary restraining order to force Alibi to close.  Both businesses opened to in-person dining in defiance of Gov. Tim Walz's executive order meant to curb the spread of COVID-19.  On Wednesday, Walz adjusted the order that expires at 11:59 p.m. Friday to continue the prohibition on indoor dining at restaurants until Jan. 11.  "Alibi Drinkery in Lakeville proudly announced its dangerous decision to increase the risk of community spread of COVID-19 in its community, recording multiple videos of its violations and promising to pack more people into enclosed indoor spaces in a period where the virus is still spreading" in the state, Ellison's office said in a statement Thursday.  "When asked what she would do if officials asked her to close, Alibi Drinkery's owner stated that she would 'see them in court.'"

Fauci tells Americans not to see their kids for Christmas.  Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, said this week that he and his wife will not be seeing his three adult children for Christmas or for his birthday on Christmas Eve amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, and urged other Americans to do the same.  Fauci made the comments during an interview with the Washington Post's Power Up newsletter.  He said it would mark the first Christmas not spent with his three daughters since they were born.

Even With Vaccine Rollout Democrats Still Demand COVID-19 Lockdowns Into Unknown Future.  Many people are starting to wonder why the far-left is still relentlessly drum-beating the fear of COVID-19 and purposefully inflicting massive economic damage, despite the vaccine rollout currently underway throughout the nation.  Why are state and local officials still shutting down businesses and the media still pushing the overall narrative of fear?  Recently the highly manipulative left have stated that even after a person receives two vaccine shots, they must still wear a mask, remain socially distant, adhere with lockdowns and comply with all of the rules and restrictions.  If there is no life benefit, then why get vaccinated?  What many fail to realize is the purposeful deployment of COVID-19 was weaponized to achieve an objective.  Those who are using COVID to create the great societal reset they desire are not going to let up.  They need COVID-19 as a justification for the expansion of government and the fundamental changes they are attempting to initiate.

Democratic governor tells people to 'stay home except for essential activities,' then is spotted at a wine bar without a mask.  Democratic politicians have been caught openly disobeying their own COVID-19 lockdown orders for months:  The latest hypocritical offender is the governor of Rhode Island.  Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo, a Democrat, was reportedly photographed at a wine bar.  The photo shows Raimondo, who is not wearing a face mask, enjoying a glass of wine at Barnaby's Public House in Providence.  The photo was taken during a "wine and paint" event last Friday [12/11/2020], according to Erica Oliveras, who took the photo.  However, only days earlier, Raimondo instructed her constituents to "stay home except for essential activities."

Who Goes to Jail?  One Governor's Perverse Answer.  We have often written here about Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and, among other things, his irrational response to the COVID virus. [...] Walz is now explicitly threatening to imprison Larvita McFarquhar for the "crime" of trying to feed her family by operating her restaurant, Havens Garden, in a small town in southwestern Minnesota, in defiance of an executive order by Walz that Larvita believes (correctly, I think) to be a violation of her constitutional rights.  Meanwhile, Walz and his Attorney General, Keith Ellison — the only AG in America who has come out in favor of political violence by supporting Antifa — are freeing a gang banger who killed an 11-year-old girl from prison.

Denny's Waitress Quits Because A Group Won't Wear A Mask Because Of The.  A Denny's worker quit out of frustration after a pair of maskless patrons walked into the diner and demanded to be seated.  One of the men tells her they have a "religious exemption" before fumbling to say they "just don't want to wear a mask."  The employee responds by reiterating that they are required to wear a mask.  The man then claims they are covered by the "Civil Rights Act of 1964."  [Video clip]

Rhode Island Governor Tells Citizens To 'Stay Home' Before Heading To Wine Bar.  Democratic Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo was seen drinking at a wine bar just four days after reminding citizens to comply with coronavirus restrictions and stay home except for essential activities.  Photos published by Turtleboy Sports and the libertarian group Liberty Rhode Island reportedly show Raimondo sitting in a local restaurant for a "wine and paint" night without a mask.  The photo was taken by Erica Oliveras, who said she was also at the event at Barnaby's Public House in Providence, Rhode Island, according to ABC 6 News.

Tweet of the day.  Here's the visual representation of the total and complete failure of "interventions" in California[.]  I don't know if it's possible for a profession to discredit itself as much as "public health" has in 2020, but here we are[:]  [Chart]

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis Recommits To All Florida Restaurant and Bar Owners, Will Always Stay Open, These Folks Have The Right To Work.  As many state and regional leaders crush their small business owners under the weight of insufferable and unscientific COVID-19 restrictions, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis goes in the exact opposition direction.  Governor DeSantis highlights his concern about the economic and financial impact to businesses and workers in the state.  The Florida Governor holds a press conference at a local restaurant today promising that all small business owners, restaurants and bars in the state will remain open and free to conduct business.  COVID-19 will be managed, but we will not destroy families with arbitrary rules and dictates holding no foundation in science.  God Bless DeSantis!  [Video clip]

COVID Hysteria Serves Desire for Power.  We finally reached peak COVID-19 madness last week, when a family was ejected from a United Airlines flight because their two-year-old girl could not tolerate a muzzle.  So, on the apparent theory that you can't be too safe or too careful, even from a two-year-old, the airline enforced its zero-tolerance policy and booted the girl and her family from the plane.  "The health and safety of our employees and customers is our highest priority ... everyone onboard two and older wears a mask," said the airline.  "These procedures are not only backed by guidance from the CDC and our partners at the Cleveland Clinic, but they're also consistent across every major airline." In case you're unaware, doctors, immunologists, and epidemiologists are now the highest authorities in the land.  Under their very own mini-Mussolini, Dr. Anthony Fauci, they can override our constitutional liberties, such as freedom of assembly and religion, severely constrict our freedom of speech, limit our movements, commandeer our businesses, and eliminate our livelihoods with complete impunity.

When 2-Year-Olds Are Thrown Off Airplanes, You Know America Has Changed.  You may have seen the video of the family thrown off a United Airlines airplane because the 2-year-old daughter would not wear a mask.  Though the family wore masks and the father promised to cover his daughter's face with a mask that he placed on her face, it made no difference.  Though the child was completely asymptomatic, and though it is exceedingly rare for a child to transmit COVID-19 to an adult — that is why Sweden kept its schools open all spring and summer, with its students not wearing masks — the airline had its orders, and the flight attendant duly obeyed them.

Despite lax rules, COVID-19 claims few lives in Haiti.  Scientists want to know why.  In Haiti, they are acting like COVID-19 doesn't exist.  Mask-wearing is an exception and not the norm; bands are playing to sold-out crowds; and Kanaval, the three-day pre-Lenten debauchery-encouraging street party is back on for February.  This is not a case of a population simply in denial.  In a country of roughly 11 million people, there have been an astoundingly low 234 confirmed deaths related to the novel coronavirus.  Across the border in the neighboring Dominican Republic, with roughly the same population, the pandemic has killed almost ten times the number, 2,364.  Jet off to Miami-Dade County, home to one of the larger Haitian communities in the United States, and the death toll is even higher: 4,002 in a population of 2.7 million.  What's going on?  Nobody is sure.

The Editor says...
It's almost as if the Haitian people have functional immune systems, and they aren't elderly or obese, and their hospitals don't offer monetary incentives to find Covid-19 patients.

What the American Aristocracy Has Wrought.  Truth isn't even a value in public health.  Anthony Fauci has been so wrong about so much that it is hard to imagine he hasn't been purposely wrong.  The CDC apparently admits to creating a new category for mortality, called "PIC."  That stands for Pneumonia, Influenza, and COVID-19.  They report PIC death numbers, and that is widely distributed as COVID deaths.  Why bring up the lies that are told in the name of public health?  Because in COVID, the aristocracy has found the most profound avenue for its authoritarianism.  The aristocracy demonstrates their contempt for the American people by killing their pathetic little businesses, taking away their precious little holidays and church gatherings, denying them an equal vote, replacing news with propaganda, letting their cities be looted and burned, tearing down their wicked little statues, and mocking the pride they have in their country.  As ordinary people suffer, the response of the aristocracy adds up to "Let them eat cake."

COVID Vaccination — Warp Speed Ahead.  The vaccine developed by AstraZeneca for COVID-19 uses a different mechanism.  The good news is the AstraZeneca vaccine can be stored at normal refrigerator temperatures for up to six months.  The bad news is it is only about 70 percent effective.  This vaccine, however, may become the preferred one in third-world countries because of the storage issues.  Is there controversy connected with the use of these new vaccines?  Yes.  Here are some of the areas of concern: [...] I am not opposed to vaccinations, per se, including the COVID-19 vaccination.  I am very hopeful that the vaccines will be safe and effective for those at highest risk.  But I am opposed to any government requirement for the vaccination or any private or public dictate about the vaccine that infringes on a citizen's freedom of choice.  I strongly support informed consent for all vaccinations, which currently is not the U.S. standard.

The Governor of Rhode Island Joins the Democrat COVID-19 Hypocrisy Tour.  It seems that when it comes to COVID-19 restrictions, there are rules for everyone else, and then the rules for the Democrat leaders in the various states and municipalities.  For months we have covered the hypocrisy of the left in many of these cases, from California Governor Gavin Newsom ignoring his own orders to Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards country club visits, to Denver Mayor Michael Hancock traveling during the Thanksgiving holiday, tweeting orders to stay home while at the airport.  Now, out of Rhode Island comes this story:  Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo believes that her orders are only for the common folk, as she was seen out at a wine and paint night at a Providence area bodega.  What is worse is that she was seen maskless in close quarters with other attendees, creating a firestorm of outrage at her hypocritical behavior.

Health worker in Alaska had serious allergic reaction after Pfizer's vaccine - NYT.  An Alaskan health worker had a serious allergic reaction after getting Pfizer Inc and BioNTech's coronavirus vaccine, but is now stable, public health authorities said on Wednesday [12/16/2020].  The adverse reaction in the person, minutes after taking the Pfizer shot on Tuesday, was similar to two cases reported last week in Britain.

Ted Cruz to MSNBC's Puffy Haired TV Doctor: 'This is a Bizarre, Lunatic, Totalitarian Cult'.  Ted Cruz wrecking people on Twitter has become a commonality during the Trump era, and he's not showing any signs of slowing down.  Yesterday, I wrote on MSNBC's puffy haired TV doctor asserting that people still can't travel or stop wearing masks even after being vaccinated.  Cruz also saw that clip and responded accordingly, savaging the far-left network's proclamation by a man who doesn't actually know anything more about this topic than you are I do (Vin Gupta is an ER doctor, not an epidemiologist).  As I've said before, we have the dumbest experts.

Joe Biden's Inaugural Committee: 'Stay Home,' 'Limit Gatherings During the Inauguration'.  Joe Biden's Inaugural Committee does not want supporters to travel to Washington, D.C., in January for the swearing in of the 46th president.  The Presidential Inaugural Committee (PIC) consulted "with medical experts advising President-elect Joe Biden" and announced "initial protocols to protect public health during the inauguration," an event that takes place outside on the Capitol lawn.  Biden's advisors said in a press release that the "historic ceremony" will include "vigorous health and safety protocols," and "honors and resembled sacred American traditions while keeping Americans safe and preventing the spread of COVID-19 [Chinese coronavirus]."

The Editor says...
I wish they were more concerned about keeping us free than keeping us safe.

As COVID Vaccine Nears, Government Coercion Begins in Earnest.  The New York Times, in a recent cultural exposition on the lingering social effects of the evolving COVID-19 response, quotes several epidemiologists.  The sources also offer their prognostications.  The fully unsurprising consensus among the managerial class?  "Normalcy" (i.e., life before the pandemic) will never be revived.  The measures instituted in March massively restricting freedom of movement (and virtually every other civil liberty) are here to stay. [...] What kind of a life is this?  To pacify a U.S. public they knew would object to being locked out of social life forever, politicians and policymakers paired the early economic shutdowns with assurances that they would be temporary.  After a vaccine has been developed, they promised, life will go back to the way it was before. [...] Without adequate explanation (does royalty explain decisions to the masses?), Fauci and Co. turned on a dime.  They are now predicting that economic and social life remain off-limits until fall of 2021 at the earliest.

The Wuhan Virus and Hospitalizations.  Back in the early-to-mid-spring of this year, heeding the rampant Wuhan virus fearmongering, all across the U.S., hospitals shut down almost all care and procedures that they could.  This was done in preparation for what we were repeatedly told was going to be a significant Wuhan virus patient surge.  Of course, such a surge never materialized.  Thus, U.S. hospitals were left with a massive patient shortage.  In other words, the health care demands of the Wuhan virus were grossly overestimated.  As I noted back in August, these demands were so "grossly overestimated" that billions of taxpayer dollars were unnecessarily spent — in other words, wasted — on "field hospitals" that were supposedly meant to help "handle" the pandemic as states fought to "flatten the curve."  Numerous hospitals that cost tens of millions of dollars each never treated a single patient.  Others treated only a few dozen.  Additionally, the hospital patient shortage was so massive that numerous U.S. hospitals suffered unprecedented, albeit self-inflicted, financial devastation.

Time To Heel — Or Fight.  I'm infuriated every time I see an Applebees, Walmart, or Amazon commercial touting their bravery and fortitude during these troubled times.  These mega-corporations, with powerful lobbying departments and unlimited financial resources, have reaped tremendous profits and seen their stock prices soar to all-time highs, while hundreds of thousands of small restaurants and retailers have closed for good.  Somewhere between one-third and one-half of all small businesses in America have closed or will close permanently.  The [disingenuous] slogan "We are all in this together" has been beaten to death by the propaganda media, while our wealthy elite overlords work remotely in their multi-million-dollar mansions, doing their daily Peleton workouts, sending their kids to expensive private schools and dining on white truffles and caviar at the French Laundry for $1,200.  We are not in this together.  It's us and THEM.  You know who THEY are.

Fauci made a 'joke' in 2018 that gave the COVID game away.  [Scroll down]  Coincidentally, Fauci's "just kidding" moment is now being played out in 2020, where medical experts, the media, and early Armageddon pandemic models have messaged COVID-19 as the mother of all diseases.  Unlike other deadly pandemics, most recently H1NI in 2009 with more than 60 million Americans infected, the coronavirus has become a 24/7 news story.  Daily, sometimes hourly, case and death counts from state officials are now part of the national consciousness.  Beginning in March 2020, Dr. Fauci recommended mitigation measures never before put into place by state governors.  COVID-19 from Wuhan, while not related to "every other disease" as Dr. Fauci jokingly predicted in 2018, might as well be.  The coronavirus is the lucrative disease the NIH researcher had been waiting for throughout his entire 50-plus-year government career.  A pandemic is "globality at its highest level," he said, affecting the global economy and security.  It has also affected Dr. Fauci's bottom line.

N.J. Gym Owner Fined $1 Million for Refusing to Close Has a Message for Gov. Phil Murphy.  Atlas Gym has been continuously harassed by the government of New Jersey for refusing to shut its doors or impose mask mandates on its clients.  Owner Ian Smith has made headlines for staying open despite orders from the state to close up shop.  But now he's back with a viral video message he made for Governor Phil Murphy.  I don't think the state's sanctions on him are working, do you?  Filming in a full gym, Smith stands defiant against government interference with his right to work and feed his family.  I wish every business owner in America was this courageous.  That's all it would take to end the unfair targeting of small businesses while huge corporations are allowed to turn profits without fines.  Resist!

Vitamin D & Ivermectin [are] Better Solutions to COVID than Vaccines.  People are dying, but what are they dying from?  Is it an all-powerful virus that is doing hundreds of thousands of people in, or is it medical ignorance and medical malpractice?  Ignorance is deadly in medicine and is usually sourced in arrogance and pharmaceutical greed and power, which is in full view with the American government's premier medical organizations.  The NIH, the FDA, and the CDC should be held accountable for every COVID death at this point.  The official line is still there is no treatment for COVID-19, so half the population and most politicians are waiting for a vaccine to come in to save the day even though the long-term side effects are unknown.  No vaccine is needed for an easily treated disease, and the cover-up of this fact is [condemnatory].  It is a terrible crime.

Mayor de Blasio will ride subway to prove it's safe amid COVID-19.  Mayor Bill de Blasio on Monday [12/14/2020] agreed to set an example and eschew his SUV and driver to ride the subway in a bid to encourage more New Yorkers to get back onto mass transit despite the coronavirus pandemic.  "It is important to let people know the subways are safe," the mayor said during his daily briefing, in response to a reporter's suggestion that he ride mass transit for a week to show it's safe, just as he plans to take the COVID-19 vaccine.

The Editor says...
Of course the subway is always safe for the mayor, because he's surrounded by cops.

Will Vermont have child COVID informants for Christmas?  Vermonters have not been advised whether their families will be allowed to gather for Christmas.  Vermont governor Phil Scott's Thanksgiving prohibition of family gatherings raised eyebrows nationally.  Post-holiday, schoolchildren were quizzed by teachers and sent home if they reported visitors in their homes.  Will Christmas be similarly policed?  Meanwhile, the Vermont Department of Health officially left citizens free to "have sex with others outside your household," advising, "Take precautions ... with people at risk for severe COVID-19 illness such as people over 65 years of age or those with serious medical conditions."  Few contrasts could more openly demonstrate how arbitrary Vermont's COVID rules have become than prohibiting family meal gatherings while advising strangers they can have sex freely.

Big Tech and IT Security.  Big Tech is impairing and maliciously exploiting the nation's critical IT and communications infrastructure for their own benefit and the benefit of third parties.  During COVID-19, a declared national emergency, they have:
  •   Interfered with medical advice and communications of doctors and other medical practitioners regarding COVID-19.
  •   Prevented patients and doctors from accessing medical information and/or blocked medical advice about COVID-19.
  •   Banned accounts and/or deleted content from physicians and scientists who recommended specific COVID-19 treatments, such as Hydroxychloroquine.
  •   Threatened to block all medical advice contradicting recommendations of the World Health Organization.
  •   Replaced (rather than merely deleted or restricted) medical content which they do not like with their own content and denigrated the original content.
Almost all the interventions related to COVID-19 went against any useful treatments and prophylaxis, but spread panic, and promoted lockdowns, and masks.  This nicely aligned with their own interests — reducing interpersonal communication, leading to increased reliance on their services, and thus, increasing their profits and power.  Big Tech profits have skyrocketed during this pandemic.  This also coincided with the strategy of the Democrat party to use COVID-19 as a pretext for adopting fraud-ridden mail-in voting, for blaming President Trump for COVID-19 suffering, and for blanket house arrest orders (lockdowns).  Big Tech also interfered with the bidirectional communications between the government and the public in general.

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla explains why he hasn't taken COVID-19 vaccine yet.  Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said Monday [12/14/2020] he hasn't taken the COVID-19 vaccine yet — but only because he doesn't want to be seen as jumping the line.  "I haven't taken it yet and we are having an ethical committee dealing with the question of who is getting it," Bourla told CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.  Bourla noted that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has agreed that front-line health care workers and nursing home residents and staff should be prioritized.  "Given that there are very strict allocation rules that the CDC has voted [on], we are very sensitive not to cut the queue and get vaccinated before," Bourla said.  But he hasn't ruled out getting the shot soon if it'll improve confidence in the vaccine.

Scientists pinpoint genes common among people with severe coronavirus infections.  Certain gene variants are linked to severe coronavirus infections, according to a team of scientists in Europe who studied the genomes of 2,200 critically ill covid-19 patients.  Their results provide robust support that genetic makeup plays a role in the potentially fatal illness experienced by some people infected by the coronavirus.

Austrian MP Tests Coca Cola For COVID.  It Tests Positive!  The Austrian politician Michael Schnedlitz dips a Corona rapid test into a glass of Coca Cola.  The video is widely shared on the internet as evidence of the unreliability of the test.  [Video clip]

Two Reasons Before Noon On Sunday To Obstruct, Resist & Punish Democrat-Media Establishment.  Seeing little kids in masks makes me sick to my stomach because masks really only do two things well:  1) promote fear, and 2) compromise the still-developing immune systems of children.  There's nothing else cloth masks do well.  I mean don't get me wrong they do a lot of things poorly.  Like, for example, stopping viruses from spreading.

Bill Gates "Sadly" Says Businesses Will Have To Shut Down Again For Coming Wave Of Coronavirus Cases.  Bill Gates sat down for an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper and the topic was the coronavirus pandemic.  The billionaire spoke about the severity of the coming winter wave of coronavirus outbreaks.  When asked by Tapper if shutdowns should be put in place again, he was in favor of it.  "Sadly, that's appropriate."  Tapper began by asking if governors who have been hesitant to shut down businesses again should do so since the prediction is that the coming wave of the virus will be the worst one yet.  Gates began by saying that wearing face masks is an easy way for everyone to fight the spread.  Then Gates specifically chose restaurants and bars as examples of businesses that should shut down for four to six months.  Jake Tapper just sat there and allowed Gates to opine without any pushback at all.  I guess it's easy for a billionaire to say that the owners of bars and restaurants should suffer in order to curb the spread of the virus.  It's no skin off his nose.

The Editor says...
Allow me to remind you that Bill Gates is not an elected official.  He has a lot of money, but no authority of any kind.  Unless you work for him, or unless your organization wants a hefty grant from his foundation, you may ignore his opinions.  Mr. Gates will soon enough discover that "unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required."

Robert F. Kennedy Jr: 'New COVID Vaccine Should Be Avoided At All Cost'.  I would like to draw your attention urgently to important issues related to the next Covid-19 vaccination.  For the first time in the history of vaccination, the so-called last generation mRNA vaccines intervene directly in the genetic material of the patient and therefore alter the individual genetic material, which represents the genetic manipulation, something that was already forbidden and until then considered criminal.  This intervention can be compared to genetically manipulated food, which is also highly controversial.  Even if the media and politicians currently trivialize the problem and even stupidly call for a new type of vaccine to return to normality, this vaccination is problematic in terms of health, morality and ethics, and also in terms of genetic damage that, unlike the damage caused by previous vaccines, will be irreversible and irreparable.

COVID-19 Vaccine Bombshell:  FDA Documents Reveal DEATH + 21 Serious Conditions As Possible Adverse Outcomes.  Public discussion and documents reveal that the FDA knows that rushed-to-market COVID-19 vaccines may cause a wide range of life-threatening side effects, including death.  Unless the public is made aware of their real effects, and is given a choice, their widespread coercive promotion as "safe and effective" and "necessary" violates the medical ethical principle of informed consent.

Death and illness due to lockdowns is higher than deaths due to COVID-19.  Lockdowns are not effective, as seen by many scientific studies, common sense, and worldwide observation.  Locking down entire communities was never before done in all of recorded human history, but it swept the globe in 2020.  In addition to not stopping the transmission of a tiny respiratory virus that fortunately does not permanently harm the vast majority of people, lockdowns cause insurmountable negative health effects.  These range from the worsening of chronic stable conditions, to missing new serious diagnoses, to missing necessary treatments, and very often death.  And where lack of medical care and social isolation intersect, the tragedy of addiction, substance abuse, depression, trauma, and crime repeats itself in ever escalating numbers.

Put on the handcuffs, hide under the bed and stay there.  We've never seen anything like it, have we — some state governments not just advising people on how to spend Thanksgiving with their families, but dictating how they do it or whether they do it at all?  Here was totalitarianism unknown in American history, cops just maybe arresting you if there were too many people at the table, and it did not stop there.  Some states have also dictated how many people can go to church despite precautions being taken.  And, yes, it is totally proper to give advice, to say lives could be at stake from COVID-19 if large numbers were gathering in close proximity, and, to go further, to say this isn't just about you but about the harm you can do to others through transmission.  But here's the thing.  If government travels an autocratic, unprecedented route with the pandemic, what's going to happen to liberty generally and with other matters, such as climate change?

NIH Director Collins Works With Church Leaders to Promote COVID Vaccine.  NIH Director Francis Collins is doing full-court press these days in preparation of the vaccine distribution in the United States.  The Washington Post, NPR, and other legacy media outlets are slathering over this political appointee as the perfect oracle to convince people of faith that the vaccine is safe and should be taken. [...] Typical WaPo:  You anti-science rubes need help understanding this!  Thoroughly discounting (or mocking) the number of doctors, nurses, and other medical personnel who are people of faith, but still have legitimate concerns about not only how this pandemic has been handled medically and socially, but about this coming vaccine.

Blue State Hypocrisy: 15 Democrats Who Don't Follow Their Own Rules.  There have been many examples of blue state hypocrisy as of late.  The Democrat hypocrites create stricter and stricter rules to deal with the phantom menace of Covid but then refuse to follow those rules themselves.  Democrat mayors and governors shut down small businesses, didn't let spouses and children mourn the passing of loved ones, ruined the academic experience of millions of students, and wrecked the dreams of many more millions of Americans.  Those people are despicable.  It's one thing to create and follow strict lockdown orders because you think that's the right thing to do; I, and many others, might disagree with the necessity and efficacy of those lockdowns, but there is no moral issue there.  That's a debate over governance and what powers the government can and should use in the event of an emergency.  But it is evil to create an order that ruins the lives of millions of your citizens and then to ignore that lockdown order yourself when it becomes inconvenient to do so.

As leftists double down on lockdowns, are we being played?  I'm a pandemic skeptic.  I know the Wuhan virus is real and very dangerous for some people.  Still, I cannot get excited about a disease with an average 99% survival rate.  I believe the Democrats weaponized the virus to defeat President Trump, and I think that Democrats are still working the virus to weaken working- and middle-class Americans (i.e., Trump supporters) while enriching the Democrats' corporate cronies. [...] We keep being told that Americans are dying like flies, far in excess of their normal numbers.  I accept that there are excess deaths.  I'm sure it increased our annual death rate in spring when many elderly people died in the first wave after Democrat governors trapped them in retirement homes and then sent in infected people.  I'm also sure that more Americans are dying from cancer, heart disease, depression, suicide, murder, and spousal abuse thanks to the cruelty of the lockdowns.  What offsets all this is that fewer Americans are dying from the flu.

COVID-19 And The Great Reset:  Global Effort "to revamp all aspects of our societies and economies".  Quite a few people today appear to have opted to give up a great deal of their liberty for what they perceive as safety, yet few of them are starving or especially threatened.  What they seem to want is absolute safety or something close to it, as so many people's reaction to COVID has demonstrated.  The COVID pandemic was a big test of an approach called The Great Reset, and the reaction to the rules promulgated in response to the disease has led The Great Reset's leftist boosters to feel that they can go ahead without too much objection.  The Great Reset is no shadowy conspiracy theory, either; its basic outline is right out there in the open.

Chinese Virus, Chinese Vaccine?: CCP Leak Confirms Pfizer, AstraZeneca Employed 123 Communist Party Members.  A leaked list of 1.95 million Chinese Communist Party members, containing apparently thousands of names of individuals living in the West and employed in government or top corporations, includes 123 names of individuals who work for pharmaceutical giants Pfizer and AstraZeneca.  Both companies are currently engaged in the ongoing COVID-19 vaccination effort.  As National File previously reported, a list of nearly 2 million CCP members was leaked to international media outlets in the United Kingdom, Australia, Belgium, and Sweden earlier this year.  The list contains names of individuals currently living and working in the West, including in the British government, and in top military, financial, and medical companies across the West.  The Daily Mail now confirms that a "detailed analysis," now "reveals that pharmaceutical giants Pfizer and AstraZeneca — both involved in the development of coronavirus vaccines — employed a total 123 party loyalists."

Now that the election is over...
American Medical Association Rescinds Previous Statement Against Prescription of Hydroxychloroquine to COVID-19 Patients.  The American Medical Association (AMA), in a surprising move, has officially rescinded a previous statement against the use of Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) in the treatment of COVID-19 patients, giving physicians the okay to return to utilizing the medication at their discretion.  Previously, the AMA had issued a statement in March that was highly critical of HCQ in regards to its use as a proposed treatment by some physicians in the early stages of COVID-19.  In addition to discouraging doctors from ordering the medication in bulk for "off-label" use — HCQ is typically used to treat diseases such as malaria — they also claimed that there was no proof that it was effective in treating COVID, and that its use could be harmful in some instances.

Gleeful Bill Gates:  Keep Restaurants and Bars Closed for Six Months, Allow Slow Return to New Normal Activity in 2022.  The technocrats of modern globalism have a way of carrying inappropriate gleefulness as they laugh, smile and pontificate their detachment from life under their control.  Thus the ever present smirk, smile and laughter from Bill Gates as he describes how workers on Main Street USA must accept their economic destruction as part of their larger responsibility to the global community.  [Video clip]

Life-Long Firefighter And Now Commissioner Arrested For Not Wearing A Mask OUTSIDE In Key West.  East Like Fire Commissioner James Dalrymple was arrested in downtown Key West on Wednesday and charged with obstruction of justice after an incident that unfolded after he refused to wear a mask as required by city ordinance.  According to a Key West Police report, officer Leonardo Hernandez saw a group walking south on Duval Street around 6:40 p.m.  A few in the group were not wearing masks.  After the officer asked them to put on masks, which the city requires while outside of residences, Dalrymple, 64, responded that "the governor's order says we do not have to," according to the incident report.  [Video clip]

The COVID-19 Vaccine Requires Careful Vetting.  The currently reported COVID-19 "surge" arrived just in time for many to use it as an excuse for emergency authorization of vaccines. [...] The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended that millions of doses of the vaccine be given to health care professionals first.  Health care professionals and Americans in general need to know what follows.  Numerous previous articles described the dishonesty of public health officials, including the CDC, regarding the definition of "COVID-19 death" and COVID-19 data in general.  It was mentioned that if misleading language was used to describe COVID-19 death data, then one may reasonably question whether public health officials and influential collaborators in the pharmaceutical industry would be misleading when describing future COVID-19 vaccine safety and efficacy data.  It appears as though such misleading language is being used to describe the safety and the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine recently authorized for emergency use in the U.S.

As COVID-1984 Accelerates, Bill Gates Blames "Freedom" For Spread of the Virus.  Recently, Bill Gates gave an interview to the Rothschild partially owned Economist.  In this interview, Gates was asked about how he views the U.S. response to the outbreak.  His reply was:  ["]Aside from the high 'risk money' the US ponied up for vaccine research and development, he think the U.S. is doing a poor job overall.["]  Gates proceeded to directly blame the poor response on lack of preparation, but also freedom.  Yes, Bill Gates blamed our freedoms for the spread of the virus.  Bill Gates then went on to praise China's authoritarian response and said, despite the fact that people's rights were violated, China's response was really amazing!  This is right out of the 2010 Rockefeller Lock Step document that laid out a scenario for a world of tighter top-down government control and more authoritarian leadership.

Scientists Link This Superspreader Event in February to Around 300,000 COVID Cases.  The New York Times reported that researchers analyzing the genetic markers of the virus were able to conclude that between 250,000 and 300,000 cases of the coronavirus can be blamed on a Boston medical conference hosted by drugmaker Biogen.  "In hindsight, many people have criticized Biogen's decision to continue with its leadership meeting in late February, which was attended by vice presidents from European countries already hit by the virus," The Times reported.  "Others in the industry fault Biogen for being too tight-lipped about the outbreak."  "The smartest people in health care and drug development — and they were completely oblivious to the biggest thing that was about to shatter their world," John Carroll, editor of Endpoints News, which covers the biotech industry, told The Times.

COVID-19 tyrants now set sights on Christmas.  Watch out.  One of Joe Biden's coronavirus advisory board members told CNN that Americans need to give up their Christmas parties in order to help contain the spread of COVID-19.  Who died and made these political hacks the keeper of the constitutional rights?  Look, we know the coronavirus is harmful to health — fatal even to some.  But we know, too, that the coronavirus is not a fraction as fatal or even harmful as what the political hacks say.

Consent Withdrawn, Entire Town of Mossyrock Washington Defies Governor Inslee's Latest Set of COVID-19 Restrictions.  Many people talk of a foreboding sense.  A sense that something is very close to erupting on the surface.  I believe, and have said for months, the final eruption will come as a result of overreach by control authority in reference to COVID dictates.  We are close.  In Washington State the entire town of Mossyrock has united to defy the COVID-19 dictatorial fiats of the State Governor Jay Inslee.  This is how the rebellion will succeed.

United Airlines Kicks Family Off Flight Because 2-YEAR-OLD Wouldn't Keep Mask On.  United Airlines enforced its "no-tolerance" mask policy on a family with a 2-year-old girl who would not wear a mask.  And it seems like the whole world has lost its sanity and decency.  Eliz Orban posted a video on Instagram and Twitter explaining that she, her husband, and daughter were all KICKED OFF the United Airlines flight and then BANNED FOR LIFE from the airline because their 2-year-old wouldn't keep her mask on.

Gov. Wolf announces new COVID-19 restrictions on indoor dining, entertainment until 2021.  Pennsylvanians' holiday cheer will have to be served at home for the rest of the month.  Gov. Tom Wolf on Thursday announced a series of restrictions to slow the spread of COVID-19 across the commonwealth, including shutting down indoor dining and on-site alcohol consumption.  "This virus continues to rage in Pennsylvania and over the past several weeks, it's become clear that we need to take further mitigation actions to protect Pennsylvanians and stop the spread of COVID-19," Wolf said.  "We all hoped to not come to this."

The Editor says...
Covid-19 restrictions are always implemented for just a few weeks at a time, and are always extended.  They never end.  Have you noticed?

Cuomo orders New York City restaurants to suspend indoor dining, effective Monday.  New York City's restaurants must stop serving meals indoors on Monday as COVID-19 hospitalizations fail to stabilize and the infection rate for the virus rises in the densely populated metropolis, Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Friday [12/11/2020].  The governor acknowledged that indoor dining accounts for only a fraction of the city's new cases, but said he was concerned about an "Rt 1.3" transmission rate, meaning that one infected person transmits it to 1.3 others.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo Shuts Down Indoor Dining in NYC; Less than 2% of Coronavirus Cases Traced to Restaurants.  Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) announced Friday that he will shut down indoor dining in New York City, despite the fact that contact tracing does not show restaurants as a primary source of coronavirus transmission.  Earlier this week, Cuomo warned that the suspension of indoor dining in New York City could be forthcoming if hospitalization rates did not stabilize in the region.

NJ gym now facing over $1.2M in fines for defying Gov. Murphy's coronavirus lockdown orders.  Democratic New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy's COVID-19 restrictions have now resulted in more than $1.2 million in fines to a gym for defying the lockdowns in recent months.  "Governor Murphy has thrown everything he possibly could to shut us down.  He has arrested my partner and I, given us over 60 citations, some of them criminal.  He fines us $15,497.76 per day for every day we're in operation.  Our fines are totaling over $1.2 million, but every single day, Frank and I open our gym," Atilis Gym co-owner Ian Smith told "America's Newsroom" Thursday.  The Atilis Gym owners have had a drawn-out, ongoing public battle with their local government in Bellmawr, N.J., over coronavirus restrictions.  Gov. Murphy has said the reason for limiting gyms is to stop the spread of the virus, but Smith argues there's no scientific data to back up this claim.

'Don't let a man in a dress rule us': Road sign mocks Pa. health secretary amid COVID crackdowns.  A message board entering the Erie County town of Waterford prompted a social-media stir this week by mocking Dr. Rachel Levine, Pennsylvania's secretary of health.  The sign along U.S. Highway 19 read "don't let a man in a dress rule us Waterford!" on Wednesday [12/9/2020].  Dr. Levine, who has been the public face of Pennsylvania's controversial COVID-19 related lockdowns, was born Richard Levine and fathered two children, but transitioned to female in 2011.

Webster's New World Dictionary, College Edition, 1959, page 1549.

Biden COVID Adviser Said Hospitals Would 'Collapse' In Three Weeks.  That Didn't Happen.  Just a few weeks ago, Dr. Michael Osterholm, an adviser to Democratic Nominee Joe Biden, falsely predicted that hospitals would be "collapsing" by early December.  "We need somebody to say this is what's happening," Osterholm said on MSNBC in mid-November.  "This is how bad it is, we're going to see hospitals collapsing in the next two to three weeks, and this is what we've got to do to address that."  "Just remember one thing for the next three weeks," he continued.  "The cases are already in the pipeline, but people who are infected this morning, will be the cases of next week in the hospital, and few days after that will be in the intensive care rooms and dying."

First Nonprescription At-Home Coronavirus Test Has Been Approved.  The first at-home test for the coronavirus that does not require a prescription has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).  LapCorp's Pixel COVID-19 Test Home Collection Kit is intended for people 18 years of age and older.  The test kit allows the user to collect a nasal swab sample at home and send it to LabCorp for testing.  The method of transmittal of the test's result is determined on the urgency of the need for action or not.  The customer will receive a phone call from a health care provider for a positive result or a result deemed invalid.  A test that receives a negative result will be relayed via email or an online portal.  The test kit can be purchased in a store or online.

Canadian Restaurant Owner Charged With 'Trespassing' [on his own property] After Reopening in Defiance of Lockdown Orders.  At 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, November 24, Adam Skelly opened his BBQ restaurant in Toronto and began serving customers.  Under ordinary circumstances, this would have been unremarkable.  But on that day, it was an act of political defiance, because a recent lockdown order prohibited restaurants like his from providing indoor and outdoor dining services.  Skelly, a 33-year-old husband and father of two, was specifically ordered to close by Toronto Public Health later that day, but he opened again on Wednesday and made it clear that he would continue operating as normal.  Then, early Thursday morning the police changed the locks on the restaurant to bar his access, and when Skelly showed up later that morning he was met by a significant police presence.  Police allowed him into a back part of the building behind the restaurant, but then he and his employees secretly broke into the restaurant from the back and kicked down the newly locked front door.

Vaccine Whistleblower Found Dead After Saying She'd Never Commit Suicide.  Brandy Vaughan was a whistleblower of Big Pharma and vaccines has been found dead roughly a year after she released a public statement saying she'd never commit suicide.  Her body was discovered by her nine-year-old son earlier this week, according to reports.  The cause of death is currently unknown.

Cuomo Given Award Named For Another Democrat Leader Who Killed And Got Away With It.  New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo received another award for his mishandling of COVID-19 in his state, which included making courageous decisions like keeping schools closed despite the science and directing positive COVID-19 patients into nursing homes, leading to thousands of preventable deaths.  Cuomo announced on Twitter Wednesday he would receive the Edward M. Kennedy Award for Inspired Leadership.  "I learned about humanity, leadership and putting people first from the great Senator Ted Kennedy," he tweeted.

The Editor says...
Yeah, putting people first.  Unfortunately, Mary Jo Kopechne is unavailable for comment.

Biden commands nation to 100-day mask mandate.  Biden just wants us to wear a mask at all times for 100 days, supposedly in federal venues, whether we are atletes, stay-at-home moms, Zoom denizens working from home, postal delivery people, bums on the street, bureaucrats who don't follow rules, baristas, farmers, wood cutters, fishermen, ranchers, divers, illegal immigrants (good luck with that one), CEOs, babies, or elderly people in convalescent homes.  One size fits all, whether you are in Barrow, Alaska, the empty swaths of Wyoming, or the Lower East Side of Manhattan, all 300 million must wear them.  He makes his Woody Allen-'Bananas'-like call as if no one had thought to wear them earlier, or federal indoor spaces weren't doing this, or that everyone is always on federal property or in federal transport in any case, as they would be in a communist state.  So why 100 days?  What happens when someone forgets or gets robbed or refuses?  Do we reset the clock so that everyone is on again?  Set the clock back to zero?  We can do this for the next thousand years actually.  And why 100 days?  Why not 99?  Why not 101?  This is supposed to be based on 'science' after all, not rounded numbers.  Where is the science?

The Editor says...
This is somewhat off-topic, but here it is:  "The First 100 days" is a media construct that goes back many years.  The news media exists to sell advertising.  Immediately after a predident is sworn in, there is a sudden vacuum in the news business, as there is every January.  With the exception of the final few games of the football season, news gets even more sparse in February.  Advertisers won't buy TV commercials in local "news" shows unless the "anchors" have something to report.  The fixation on "The First 100 days" gives the TV newsrooms an excuse to extrapolate a three-month sample into the next four years.  All of it is meaningless.  If the president is a Democrat, the news media (local and national) will amplify and praise everything the president or the Congress accomplishes.  Otherwise the news media will interpret every event as sinister, dishonest, or harmful.

No Science Justifies Bans on Indoor or Outdoor Dining.  In a video that is simultaneously gut-wrenching and infuriating, a Los Angeles restaurant owner exposed the hypocrisy of Mayor Eric Garcetti's order to ban outdoor dining in his city.  Angela Mardsen, the owner of Pineapple Hill Grill and Saloon, showed a large outdoor dining area erected for a movie studio about 50 feet from the now-shuttered outdoor section of her restaurant.  "I'm losing everything," an emotional Marden said.  "Everything I own is being taken away from me and they set up a movie company right next to my outdoor patio.  We cannot survive, my staff cannot survive." [...] But government decrees to close bars and restaurants — especially service outside — are more than ridiculous.  They are cruel, unconstitutional, and devastating to the hospitality sector, the nation's second-largest private employer.  In a December 7 letter to congressional leaders, the National Restaurant Association detailed the "stark" condition of the industry.  More than 110,000 restaurants have permanently closed their doors this year; 10,000 establishments have shut down in just the past three months, according to the trade group.

As Lockdowns Kill Businesses in California and New York the Politicians Ensure that Hollywood Is Thriving.  Recently entertainer Seth MacFarlane made a quiet announcement that his sci-fi space satire television show "The Orville" was going back into production.  This is a somewhat unsettling announcement for a couple of reasons.  For one, over the past months Seth had been a loud proponent of shutdowns, quarantines, and basically any limitations done in the name of safety.  We can guess that the virus has been scientifically shown to avoid television productions.  The other issue is that as Seth's show ramps back up California's Governor Gavin Newsom has imposed tougher lockdown standards on citizens and businesses, as well as instilling a curfew.  However, for this new round of clamps placed on the public, Newsom has seen fit to grant Hollywood an exemption from his lockdown, declaring that industry as "essential."  It becomes another example of politicians freeing up the studios from restrictions; one class of elites favoring another class of elites.

Joe Biden, the Manchurian President.  [Scroll down]  China, not Russia, clearly interfered with the 2020 elections.  The only question about this interference is whether the release of COVID-19 was accidental or on purpose.  Before the pandemic crippled the U.S., Trump was headed to reelection by a historic landslide.  The economy was roaring, and a record number Americans were enjoying prosperity and freedom.  In spite of Democrat efforts to remove Trump from office by impeachment and the economic shutdown because of the virus, the president still earned ten million more votes than 2016 and in any other election would have crushed his political opponent.  The virus not only had a horrific detrimental impact on our economy, it was used as an excuse for making substantive changes to the electoral process through unprecedented millions of mail-in votes.  Even if it was an accidental release from a Wuhan lab, the Chinese are responsible for the criminally negligent deaths of U.S. citizens and the economic damage caused by the virus.  If the virus was deliberately released, it was an act of war.  So, are we at war with China?

Covidgate (Part 3) — Attack on informed consent.  Informed consent matters more than ever because we are entering the most coercive era of medical tyranny in human history.  If the public health-industrial complex gets its way, you may not be able to work, travel, shop or go to school without proof of a COVID-19 vaccination.  Who needs government to do the mandating when corporations, airlines and educational institutions will do all the dirty work for Big Brother?  The unthinking surrender of our autonomy to global pandemic blackmailers is horrific. [...] A review of COVID-19 vaccine protocols published in the October issue of the International Journal of Clinical Practice determined that an alarming phenomenon called "antibody-dependent enhancement" — which could worsen COVID-19 — "was obscured" by vaccine manufacturers.  Timothy Cardozo of the New York University Langone Health and Ronald Veazey of the Tulane University School of Medicine concluded that the vaccine-enhanced disease risk "should have been prominently and independently disclosed to research subjects."

Don't Let COVID-19 Lockdowns Become a Permanent Power Grab.  [Scroll down]  Throughout the pandemic, one set of rules has applied to America's most ardent lockdown advocates, and another set of rules has applied to everyone else.  LA County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl voted to ban outdoor dining ... and then went to an outdoor restaurant later that evening.  California Gov. Gavin Newsom is currently locking down some 33 million citizens but had no problem eating indoors with members of the California Medical Association at The French Laundry.  Mayor London Breed of San Francisco ate at that same posh restaurant the next day.  Austin Mayor Steve Adler told his constituents, "stay home if you can" in a Facebook video filmed from his vacation timeshare in Cabo San Lucas, where he'd just headed with seven others after a wedding in Austin.  Mayor Lori Lightfoot of Chicago got her hair cut and called it an "essential" business activity while promoting lockdown.  Gov. Andrew Cuomo told everybody to stay home for Thanksgiving and then announced he would be getting together with his daughters and his 89-year-old mother, only to then reverse himself.  The message is obvious:  Our intellectual and moral betters in politics are free to make their own rational calculations on COVID-19 risk.  The rest of us are to be locked in our homes until further notice.  When these political actors suggest that we must act out of an abundance of caution, they mean that they ought to enjoy abundance while benefitting from our caution.  You and your family are capable of making the same decisions Cuomo, Garcetti, Newsom, Lightfoot and Adler do.

Ohio Will Stop Verifying Antigen Tests, Count Them All Positive.  Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, whose party is considering impeachment and overriding his veto of a recent dually-passed bill to limit the pandemic powers of the Ohio Department of Health (ODH), called a COVID briefing on Monday [12/7/2020] to update Ohioans on the state's response to the virus.  The most significant announcement was that beginning on Tuesday, December 8 the state will no longer trace people who test positive from antigen tests to confirm results.

Testing Positive for Coronavirus.  [Scroll down]  The spectacle of VIPs "in the know" who take off their masks, off-camera, should convince everyone that the mask/distancing syndrome is a scam and that punishing violators is a criminal corruption of justice.  Nothing this absurd and outrageous would ever have been tolerated before 2020, year of an extremely important presidential election.  In short, the unnatural and dehumanizing lockdowns and measures against infection being drummed into us by leftist media and rammed into us by leftist public officials, have no support in common sense, history, or science.  Why then is it "necessary" to get "tested for coronavirus" if you aren't sick and have no symptoms of illness?  Could it be that a viral infection with a recovery rate over 99%, even for the elderly, is being used to spook the public into compliance with orders from power-hungry politicians and moguls with a respect for human rights and the Constitution that approaches zero?

People With Severe Allergies Shouldn't Get Covid-19 Vaccine, Says U.K. Regulator After Reactions.  Two of the first people vaccinated in the U.K. on Tuesday [12/8/2020] with the Pfizer Inc.-BioNTech SE shot responded adversely to the injection, the country's National Health Service said, prompting the regulator to issue new guidance warning those with a history of significant allergic reactions against having the inoculation.  "Both are recovering well," said Professor Stephen Powis, national medical director for the NHS.  The two people are NHS workers, part of the first tranche to receive the vaccine in line with front-line staff having initial access.

No Alcohol for 2 Months, Russia Tells Coronavirus Vaccine Recipients.  Recipients of Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine should abstain from alcohol for nearly two months before and after immunization, the head of Russia's consumer safety watchdog said Tuesday [12/8/2020].  Rospotrebnadzor head Anna Popova's instructions follow Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova's recommendations to avoid alcohol and immunosuppressants for 42 days because the two-shot vaccine is administered with a 21-day gap between doses.

Rand Paul:  No scientific evidence COVID-19 lockdowns work.  Republican Sen. Rand Paul says there's no scientific proof that locking down society is limiting the spread of COVID-19.  Infections have been rising for the last few weeks after ebbing since its peck in April, despite the fact that Americans have been wearing masks and social distancing for months.  "We ought to at least still use logic to try to figure out how we stop this," the libertarian-minded Paul said in an interview Monday [12/7/2020] on Fox News.  "I don't see any evidence that crowd control, hand washing, standing six feet apart, all of these things they tell you to do — closing down the restaurants, closing down the schools — there's no real evidence that they are changing the trajectory of the disease."

Costs Must Be Weighed Against Benefits.  Much of the medical profession and politicians say that lockdowns, social distancing, and mask-wearing are the solutions.  CDC data on death rates show if one is under 35, the chances of dying from COVID-19 is much lower than that of being in a bicycle accident.  Should we lock down bicycles?  Dr. Martin Kulldorff, professor of medicine at Harvard University, biostatistician, and epidemiologist, Dr. Sunetra Gupta, professor at Oxford University and an epidemiologist with expertise in immunology, and Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, professor at Stanford University Medical School, a physician and epidemiologist were the initiators of the Great Barrington Declaration.  More than 50,000 scientists and doctors, as well as more than 682,000 ordinary people, have signed the Great Barrington Declaration opposing a second COVID-19 lockdown because they see it doing much more harm than good.

Will Biden give in to the Hydroxy Effect?  There is as yet no known, easily accessible cure for COVID-19.  Over the past year, lots of old and new drugs and supplements — Ivermectin, azithromycin, Remdesivir, hydroxychloroquine, vitamin D, vitamin C, zinc, aspirin, Pepcid and others — have shown at least some anecdotal value in ameliorating the effects of early-stage COVID-19.  Clinical physicians treating patients in hospitals often disagree with the research scientists conducting trials on the efficacy of all these treatments.  Yet only hydroxychloroquine has prompted furious partisan debate over its possible usefulness.  Why?  Probably because Donald Trump endorsed its usage months ago.  Almost immediately, the media, the university and government medical community, and the progressive political opposition declared hydroxychloroquine useless and dangerous.  A recent media study from the National Bureau of Economic Research found that positive news stories about the research and development of COVID-19 vaccines barely outnumbered negative stories about Trump and hydroxychloroquine.

Chicago minority communities skeptical about COVID-19 vaccine.  There have been big concerns in many minority communities about the safety of the new COVID-19 vaccine.  Medical experts and activists are working on ways to change the perspective these groups have toward the vaccination.  Kerri D. and her 20-year-old daughter Mya Jones said they would not take a COVID-19 vaccine.  The multi-racial Chicago residents, who are of Native American and Puerto Rican decent, question the speed of how quickly the vaccine was developed as well as its ingredients.  "I don't know what's in it.  Why risk it?" Kerri D. said.

Lockdown!  Quarantine!  Stay in your homes!  Oh, BTW there is now a tax on deliveries.
New Yorkers May Have to Pay Package Delivery Surcharge to Help Fund MTA.  With the Metropolitan Transportation Authority facing a budget crisis, New Yorkers may have to dig into their pockets to help out.  Under a new proposed bill, New York City residents would be required to pay a $3 surcharge on packages they ordered online, with the exception for medicine and food.  Assemblyman Robert Carroll, who proposed the bill, says the online shopping fee would raise more than $1 billion a year "to fund the operating costs of buses and subways in the city of New York."

Cornell Requires Its White Students to Get Vaccinated.  If you're a student at Cornell, you'll have to take a vaccine.  Unless you're black.  Or Asian.  Or Hispanic.  Or American Indian.  Or have any other kind of skin that isn't white.

Cornell vaccine mandate only applies to white students.  One of the amazing things we learned in 2020 is that the novel coronavirus can't infect people who attend Black Lives Matter protests.  Science!  Apparently the seasonal influenza is even more considerate, at least at Cornell University.  The Ivy League school offers a race-based exemption from its new mandatory flu shot, requiring only white students to get immunized before returning to the area.

The Science and Politics of COVID-19.  One of the most important lessons of the past nine months is that epidemiological models are predicated on assumptions and that statistical data can be manipulated to conform to a variety of desired outcomes.  They are therefore an alluring target for political exploitation.  It was therefore noteworthy when a November 22 study published by Johns Hopkins University was subsequently deleted by the university because an official stated that it "was being used to support false and dangerous inaccuracies about the impact of the pandemic."  The study, titled "A closer look at U.S. deaths due to COVID-19," was conducted by Dr. Genevieve Briand, assistant program director of the applied economics master's degree program at the university.  Her analysis made the astonishing conclusion that "in contrast to most people's assumptions, the number of deaths by COVID-19 is not alarming.  In fact, it has relatively no effect on deaths in the United States."

Despite promise, few in US adopting COVID-19 exposure apps.  Six months ago, Apple and Google introduced a new smartphone tool designed to notify people who might have been exposed to the coronavirus, without disclosing any personal information.  But for the most part, Americans haven't been all that interested.

NYC COVID-19 cases linked to Burning Man-style Tulum festival.  A Burning Man-style festival in Mexico turned into a coronavirus superspreader event — with several attendees bringing COVID-19 back with them to New York City, according to a report on Monday [12/7/2020].  Private COVID-19 testing company Checkmate Health Strategies said over half of its recent positive cases in the Big Apple were directly tied to the Art With Me event in Tulum, the Daily Beast reported.  "I would say that 60 to 70 percent of my positives in the last couple weeks in New York City have been a direct result of either people coming back from Art With Me — or who have been directly exposed to someone who attended Art With Me," said founder Eleonora Walczak.

Public needs to prep for vaccine side effects.  This summer, computational biologist Luke Hutchison volunteered for a trial of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine.  But after the second injection, his arm swelled up to the size of a "goose egg," Hutchison says.  He can't be sure he got the vaccine and not a placebo, but within a few hours, Hutchison, who was healthy and 43, was beset by bone and muscle aches and a 38.9°C fever.  "I started shaking.  I had cold and hot rushes," he says.  "I was sitting by the phone all night long thinking: 'Should I call 911?'"  Hutchison's symptoms resolved after 12 hours.  But, he says, "Nobody prepared me for the severity of this."  He says the public should be better prepared than he was, because a subset of people may face intense, if transient, side effects, called reactogenicity, from Moderna's vaccine.  Some health experts agree.

CNN: Chinese Covid-19 Coverup Documents Leaked.  Looks like President Trump was right about China lying about Covid cases.  According to leaked documents revealed by CNN, China grossly underreported the scale of the Covid outbreak in Mainland China. [...] Meanwhile the Chinese Communist Party is desperately trying to distract attention from their catastrophic mismanagement of the Covid outbreak; their persecution of whistleblowers, callous disregard for other nations and authoritarian coverups.  Now they are trying to claim Australia is the source of the Wuhan Covid-19 outbreak.

Coronavirus Patients from Mexico [are] Crossing [the] Border and Straining U.S. Hospitals.  In late October, the El Paso television station KFOX-14 aired video of fire department ambulances lining up at the international bridge picking up Covid-19 patients who had just crossed from Mexico and driving them to hospitals, the ones now filled to crisis proportions.  Along with the video footage, the local TV station quoted one of the fire department's paramedics describing an assembly-line operation where the whole ambulance fleet at times was pressed into transporting Mexicans from the international ports of entry to El Paso hospitals.  Projecting one of the nation's reddest Covid-19 hotspots, El Paso and its filled-beyond-capacity hospitals are now at the epicenter of national news coverage [...]

The Constitution is immune to coronavirus power-grabs.  In a matter of 244 years, we have gone from the understanding that "governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed" to "shut up, mask up, and obey your governors."  Amid the reams of debate written on the data, science, math, and policies undergirding the unprecedented governmental response to coronavirus, there is shockingly very little discussion about the legality of crushing the most foundational rights imaginable.  Can executive officials merely tout "COVID" in a sentence at a press conference and rule over our lives in any way they want for as long as they want?  This is the discussion that was needed eight months ago, but there's no time like the present to embark on it.

Cops raid home of fired Florida data analyst Rebekah Jones who accused state of misleading citizens on COVID.  Florida state police raided the home of a former data analyst for the Florida Department of Health on Friday, who claims Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) "sent the gestapo" to get her to "shut up."  Rebekah Jones was fired from her position in the DeSantis administration in May for allegedly modifying the state's COVID-19 dashboard unilaterally without authorization.  She claims the state was misleading citizens on the coronavirus numbers, and now she runs her own COVID-19 tracking sites from her house.  Jones tweeted Friday that state police served a warrant at her home that morning and seized property, claiming that officers "pointed a gun in [her] face" and "pointed guns at [her] kids."  She posted accompanying video showing the purported scene from inside her home as police entered.  Armed officers can be seen walking through the hallway, and pointing their firearms upward as they called for Jones' husband to come down the stairs.  Neither Jones' husband nor the couples' children are seen in the footage.

Cops raid home of Rebekah Jones, who said she was fired for not doctoring COVID-19 data.  Florida police on Monday [12/7/2020] raided the home of a former state data scientist who claimed she was fired from the Department of Health for refusing to doctor coronavirus figures.  Rebekah Jones posted video on Twitter showing officers with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement drawing their guns as they entered her house in Tallahassee.  "They pointed a gun in my face.  They pointed guns at my kids," she wrote.  Jones — who has been a vocal critic of Gov. Ron DeSantis' handling of the pandemic since she was canned in May — said agents seized her phone and computer.  "They claimed it was about a security breach.  This was DeSantis.  He sent the gestapo," she wrote.  [Video clip]

Cuomo and Fauci Laugh and Joke During Coronavirus Briefing:  Video.  New York Governor and Dr. Anthony Fauci had a grand time laughing and joking during a coronavirus briefing on Monday with Cuomo saying he and Fauci are like the famous movie actors Robert De Niro and Al Pacino.  As of Sunday about 288,000 Americans were reported to have died from the COVID-19 China coronavirus.  New York state has the most deaths in the nation at about 34,000.

Task Force Issues Strong Warnings To States "In A Very Dangerous Place".  The White House coronavirus task force issues weekly updates to states.  The latest report urges health officials to bypass state leaders if they deem measures being taken by lawmakers aren't as serious as coronavirus outbreaks warrant.  States are being told to perform "aggressive impact testing" for anyone under 40 years of age to determine who may be affected after the Thanksgiving holiday period.  Health officials are concerned about a new wave of cases created by Thanksgiving gatherings.  The risk of the coronavirus to Americans is at a "historic high."

The Editor says...
Wow.  It's almost as if the Harris-Biden ticket won the election and took over immediately, without waiting for the inauguration.

Cuomo says indoor dining in NYC will end if coronavirus hospitalization rate doesn't stabilize.  New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday threatened to implement tighter restrictions on indoor dining statewide if hospitalization rates don't improve.  "If after 5 days a region's hospital rate has not stabilized, indoor dining will close or be reduced," Cuomo tweeted.  In New York City, indoor dining would close entirely, he said.  Meanwhile, indoor dining would be reduced to 25% capacity in the rest of the state.

Trump to sign coronavirus vaccine executive order prioritizing Americans over foreign nations.  President Trump is expected to sign an executive order Tuesday [12/8/2020] that will ensure all Americans have access to the coronavirus vaccine before the U.S. government begins aiding nations around the world, Fox News has learned.  Senior administration officials told Fox News Monday that the president will reemphasize to the American people that the "priority has been an America First approach," during a vaccine summit at the White House Tuesday.  The news of the executive order comes just days ahead of the Food and Drug Administration's Thursday meeting regarding Pfizer and BioNTech's application for emergency authorization of their coronavirus vaccine, three weeks after the companies filed for it.  The FDA also plans to meet on Dec. 17 to discuss Moderna's vaccine.

White House Coronavirus Task Force members Fauci, Giroir at odds over California lockdowns.  Members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force clashed Monday over new lockdown orders in California, with Dr. Anthony Fauci saying state officials didn't have "any choice," and Admiral Brett Giroir arguing that the "evidence" and "science" do not support shutdowns, calling them "counterproductive," as cases of COVID-19 surge in California.  Gov. Gavin Newsom imposed a strict stay-at-home order over the weekend after the state fell below 15% capacity in intensive care units.  Newsom warned last week that the lockdown would be triggered regionally when ICU capacity dipped under that level.  The new order, the most restrictive since March, would close hair salons, bars and indoor dining and allow retail to operate at only 20% capacity, among other restrictions, and would last for at least three weeks — covering the Christmas holiday.

Government officials' coronavirus hypocrisy has created another public crisis.  Multiple reports in just the past week have revealed blatant acts of hypocrisy committed by leaders who would like to live by a different set of rules than their constituents.  In California, for example, Gov. Gavin Newsom was caught attending an indoor birthday party at a fancy French restaurant in the Bay Area after discouraging Californians from gathering with groups of more than 10 people.  A few days later, it was reported that San Francisco Mayor London Breed attended a similar event at the same restaurant, even though she had urged city residents not to mingle with people outside their immediate household.  And, perhaps worst of all, Steve Adler, the mayor of Austin, Texas, posted a video last month urging residents to "stay home if you can" to prevent the spread of the virus.  He conveniently failed to mention that he filmed the video from his timeshare in Cabo, Mexico, where he was vacationing with several members of his immediate and extended family — having traveled there with a large group on a private jet.

Doctor Who Told 'Stop the Steal' Ralliers to Remove Their Masks Has His License Revoked.  Dr. Steven hasn't seen hide nor hair of the Wuhan Flu in months:  "Please don't be duped.  You have an immune system.  I treated 75 cases.  They were all better in a week.  Not one of my patients went to the hospital, not one of them was admitted for coronavirus.  Do not let them put you into a state of fear.  That is oppression."  Additionally, he claimed the virus is "rapidly-mutating, and that "COVID-19 is no more.  It has already mutated."  The self-described "retired Air Force officer" and ordained minister said he was there to "expose" "coronamania."  Well, it seems the medical board caught revokemania, and now the doctor's without a means to work.

Study Finds Asymptomatic Spread Not a Significant Source of the CCP Virus Pandemic.  The most recent study from China on the prevalence of infection after a lockdown found no transmission of the CCP virus among people who were in close contact with asymptomatic patients, contradicting the current narrative that asymptomatic transmission plays a major role in the pandemic.  An asymptomatic carrier is someone who has not displayed symptoms after being infected, but may spread the virus to others.  This is different from someone who is presymptomatic, meaning the person doesn't feel or look sick, but eventually shows symptoms later, and does transmit the virus during that presymptomatic phase.

Aurelio's Reopens Dining Room: 'It's All About Survival'.  At a time when many Joliet area restaurants and bars are not following Governor JB Pritzker's rules outlawing indoor dining amid the coronavirus pandemic, Aurelio's Pizza has announced it is joining that group.  If Aurelio kept obeying Pritzker, Joliet's long-time pizzeria at 3101 West Jefferson St. will be an empty building at this time next year, the restaurant management predicted.  Aurelio's Pizza recently announced that its dine-in restaurant is now open as of Dec. 2.  Aurelio's has also brought back its buffet.

California Sheriff:  I Won't Enforce Gov. Gavin Newsom's 'Ridiculous' COVID-19 Rules.  Riverside County, Calif.  Sheriff Chad Bianco published a video on Friday saying he will not enforce California Gov. Gavin Newsom's latest lockdown orders that will devastate local hospitals, businesses, schools, and civil liberties.  "These closures and stay-at-home orders are flat-out ridiculous," he added.  "The metrics used for closures are unbelievably faulty and are not representative of true numbers, and are disastrous for Riverside County."

LA County Sheriff:  Deputies will not enforce Gov. Newsom's stay-at-home order at businesses.  Deputies in Los Angeles County are not expecting to go all-out in enforcement at businesses if — or when — Governor Gavin Newsom's new stay-at-home order kicks in for Southern California.  LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva explained enforcement at businesses is the health department's job, not his deputies.  "I want to stay away from businesses that are trying to comply the best they can," Villanueva said.

More than half of FDNY say they'll refuse COVID-19 vaccine.  More than half of New York City firefighters say they won't be vaccinated for COVID-19 when the potentially life-saving shot becomes available to first responders in a matter of weeks, according to a new internal survey.  About 55 percent of 2,053 smoke-eaters polled in the last three days by their union, the Uniformed Firefighters Association, answered "No" when asked, "Will you get the COVID-19 Vaccine from Pfizer when the Department makes it available?" UFA President Andy Ansbro told The [New York] Post.  The responses account for about 25 percent of the UFA's 8,200 active members.

Whole families in quarantine:  Virginia officials wait to see impact of Thanksgiving on the coronavirus' spread.  It may take two to three weeks to know whether Gov. Ralph Northam's pandemic restrictions imposed before the holiday are working to stem Virginia's rise in cases.  But things aren't looking good.  At a news conference Wednesday [12/3/2020], Northam said local health departments already are getting troubling signs:  For instance, reports that whole families in Mount Rogers Health District, which includes Bristol, Galax and neighboring Southwest Virginia counties, are quarantining after exposure at Thanksgiving gatherings, he said.

The Left-Wing Media Fell for China's COVID Lies.  This week, CNN aired an "exclusive" report about a "vast trove of leaked documents" showing "China underreported Covid-19 numbers, took weeks to diagnose new cases and didn't disclose a December flu spike in Hubei."  Well, yes.  Anyone willing to be honest about the longtime antics of the Chinese Communist Party concluded this in January. [...] When the White House Coronavirus Taskforce was officially launched on January 29, 2020, newsrooms in Washington, D.C., missed an enormous opportunity to deliver crucial information to the American people.  Editors and executives could have swapped out political reporters in the White House Press Corps for healthcare reporters.  This way, there would have been a higher chance legitimate questions about the disease would have been asked.  Instead, they chose to keep their partisan, anti-Trump reporters in the room and focused on President Trump's (accurate) language rather than the details of the disease, lockdowns, hospital preparation and more.

Al-Qaeda Calls on Jihadis to Kill Non-Muslims With Poisoned Coronavirus Masks.  If you're tired of wearing a visible sign of massive government overreach and ginned-up hysteria everywhere you go, do not despair.  Help could be on its way, courtesy of the most unlikely source:  al-Qaeda.  According to the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), the jihad group is refusing to accept the State Department's complacent assertion that it is on the ropes, and has just published a new magazine with the catchy title Wolves of Manhattan, in which it calls on the warriors of jihad who find themselves in the U.S. to murder people by means of poisoned coronavirus masks.  So now it's wear a mask or the coronavirus will get you (unless you're at a Black Lives Matter protest, of course; the virus knows better than to infect the righteous), or don't wear a mask so that al-Qaeda doesn't get you.

What Leftists Don't Get about Evil and the Law.  [Scroll down]  Churches have been meeting together for prayer and fellowship since before Pentecost.  During the early days, when the Roman Empire declared Christianity an outlaw religion, Christians were forced to meet secretly in caves and basements to avoid arrest, imprisonment, and death by torture, crucifixion, or lions.  Today, we're seeing a return to that same mentality among the secular left.  Governors and mayors around the country have used the excuse of the Wuhan virus to crack down on religious services, particularly of the Jewish and Christian variety (I dare say they're being somewhat more circumspect in their dealings with Muslim gatherings.)  Churches met regularly for services during the Black Plague in Europe (1346-1353) and every other pandemic or disease outbreak before and since.  Individuals were understood to have the capacity to make their own rational decisions about what was best for them and their families without being forced to obey a one-size-fits-none government mandate.

Canceling Christmas:  The COVID Straw to Break the Camel's Back?  "Christmas is going to be a lot harder," Joe Biden told an audience in a virtual briefing on December 2.  "I don't want to scare anyone here, but understand the facts.  We're likely to lose another 250,000 people dead between now and January ... because people aren't paying attention."  The purpose of Biden's statements was clearly to scare people into canceling their holiday travel plans and embracing lockdowns, making his opening disclaimer a complete lie.  He certainly aims to provoke panic, but any reasonable person knows that this particular prediction is a desperate attempt at fear-mongering. [...] Biden's purposefully exaggerated and dark prediction, thankfully, isn't "likely" to happen at all.  What's more, Americans all know it.  That's why they traveled for Thanksgiving and will travel for Christmas, too.  That's a problem for the media and progressives, because they like to imagine the American people to be children who can't be trusted with access to the cookie jar, and that's why, for their own good, daddy government and mommy media need to hide it from time to time.

The Election Fraud, The Usefulness of COVID, and The Big Picture.  [Scroll down]  The COVID-19 narrative becomes a tool to achieve a variety of objectives:  debate controls; the deployed 'excuse' for a very visible lack of voter enthusiasm for the puppet (Biden); the use of fraudulent 'mail-in ballots'; the keeping of socially distant physical auditors, etc.  Without COVID as a tool the manufactured process is more difficult.  The 'never let a crisis go to waste' strategy includes the creation of a crisis.  Why? — Why all of this effort?  why such extremes?  [W]hy would blue state governors willingly destroy their economy?  Follow the money, it's always about the money.  The global ideology is worthless without money.

Should we build football fields around our churches?  Nothing illustrates the absurdity of COVID rules and regulations more than college football.  As coaches and players make a mockery of the "scientific" and idolatrous government ritual of mask-wearing, maybe we should ask if healthy young men who play a game in which brain injuries, broken bones, and joint dislocations frequently occur should really be concerned about COVID-19.  A Google search of "athletes who have been hospitalized or died with COVID" finds only one, a 20-year-old, 6'3", overweight (355lb) football player.  Even in this tragedy, it is unclear from official reports if this young man died from or with COVID.  What is clear is that virus policies that allow players to go maskless as they huddle on the field but require masks when they huddle on the sidelines have little to do with saving lives.  COVID's purpose is to create a fearful and obedient American population and to destroy America as we know it.

LA Restaurant Owner Rips Garcetti Hypocrisy:  Why Shut Me Down While Allowing A Hollywood Canteen In My Parking Lot?  Earlier this week, Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti banned outdoor service at restaurants in response to the COVID-19 transmission spike.  That includes Pineapple Hill Grill and Saloon in Sherman Oaks, whose owner Angela Marsden sunk $80,000 into social-distanced outdoor dining infrastructure and had planned to reopen today.  Marsden went to the store yesterday to collect a few items for a planned protest, but got a big surprise when she arrived at the parking lot adjacent to her dining patio.  [Video clip]

Democrat governors are the new royalty.  Power is intoxicating.  Until the COVID lockdowns I was unaware of the fact that so many Democrat governors and mayors want to destroy the small entrepreneurs — especially restaurant owners — who give our cities so much of their energy and vigor.  Who knew?  Well, now we know.  People are fighting back. [...]

Prof Sir John Bell Says 60 to 70% Of Those Who Take COVID Vaccine Will Be Sterilized!  Sir John Bell, professor of medicine at Oxford University, and a part of the GAVI team developing AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine said in an interview with Jon Snow that "These vaccines are unlikely to completely sterilize a population.  They are very likely to have an effect which works in a %, say 60 or 70%."  Believe him, someone who has these levels of credentials doesn't misspeak without correcting himself.  [Video clip]

New Covid rules for Ohio high school wrestling say students can wrestle but they can't shake hands..  It's 'rastling season and to try and limit the spread of Covid officials with the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) have done the responsible thing and released some updated requirements for players and coaches.  The students are still being allowed to wrestle.  In fact, they don't even have to wear face masks while they do so.  But they will no longer be allowed to shake hands before and after the match.

Government Prepares to Issue COVID-19 Vaccination Cards.  You knew it was coming, and now it is official.  COVID-19 vaccinations could begin distribution in the next three weeks, according to WSAV in Savannah, Georgia. [...] They were nice enough to make them wallet-sized.  This will allow a whole range of businesses and services to require you to show the card in order to shop, get a haircut, or use other services.  Hotels and airlines may decide to require proof of vaccination to travel.  This is despite no significant outbreaks on planes or associated with hotels.  This is insane for several reasons.  First, the news regarding immunity in recovered patients is very positive.  Studies of those who have had COVID-19 demonstrate that while antibodies provide the initial response, a long-term response from T & B memory cells in the immune system is durable and provides protection from reinfection.  If COVID-19 is similar to SARS, studies have shown this long-term immune response is still active after 17 years.

Governor Wants Kids to Rat Out Their Parents for Covid Violations.  Just before Thanksgiving, the Governor of Vermont hopped on Twitter — which is apparently the only platform now for making important announcements.  He started by shaming and guilt tripping anyone who dared to celebrate Thanksgiving with family.  He continued:  ["]Unfortunately, we know some will still get together and schools have asked for help.  @VTEducation will direct schools to ask students or parents if they were part of multi-family gatherings and if the answer is yes, they'll need to go remote for 14 days or 7 days and a test.["]  So the Vermont Department of Education instructed schools to interrogate children about what they did over Thanksgiving weekend, so that they can inform on their families.

Democratic senators want mask-wearing mandate included in negotiated COVID-19 relief package.  Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) want to see a "mask-wearing mandate" as part of the next coronavirus relief package that Congress passes.  "Our goal is going to be, you know, to work towards including it inside of the coronavirus relief package," Markey said during a news conference on Friday about the Encouraging Masks for All Act.  "We think this is kind of common sense."  Congressional leaders and the White House are currently negotiating another coronavirus relief bill.  "Making this mask-wearing mandate a part of that pandemic relief is an imperative; it's a moral imperative," Blumenthal said at the news conference.

The Editor says...
Hypocrisy alert:  A Senator from the Abortion Party presumes to tell us what is "a moral imperative."

Democrat hypocrites are undermining COVID with 'Do as I say, not as I do' attitude.  As the nation tires of quarantines, boredom and loneliness, the same politicians who find glee in slapping wrists and dooming small businesses regularly break the rules, in letter and in spirit, when they want to.  California Gov. Gavin Newsom dining maskless and indoors with lobbyists at the tony French Laundry restaurant the same week he warned against Thanksgiving gatherings.  Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot having her hair done and joining in a riotous Joe Biden victory celebration in violation of her own restrictions — then having the gall to call her actions "essential activities."  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi unmasked at a hair salon that wasn't even supposed to be open, even as she decried President Trump's reluctance to wear a mask — then claiming she'd been entrapped.

Bar Owner Forced To Close Her Business in LA Livid After Movie Studio Gets Approval for Food Tent Next Door.  Bar Owner:  "And I walked into my parking lot and obviously Mayor Garcetti has approve this, has approve this being set up.  This is being set up for a movie company."  [Video clip]

The Plot Against the Small Businesses.  As we near a year of lockdowns and sheltering in place, the long-term effects of pandemic policy on the economy are becoming clearer.  Almost every piece of legislation ostensibly designed to curb the spread of the coronavirus and protect workers has wreaked devastation on small businesses — while benefiting the largest corporations.  Roughly 100,000 small businesses have permanently closed due to COVID-19, while big-box retailers, tech giants, and pharmaceutical manufacturers have seen record profits.  America's small businesses currently face an attack on all fronts.  First, there are the more visible policies (e.g., lockdowns, mask mandates, and social distancing requirements) that strongly discourage people from patronizing brick-and-mortar retailers and restaurants.  These policies impact small businesses more than large chains and corporations.

The Second COVID Wave Was Avoidable.  [Scroll down]  The science says extended lockdowns will only temporarily delay the spread of the virus.  It is like playing slow-motion whack-a-mole.  As soon as previously uninfected people re-emerge from hiding, the cycle repeats until herd immunity is achieved either naturally or from a vaccine.  A vaccine is preferable because it minimizes hospitalizations and deaths.  Thanks in part to Trump's Operation Warp Speed, vaccines should become available in the U.S. before the new year.  However, the MSM will likely claim that it is dangerous, and identity politics will cause disagreement over who has first priority.  So far, the data confirm that there are real concerns.  However, a greater question is whether most of the total COVID-19 deaths and damage from lockdowns could have been avoided.  Evidence has existed from the start that an inexpensive drug was available that could have tamed the beast.

Dehumanizing Americans.  As was the case in the USSR, powerful entities such as the media, academia and radicals in seats of power, visible and invisible, are openly hostile to the majority of American citizens.  Covid-19 regulations have psychologically strip searched every citizen.  Nearly the entire populace has been under the equivalent of house arrest. [...] Isn't it apparent that millions of Americans are enduring the equivalent of solitary confinement as the lockdowns continue indefinitely?  Isn't it clear the universal masking of the human face and the forced distancing from one another has distorted all relationships?  How many millions search for a human glance from individuals rendered featureless?

Hospital chief says likely summer before [Illinois] reaches COVID-19 immunity.  A COVID-19 vaccine could soon be on its way to Illinois, but don't expect it to immediately stem the pandemic as the phased-in release is expected to take months.  Gov. J.B. Pritzker's administration had said Illinois could get 400,000 vaccines the first round.  Then, Tuesday [12/1/2020] that changed to 109,000, which Pritzker said would be two doses for 54,500 people.  By Wednesday, Pritzker had more information.  "We'll be able to give those, put those into people's arms, 109,000 people, and then they'll be able to get the second dose of Pfizer 21-28 days later, those 109,000," Pritzker said.  "So we will be able to serve more of the healthcare and long term care facility and do it at the same time."

Dr. Anthony Fauci accepts Joe Biden's offer to be chief medical adviser.  Dr. Anthony Fauci said he accepted 'on the spot' an offer from Joe Biden to be his chief medical adviser and warned Americans may continue to need to wear face masks beyond the 100 days the president-elect advocated.  'I said yes right on the spot,' Fauci told NBC's 'Today Show' on Friday morning about Biden's offer.  Fauci also will remain the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.  He also praised Biden's plan to ask Americans to wear face masks for 100 days but said it may need to go beyond that.

The Editor says...
Stop crowing about "100 days" if it's already well known that it won't be the last 100 days.

To put it another way:  Will you be required to forfeit your stimulus check for refusing a vaccine?
Would you be willing to get a Covid vaccine in exchange for a $1,500 stimulus check?  How one bold proposal would work.  Millions of Americans are still hoping for a second round of stimulus checks to help them cope with the financial fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic.  Meanwhile, the U.S. government is preparing to distribute vaccinations to the American public in order to put an end to the public health crisis.  Now, one proposal aims to help both efforts by giving people $1,500 stimulus checks in exchange for getting immunized.  The idea comes from entrepreneur John Delaney, a former Democratic congressman for Maryland who also ran for president in 2020.

Newsom Unveils New 'Temporary' Lockdowns for California.  California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom is implementing new lockdowns in the state for regions impacted by rising hospitalizations due to COVID-19.  The governor's order divides the state into five regions, with each region falling under a stay-at-home order that will last at least three weeks.  The lockdowns will take effect when ICU hospital capacity in a region dips below 15 percent.  Currently, four out of five California regions are expected to meet the governor's new threshold for a lockdown in the coming days, although no regions are currently affected.  The four regions include Northern California, Greater Sacramento, San Joaquin Valley and Southern California.  The fifth region, the Bay Area, is on track to fall below 15 percent capacity later this month, ABC 7 News reported.

The Editor says...
As I understand it, the hospitals try to operate at 85 percent of capacity, because that's when they make the most money.  Therefore, if a hospital is 86 percent full, that's not a justification to shut down every other business in the state.

Receipt-filled thread about COVID found in Red Cross blood samples show virus was likely HERE in 2019.  Every once in a while we come across a thread on Twitter where we stop, read the whole thing (even if it is CRAZY long and ... well, crazy), and think to ourselves, 'Hey, you know what?  We should totally share this with our readers.'  This thread qualifies.  [Numerous tweets]

Will Underdog Arrive In Time To Save The Day?  I honestly expected the cootie hysterics to abate after the election.  Yes COVID is still here, yes the most vulnerable need to take extra precautions until such time as a safe vaccine is available.  But, especially since they believe Biden won, I thought the autocratic lockdowns and illegal closures would end because the Dems wouldn't want to continue to destroy their own states' economies.  I was clearly wrong; either they don't actually believe Biden won (they do) or they've already become addicted to the power and control they've been able to exert.

NM City Council Bucks Dem Governor, Votes To Reopen: 'No Evidence' Lockdowns Beat Virus.  A New Mexico city council voted to disregard Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's coronavirus lockdown measures and reopen businesses and schools.  The Roswell City Council held an emergency session on Monday evening [11/30/2020] over the governor's lockdown regulations, many of which have remained in place since the outbreak of the coronavirus in the United States in March.  The council had voted in July not to enforce the governor's orders, leaving all enforcement actions up to the state police.

Trump Won His Other 'Campaign' — To Destroy Media Credibility.  [Scroll down]  Former Washington Post reporter Carl Bernstein shared the mood of much of the Trump-hating left when he accused Trump of "homicidal negligence" in his handling of the coronavirus.  But Dr. Anthony Fauci, post-election, also sounds Trumpian.  On the possibility of further lockdowns, Fauci recently said:  "There is no appetite for locking down in the American public, but I believe that we can do it without a lockdown.  I really do. ... You could still get businesses going.  You could still have economic forward thinking while you're doing that.  You don't necessarily have to shut everything down.  Hopefully we won't have to do that."  No "appetite" for another lockdown?  What happened to "follow the science"?

Should people who've already had COVID go to the back of the line for the vaccine?  My first-blush reaction to that question is "no" because scientists don't yet know for sure that recovery from the disease provides immunity.  And even if it does, they don't know how long that immunity might last.  But hold on.  There have been around 14 million confirmed cases of the disease in the U.S. yet only a few reports of people being reinfected.  If reinfection were common rather than an occasional fluke, we'd have many thousands more examples of it than the handful we actually have.  Clearly some sort of immunity is being conferred by recovery.

Follow the Science (Except When the Results are Inconvenient).  During the COVID pandemic, much science is at play, treated either as gospel or hate speech, enough for science professionals to lose their jobs or be suspended from social media platforms if their views are inconvenient to the establishment's narrative.  The all-knowing, all-caring, anointed guru of all things COVID, Dr Anthony Fauci, has been wrong at least as often as he has been right, with a predictive value of a coin flip.  Yet any scientific utterance from him is treated in the media as a scientific law, on par with gravity, as long he speaks convenient science.  The CDC and WHO also have a long string of flip flops regarding the Wuhan flu.  Were they following the science when they made their incorrect pronouncements?  Or were they sticking a finger in the air, following the political winds?

Supreme Court sides with church challenging Calif.'s COVID-19 restrictions.  The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday [12/3/2020] ruled against a pandemic-related order by California Gov. Gavin Newsom banning some indoor religious services, agreeing with critics that it is unconstitutional.  In a one-page order, the high court granted a petition from lawyers for Harvest Rock Church in Pasadena, Calif., seeking to set aside a lower court ruling upholding Newsom's ban.

SCOTUS to 9th Circuit:  Rethink your approach on worship restrictions pronto.  Consider this a tacit endorsement of the new status quo on stare decisis at the top in dealing with restrictions on worship in the pandemic.  The order overruling Andrew Cuomo's COVID-19 rules for churches in Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn got lots of heated debate in the concurrences and dissents leading to the 5-4 decision.  It also drew heavy criticism as politically and culturally motivated jurisprudence, and some wondered whether the court would adhere to it in following cases.  Wonder no more.  In a brief order this morning, the Supreme Court told the Ninth Circuit to reconsider its ruling upholding similar restrictions in the Harvest Rock Church case in California.  The case had a pending cert petition, but instead the court vacated the original ruling and instructed the appellate court to remand it back "for further consideration in light of Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn v. Cuomo."

Biden to urge mask-wearing for first 100 days in office.  President-elect Joe Biden plans to call on Americans to wear masks for his first 100 days in office, he announced Thursday [12/3/2020].  Biden has long urged Americans to wear masks to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.  During an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper on Thursday, he put a specific time frame on what his request will be.  "Just 100 days to mask, not forever.  100 days.  And I think we'll see a significant reduction" in COVID-19 infections, Biden said, according to a preview of the interview that will air Thursday evening.

The Editor says...
Politicians are quick to say things like, "It's only for 100 days."  What they never say is, "This will be the last 100 days, and the problem will be solved."  There will always be an extension, a renewal, a second (third, or fourth) wave, accompanied by some lame excuse.  The ugly truth is that wearing masks is all about showing your submission to the state.  Wearing masks accomplishes little else.

My doc and I agree about the coronavirus.  Where's your medical degree?  That's the common response to those critical of media reports on the coronavirus.  Who are you to question the experts?  So I talked to a physician in our community with decades of experience.  His skepticism echoes mine.  "I would never say there's not a pandemic," the doctor told me.  But, he said, "it's all political," noting that people are ignoring science and "I see doctors on TV who are lying."  Nine months ago, when this all began, he and I had a conversation where we agreed that it was difficult going into a health crisis without news media we could trust.  In my recent discussion with him, I added that I now consider public health officials in general as also being untrustworthy.  He did not disagree.

Garcetti issues stronger warning to Angelenos: 'Hunker down ... cancel everything'.  Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti is again asking Angelenos to cancel all non-essential activities and "hunker down" as the city experiences a dangerous surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.  The city revised its "Targeted Safer at Home Order" late Wednesday [12/2/2020]. While the new restrictions and allowable activities mirror those issued by Los Angeles County last week, the language and messaging is far stronger than before.  "Subject only to the exceptions outlined in this Order, all persons living within the City of Los Angeles are hereby ordered to remain in their homes," the mayor's order states.

What is the difference between this and martial law?
Los Angeles Orders Residents to 'Remain in Their Homes' or Face Fines, Jail Time.  Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti on Wednesday ordered residents to stay in their homes, with some exceptions, or face fines and jail time.  "Subject only to the exceptions outlined in this Order, all persons living within the City of Los Angeles are hereby ordered to remain in their homes," Garcetti, a Democrat, said in a public health order.  All public and private gatherings of any number of people from more than one household are prohibited, except for outdoor faith-based services and outdoor protests.  All travel, including travel on foot, bicycle, and scooter, is prohibited.  Only people participating in so-called essential activities are exempt from the order.  Those activities include all health care operations, grocery stores, and all media outlets.

CDC urges Americans to 'avoid all travel' to Mexico after the country surpasses 1.1M COVID-19 cases with a 9.5% fatally rate — the second worst in the world.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is urging Americans to avoid all travel to Mexico as cases of COVID-19 continue to surge across the Central American nation.  Within the last two weeks, Mexico has surpassed more than 1.11 million confirmed cases of coronavirus and reported over 105,000 deaths — the fourth highest virus death toll in the world, behind the US, Brazil and India respectively.  Mexico also has the second-highest case fatality rate per every 100,000 residents of any country in the world at 9.5 percent.  Only Yemen, with a fatality rate of 28.3 percent, has fared worse.

Speaking of Mexico...
As mayor urged Austin to 'stay home,' he was vacationing in Mexico following daughter's wedding.  Austin Mayor Steve Adler has confirmed to the KVUE Defenders that, after hosting his daughter's wedding, he vacationed to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, last month with a group of people.  Both happened in early November, just as top health officials began urging families not to gather with others outside their households and the mayor himself asked people to stay home if they could in order to slow the number of coronavirus cases.

Austin Mayor Tells Residents To Stay Home... From His Condo In Mexico.  Austin Mayor Steve Adler is concerned for the health and safety of his constituents.  So much so that he repeatedly warns Austinites about the dangers of resuming normal activities.  Adler has been a staunch advocate of COVID restrictions, begging people before Thanksgiving to stay home to save lives.  The Austin Health Authority even issued a statement saying "it's important that we drive the (COVID-19) numbers down in advance of Thanksgiving."  Adler agreed, and just ahead of Thanksgiving he posted a video to his Facebook page once again encouraging Austinites to stay home, avoid travel and forgo Thanksgiving with family in the name of safety.  He suggested that Austin may have to close again if people did not comply.  What he did not disclose is that he sent the message from his family timeshare in Cabo San Lucas.

Renowned scientist tells Laura Ingraham the Covid-19 vaccine is 'downright dangerous' and will send you 'to your doom'.  On Wednesday [12/2/2020], The Ingraham Angle on the Fox News channel broadcast a mind-boggling live interview with a world-renowned microbiologist who said the "looming" COVID-19 vaccine is "downright dangerous" and will send you "to your doom." [...] Bhakdi is the co-author of Corona:  False Alarm?, a massive bestseller in Germany that was published in English here on October 2.  The book is currently the #1 bestseller in the Amazon categories of Microbiology, Pulmonary Medicine, and Health Law.  It has a 4.8 out of 5 rating after 363 ratings.  [Video clip]

Will CA Liberals Wake Up Now?  SF Mayor London Breed Also Caught at French Laundry.  Monday [11/30/2020] we learned that LA County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, who represents the ritzy areas of Malibu and Santa Monica, went out to eat "al fresco" just hours after voting to uphold "Dr." Barbara Ferrer's unscientific, draconian order shutting down all restaurants in the county for the next three weeks.  We also learned that San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo attended a family Thanksgiving dinner where five separate households were represented, despite the "guidance" from Gov. Newsom that no more than three households gather for the holiday. [...] And now we know that Gavin Newsom wasn't the only San Francisco politician to go to a birthday party at the French Laundry last month.  Just two days after Newsom's infamous soiree, San Francisco Mayor London Breed attended the 60th birthday party of socialite Goretti Lo Lui at the exclusive restaurant — in the very same private dining room Newsom's party occupied.

CNN Medical Analyst On Christmas: 'We Just Can't Do It This Year'.  Since progressives feel the need to ruin anything that is awesome, they have already started telling the nation not to celebrate one of the biggest holidays of the year.  A CNN medical analyst recently appeared on the network to lecture its audience on handling this holiday season.  Dr. Jonathan Reiner on Saturday appeared on the network to announce that Americans can't do Christmas in 2020 [...] But Reiner didn't only have advice for Christmas.  He also had words for people who celebrated Thanksgiving like regular folks.  He stated that these people should quarantine themselves.

Webster's New World College Dictionary, Third Edition, 1997, page 92.

Switzerland halves new infections without national lockdown as pubs and restaurants stay open.  Switzerland is emerging as a model for how the coronavirus can be contained without a national lockdown, after daily new infections halved since the start of November despite pubs, restaurants, gyms and sports remaining open in much of the country.  The figures were hailed as a triumph for the "Swiss special way" by Swiss government doctors last week, and will be seen as evidence that regional tiers can work in the UK.  Rather than ordering a general lockdown, Switzerland allowed regions to decide their own measures and only the worst-hit imposed tough restrictions.  But critics have charged that the success came at too high a price, after the country experienced some of the highest death rates in Europe.

So Long to Social Distancing, Part II.  For months Governor Newsom has been telling Californians that they shouldn't socialize outside the home and when they socialize do so outdoors and in small groups.  State health officials have said gatherings should be limited to 10 people from only three households.  On November 6th, the governor and his wife attended a dinner party for 12 people.  It was a birthday party for a former campaign aid of the governor, who is now a lobbyist.  They held the party at the ritzy Napa Valley restaurant, the French Laundry, which has a $350 per person prix fixe menu.  Another diner took pictures of Governor Newsom and his wife sitting maskless with equally unmasked diners.  The meal was supposedly in an "outside" space, but because the group was so loud, other diners complained and doors were closed, thereby making the space "inside" and compounding the groups' violation of one of Governor Newsom's orders.  The rules, you peasants, are for thee, not me.

Coronavirus was spreading in the US by December 17 - Weeks before China admitted that people there were being infected.  Coronavirus was likely spreading in much of the U.S. last December - weeks before China told the officially recognized the new virus, a new study suggests.  Blood collected by the Red Cross between December 13 and January 17 was later sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to be tested for antibodies to coronavirus.  Testing revealed antibodies to the virus that causes COVID-19 in 39 samples from blood donated between December 13 and December 16.  Those donations were made in California, Oregon, and Washington.

Coronavirus Hysteria Is Simply Too Ridiculous to Continue.  The ignorance and the lies concerning the Wuhan virus cant continue much longer, because time is simply revealing the truth about it.  As we continue to suffer under foolish Wuhan virus restrictions, and as many parts of the U.S. — especially those under the rule of Democrats — are again ramping up the shutdowns and the lockdowns, more and more Americans are beginning to see what many of us have long known:  the Wuhan virus data simply don't match the Wuhan virus hysteria. [...] Even Dr. "follow the science" Fauci finally agrees that schoolchildren are not significant spreaders of the Wuhan virus!  Yet, in U.S. schools, sporting events continue to get postponed or canceled, and many schools remain in remote learning mode or are threatening to move back in that direction.  Again, every instance of this is driven by "cases."  Yet the vast majority of students and student-athletes are not getting sick, and if they are, they are certainly not sick to the point of death or even hospitalization.

Black, Brown communities should get first dibs on coronavirus vaccine, minority leaders say.  A group of minority leaders gathered Sunday [11/29/2020] to urge members of Congress and Gov. J.B. Pritzker to prioritize the distribution of any coronavirus vaccine to Black and Brown communities hit hard by the pandemic.  "We're sick and tired of being sick and tired, and we're asking and demanding that we have a sense of trust by allowing us to be considered to be first when it comes to distribution," Pastor John Harrell, of Proviso Baptist Church in Maywood, told reporters gathered outside the JLM Abundant Life Community Center on the Near West Side.  The speakers, who included state Rep. La Shawn Ford, acknowledged that any vaccine would first be doled out to other high-risk groups, like health care professionals, essential workers, those at a higher risk of infection and the elderly.

L.A. Supervisor Sheila Kuehl Dines at Outdoor Restaurant After Voting to Ban Outdoor Dining.  Los Angeles County Suprevisor Sheila Kuehl reportedly dined at an outdoor restaurant in Santa Monica, hours after casting a decisive vote to ban outdoor dining in the county. [...] Los Angeles County has shut down outdoor dining for three weeks, effective Nov. 25.  The county, and the state, are experiencing a coronavirus spike.  Fellow supervisor Janice Hahn, who voted against the outdoor dining ban, told KTTV's Elex Michaelson that the danger of public officials doing what they have told constituents not to do means that they are "beginning to lose the trust of the public."  She said there was not sufficient scientific evidence to support the ban on outdoor dining, given the economic cost before the holidays.

The Editor says...
It seems a little like insider trading, when a politician goes out for a nice sit-down meal in a restaurant, knowing there is about to be a county-wide ban on such activities.

Face Masks Are A Religion Now.  Masks can't possibly have ANY negative side effects on health or society, we are told, even as social media giants censor legitimate medical professionals who conduct studies that suggest otherwise.  In their zeal to worship the Almighty Face Mask, zealots even insist that high school athletes cover their faces with what soon becomes a wet washcloth while competing outdoors in the rain, their omnipotent power and glory being such that no negative health ramifications will ever occur.  Masks are the "best tool" we have to "stop the spread of COVID-19," our overlords constantly tell a population that is ALREADY well above the 80 percent mask compliance so-called "experts" once promised in May it would take to make cases "plummet."  But cases aren't "plummeting," now are they?  Quite the contrary, they are exploding all over Europe and the U.S., despite the fact that Joe Biden once insisted that if only the Trump administration would have been more like Europe we would have stopped this virus in its tracks, or something.

Why It Matters When New York's Governor Spits on SCOTUS's Defense of Religious Freedom.  During the COVID-19 epidemic, Gov. Cuomo of New York and other governors have tried to shut down or limit attendance at America's churches.  Recently, the Supreme Court ruled that Cuomo's COVID response, which limited church attendance to as few as ten or lower, violates the constitutional right to freedom of religion. [...] Religious liberty is at the heart of our national identity.  For a top liberal opinion-maker to say defending it is just "politics" is horrifying.  Sadly, in another display of judicial impotence, Chief Justice John Roberts dissented from the 5-4 ruling.  He wrote that since conditions had changed, the Court should avoid addressing "a serious and difficult question."  Bizarrely, he justified inaction based on the fact that it is "a significant matter to override determinations made by public health officials."  Isn't the Supreme Court designed specifically to decide "serious and difficult" questions?  Doesn't the Supreme Court of the United States have the authority to override the determinations of New York state health officials?  If it lacks that authority, it has no authority at all.

Another Democrat is caught violating the rules she imposes on others.  Every closed restaurant represents several people's lives going down the drain.  The owner who sank all of his money in the restaurant, the employees who worked there, the suppliers who were dependent on its custom, and the surrounding stores who counted on the foot traffic it brought — all of it's gone.  And I might add, there's no reason to believe that these horrific losses made a damned bit of difference to the course of a virus that is relentlessly working its way through the population.  While the people have suffered, the politicians imposing this suffering, like European royalty of old, have flaunted their special status.  Denver's mayor, Michael Hancock, flew to his family within 30 minutes of telling Denver citizens to stay home for Thanksgiving.  Andrew Cuomo, having reinstated the lockdown across New York, boasted about his family coming home for Thanksgiving.  Illinois's Governor J.B. Pritzker, another Democrat millionaire, was happy to see his family travel during the height of the spring lockdown.  Pennsylvania's health secretary, "Rachel" Levine, who leftists pretend is not a mentally ill man telling people he's a woman, forced sick people into nursing homes in May, even as he secretly removed his own mother.

Donald Trump Coronavirus Adviser Scott Atlas Resigns.  President Donald Trump's special adviser for the coronavirus pandemic, Scott Atlas, resigned in a letter published on Monday [11/30/2020].  Atlas joined the White House in August as a Special Government Employee, which has a 130-day detail limit that will expire this week.

Former Pfizer Vice President Says COVID Is Effectively Over, No Need For Vaccine.  According to an article published in Lockdown Sceptics, Dr.  Michael Yeadon, former vice president and Chief Scientist of Pfizer wrote:  "There is absolutely no need for vaccines to extinguish the pandemic.  I've never heard such nonsense talked about vaccines.  You do not vaccinate people who aren't at risk from the disease.  You also don't set about planning to vaccinate millions of fit and healthy people with a vaccine that hasn't been extensively tested on human subjects."  [Video clip]

Fellow Republicans file articles of impeachment against Ohio governor.  Several GOP state lawmakers have filed 12 articles of impeachment against Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, over their fellow Republican's handling of the coronavirus pandemic.  The articles, which were filed by Rep. John Becker, accuse Mr. DeWine of numerous abuses of power in the past several months, including threats to veto a bill to limit the governor's emergency powers.  "Governor DeWine's mismanagement, malfeasance, misfeasance, abuse of power, and other crimes include, but are not limited to, meddling in the conduct of a presidential primary election, arbitrarily closing and placing curfews on certain businesses, while allowing other businesses to remain open.  He weaponized the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation to bully and harass businesses and the people; to enforce a statewide mask mandate and other controversial measures of dubious 'value,' making Ohio a hostile work environment," Mr. Becker said in a statement reported by WTVG-13, the Toledo ABC affiliate.

Our Overlords Are Using The 'Big Lie Technique' To Convince Us Masks Work.  [Scroll down]  Now today, we thankfully don't have an all-powerful "State," not yet anyway, but we do have what I'll call the 'System,' a toxic mishmash of do-gooder Big Tech overlords, power-hungry 'public servants,' liberty-hating 'health officials,' and frightened corporations bullied into both submitting and forcing others to submit to this nonsense.  And that 'System,' as it were, is most certainly busy repressing dissent in order to bolster its very own, albeit new, "Big Lie," that "face masks work to stop the spread of COVID-19."  Not a soul could have possibly predicted this eight months ago when established science laughed at the idea that a piece of cloth over people's faces would somehow abate the spread of a highly contagious respiratory virus.  Everyone is aware of the extreme course-reversal our overlords took on forced public masking almost overnight.  We're supposed to believe they simply told us a "noble lie" to preserve masks for healthcare workers, but the problem for them is that back then they gave us solid reasons backed up by decades of science to make their case.  "There's no reason to be walking around with a mask when you're in the middle of an outbreak," Dr. Anthony Fauci said back in March.

The New New Normal.  Terrorist attacks, no-go zones and long lines at airports were formerly dubbed the "new normal."  The new new normal consists of COVID ordinances, masks, lockdowns, blatant political tyranny and timid public compliance.

Renowned Pathologist Calls Coronavirus: 'The Greatest Hoax Ever Perpetrated... It's Just Another Bad Flu'.  Renowned pathologist, Dr. Roger Hodkinson spoke at the Edmonton City Council Community and Public Services Committee zoom meeting on November 13, 2020 about the city's move to extend its coronavirus face-covering bylaw.  Hodkinson, an expert in pathology, slammed the Canadian government's coronavirus response and blamed politicians and media for generating false fear.  A recording of Dr. Roger Hodkinson's testimony was released were he called coronavirus crisis "the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on an unsuspecting public." The doctor condemned the government's overblown response to the virus and its negative [effects.]

Japan Is Only One Country Where the Lockdowns Suicide Rate Is Outpacing the Pandemic.  In California Governor Gavin Newsom is contemplating extending his lockdown orders in his state to even more strident levels as the cases of Covid are growing.  This reactionary totalitarianism defies many common sense realities, including the fact that his already oppressive control measures have only led to higher case loads in his state.  But this call for tighter lockdowns ignores the mounting problems that have been created.  I covered previously how the lockdowns have led to a rise in mortality concerning numerous other health issues.  Whether it is foregoing doctor visits addressing serious health issues, avoiding emergency room visits, or missing out on tests diagnosing a serious condition, there are numbers showing a greater threat than Covid.

The COVID Case Con Continues.  The Washington Post claims that Wuhan coronavirus cases are "skyrocketing" while the New York Times wails that "It has hit us with a vengeance."  Yet the media is oblivious, either ignorantly or deliberately, to the reality that positive tests are not the same thing as cases.  A "case" has a very specific definition, apparently beyond the intellectual realm of Wolf Blitzer or Neil Cavuto.  The CDC provides a specific "case definition."  A case is not just a positive test.  Instead, what is needed is "presumptive laboratory evidence AND either clinical criteria OR epidemiologic evidence."  Notice the AND, meaning not simply a positive test.  The current COVID surges are positive tests, and even those are suspect, without regard to whether those who test positive are actually sick or not.

CDC warns eight COVID-19 infections are missed for every one counted.  The record surge in coronavirus cases across the US is likely far worse, with an estimated eight infections unreported for every one infection counted, according to a government report — which would put the true tally closer to 100 million.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) calculated that by the end of September there had really been as many as 53 million Americans contract the deadly bug — just under eight times the confirmed cases reported at the time.  Of those, the CDC believes about 45 million were sick at some point and about 2.4 million were hospitalized.  The true tally is likely now far higher, with November continually breaking case records across the US — with now 12,778,256 cases officially reported, according to Johns Hopkins University data Thursday morning [11/26/2020].

CDC Admits Their Numbers on COVID Are off by a Huge Amount.  According to the Center for Disease Control, many more millions of Americans so far have caught the COVID-19 and they now say it could be as high as 1/3 of the country.

Type O blood linked to lower COVID risk, taking Vitamin D unlikely to help.  A large study adds to evidence that people with type O or Rh-negative blood may be at slightly lower risk from the new coronavirus.  Among 225,556 Canadians who were tested for the virus, the risk for a COVID-19 diagnosis was 12% lower and the risk for severe COVID-19 or death was 13% lower in people with blood group O versus those with A, AB, or B, researchers reported on Tuesday [11/24/2020] in Annals of Internal Medicine.  People in any blood group who were Rh-negative were also somewhat protected, especially if they had O-negative blood.

Saying, 'Trust The Science' Showcases Democrat Ignorance.  [Scroll down]  Instead, as we've seen throughout history, anything that challenges the "accepted science" gets ridiculed and censored.  Dr. Scott Atlas, a professor of neuroradiology and senior fellow at the Hoover Institute, certainly someone who knows something about science, has consistently made the case against lockdowns due to their severe consequences.  For instance, the World Food Programme reports the economic consequences from shutdowns will push 135 million worldwide to the brink of starvation.  Yet Atlas is consistently censored on Twitter and ridiculed in the media.  Similarly, a Danish group completed the largest study of mask use ever, over 4000 people back in April, but only managed to find a publisher for this important work this November.  Why?  Perhaps because their study showed — what every peer-reviewed study has shown over the past 20 years — "no statistical significance" of mask effectiveness.  Not surprisingly, the "accepted science" community has been suspending accounts tweeting the link to the study.

NYC Pub Borrows a Page From Leftists in Lockdown Dispute.  A clever bar owner in New York City is borrowing a tactic from left-wing anarchists in an ongoing spat with the government over coronavirus lockdown restrictions.  The pub, located in Staten Island, declared itself an "autonomous zone" as a new ban on indoor dining at bars and restaurants took effect on Wednesday.  The New York Post reported on Saturday [11/28/2020] that a sign outside Mac's Public House in Grant City read, "!ATTENTION! We hereby declare this establishment an !!!AUTONOMOUS ZONE!!!"  "We refuse to abide by any rules and regulations put forth by the Mayor of NYC and Governor of NY State," the message continued.  Despite a shutdown order from the state Health Department and multiple $1,000 fines, the bar owners are refusing to close their doors.

Censored: How Many People Are Really Dying Of This Pandemic?  According to the legacy media, there have been more than 250,000 deaths from COVID-19 since the so-called pandemic began.  That means to the average American that there are 250,000 plus Americans who are dead today who would otherwise still be with us.  Those people were killed by the virus.  That seems a matter of common sense.  Is it true?  Genevieve Briand, assistant program director of the Applied Economics master's degree program at Johns Hopkins University, recently critically analyzed the effect of COVID-19 on U.S. deaths using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in her webinar titled "COVID-19 Deaths:  A Look at U.S. Data."  Her conclusion?  COVID-19 is having no significant impact on deaths in the United States. [...] While deaths attributed to COVID-19 dramatically increased, deaths attributed to all other causes suddenly plummeted.  Most notable perhaps was the decrease in deaths attributed to heart disease.  Somehow, suddenly, according to the data, in the midst of worldwide pandemic, Americans were much less likely to have heart attacks or strokes.

Johns Hopkins University Newsletter Ran Study Saying COVID 'Relatively No Effect on Deaths' in U.S., Then Deleted It After Publication.  Earlier this week, Johns Hopkins University Newsletter ran a study from Genevieve Briand, assistant program director of the Applied Economics master's degree program at Hopkins, that looked at the effect of the COVID-19 on U.S. deaths according to data from the CDC.  What the study concluded and the article said was something quite profound.  The study concluded that the virus had "relatively no effect on deaths in the United States."  So how could that be?  How does that match with the facts of over 200,000 people listed as dying from the virus?  How can that be?

Media said Trump's COVID-19 vaccine prediction would take 'miracle.' They were wrong.  Back in May, just after COVID-19 spiked across America, President Trump made a bold prediction about a coronavirus vaccine.  "We're looking to get it by the end of the year if we can, maybe before," Trump said May 14 in a White House Rose Garden event.  The next day, he wrote on Twitter:  "Vaccine work is looking VERY promising, before end of year."  The mainstream media didn't like that prediction, not one little bit.  "But experts say that the development, testing and production of a vaccine for the public is still at least 12 to 18 months off, and that anything less would be a medical miracle," NBC News wrote May 15 in a "fact check."  The network cited Dr. Paul Offit, a professor at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and the director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.  "I think it's possible you could see a vaccine in people's arms next year — by the middle or end of next year," said Offit.  "But this is unprecedented, so it's hard to predict."

Three million care home residents will be offered Vitamin D this winter to help combat the coronavirus.  Nearly three million people in England will be offered free Vitamin D supplements this winter.  The Government will deliver doses of the 'sunshine vitamin' to all care home residents as well as people classified as 'clinically extremely vulnerable'.  Deliveries will be free of charge, starting in January, providing four months' worth of supplements to last 2.7 million people through the winter months.

We Can't Allow Coronavirus Politics to Dictate Science.  In these past couple of weeks, two important studies have been published that could dramatically increase our understanding of COVID-19.  Adding to the science of how we understand and treat this disease is something that should be welcomed, because properly understood it can save lives.  The only problem is that because the results from these two studies challenge what the media has established as conventional wisdom about the disease, the reports are at best being ignored and at worst being openly distorted by the mainstream media.  This is in my view a dangerous and foolish subjugation of science to politics and it may well end up causing many more unnecessary deaths.  First is the Danish mask study, which was completed several months ago but was only recently published in a peer-reviewed journal.  The study took two groups and gave the first group masks to wear with instruction on how they should be used.  The other group was the mask-free control group.  The study found that coronavirus spread within the statistical margin of error in each group.  In other words, wearing the mask did little if anything to control the spread of the virus.

SCOTUS Swats Cuomo:  You Can't Shut Down Churches While Keeping Businesses Open.  As Justice Neil Gorsuch writes in a scathing concurrence, "It is time — past time — to make plain" that the Constitution applies at all times, even in pandemics.  In a 5-4 vote late on Wednesday evening [11/25/2020], the Supreme Court issued an injunction against Governor Andrew Cuomo's order that allowed businesses to operate at the capacity of their choosing but limited religious services to either 10 or 25 people at a time. [...] This comes down to the issue of scrutiny.  When government actions proscribe or interfere with a constitutional right, especially an explicit right enumerated in the Constitution, it requires a strict-scrutiny review.  That means New York has to identify a compelling state interest, for which public health and pandemic control certainly qualify, but also demonstrate that the intrusion is narrowly tailored and rationally based.  The state has no evidence that worship services when following proper social-distancing protocols and disinfecting regimes present any more risk than the businesses that the state allows to operate with lesser or no restrictions.  That means it's plainly discriminatory and arbitrary as well as unconstitutional.

CDC Issues Warning On Travel To Mexico — Don't Do It.  The Center for Disease Control (CDC) issued a new travel warning this week — a Level 4 warning.  If you are considering a holiday vacation trip to Mexico, the CDC strongly advises against it.  There is a "very high level of Covid-19 in Mexico."  The agency has warned about travel, in general, this year and as the holidays approach the warnings are not stopping.  Air travel surged this week to levels not seen since the coronavirus pandemic began this week due to the Thanksgiving holiday.

Rebellion rising; the people have had enough.  Large anti-lockdown protests are sweeping across Europe.  Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the UK, Poland.  The media are trying to put a lid on coverage of these momentous events.  In Southern California, five sheriffs of populous counties (17 million people) are refusing to enforce Governor Newsom's new curfew order.  A petition to recall the governor is gaining steam.  In New York, members of the Chasidic sect held a wedding attended by several thousand people, sitting closely packed without masks.  In a more intimate setting, up close and powerfully personal, gym members and owners in Buffalo, New York, shouted down cops and a public health officer, who had entered the gym because the gathering exceeded the prescribed limit.  The gym personnel drove out the cops and followed them, to make sure they left the property.

John Hopkins Pulls Down Their Own Study Showing COVID Deaths Are HUGELY Inflated.  A new massive study by Dr. Genevieve Briand at Johns Hopkins University, who went over CDC data came to the conclusion the 262k deaths so far by COVID are very dubious at the very least.  Earlier this week, on Nov 22nd, Johns Hopkins took down the report along with the accompanying video.  Soon after, Johns Hopkins issued an apology on Twitter stating:  Though making clear the need for further research, the article was being used to support false and dangerous inaccuracies about the impact of the pandemic.  It is unclear why the report was removed but it is important to note that Johns Hopkins receives the most federal funding for medical research in the country.  [Video clip]

Trudeau's COVID Gestapo Shuts Down Well Known BBQ Place In Toronto.  A Toronto barbecue restaurant owner has been ordered to close by the city's medical officer of health after openly defying Ontario's COVID-19 regulations Tuesday, and police now say they will enforce that closure after letting the eatery stay open earlier.  Toronto police said at first that the restaurant, Adamson Barbecue, would be permitted to stay open all day on Tuesday, however later on during the day, Medical Officer of Health Dr. Eileen de Villa issued an order for its closure under the Health Protection and Promotion Act, effective immediately.  Police, bylaw officers and public health officials first arrived at the restaurant in Etobicoke that opened for indoor dining Tuesday morning in direct violation of provincial COVID-19 rules, but said they were unable to close it at the time.  [Video clip]

American Governors — COVID Crisis Actors.  My local Mayor Michael Hancock of Denver, "Traveled by air to see family for Thanksgiving, following recent public statements he made urging people to avoid gathering with others outside their households."  Hancock is a mayor of the largest city in Colorado, whose Department of Public Health advises, "Staying home and celebrating with your immediate household, or celebrating with friends and family virtually."  Hancock flying to celebrate with family in Mississippi, who are in a different household, flouts the state's recommendations.  The mayor could easily have followed Colorado's Turkey Day diktat, "Video chatting or talking on the phone with friends and family who don't live with you."  Or this one, "The safest thing to do right now is to stay home."  But he did not.  Perhaps Mayor Hancock doesn't believe COVID is really a crisis.

The Editor says...
If you like Mississippi so much, don't come back!  If you hold a state-wide political office, you should not vacation in another state.

Conservatives must stop quitting before the battle is over!  [Scroll down]  The overall message is to surrender.  But we don't need to stand down, America; we need to step up.  We have to start with these drunk-on-power governors.  They have no right to issue, much less enforce unconstitutional orders.  And we don't need to wait on courts to set us free.  It's already done with the Constitution and ruled on by the Supreme Court.  Norton vs. Shelby County, 118 US 425, 442:  "An unconstitutional act is not law; it confers no rights; it imposes no duties; it affords no protection; it creates no office; it is in legal contemplation, as inoperative as though it had never been passed."

COVID Shutdowns and Masks.  Many are hysterical over the second COVID wave that has hit a number of states, and governors are responding with harsh shutdown orders.  Here in Minnesota, Governor Tim Walz blames our citizens for not wearing masks, deeming it self-evident that if his brilliant anti-viral strategies are not working, the fault must lie with us. [...] What is really going on?  This map, from the New York Times, shows new cases per 100,000 people over the last week: [Map]  It is pretty obvious what is happening.  The Wuhan flu is surging in the Midwest, especially the Upper Midwest.  Why?  Because the weather has gotten colder.  The cold and flu season is under way.  The states where cases are rising fast cover the gamut from harshest restrictions (like Minnesota and Illinois) to least intrusive (South Dakota).  These factors — shutdowns and mask mandates — make no apparent difference.

Barbecue Guy Tries to Get Back Into His Restaurant in Defiance of Lockdown Orders, It Doesn't End Well.  Adam Skelly of Adamson Barbecue said he'd finally had enough.  He said he complied with two weeks to flatten the curve and the initial lockdowns to stop the virus.  But enough was enough, he said, with the latest lockdown.  He was going to open his restaurant in Toronto, Canada, despite the provincial lockdown on indoor dining. [...] Then, the long arm of the authorities dropped on Skelly today [11/26/2020].  The police broke into his restaurant and then tried to lock him out of it.  When he showed up and tried to get in, they put him under arrest.  There was a big contingent of police and a bigger contingent of Skelly supporters.  One man even intervened and tried to pull him away from the cops.  That man was taken to the ground and likely arrested as well.

The Editor says...
Apparently Canada is just like California, only colder.

UK Govt:  Lockdown Likely to Last 12+ Months, 'Hard Winter' Coming, Repeated Vaccinations May be Required.  Lockdowns won't end until anticipated vaccines "come to our aid" in the future and the country can expect a "hard winter", the Prime Minister has said, as the government's science advisor warned it is quite possible the coronavirus will simply mutate to outperform vaccinations.  Speaking at the Downing Street press conference hours after the details of the new post-lockdown-lockdown were revealed to the country, Prime Minister Boris Johnson made clear to the nation that there was no reasonable hope of lockdown ending soon, saying merely that there was "reason to hope" that spring would see an end of "this era of restrictions".

The Editor says...
Announcements of this sort always follow this pattern:  [#1] This is only for a short and reasonable period, e.g., two weeks.  [#2] You must sacrifice, because it's for the common good.  If you do not comply, you are an enemy of the state.  [#3] We are all hopeful this shutdown/lockdown/curfew will fix the problem.  [#4] Our most recent lockdown has now been extended because it didn't work.  (Loop back to step 1.)

Time to Abolish Unconstitutional and Useless Mask Mandates.  Do Americans have the right to walk around without masks in public spaces?  Without question, they do.  How do we know that?  Because the Constitution does not explicitly grant the government power to institute or enforce laws around masking in public.  Nothing about this is rocket science, but nothing could be more vital to the principle of self-governance.  The federal government clearly has no power to enact or enforce mask mandates.  That much seems clear even to Joe Biden.  Whether state legislatures can craft laws around mask mandates is a bit more of an open question, I'll admit.  The Tenth Amendment suggests that states wield "powers not delegated to the United States" by the Constitution, while the incorporated "due process clause" of Fourteenth Amendment suggest that the states cannot "deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law."  In the most conservative appraisal of this legal landscape, we can conclude that states may technically legislate mask mandates.  However, as mask mandates, like lockdowns, deprive Americans of liberty and individual agency, they cannot be arbitrarily designed, implemented, or enforced.

Come the Grinches.  No governor yet claims jurisdiction over the International Space Station but the astronauts have a lot of explaining to do when they return to earth.  It's not as though they lacked for space.  Governors ordering around people 250 miles above their states seems far-fetched.  But so, too, did the notion of governors usurping the role of legislatures.  Eight months after the initial coronavirus lockdowns, citizens docilely accept the idea of a single person dictating the laws that govern millions of people.  This is a health crisis.  This is a civics crisis more.  Coronavirus is healthier than fascism.  Surely the spacemen ran afoul, if for those brief moments that they orbited above Burlington, Bennington, Barre, and Brattleboro, the Orwellian edict of Vermont Governor Phil Scott that forbids dining with people outside of one's immediate household.  He instructs teachers to question students on how they spent their holiday when they return to school this Monday.

N.J.'s largest city begins 10-day 'shelter in place' request as coronavirus cases surge.  Newark residents were asked to stay home for 10 days citywide, beginning the day before Thanksgiving, in an effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus in New Jersey's largest city.  Though not enforced or mandated by executive order, Mayor Ras Baraka strongly encouraged the move due to skyrocketing cases of the virus in Newark.  "We are, from Wednesday before Thanksgiving to Dec. 4, going to lock the city down," Baraka previously said in a radio appearance on WBGO 88.3FM.  "We want people to shelter in place.  We only want folks to come out for essential purposes.  Do not go outside if you don't have to.  Don't mingle with other people if you don't have to.  Stay (with) your family in your immediate household."

The Editor says...
As long as it's just a suggestion or a request, I'm okay with it.  If a politician attempts to forcibly manage my health, I'm not okay with it.

First, They Came for Thanksgiving; Now They Are Coming for Christmas.  Kate Brown, the Governor of Oregon, was rather ambivalent in her approach to violence during the time Portland was torched by radical mobs.  In fact, she thanked "Oregonians for expressing their free speech rights largely through joyful celebrations..."  But Gov. Brown apparently did some soul searching since the election.  She found a joyful celebration about to be held by unquestionable enemies of the people.  It turns out actual domestic terrorists are Oregonians who wanted to celebrate Thanksgiving.  It's extremists who wished to dine on turkey and all the trimmings who are dangerous, as they are potential super-spreaders of disease and destruction.  Therefore, it's Thanksgiving celebrations that need to be tightly regulated.  It's Thanksgiving celebrants who need to be fined and sent to jail if they transgress the regulations the governor has established by executive order.

Go Ahead and Celebrate Thanksgiving.  Minnesota is one of a number of states that are living under what amounts to martial law.  Our proto-fascist dictator Tim Walz, in his latest edict, purports to ban traditional Thanksgiving get-togethers:
["]Saturday, Nov. 21 through Friday, Dec. 18, Executive Order 20-99 requires all Minnesotans to:
  •   Limit social gatherings to one household.
  •   Not gather outside of your household.
  •   Postpone all celebrations, events, receptions, and parties, including any social gatherings for weddings and funerals.["]
So it is "illegal" for me to invite any of my four kids to Thanksgiving dinner.  Better send the heat, Timmy, because I have no intention of complying with your grotesque order.  For a while, Governor Walz told us he was "following the science," and his dictatorial orders were required by "the data." That pretense has been abandoned, as Scott reported, with Walz now saying, pathetically:  "It's not about numbers.  It's not about data.  It's about neighborliness."  So one naturally wonders:  is there any rational basis for Walz, and like-minded governors, to purport to ban Thanksgiving dinners?

Thankful for the Rights That Democrats Want to Take Away.  This ungodly Chinese Bat Flu has brought out the worst in a lot of people, most of them Democrat elected officials.  There have been some Republican transgressors as well, but the majority of the bad actors have been liberal leaders in traditionally liberal states and cities.  Basic rights have been getting trampled upon in the name of public health.  Yesterday [11/25/2020], Stacey wrote about the latest egregious overreach:  New York Mayor Bill de Blasio is placing law-enforcement COVID checkpoints around the city, giving it a Cold War East Berlin feeling just in time for the holidays.  Here in Arizona, we haven't been subjected to a third job-killing, pointless lockdown... yet.  For that I am most grateful.

AstraZeneca manufacturing error clouds vaccine study results.  AstraZeneca and Oxford University on Wednesday acknowledged a manufacturing error that is raising questions about preliminary results of their experimental COVID-19 vaccine.  A statement describing the error came days after the company and the university described the shots as "highly effective" and made no mention of why some study participants didn't receive as much vaccine in the first of two shots as expected.  In a surprise, the group of volunteers that got a lower dose seemed to be much better protected than the volunteers who got two full doses.  In the low-dose group, AstraZeneca said, the vaccine appeared to be 90% effective.  In the group that got two full doses, the vaccine appeared to be 62% effective.

Of Course:  Doctors Want Us to Know That the COVID-19 Vaccine Side Effects Could Be Awful.  At this point in 2020 I don't think that many of us would be dumb enough to ask for maybe just one thing to go smoothly.  We've got conservatives being arrested for breathing now, after all.  Strap in kids, it's gonna be a bumpy landing.  One of the few bright spots in the news this month was hearing that not one, but two COVID-19 vaccines have proven effective in trials and will soon be available.  This news came after several months of the Democrats and their flying media monkeys calling President Trump a crackpot for saying there would be a vaccine available by the end of the year.  It was a little suspicious that none of it was announced until just after the election but that's in the past now.  The vaccine is going to be a two-dose affair, and some are worried that the side-effects from the first dose may put people off of returning for the second.

Republican Gov. Phil Scott says Vermont schools will question kids about Thanksgiving plans.  Vermont Gov. Phil Scott said Tuesday that school officials will question returning students about whether they attended gatherings with people outside their household during Thanksgiving to determine if they need to quarantine over coronavirus concerns.  "Unfortunately, we know some will still get together and schools have asked for help," the Republican governor tweeted Tuesday [11/24/2020].  "[The Vermont Agency of Education] will direct schools to ask students or parents if they were part of multi-family gatherings and if the answer is yes, they'll need to go remote for 14 days or 7 days and a test."

Supreme Court rules against Cuomo's coronavirus limits — with Barrett playing key role.  The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday night [11/26/2020] blocked New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo from reimposing strict attendance caps at worship services in areas hit hard by the novel coronavirus.  The court ruled 5-4 to bar Cuomo from enforcing his Oct. 6 "Cluster Initiative" against houses of worship that sued to challenge the restrictions.  The order was also the first in which Justice Amy Coney Barrett played a decisive role.  Barrett, who was President Trump's third Supreme Court nominee, joined the court Oct. 27, after winning Senate confirmation following the Sept. 18 death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Images Show Zombified Americans More Concerned With Toilet Paper Than Food.  Back in March ANP published a piece titled "Due To An 'Outbreak Of Stupidity' People Will Die Of Starvation Surrounded By Toilet Paper," because when the initial quarantine lockdowns began, clueless Americans were more worried about paper products [...] than they were about eating.  The food shortages and limits on purchases came well after the toilet paper runs on any store that carried the product.  We are now looking at another round of quarantine lockdowns, and readers are once again sending ANP exclusive images, the majority of which are... Yup... toilet paper aisles and other paper goods shelves quickly emptying, while a much smaller percentage of reports and images are showing food aisles, and those are from canned good shelves.

The correct word is disinvite.  If he shows up anyway, he's uninvited.
Oregon governor encourages residents to 'uninvite' people such as the 'drunken uncle' from Thanksgiving gatherings.  Oregon Gov. Kate Brown called on the state's residents to "uninvite" people from their Thanksgiving gatherings.  "This is hard, but making difficult sacrifices now will save lives," Brown said on Twitter.  "This Thanksgiving, keep it small.  Uninvite them."  A video attached to the tweet scrolls through a list of people to "uninvite" from a Thanksgiving gathering, including "your new boyfriend," "drunken uncle," "argumentative aunt," "favorite aunt," "bragging brother," "best friend," "half-sister," and "vegan niece."  "This holiday, keep your gathering small," it continued.  "Limit groups.  Save lives."

Supreme Court rules in favor of Christian and Jewish groups who challenged New York's COVID restrictions on religious gatherings.  The Supreme Court late Wednesday temporarily barred New York from enforcing certain attendance limits at houses of worship in areas designated as hard hit by the coronavirus.  The court on a 5-4 vote granted requests made by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn and two Orthodox Jewish congregations.  An October 6 decision by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo shut down non-essential businesses in targeted areas where infections have spiked, including some Brooklyn neighborhoods.

NYC Will Have Covid Checkpoints at Key Bridges and Crossings.  New York City will have vehicle checkpoints at key bridges and crossings, and will strictly enforce the travel quarantine, Sheriff Joseph Fucito said.  The sheriff's office will conduct spot checks when out-of-state buses drop riders off at the curb.  Test and tracing teams will be on the ground to direct individuals to testing sites and provide education on quarantine, Fucito said.  The 14-day quarantine mandates that travelers quarantine or test out.  Violations of self-quarantine will be enforced, and may carry fines of $1,000 to $2,000, according to the mayor's office.

Amazon versus Alex Berenson (& me).  Alex Berenson brings and independent mind and a formidable set of skills to his heterodox coverage of the COVID-19 epidemic.  He is a former New York Times investigative reporter and a writer of spy thrillers.  He has just released his third pamphlet in the series Unreported Truths About COVID-19 and Lockdowns.  When the first pamphlet in his series was published this past June Berenson had a close encounter with Amazon of the kind with which we have become all too familiar.  His pamphlet was rejected by Kindle Direct Publishing.  And then ensued the usual dance: [...] Berenson published the third pamphlet in his Unreported Truths series this week and went through the same routine with Amazon.  One had to follow the story via Berenson's Twitter feed.

Colorado County Refuses to Enforce Lockdowns as Civil Disobedience Spreads Across America.  Colorado officials last week announced that several counties had moved into the "red level" — the second-highest measurement on its COVID-19 dial — and would be forced to implement new regulations on restaurants, gyms, and other parts of the economy to combat the virus.  Then something remarkable happened.  Weld County, a county in the northern part of the state with a population of roughly a quarter million people, politely said no.  "Instead, county government continues to do what it has done since March, which is promote and encourage residents and business owners to take individual responsibility and make decisions to protect themselves, their families, their community and their businesses," the Board of Commissioners said in a statement.

New Mexico governor shuts down grocery stores for two weeks.  A dozen grocery stores around the state have been forced to close for two weeks because of a public health order issued by Gov.  Michelle Lujan Grisham at a time when the state's residents are suffering from record high unemployment and food insecurity, critics say.  The order requires businesses with four or more rapid responses of COVID-19 cases reported within in a 14-day period to close for two weeks.  More than 25 essential businesses were shut down as of Monday afternoon, including a number of grocery stores and major retailers.  The closures include two Walmarts in Albuquerque and one in Santa Fe, an Albertson's in Roswell, a Smiths Food & Drug Center in Albuquerque and New Mexico Food Distribution Center in Albuquerque.

Joe Biden urges nation to 'forgo family traditions' on Thanksgiving.  President-elect Joe Biden on Wednesday [11/25/2020] called on Americans not to gather with extended families for Thanksgiving, saying it was a "patriotic duty" to limit the spread of COVID-19.  Biden said during an at times campaign-like speech in Wilmington, Del., that he and his family were setting an example by not celebrating the holiday as a large group.

Study finds 84% fewer hospitalizations for patients treated with controversial drug hydroxychloroquine.  A peer-reviewed study measuring the effectiveness of a controversial drug cocktail that includes hydroxychloroquine concluded that the treatment lowered hospitalizations and mortality rates of coronavirus patients.  The study, set to be published in the International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents in December, determined that "Low-dose hydroxychloroquine combined with zinc and azithromycin was an effective therapeutic approach against COVID-19."  A total of 141 patients diagnosed with the coronavirus were treated with the three-drug cocktail over a period of five days and compared to a control group of 377 people who tested positive for the virus but were not given the treatment.

Denver mayor is branded a 'hypocrite' for jetting to Mississippi to celebrate Thanksgiving just 30 Minutes after he warned constituents not to travel.  The mayor of Denver has been branded a 'hypocrite' for jetting out of the city for Thanksgiving, just 30 minutes after he posted a message urging residents to stay home for the holiday.  A spokesperson for Democrat Mayor Michael Hancock admitted Wednesday that the politician was flying to Mississippi to celebrate Thanksgiving at his daughter's house.  'As he has shared, the Mayor is not hosting his traditional large family dinner this year, but instead traveling alone to join his wife and daughter where the three of them will celebrate Thanksgiving at her residence instead of having them travel back to Denver,' Hancock's deputy communications director told ABC 7 in a statement.

These Governors Told Citizens To Stay Home.  Then They Broke Their Own COVID Rules.  Several Democratic governors who pushed Americans to stay home or to forgo Thanksgiving celebrations with their families have been accused of violating their own coronavirus restrictions.  A plethora of lawmakers across the country have been caught flouting the coronavirus restrictions, attending protests and ignoring their own social distancing guidelines.  The mayor of D.C. and the governor of New York traveled to "high risk" states, Democratic leaders in New York were photographed attending a mostly maskless birthday party, and the governor of California and mayor of Philadelphia were photographed on separate occasions ignoring their own state restrictions on dining.  These incidents sparked outrage across the country in the past week.

Families don't need help from Democrats on deciding whether to see each other for the holidays.  Because the pandemic has given Democrats and liberals in the news media yet more reason to be self-important, we've been hearing nonstop in recent weeks that families should forego holiday gatherings this year.  It should be done, we're told, so that we can more quickly return to normal (psych!) and "keep each other safe."  Like almost everything else we've been lectured about, the advisement comes with that condescending tone perfected by Democrats and "experts" who believe in their hearts that people can't evaluate their own unique circumstances and make the best choices for themselves without the nagging.  But, of course, they can.  And the "experts" don't know why your family, or anyone else's, would be perfectly right to have gatherings, even when if it means catching a highly contagious virus.

Longmont mayor wants hospitals to refuse COVID patients from places not enforcing restrictions.  The mayor of Longmont said he wants hospitals to refuse treatment to COVID-19 patients from places not enforcing the state's restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus.  In a letter sent Tuesday [11/24/2020], Mayor Brian Bagley directed the city manager and city attorney to prepare an ordinance that would make it illegal for any hospital or health care provider to treat a resident of a county or municipality where officials have refused to comply with Gov. Jared Polis' emergency orders.

CEO of Midwest health system leaves after refusing to wear mask.  The chief executive of one of the nation's largest regional health systems is leaving his job after refusing to wear a mask in the office.  Sanford Health said it "mutually agreed to part ways" with CEO Kelby Krabbenhoft after he reportedly sent an email to employees last week claiming he didn't need to wear a face covering after recovering from the coronavirus.  Krabbenhoft argued that using a mask would be a "symbolic gesture" because his bout with COVID-19 had made him immune to the virus for "at least seven months and perhaps years to come," according to the Associated Press.

Fauci Makes Final Desperate Plea: 'Sacrifice' Your Thanksgiving Because COVID, America.  If Anthony Fauci made yet another dramatic plea about COVID and nobody listened, would he really make a sound?  Better:  If nobody other than the Democrat Party and the liberal media lapdogs listened, and clapped like trained seals in response to everything he said?  The latter was the case on Wednesday morning when Fauci hooked up with Scooter George Stephanopoulos on ABC's "Good Morning America" in an attempt to scare tens of millions of Americans into "sacrificing" their Thanksgiving in the name of all-things COVID.

After warnings to avoid travel, Denver Mayor Hancock flies to visit family for Thanksgiving.  Denver Mayor Michael Hancock boarded a flight to Houston ahead of Thanksgiving despite his warnings that people should stay close to home and only spend the holiday with their own household if they can.  His spokeswoman confirmed that Hancock was traveling to Houston Wednesday [11/25/2020] to visit his daughter in Mississippi, and that his wife is already there.

Hancock travels to Mississippi for Thanksgiving after pleading with Denverites to stay home if possible.  Denver Mayor Michael Hancock flew to Mississippi Wednesday to have Thanksgiving with his wife and daughter at his daughter's home after pleading with Denverites not to travel for the holiday if possible.  On Wednesday morning [11/25/2020], Mike Strott, deputy communications director with the Office of the Mayor, confirmed that Hancock had left the state to celebrate the holiday.

Qantas CEO: Must Have COVID-19 Vaccine to Fly Internationally, It's a 'Necessity'.  In an interview with Australia's A Current Affair, the CEO of Qantas airlines said his company is looking at changing its rules to require that people flying internationally must be vaccinated against COVID-19.  "We think that's a necessity," he stressed.  During the Nov. 23 interview, host Tracy Grimshaw asked CEO Alan Joyce, "When there is a vaccine, are you going to require all of your passengers to being vaccinated before they get on a plane?"  [Video clip]  Joyce said, "Yes, we are looking at changing our terms and conditions to say, for international travelers, that we will ask people to have a vaccination before they can get on the aircraft.  Whether you need that domestically, we'll have to see what happens with COVID-19."  "But certainly for international visitors coming out or people leaving the country, we think that's a necessity," said Joyce.

New Mexico governor shuts down grocery stores with new public health order.  Just when we thought that liquor sales restrictions in Pennsylvania by Governor Wolf were arbitrary and, frankly, stupid, along comes Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham in New Mexico with a "hold my beer" response.  She has shut down a dozen grocery stores across the state.  Why would a governor make such a draconian move?  A public health order from the governor's office shut down more than 25 essential businesses Monday [11/23/2020] with four or more rapid responses of COVID-19 cases reported within a 14-day period.  The order requires the businesses to close for two weeks.  That's right, any business that reports four or more positive COVID-19 tests in a two week period must then shut down for two weeks, essential business or not.

Pasadena Bucks Gavin Newsom's Prohibition on Indoor Dining at Restaurants.  The city of Pasadena, California, is refusing to comply with Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom's strict coronavirus restrictions prohibiting restaurants from serving customers inside.  Restaurants in Democrat-run states are barely surviving and even shuttering as the government repeatedly closes them through lockdowns.  "The City of Pasadena will continue to assess our COVID [Chinese coronavirus] numbers and work closely with Huntington Hospital and give as much advance notice as possible if the City's Order is going to change in any respect," city spokesperson Lisa Derderian said in a CBS affiliate in Los Angeles report.

New York:  Oppression imposed because of almost no COVID-19 deaths.  In the last few weeks the Democratic Party governments that control the state and city of New York imposed new and incredibly oppressive new rules, clamping down hard on the freedoms of their citizens, as well as the ability of visitors and tourists to come there.  The justification used by Democrats Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio for these new edicts against freedom?  Both claimed that an increase to 3% of what they called "the positivity rate" required more restrictions.  This increase comes from increased detection of COVID-19 due to increased tests, but it does not mean there has been a significant rise in actual illness.

German Police Raid COVID Lockdown Critic During Livestream of Non-Compliant Thoughts.  Dr. Andreas Noack was reportedly under investigation by German authorities for being non-compliant with the COVID-19 lockdown laws enacted by the government.  During a livestream broadcast of his views on the authoritarian COVID-19 rules, the German police broke down his door and arrested him.  The arrest was made after the German Parliament passed the "Infection Protection Law".  [Video clip]

De Blasio's reason for failing to stop huge Hasidic wedding: 'It's a big city'.  Clueless Mayor Bill de Blasio on Tuesday [11/24/2020] dismissed the fact that the city incredibly failed to pick up on a Hasidic wedding attended by thousands amid COVID-19 this month — scoffing to a reporter, "It's a big city."  De Blasio spouted the tone-deaf brush-off even after he acknowledged just how dangerous the Nov. 8 Brooklyn wedding was by announcing late Monday that the city would slap the involved synagogue with a $15,000 fine for breaking coronavirus safety regulations.  In crowing about the fine, de Blasio told NY1 of the dangerous gathering, "That's just not acceptable, I mean, we've been through so much.["]

Florida Nurse Blows The Lid Off Of How The COVID Numbers Are Inflated Via Re-Testing.  This Florida nurse made a Tik Tok video explaining how the COVID cases are being massaged via re-testing.  She explains, if the same person is retested during their illness, each positive result shows up as a new case in the stats.  [Video clip]

The science is unsettled!
CDC to shorten length of quarantine for those exposed to Covid-19.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is finalizing plans to shorten the recommended length of quarantine for those exposed to Covid-19.  The CDC currently recommends that individuals quarantine for 14 days after being exposed to people with the coronavirus.  The two weeks is based on how long scientists believe it can take the virus to incubate in the body.  "CDC is always reviewing its guidance and recommendations in the light of new understandings of the virus that causes Covid-19, and will announce such changes when appropriate," a spokesperson for the agency told NBC News on Tuesday [11/24/2020].  The updated approach will likely incorporate testing.

Sorry, Dr. Fauci.  You, too, Joe Biden:  Americans refuse to cancel Thanksgiving.  To judge by the election results, assuming you believe them, Americans want more lockdowns, given that Joe Biden ostensibly won.  Biden campaigned on a lockdown platform, vowing a national mask mandate along with a campaign promise to run the government's COVID response better than President Trump, plagiarizing much of Trump's already-done actions and calling them his own.  President Trump hammered Biden on his eternal lockdown plan in the final days of the campaign, and Biden retreated a little, denying he vowed no such thing.  But once he was convinced he won, he came out full bore for national mask-wearing again, along with obedience to science and government officials.  Now that Thanksgiving is on, nobody's listening.

Will Thanksgiving Mark The Beginning Of The Lockdown Resistance?  A country that's about to observe a holiday in which we express appreciation for our unique American blessings appears ready to shrug off the chains of petty tyrants.  For that, we give thanks.  Governors in, most infamously, California, New York, Oregon, and Minnesota, but also other states, have told constituents to limit their celebrations and travel.  They might not in every case have specifically cited Thanksgiving.  But it's obvious that the nagging has accelerated because of the holiday.  It's just as obvious that, after more than eight months of various lockdowns, some Americans have had enough.  In an unmistakable rebuke to Andrew Cuomo, sheriffs in New York have said they won't be enforcing the governor's 10-person limit at private gatherings.  Saratoga County Sheriff Michael Zurlo, for instance, said he didn't "see how devoting our resources to counting cars in citizens' driveways or investigating how much turkey and dressing they've purchased is for the public good." Erie County Sheriff Tim Howard has promised he will do what the busybody governor refuses to do and that is "respect the sanctity of your home."

It's a pathetic country in which freedom requires a license.
'Freedom Pass, Please': Boris to Introduce Covid Passports as More Lockdowns Loom.  The British government will reportedly introduce "freedom passes" and specialised passport certificates to people who have tested negative for the Chinese coronavirus, as Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to announce further regional lockdown restrictions following the end of the latest national lockdown in December.  The British prime minister will outline his plans for further localised lockdown restrictions on Monday, as well as a plan to introduce mass testing, in what the government is describing as a roadmap to some sort of normality next year.

Hear Ye!  Hear Ye!  King Newsom Issues Thanksgiving Directives.  California's Governor Gavin Newsom has recently re-upped the COVID totalitarianism he thrust upon the Golden State earlier this year, but this time he's banning Thanksgiving gatherings.  Oh, and the rules don't apply to him.  Ahead of Thanksgiving, California banned gatherings that include people from over three households and mandated that all gatherings be held outside.  The same rules mandate that everyone stay six feet apart, wear a mask and that everyone must be washing their hands "frequently," whatever that means.  Any holiday gatherings must also be "two hours or less," according to Emperor Newsom.  These rules include a stipulation suggesting whisper-singing, if one must sing.  As well as cloth coverings over the sound holes of wind instruments, if one must play a wind instrument at such a gathering.  Clarinet masks.  "Singing, chanting, shouting, cheering, playing of wind instruments and similar activities are not permitted in indoor gatherings," which are only allowed, but still strongly discouraged, for counties outside of the "purple tier."

Pennsylvania bans alcohol sales at bars and restaurants on Thanksgiving eve.  Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf ordered restaurants and bars to halt the sale of alcohol on the evening before Thanksgiving to try and mitigate possible upticks in coronavirus cases.  According to KDKA of Pittsburgh, Wolf cited Thanksgiving eve as the "biggest day for drinking" and said the one-night ban is necessary despite the hard economic hit the service industry has taken from the pandemic.  "The thing that we can't do is ignore reality and say, 'Yeah, you folks, for no fault of your own, have been hit hardest by this virus.'  But the virus is what's doing this.  It's not me.  It's not the administration.  It's not the government," Wolf, a Democrat, said.

The Editor says...
The Governor blames Covid for the unpopular decision to stop the sale of alcohol on Wednesday.  It is a small man who tries to hide behind a virus.

PA's Democrat Gov Orders Statewide Alcohol Sales Ban Right Before Thanksgiving.  [Scroll down]  This bit is worth reading again, for the sheer hubris:  "But the virus is what's doing this.  It's not me.  It's not the administration.  It's not the government."  An authoritarian is only doing what's best for you, citizens.  Amazingly, this isn't the first time during the China flu pandemic that a PA official has ordered alcohol sales suspended.  Would you be surprised if I told you Allegheny County (which includes Pittsburgh) banned alcohol sales the weekend before Fourth of July?  At that time, the county led the commonwealth with 100 new cases a day.  That's right, 100.  But why would their top health official order something for all of PA that was ordered back in July for one county, if it worked so well the first time?  And why does the governor make noises like he's sorry restaurants and bars are hanging on by their fingernails.  But, never mind that, because reasons.

NY Dems Busted at Packed Indoor Birthday Party Without Masks, Their Reaction to Being Caught Tells Us Everything.  We're seeing some states now really cracking down on renewed Wuhan coronavirus rules especially places with crazy Democratic governors like Gavin Newsom in California and Andrew Cuomo in New York. [...] But we saw Gavin Newsom get nailed with several people at a birthday party at the French Laundry without masks despite his edicts.  He was even accompanied by top doctors from the California Medical Association — the group responsible for advising Newsom on virus restrictions.  Gov. Andrew Cuomo also has dropped Thanksgiving rules, telling people they should have a small dinner with only the people in their own household and no more than ten people.

This is War.  We are at war with enemies of liberty, domestic and foreign.  Domestic enemies are now pressing relentlessly. [...] In the name of public health, our churches, synagogues, businesses, and schools suffer shutdowns at the whim of petty tyrants like Andrew Cuomo and Bill de Blasio.  Tens of millions of Americans are injured as a result.  All of us have been injured by degrees in assaults on our God-given rights.  We've been forced to wear masks to "stop the spread," but, in fact, to compel subservience.

Could Today's COVID Surge have been Avoided?  [Scroll down]  What if after the initial wave of cases last spring we protected the vulnerable and let everyone else live their lives, attending school, church, family gatherings, and so on?  What if testing was only performed when a physician deemed it necessary?  What if the media and politicians did not obsess over case counts, death counts, and Trump's tweets on a daily basis?  Could we have reached "herd immunity" by now?  That is the only way viral pandemics end, when enough people have been infected or vaccinated that there are not enough susceptible for the virus to infect.  Vaccines, despite "Operation Warp Speed," take time to develop, proving both safety and efficacy, earning FDA approval. [...] Viruses die off in the heat and sunshine, both of which were abundant in the summer.  Could we have been encouraged people to be out and about, passively spreading the virus, which has a death rate of a fraction of a percent among the general population, getting the country closer to herd immunity?

Pay £120 to reduce quarantine to five days:  Travellers arriving in the UK are told they can buy test and will be free if they are negative.  Quarantine for UK arrivals could be scrapped altogether early in the New Year, Grant Shapps said today - as he announced that the self-isolation period will be slashed to five days next month.  From December 15 travellers will be able to pay around £120 for a private Covid test in order to reduce their time in limbo from two weeks.  Under the government's 'test to release' plan, those who are negative will immediately be free to go about their normal lives.

AstraZeneca Reports COVID-19 Vaccine [is] up to 90 Percent Effective.  Trials of the Oxford-AstraZeneca CCP virus vaccine showed it had an efficacy rate of between 62 percent and 90 percent depending on dosage combinations, researchers announced on Monday [11/23/2020].  The vaccine was 62 percent effective at preventing CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus infections when patients were given two full doses one month apart, but up to 90 percent effective when given a half dose followed by a full dose one month later, AstraZeneca said in a statement.  The trial, which consisted of over 23,000 volunteers from the UK and Brazil, gave half the volunteers the AZD 1222 vaccine and the other half a placebo.  Global trials involving countries such as the United States, Japan, and Russia, are expected to eventually involve up to 60,000 volunteers.

7 Things That Used to Be "Crazy Conspiracy Theories" Until 2020 Happened.  [#3] Mandatory GPS tracking of humans:  "Don't be silly.  Nobody is actually tracking you with your phone.  You're not Jason Bourne."  Whoops.  2020 proved that was a lie when they rolled out contact tracing apps to make sure you didn't breathe the same air as somebody who got a positive COVID test.  Not only do sick or potentially sick people need to worry about being phoned or questioned by contact tracers, but there's also a whole new world of dystopian technology being rapidly developed. [...] [#6] Mandatory vaccines:  Remember back when nobody thought that adults would ever be forced to take vaccines except for "crazy conspiracy theorists?"  Well, that day is coming sooner than many people expect.  A much-heralded COVID vaccine could be rolled out in a matter of days.  Pfizer and BioNTech have both concluded Phase 3 of rushing their jabs to market.  There are still many, many questions.

CEO Of Waffle House Slams Lockdowns, Won't Shut Down Unless Absolutely Necessary.  While many states and cities across America are experiencing a surge in coronavirus cases and shutting down for the second round of lockdowns, forcing many businesses to once again shut their doors the CEO of Waffle House Walt Ehmer is not too keen on having to shut his business.  Currently, all but two of the Southern breakfast food chain's 1,920 locations across the country are still open and allowing for inside dining, Business Insider reported.

WHO Director Dr. Tedros Moves the COVID-19 Goalposts Right Off the Playing Field.  There is a new movement afoot.  Even though Operation Warp Speed has delivered two highly effective vaccines and several very promising therapeutics, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director of the World Health Organization (WHO), wants you to know it won't really change anything in response to COVID-19.  His Twitter statement defies the management of any virus, ever.  And it only works if you believe COVID-19 is some super-virus that behaves in a way fundamentally different from all other viruses, even other coronaviruses.  There is no science to support that.  Remember when Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said we could never reopen until we had an effective vaccine?  Now that is not even good enough.

Study: Asymptomatic and secondary infected individuals do not infect others.  A new study published in the journal Nature has found that people who are either asymptomatic or undergoing a secondary illness of COVID-19 are simply not infectious, and don't give the virus to others.  In other words, it appears that the only time people can infect others is when they have the virus for the first time, and only when they are symptomatic.  Lock downs and the use of masks by the healthy accomplish nothing.  All you need to do is quarantine the symptomatic patient, as human societies have been doing for centuries and centuries.  To once again emphasize this point, wearing masks if you are healthy and not sick protects no one.  Social distancing if you are not sick protects no one.  Shutting down businesses, such as reducing capacities at restaurants so they can't make a profit, protects no one.  Curfews protect no one.  When you see someone on a hiking trail, it is not necessary to run ten feet off the trail, put a mask on, and bow your head away in fear and terror of that other person.  That they are on the trail guarantees they are not sick.  They can't infect you.  And that you are there also means you can't infect them.  Burn the mask.  Smile.  Live like a human again.  And most of all, stop being afraid all the time.

Nevada Democrat Governor Calls New Mandates 'Statewide Pause'.  Lockdowns and mandates and curfews, oh my.  Americans are losing their civil liberties at an alarming rate, being handed down by political leadership that does not practice what they preach.  Over the weekend, Nevada's Democrat Governor Steve Sisolak wrapped the civil liberties infringement orders in a tight little bow and titled it a 'statewide pause.'  That 'pause' will occur for at least three weeks.  On Sunday, Sisolak tweeted, "As of today, 13 of 17 of our counties are flagged for elevated risk of transmission.  In the beginning of October, only 2 counties were flagged.  Our statewide positivity rate is at a record 16.5 percent, and as I mentioned, we've surpassed 2,000 deaths."

National Guard Deployed To El Paso As Morgues Are Overwhelmed By COVID-19 Deaths.  The Texas National Guard has been deployed to El Paso to help manage the number of bodies at morgues due to the coronavirus pandemic.  El Paso is a hot spot with a spike in cases.  The border city has received the help of a 36-member team from the Texas National Guard to help out in the morgues.  The Texas National Guard team replaces jail inmates who were being used, volunteers who helped move bodies.  In El Paso, 855 people have died since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, 300 since October.  Local leaders are offering increased pay to try and recruit more morgue workers.  Temporary morgue assistants are being offered $27.20 an hour to move bodies, which is both physically and emotionally taxing work.  Public notices are being posted with a job description.

Utah hospitals have begun informal rationing of care, doctors say, as they cope with surge of COVID-19 patients.  With a combination of luck, new hires and creative reorganizing of staff and patients, Utah's hospitals haven't had to eject anyone from intensive care units due to the coronavirus.  But several doctors say the solutions still amount to rationing, with the quality of care deteriorating as hospitals are stretched thinner and thinner.  And with record numbers of new patients being admitted every day, they say the breaking point is all but inevitable.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown urges residents to call cops on shutdown violators.  Oregon Gov. Kate Brown wants residents to call the police on their neighbors over violations of the state's latest coronavirus shutdown, which includes a six-person limit on in-home gatherings.  The temporary "freeze," which went into effect Wednesday, restricts indoor at-home and social gatherings to six people from no more than two households, with no exceptions for Thanksgiving dinner get-togethers.  In a Friday [11/20/2020] virtual interview with KGW-TV, Ms. Brown agreed that Oregonians should contact authorities if they see their neighbors hosting more than six people.

Also posted under Snitch on your neighbor.

Andy's Emmy and Other Misguided Awards.  Remember Andrew?  He's the guy who celebrated late-term abortion by illuminating the World Trade Center with pink lights.  Now, after failing to protect the Empire State from a virus he prides himself on handling like a boss, Hollywood's International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, "in recognition of his leadership during the Covid-19 pandemic and his masterful use of television to inform and calm people around the world," granted an Emmy Award to Andrew Cuomo.  Even though upwards of 34,000 deceased NY residents occupy newly dug graves, in honor of that sort of exemplary leadership a shiny gold statue is destined for the Albany mantle of the governor's mansion.

Anti-lockdown protesters rally outside Minnesota governor's home.  Demonstrators rallied outside the Minnesota Governor's Residence in St. Paul on November 21, to protest measures enacted by Gov Tim Walz to limit the spread of the coronavirus.  Organizers of the so-called 'Stuff your mandate protest' said they were "protesting the unconstitutional mandate" enforced on the state's citizens.  Footage from Tucker Luskey shows protesters outside the front gate singing The Star-Spangled Banner, followed by chants of "let us work," "open schools," and "no more masks."  Many protesters are seeing with pro-Trump flags and clothing.

Covid Hypocrisy is the Least of it.  Gavin Newsom's infamous dinner with lobbyists at the French Laundry is the latest example of a political leader who prescribes rules for the rest of us, and then flouts them himself.  We have seen this over and over again, as Karol Markowicz reminds us (via InstaPundit.)  She cites many examples of our supposed betters who hector us to wear masks, social distance, close down our businesses, avoid restaurants, associate with no one outside our immediate families, and so on, but who wouldn't dream of limiting their own lives in such fashion.  Is this hypocritical?  Of course.  But that isn't the most important point.  The real significance of politicians flouting their own rules is that it shows they know those rules are unnecessary or useless.  Take the case of Governor Newsom's ritzy dinner.

China [is] now blaming Italy for starting [the] Wuhan coronavirus pandemic.  Now that the election is over, and the media is portraying Biden as the "President Elect" despite looming legal challenges by President Donald Trump, China appears to be looking to lay blame elsewhere for the coronavirus pandemic.  That way, the nation can come in and resume its American-prosperity-draining relationship with what the Chinese hope to be a more friendly administration without the taint of initiating a series of biological release response actions to a new pathogen that guaranteed the virus would circuit the globe.

Big Botherer — Ben Garrison Cartoon.  All countries have sociopathic predators who crave political power.  It's a drug to them.  Our Founding Fathers knew this and so they designed a government with checks and balances to help thwart the power-hungry.

NY Business Owner Stands Up To Cuomo's COVID Gestapo, Chases Out Sheriff And Health Inspector.  It was an angry atmosphere inside the Athletes Unleashed gym in Orchard Park Friday night as a group of concerned business owners and citizens were gathering to discuss the current COVID restrictions on certain businesses.  Tim Walton attended the meeting that began at around 7 pm Friday and tells WBEN there were more than 100 people attending the meeting inside the gym.  In a press release and blog post, Walton says the Erie County Sheriff's Department and Health Department entered the facility and confronted the gathering, telling them they were in violation of the limit to mass gatherings of no more than ten.  [Video clip]

Take a Wild Guess Why Cuomo Is Receiving an Emmy Award.  Cuomo is beyond hypocritical.  He has a book out about being a leader during COVID... while the pandemic is still going on.  Cuomo is receiving an award for his leadership... while the pandemic is still taking place.  Oh, and he's being recognized for his leadership decisions when he irresponsibly forced nursing homes to take in COVID-positive patients.  Aren't awards supposed to applaud people for good things?

Gathering at Orchard Park gym turns confrontational as health inspector arrives.  A gathering of about 50 business owners and their supporters inside an Orchard Park gym shut down by Covid-19 restrictions turned into a confrontation with Erie County authorities Friday night.  The owner of the gym, Athletes Unleashed on California Road, described the gathering as a protest of the state's "orange zone" regulations that have closed gyms, salons and other businesses deemed nonessential.  No one was cited and no arrests were made, according to two people who attended, but video of the incident shows an Erie County health inspector accompanied by three sheriff's deputies arriving about 20 minutes after the gathering began.

If We Want People To Accept A COVID-19 Vaccine, We Should Stop Lying To Them About The Disease.  [Scroll down]  While the coronavirus is highly infectious, the death rate is extremely low (depending on age, country of treatment, and pre-existing conditions) and appears to be falling even lower.  For smallpox it was a stunning 30%, and survivors were often left with horrible scars.  This introduces a problem unique to the Covid-19 vaccine, no matter who makes it, the technology behind it, or how long it takes.  Many people have lost faith in what governments, non-governmental health officials, and the media have told us about coronavirus in general.  Despite the steady stream of slogans like "We're all in this together" we are all by now long aware that young people with no pre-existing conditions are at almost no risk of severe illness.  This notwithstanding the media's desperate effort to comb through every obituary and local news story on the planet for possible exceptions.

Artificial intelligence model detects asymptomatic Covid-19 infections through cellphone-recorded coughs.  Asymptomatic people who are infected with Covid-19 exhibit, by definition, no discernible physical symptoms of the disease.  They are thus less likely to seek out testing for the virus, and could unknowingly spread the infection to others.  But it seems those who are asymptomatic may not be entirely free of changes wrought by the virus.  MIT researchers have now found that people who are asymptomatic may differ from healthy individuals in the way that they cough.  These differences are not decipherable to the human ear.  But it turns out that they can be picked up by artificial intelligence.  In a paper published recently in the IEEE Journal of Engineering in Medicine and Biology, the team reports on an AI model that distinguishes asymptomatic people from healthy individuals through forced-cough recordings, which people voluntarily submitted through web browsers and devices such as cellphones and laptops.

Left Attacks Scott Atlas For Saying Same Things About COVID As The New York Times, Six Months Earlier.  The evidence continues to accrue that the dominant policies sold to mitigate the COVID-19 outbreak were catastrophically wrong, yet those who pointed this out early on continue to be reputationally crucified by media and Democrat elites.  A premiere case in point is White House Coronavirus Task Force member Dr. Scott Atlas, who has been making science-based arguments against locking down healthy people since the earliest months of the pandemic.  Because he has courageously presented evidence that gums up the media's goal of ending Trump's presidency by using coronavirus to punish Americans, the knives have been out for the views Atlas represents since the beginning.

What they Don't tell you about Covid.  With the nation's health at stake, it was revealed this week that GCHQ has embedded a team in Downing Street to provide Boris Johnson with real-time updates to combat the 'emerging and changing threat' posed by Covid-19.  The intelligence analysts will sift through vast amounts of data to ensure the Prime Minister has the most up-to-date information on the spread of the virus.  But what exactly should Mr Johnson be looking for? [...] Are hospitals close to full capacity?  The answer is 'no' — contrary to what the Government experts would have you think after they last month published a chart that gave the impression that hospitals were close to overflowing, when at least half didn't have a single Covid-19 patient.  Currently, only 13 percent of NHS beds are occupied by patients with Covid-19.

Los Angeles Area Sheriffs Refuses To Enforce Gov. Newsom's Ridiculous Coronavirus Curfew.  Less than a week after the Sacramento County Sheriff announced that his office would not be enforcing California Gov. Gavin Newsom's COVID curfew, more departments followed suit.  In fact, most law enforcement agencies in southern California have indicated that they have no intention of looking for people violating the curfew.  Reporter Bill Melugin with Fox's Los Angeles affiliate, KTTV-11, posted a series of tweets announcing that a slew of sheriff's offices have told the news outlet they will not enforce Newsom's orders.

Shutdown Blues.  Today the latest shutdown order by Governor Tim Walz took effect in Minnesota.  COVID cases have been rising across the Upper Midwest, so our "emergency" continues.  This time, the shutdown applies to restaurants, bars, gyms and youth sports. [...] The current shutdown has several noteworthy features.  First is the fact that it does not apply to retail establishments.  Last Spring, Governor Walz decreed that small businesses must close down while big businesses (Target, Costco, Walmart, Home Depot, Total Wine) remained open.  As a result, thousands of small businesses were devastated, and many went bankrupt.  The Walz administration has now stated that retail establishments are not a source of COVID spread.  So, sorry about that, small businesspeople.  And one wonders:  what was the scientific basis for the retail shutdown last Spring?  Obviously, there wasn't one.  Second, there is no significant empirical basis for the current restaurant and bar shutdown, either.

Our hypocritical leaders refuse to obey their own COVID-19 rules.  Wearing a mask is important.  For you and those around you.  For elected officials?  Not so much.  Actually, all the COVID rules are for us, not them.  COVID-19, and the accompanying lockdowns, have made it painfully clear:  We plebes have to follow the rules; the elites do not.  Start with California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who last week groveled for forgiveness after being caught attending a large birthday dinner at The French Laundry restaurant in Napa Valley.  When pictures from the event surfaced, the hypocrisy was glaring:  The governor was seen with his wife at a large table full of maskless lobbyists, all sitting in close proximity.  But, hey:  You're not the governor — so if you want to celebrate Thanksgiving in his state, remember:  "No more than three households, including your own," at the gathering, and keep your distance.

More New Research Shows Only Those With Symptoms Spread COVID-19. Masks School Closings & Lockdowns Couldn't Have Been More Pointless.  [Scroll down]  But it wasn't just the blind eye turned to all the misery, hardship, and death lockdowns were sure to cause.  The benefits accrued were just as purely theoretical as the catastrophic consequences were inexorably real.  Indeed, the idea that lockdowns were going to accomplish anything at all depended on a number of assumptions there was every reason to think were false!  For one thing, there was never a shred of scientific evidence that putting healthy people in quarantine would do anything to ameliorate the spread of COVD-19.  Moreover, everything we knew about viruses made the idea of quarantining people who aren't sick completely absurd.  Even the CDC's most recent pandemic planning guide from 2017 admitted that "direct evidence for the effectiveness of these measures is limited."  And by "limited" they meant non-existent.  There wasn't a single study that supports the idea that quarantining healthy people was going to do [anything] to stop a virus from spreading.

Lockdowns Are Serial Killers.  End them Now.  We are constantly told by our political leaders and the compliant media that a pandemic lockdown is absolutely necessary if we are ever to defeat the COVID virus.  Mask mandates, quarantine camps, self-isolating, limited sociability, the stoking of public fear and panic, the shuttering of businesses and the attendant cratering of the economy have become, once again, the false solution to a politically ginned-up crisis — déjà vu all over again.  The trouble is:  none of this works, none of this is necessary.  Texas Tech professor Gilbert Berdine sums up:  "After taking the unprecedented economic depression into account, history will likely judge these lockdowns to be the greatest policy error of this generation."

Americans, like the famous downtrodden worm, are starting to turn.  We've all noticed that, thanks to the Wuhan virus, the rich have gotten richer.  By trapping people in their homes and destroying small business, Democrat governments have allowed oligarchs such as Bezos, Zuckerburg, and Gates, to increase their wealth by exponential amounts.  What's flown under the radar, though, is that for many months, government employees and politicians haven't shared the people's pain.  In Buffalo, New York, beleaguered business owners finally had enough.  Conservative publications have focused heavily on the fact that leftist cities used the overdose death of an ex-felon as an excuse to "reimagine" policing by destroying it.  However, there doesn't seem to have been the same fallout for those government employees charged with enforcing the lockdowns.  Around the world, they are still employed and extremely powerful.

Australian officials say massive COVID lockdown was based on false claim from pizza worker.  Officials in the Australian state of South Australia are claiming that the state's recent COVID-19 lockdown was precipitated by a false statement from a pizza worker.  The state ordered its roughly 1.8 million residents to stay home and indoors after health authorities deduced that an individual who tested positive for COVID-19 had contracted the virus after a brief visit to a pizza restaurant.  Officials were concerned that the strain of the virus was extremely contagious given the ease with which the subject reportedly caught it.  However, the man in question was actually an employee of the restaurant, not a patron, and he had caught COVID-19 after working alongside another individual who was positive for it.

The perfect test group for the COVID vaccine.  Assuming that the vaccine is perfect... that it's exactly the antidote to the COVID poison...  obviously it would be delivered to medical personnel, first responders, and the elderly or otherwise ill.  But what if it is far less than perfect?  Do we still give it to these same people and risk their health in a different way?  Is this why there has been some talk about delivering it to third-world nations first?  Is someone looking to use black and brown people around the world as a mass group of guinea pigs? [...] I have 535 test candidates for the first round in mind right now.  Make that 537.  Our esteemed senators, congressman and so-called president-elect and vice president-elect should be the first ones to get poked.  After all, they are "essential," aren't they?  Once that wave is finished, the next ought to be every employee of any media corporation that has a regular seat in the White House Press Room.

From Ruling Class to Oligarchy.  [Scroll down]  When the coronavirus hit, Americans did not realize how thoroughly their ruling class had already jelled into an oligarchy with the intention above all to crush them.  Neither did they comprehend how assuredly it would not waste this opportunity to do so.  Tragically led astray by Donald Trump's misplaced faith in the objectivity of "the experts," personified by Dr. Anthony Fauci, conservatives were persuaded to respond to an epidemic with an infection/fatality rate comparable to the average flu as if it were the plague.  But even plagues, once endemic, follow ineluctable courses through populations.  Thus, by following the ignorant promise of safety through masks, etc. did conservatives at first agree to suspend face-to-face relationships.  They suffered to disarticulate social life even more than economic life, to put aside one's friends and God.  They agreed to restrict their understanding of things to what the mass media would allow them to hear.  They did all of this even as evidence mounted that the "experts" were nothing but agents of the oligarchy.

Cuomo Suggests Sheriffs Who Don't Enforce 10-Person Thanksgiving Limit Should Be Decertified.  New York Governor Andrew Cuomo blasted county sheriffs who are refusing to barge into people's homes to break up gatherings of more than 10 people, arguing that his executive order limiting the size of private gatherings is the equivalent of law.  Cuomo said the sheriffs who have vowed to ignore the mandate he issued last week are "arrogant" and "frightening to democracy," the Democrat & Chronicle reported.  The governor claimed that his executive order is no different than a codified law, and that he issued it in order to force people to stop the "living room spread" of the novel coronavirus.

Irony Abounds As The Left Politicizes The Coronavirus.  [Scroll down]  States such as California are under near-complete lockdown.  Draconian measures will abbreviate Thanksgiving gatherings in a way unprecedented in U.S. history.  Yet elites such as California Gov. Gavin Newsom and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) have violated the quarantines they have endorsed.  Following the media announcement that Joe Biden would likely become president, crowds swarmed into the streets of San Francisco and Los Angeles.  They violated every state mandate requiring masks and social distancing.  Authorities did nothing — just as they had done nothing during the summer-long protesting and rioting.  Apparently, some outdoor gatherings were correct; others, not so much.  A similar warping of science accompanied news about the possible rollout of a COVID-19 vaccine.

COVID-19 reinfection unlikely for at least six months, study finds.  People who've had COVID-19 are highly unlikely to contract it again for at least six months after their first infection, according to a British study of healthcare workers on the frontline of fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

Lockdown Addicts.  Biden and other leaders claim to be following "the science," but that obviously doesn't include the research showing the high costs and low benefits of lockdowns and school closures.  Closing schools was a dubious move in the spring, when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned that it would likely do little to stem the pandemic (and noted that school closings in other countries had failed to make a discernible impact).  Today it makes even less sense in light of the accumulated evidence.

Tell Us Again... Why Was Mail-in Voting So Important?  [Scroll down]  The effort to shift from in-person voting to mail-in voting was never about protecting citizens from COVID-19.  In April, Wisconsin conducted their primary elections with virtually no mail-in voting and over 400,000 folks voted in-person.  COVID-19 cases actually declined in the following weeks.  People can vote safely in person by following the masking and social-distancing guidelines; this fact has been obvious for months.  It worked in Wisconsin, and it apparently worked in Florida two weeks ago.  What was the motivation then, of the discouragement, and in some cases prohibition of in-person voting?  Was it done so that government officials could appear prudent and concerned in the eyes of their constituents?  Maybe.  Was it done for more nefarious reasons, perhaps to facilitate voter fraud?  We don't know for sure, and we may never know.

The Left's Utter Nonsense.  I'm at the end of my cooperative, benefit-of-the-doubt tether. [...] I have been asked to accept one too many ridiculous things.  We are being asked to believe that a miniscule speck of protein, just because it has the audacity to set up temporary housekeeping in the human body, can determine whether or not I get to see my children and grandchildren at Thanksgiving.  We are supposed to believe that a mask can keep such a critter away from us when we know that it's too small to be dissuaded by mere cloth.  We're expected to buy into the idea that six feet of separation will thwart this shred of RNA.  Why not five and half feet?  Why not 12 feet?  Do we have any clear idea how far this thing can travel?  No.  And even worse, we're supposed to accept without question any statistics spouted by any government mouthpiece as if statistics can't be used to tell damnable lies.

Governors Cancelling Thanksgiving in Favor of Misery.  [Scroll down]  It started with "15 days to slow the spread" back in March.  Americans dutifully stayed home and washed our hands, as government experts told us.  Did we slow the spread or exacerbate it?  A recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that draconian quarantine measures with strict social distancing and constant mask wearing did not stop the spread of COVID in their study population of Marine recruits.  These measures may have actually exacerbated the spread of COVID as the control group of non-participants had almost half the rate of COVID positivity at the end of the study compared to those under strict rules.  But our governors and health experts know better.  Safety measures they imposed on us for months worked so well that nine months into the pandemic, COVID is still not under control.  Or at least positive tests are not. [...] Most of America suffers COVID fatigue and now we are being told to get used to our new normal.

COVID-19 is getting less deadly.  The Swedish COVID-19 statistics, as published by Worldometer, suggest that COVID is simultaneously becoming more communicable and less deadly.  To see the latest, check out the Daily New Cases and the Daily Deaths on the Worldometer webpage for Sweden.  Daily New Cases are rising, suggesting that the disease is getting more communicable.  Meanwhile, Daily New Deaths are falling, suggesting that the disease is getting less deadly.  These results are not surprising to those who know about The Evolution of Virulence in infectious diseases.

The Editor says...
The number of new cases is used to justify new lockdowns and restrictions, while the declining number of deaths is ignored.

Rand Paul:  New coronavirus lockdowns are 'completely arbitrary'.  Kentucky Senator Rand Paul slammed the coronavirus lockdowns Thursday on FOX Business for distracting from the one thing that actually works: vaccines.  "Let's hope, in this case, the courts will intervene," Paul said of the new statewide lockdowns, adding, "I've been calling my governor for months, DWP, drunk with power, because he's taken this power without any consent from the legislature."  "They're completely arbitrary," he said of the lockdowns.  "They're not based on any kind of science.  There is really very little objective science to prove that any of this works."  While commenting on mask mandates, Paul, an eye doctor, said the data shows that cloth masks objectively don't work.

The return of lockdown lunacy.  In the wake of rising numbers of coronavirus cases and hospitalizations, as many states, notably those run by Democrats, are going back toward economic lockdowns.  They include New York, Illinois, Virginia, Michigan, Maryland, Minnesota, California, and Washington.  Those like California and Washington have considered full shutdowns.  This means lockdowns of schools, churches, businesses, restaurants, and office buildings.  California Governor Gavin Newsom even issued orders on how to celebrate Thanksgiving with no singing, no laughing, and no more than ten people at the table.  Who thinks of these unrealistic edicts?  Much more worrisome is the discussion from the transition team of Joe Biden over a national lockdown that could last several weeks.

Great video of all the bad things Dr. Fauci told President Trump to do.  Democrats and their new president, Joe Biden, continually told Donald Trump to follow the doctors' and scientists' advice on COVID. He did that.  The Democrat hero at the time was Dr. Fauci.  Democrats aren't taking as much credit for him now as they once did.  And, Joe didn't appoint him to his COVID team.  Yet, all we heard for months was Trump isn't listening to Fauci, where's Fauci, did he fire Fauci?  Wonder why they don't rely on Fauci now.  [Video clip]

Experts: Tens of thousands of nursing home residents died from neglect and 'despair' during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Experts found that tens of thousands of people in nursing homes "have died from neglect and sorrow related to the pandemic," according to an eye-opening report from the Associated Press.  The report stated that there have been more than 97,000 residents of U.S. nursing homes who have died during the coronavirus pandemic.  A nursing home expert analyzed 15,000 U.S. long-term care facilities and estimates that for every two coronavirus victims in nursing homes, there is a person who died prematurely of other causes.  The report stated that the "excess deaths" in nursing homes could total over 40,000 since March.

Three ways the COVID hospital data is being inflated.  In George Washington's republic, the contours of fundamental rights and the scope of governmental authority were defined by natural law and the Constitution.  In Anthony Fauci's new America, those rights and powers are defined by coronavirus case and hospitalization data.  As such, if hospitalizations are to be the new Constitution, shouldn't we at least demand answers about misleading data being used to impose an authoritarian and deleterious lifestyle on us?  Putting aside the fact that these lockdown measures don't work to stop the spread of the virus, are we even measuring the spread properly?  In addition to governors failing to provide historical context to the current hospital levels compared to flu seasons, there are several other recent factors inflating the numbers.

Man dies after falling 10 feet from a ladder.  Doctors declare COVID-19 killed him.  A 51-year-old Croatian man is dead after falling from a 10-foot ladder — but medical experts at the Journal of Forensic Pathology reported that COVID-19 killed him.  According to a Thursday report from the New York Post, the man — a construction worker — fell from the ladder while working at a job site in Croatia.  He was declared dead at the scene and was discovered with cuts and bruises to the head, but doctors performing an autopsy determined that COVID-19 caused the accident because "effects of the illness were disorienting."

New York school shutdown angers parents as gyms, bars stay open.  New York's public schools closed Thursday, sparking debate over whether the measure will help fend off a second coronavirus wave when classroom transmission is low and non-essential businesses remain open.  While European countries have so far kept schools open, focusing instead on shutting down indoor dining, bars and gyms, America's most populous city has taken the opposite approach.

[Mayor] de Blasio Has Sent Spies With High Power Lenses Into Jewish Neighborhoods To Catch Them Congregating.  These two New York City workers were caught taking photos with high power lenses of Jewish apartments to catch them congregating in apartments.  Indoor gatherings in New York are limited to 10 people max and masks must be worn at all times.  This comes only a month after Mayor Bill de Blasio admitted he and his administration should have done a better job of communicating the dangers of the coronavirus to the city's Orthodox Jewish communities.  de Blasio [has] caught heat for singling out the Jewish community in a tweet about people who are not following the city's social distancing rules earlier this year.  [Video clip]

Here's where NorCal law enforcement stands on COVID-19 curfew.  Law enforcement agencies released statements Thursday in response to California's new COVID-19 public health orders and enforcement of the order.  Officials made the announcements the same day California health officials ordered a "limited" curfew, which will be in place from Saturday to Dec. 21.  The new stay-at-home order stops nonessential travel from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. in counties in the purple COVID-19 tier.

NY Governor "Furious" That Cops Won't Enforce His Thanksgiving Crackdown.  On Tuesday [11/17/2020], we covered the news of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's edict stating that no more than ten people could gather in private residences for Thanksgiving and the response he received from numerous law enforcement agencies around the state.  To put it kindly, none of the police departments or sheriffs were enthusiastic about taking on the job.  To put it more bluntly, a lot of them flatly refused, pointing out the impossible scope of even attempting such a task.  The Governor was asked about that response in a press conference yesterday and it's obvious that his famously short temper had gotten the better of him again.

Huh?  The virus only spreads at night?
Gov. Newsom announces COVID curfew for California.  Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday announced a limited curfew designed to curtail the nighttime movements of more than 90% of Californians, the state's latest attempt to slow a rapid surge of COVID-19 cases.  The new rule largely mirrors the March stay-at-home order that was the nation's first to shut down much of the economy, except for one major detail:  It's only applicable at night.  Starting Saturday, the vast majority of Californians are asked to avoid gathering with other households from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.  Restaurants must close at 10, with the exception of takeout and delivery.  But grocery stores and other essential businesses can remain open, and Californians can pick up a carton of milk or walk the dog late at night with others in their households without violating the order.

New Study:  Wearing Masks Does Not Prevent Spread of COVID-19.  An accurate survey requires 2,000 participants.  This Danish study saw over 6,000 people participate.  Therefore, there's a good chance it is highly accurate.  That being said, that stupid mask you have to wear everywhere you go is decidedly useless.  Pass the word.

Danish study finds face masks provide limited protection to wearer.  A Danish study released on Wednesday found face masks provide the wearer with only limited protection against COVID-19 infection, but said this should not be used to argue against their widespread use to prevent people infecting others.  In the study, which was carried out in April and May when Danish authorities did not recommend wearing face masks, 6,024 adults were divided into two groups, one wearing face masks and one control group.

One Flu Out Of The Wuhan Nest.  Emails obtained by U.S. Right to Know show that a statement in The Lancet authored by 27 prominent public health scientists condemning "conspiracy theories suggesting that COVID-19 does not have a natural origin" was organized by employees of EcoHealth Alliance, a non-profit group that has received millions of dollars of U.S. taxpayer funding to genetically manipulate coronaviruses with scientists at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.  The emails obtained via public records requests show that EcoHealth Alliance President Peter Daszak drafted the Lancet statement, and that he intended it to "not be identifiable as coming from any one organization or person" but rather to be seen as "simply a letter from leading scientists". Daszak wrote that he wanted "to avoid the appearance of a political statement".

Greg Abbott Says No Further Lockdowns are Coming to Texas.  If Texans are worried about a second lockdown coming to the state, then they can rest easy as Governor Greg Abbott has promised that no new lockdown measures will be taken, even as cases in Texas rise.  "We are not going to have any more lockdowns in the state of Texas," Abbott said during a radio interview with Dallas's Mark Davis on Thursday [11/19/2020].  "Our focal point is gonna be working to heal those who have COVID," he added, "get them out of hospitals quickly, make sure they get back to their normal lives."  This focus on quickly treating COVID-19 positive patients and getting them back to their normal lives means certain medications being distributed to hospitals.  Abbott tweeted last Friday that bamlanivmab will be distributed across the states to medical facilities at no cost to patients.

Gavin Newsom's apology for flouting his mask and social distancing regs make him the most obvious liar since Joe Isuzu.  I am enjoying the squirming of Nancy Pelosi's nephew, California Governor Gavin Newsom, now that he has been exposed as completely disregarding the COVID guidelines he is trying to force 40 million Californians to follow.  The very same man who told us that when dining out we should put a mask on in-between bites, that we should have no more than 10 people (from no more than 3 households) at our outdoor Thanksgiving celebrations was spotted and photographed violating all of his strictures on the rest of us.  Even worse, the party was held at The French Laundry, one of the fanciest and most famous restaurants in the world.  And it was a 50th birthday party for one of his old friends, who just happens to be a lobbyist.  Also in attendance:  The CEO and chief lobbyist of the California Medical Association, who like Newsom obviously don't believe the mask and social distancing regulations are genuinely important.  You've probably seen the utterly phony "apology" he made to Californians at a press conference.  But take a good look at his smiles as he lies like a Persian rug.  He seems to think that the rubes, who are expected to give up their family gatherings at Thanksgiving, are so dumb that they will buy it.

Gavin Newsom Manufactures a COVID Crisis to Make California Miserable Again.  Fresh on the heels of the Sacramento Bee's criticism of Gavin Newsom's multi-family extravaganza at the famous French Laundry, a swanky $350-a-person-before-the-wine-is-ordered restaurant in Yountville, California, and after having his wrist slapped by the state Judiciary for exceeding his constitutional authority in issuing emergency lockdown orders, he's decided that he really doesn't care what the plebs of his state think or what the law says about his executive limitations.  He's locking the state down again.  The reason, as he and the media would have you believe, is that California is experiencing a surge in positive COVID-19 tests, having just crossed the one million mark in cases.  You're supposed to focus on that big, scary number and not Gavin Newsom's blatant hypocrisy or his unlawful executive overreach, and certainly not the many questions swirling about the looming prospect of the Trump legal team's potentially exposing massive election fraud, which could have an enormous impact on the future of our republic.

Rules For Us and Rules For Them.  Of all the quotable lines in George Orwell's Animal Farm, few resonate as much as this one:  "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." [...] That quotation has been referred to often in recent days after Gov. Gavin Newsom — fresh off of issuing a new set of edicts admonishing Californians to dine alone at home and curtail their Thanksgiving celebrations — was caught dining with his wife and 10 other friends at a birthday party for a prominent lobbyist at the French Laundry in Yountville.  It's bad enough for the governor to seemingly violate his own edicts, but to do so in Napa Valley, at one of the nation's toniest restaurants, certainly gave off the wrong vibe.

Don't [Bring California's Problems To] The Rest Of America.  California's political class is widely regarded as among the most corrupt, irresponsible, hypocritical, hard left and incompetent of any comparable group of state politicians in the country, which is saying a lot.  The troubles have been on full display this week.  A week after imposing sweeping new restaurant closures across much of the state and telling Californians not to gather in groups for Thanksgiving, California Gov. Gavin Newsom admitted on Monday that he attended a birthday party for an old friend at an ultra-swank Napa Valley restaurant, The French Laundry.  Never mind that the party for his buddy, himself a lobbyist, also included a bunch of medical industry lobbyists.  The photos show not only more people in attendance than allowed under state guidelines, neither the governor nor his wife were wearing masks.

Party-Poopers at CDC Say We Can't Drink, Sing, or Play Loud Music at Parties During Holidays.  The Centers for Disease Control have issued their guidelines for how to make merry during the holidays, and if it's any indication of how the epidemiologists, researchers, doctors, and bureaucrats let their hair down for Christmas, I'll take a pass.

PA gov announces new COVID rules, including wearing a mask in your house.  Pennsylvania is planning to take additional steps to address a sharp increase in coronavirus infections and hospitalizations, including requiring masks to be worn indoors with limited exceptions, officials said Tuesday [11/17/2020].  In addition, starting Friday, anyone who enters Pennsylvania must be tested at least 72 hours before arrival, and if they can or do not get a test, they must quarantine for 14 days.  The order does not apply to people who commute to neighboring states for work or health care, officials said, and will be largely self-enforced.

Prepping for More Lockdowns?  If You're in Florida or Texas, There's No Need.  Are you ready for more shutdowns?  Reports show virus numbers rising, and some governors are cracking down.  But if you're in America's two largest Republican hotbeds, you may not have to worry about singing the shelter-in-place blues.

Justice Alito's speech infuriated the Left, but it was entirely appropriate.  The liberal media meltdown about last week's speech by Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is silly and hypocritical.  The speech was not only acceptable but insightful and appropriate. [...] Alito's main point was that the coronavirus pandemic "has resulted in previously unimaginable restrictions on individual liberty."  Secondarily, he put that observation in the context of what already are "emerging trends in the assessment of individual rights," such that the First Amendment's free speech and religious liberty rights and the Second Amendment's right to bear arms seem threatened.  Despite how the media reacted, he was not making a value judgment there.  He was actually making a rather uncontroversial, almost inarguable observation.

Reminder:  Joe Biden has no authority until at least January 20, 2021.
COVID 1984: Joe Biden Announces His Absurd Thanksgiving Recommendations for Americans.  With mayors and governors issuing edicts about Thanksgiving celebrations that are unlikely to be followed, it's good to see that the presumptive president-elect is getting on with it, too.  During the question-and-answer portion of a speech delivered Monday in Delaware ostensibly focused on the economy, Joe Biden said he would "suggest five people, maximum 10 people" who have previously quarantined attend Thanksgiving celebrations so "that we're able to be together next Thanksgiving, next Christmas."

Science As God:  Tech Hearing And COVID Show Us Exactly Where Censorship Is Headed.  [Scroll down]  COVID-19 provided the first preview of the new alliance, where even doctors and scientists were censored for carefully — we once said "scientifically" — questioning the alarmists' narrative of the day.  At the same time, Democrats, corporate media, and even corrupt, foreign bodies like the World Health Organization have been permitted to push whatever information supports that day's goal post.  Completely rational appeals are met with absurdities like "the science is decided," as if constantly evolving experimentation in search of knowledge can be bottled into some oracle-like decree to support the mob's latest demand.  Rather than decided science, these decrees are mere hypotheses susceptible to support and opposition, but through the alliance of Democrats, corporate media, and Silicon Valley, they become unquestionable edicts ranging from No Business to Eternal Mask-Wearing to No Family For Thanksgiving.

Sorry Cuomo, we're doing Thanksgiving.  New York governor Andrew Cuomo took the last can of Who-hash by announcing a ban on both indoor and outdoor private gatherings larger than 10 people.  It is just the latest flash of insanity from our nation's leaders in trying to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, but it provoked an even larger backlash than usual because it attacks two sacred American institutions:  Thanksgiving and the family.  Cuomo's order is insulting to our intelligence and is disgustingly authoritarian.  COVID science suggests gathering outdoors is relatively safe (it's why so many states have offered restaurants money to winterize their patio dining), yet Cuomo tells families they cannot do it for Turkey Day.  What if you live in a rural area and have a large backyard that makes social distancing possible?  Cuomo's rule offers no such exceptions.  Nor are there exceptions if families are responsible and decided to self-quarantine for a period of time before meeting their relatives for the holidays.  There's something very eerie about the thought of government authorities going door to door and fining people for gathering with their own family members.  It shouldn't be surprising, though, from the same governor that has targeted the Orthodox Jewish community for continuing to hold religious services.

What if the virus that causes COVID was man-made?  The idea that SARS-CoV-2 — the virus which causes COVID-19 — could have man-made origins has been rejected by many scientists, dismissed by some as nothing more than a conspiracy theory.  A different view, however, has been put forward by Rossana Segreto of the University of Innsbruck in association with Yuri Deigin of Canadian genetics company Youthereum Genetics.  In a paper published on Wiley Online, they have again raised the possibility that SARS-CoV-2 could indeed be a man-made virus, and that its passage into the human population could be the result of a laboratory accident.  'The artificial creation of SARS-CoV-2 is not a baseless conspiracy theory that is to be condemned,' they write.

More Than 3 Million People [are] Believed [to be] Contagious With COVID-19.  A Columbia University epidemiologist and his colleagues estimate that 3.6 million Americans are infected with the coronavirus, which they are shedding to others.  Dr. Jeffrey Shaman, a professor of environmental health sciences at the university, created a COVID-19 projection model that shows a 34% week-to-week increase but does not include a potentially equal number of latent infections that are still incubating.  "It's bad; it's really, really bad," Shaman said, according to The Washington Post.  "We're running into Thanksgiving now and that's going to make it worse."  Researchers at the University of Washington also estimated Tuesday that 3.2 million people have been infected since Election Day, Nov. 3, according to their Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, or IHME.  These figures, according to the Post, are much higher than official case counts.

Dems Using COVID to Gain Power, Reset US to Tyranny.  Democrats used the pandemic as an excuse to change the manner of voting in 2020 — and to possibly steal the election.  Now, it's being used to fundamentally change our society, our very beliefs, and traditions.  As President Trump was winding up what was arguably the most successful 4-year presidential term in American history, Democratic politicians latched onto the COVID-19 crisis as an excuse to enact universal mail-in voting.  Although they didn't quite get what they wanted, a sufficient number of states promoted vote-by-mail that, when added to other irregularities, a significant number of voters lost confidence in the election results.  Now, they're focused on using the pandemic to finish what the previous administration promised — to fundamentally transform the United States, as well as to answer the call of the Senate minority leader — to change the world.

Pandemic Hoarding:  Shoppers Empty Shelves in Fear of Another COVID-19 Lockdown.  Some shoppers are stocking up on supplies and emptying shelves once again as fears of another coronavirus lockdown rise.  Several retailers in the Bay Area have posted signs warning customers of shortages of paper goods and limiting how much can be purchased.  A business professor said the aisles should not say bare for too long.

Are Pandemic Lockdowns A Dry Run For The 'Climate Crisis'?  Observant and cunning politicians have gone to school since March and are now likely convinced they can use the pretext of a climate emergency to control Americans and break the back of capitalism.  No, we're not likely to see the open-ended lockdowns we're enduring during the coronavirus outbreak.  Those would be too obvious.  Politicians can be sneaky sorts so we expect something more subtle and incremental.  For instance, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who clearly relishes having near absolute control over the most populous state in the country, could issue an executive order next summer which says, beginning in January 2022, all businesses except the few deemed essential must be closed every other Friday, and car travel on those days will be restricted solely to those who can demonstrate an absolute need to be on the roads.  Or Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, whose pandemic lockdown rules have been among the most prohibitive, pointless and imbecilic (and have stoked efforts to impeach her), might decide she has the authority to limit the automobile miles driven each month by Michiganders, ration fuel, and dictate thermostat settings in private homes.

The Right to Worship Even in a Pandemic.  New York's dictatorial governor, Andrew Cuomo, may have met his match.  The Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn is asking the Supreme Court of the United States to strike down Cuomo's Oct. 6 executive order shutting down "houses of worship" in areas of Brooklyn and Queens, while allowing "essential" businesses, like pet stores, groceries and big-box stores to stay open.  Cuomo insists he's battling COVID-19.  The Diocese says Cuomo's making a value judgment that going to Target is "essential" but taking communion isn't.  Truth is, for devout communicants who are already suffering social isolation during the pandemic, finding the church doors closed can be soul crushing.  Before Cuomo's executive order, churches were already following safety precautions including roping off every other pew, requiring masks and urging social distancing.  The executive order disregarded that and capped attendance at 10 people — even for large churches with a capacity of 1,200.  Sounds arbitrary.  Where's the science here?

Gavin Newsom's Thanksgiving hypocrisy:  Witness at 3-star Michelin restaurant says governor ate inside and NOT outdoors like he claims.  California governor Gavin Newsom dined indoors when he joined friends for a birthday dinner earlier this month, a witness has claimed, challenging the governor's account of the celebrations.  The witness, a woman who has not been identified, said she was eating at the French Laundry restaurant on the same night as Newsom — who was dining in a private room with 11 other people.  She said a sliding glass door to the room was initially left open, but was pulled across because the governor and his party were being 'very loud'.

New York Sheriffs Say They Refuse To Enforce Cuomo's Thanksgiving COVID-19 Restrictions.  It looks like New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's Thanksgiving restrictions are already dead in the water.  A number of sheriffs declared that they would not be enforcing the governor's private gathering limit on the holiday.  Fulton County Sheriff Richard Giardino published a Facebook post on Saturday indicating his refusal to enforce the 10-person cap on gatherings and parties in private residences.  "Frankly, I am not sure it could sustain a Constitutional challenge in Court for several reasons including your house is your castle," he wrote.  "And as a Sheriff with a law degree I couldn't in good faith attempt to defend it Court, so I won't."  Giardino also explained that his officers can't enter private homes unless they are invited, possess search warrants, or are dealing with an "emergency circumstance."

Feinstein, Who Pushed For Nationwide Mask Mandate, Seen Maskless In Public.  Democratic California Sen. Dianne Feinstein chatted with her aides maskless in the corridors of a government building before entering a Tuesday hearing, video showed.  The footage showed Feinstein standing outside a doorway in a building as she spoke with two men, both of whom were wearing masks.  Feinstein then walks through the doorway maskless as another masked man holds the door open for her, video from The Recount shows.

Seattle restaurateur:  WA state ignores data that doesn't support shutdowns.  Governor Inslee announced over the weekend a return to COVID lockdown requirements where restaurants and bars have to be closed for indoor dining, and can only do takeout, delivery, and, in some instances, outdoor dining.  [Video clip]

Texas Officials Keep State's Re-Opening Plans In Place, Despite Other States Moving To Harsher Measures.  Governor Abbott is not imposing new restrictions on Texas businesses or changing course on re-opening plans for the state despite cases of the coronavirus exceeding one million.  He isn't allowing county officials to issue stronger measures than are in place now, either.  The governor's approach tries to balance mitigating the latest wave of the coronavirus in the state while continuing to oversee the economic recovery in Texas.  Abbott is resisting calls to further limit gatherings, re-close nonessential businesses, or issue stricter mask requirements.  This doesn't mean the state is wide open, it's not.  Statewide restrictions and mandates are in place.

Have too many people over for Thanksgiving in Oregon go to jail, but no sweat if you riot.  Some lawmakers are criticizing Oregon's limits on group activities so close to the Thanksgiving holiday while proponents of the measures stay quiet on the nightly riots in Portland involving hundreds of people.  Gov. Kate Brown, a Democrat, ordered a two-week freeze that includes limiting indoor and outdoor gatherings to no more than six people from no more than two households in an effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus.  "For the last eight months I have been asking Oregonians to follow the letter and the spirit of the law and we have not chosen to engage law enforcement," Brown said Friday.  "At this point in time, unfortunately, we have no other option."

Newsom considering statewide curfew as he orders emergency business shutdowns.  Nearly three-quarters of California counties must now operate under the state's most stringent pandemic restrictions, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on Monday, and health officials are considering a statewide curfew as coronavirus cases surge more dramatically than they did during a summer spike.  Indoor dining, gyms and movie theaters, among other businesses, must either remain closed or shut down in 41 of the state's 58 counties.  The governor said he is "sounding the alarm" due to "the fastest increase California has seen" since the pandemic began.  Coronavirus cases have doubled in the last 10 days across the state, which hit the grim milestone of 1 million coronavirus cases last week.

While Newsom Locked California Down, Legislators Were Jet-Setting to Hawaii.  While California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) is busy locking down the state again because of a surge in Wuhan coronavirus cases, a number of legislators decided it was a good idea to head to Hawaii for the Independent Voter Project's annual conference.  According to the San Francisco Chronicle, 50 rooms were booked for 120 conference attendees, 20 of which are legislators from California, Texas and Washington State.  Not only did corporate sponsors, including Eli Lilly, AT&T, Walmart and Pepsi, pay for attendees' rooms but they're also forking over the dough for airline tickets as well.  Some take even more issue with the conference because attendees attend workshops in the morning and have the rest of the day to enjoy on their own, something that's seen as a "cozy relationship."

Coronavirus Ushers in an Unconstitutional Hell for America.  Thanks to the dreaded Covid-19, it's good-bye Thanksgiving and, soon enough, farewell Christmas.  And after that, who knows?  Having discovered that Americans have lost their spines and are now easily penned inside their homes like two-legged sheep, the petty potentates who rule — not govern, rule — far too many states and municipalities have concluded that we will never fight back, never resist, and never reject their latest whimsical edicts.  For proof, look no farther than California, where 41 of the state's 58 counties have just been returned to most-restricted status, and a statewide curfew is now being bruited in Sacramento. [...] There are vague promises that things might begin to open again next year, but don't hold your breath.  "Two weeks to slow the spread" and "fifteen days to flatten the curve" have long since morphed into a semi-permanent nanny state in which the very act of slowing and flattening ensures that the virus will go on indefinitely by guaranteeing a continuous stream of new "cases" with which to frighten the public and increase government power.

California lawmakers, lobbyists mingle on Maui at getaway, pandemic or no pandemic.  Although the coronavirus pandemic has largely grounded the global travel industry, it did not stop the annual political conference that brings California lawmakers to Hawaii for five days of policy discussions and schmoozing with corporate sponsors.  The conference, which has been hosted by the Independent Voter Project every November for more than a decade, is taking place this week at the Fairmont Kea Lani on Maui's southwest shore.  "Somebody has to be first to say, 'OK, we're going to do a group event safely,'" Dan Howle, chairman and executive director of the Independent Voter Project, said in a phone interview from Maui.

Houston Announces Plan to Randomly Knock on Doors to Collect Blood Samples to Better Understand COVID.  In the name of fighting COVID-19, Harris County (Texas's largest county) health officials announced a plan that includes randomly knocking on doors to collect blood samples.  "Teams of health workers wearing yellow vests will make their rounds from Nov. 15 through Dec. 15, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m." reports the Houston Chronicle.  Their plan, they say, is to better determine how many people have been infected with Coronavirus by conducting antibody tests. [...] Nothing about these numbers suggests justifying a door-to-door campaign.  Nothing.  1% fatality rate.  ONE PERCENT.  Particularly considering Houston is the fourth largest city in the country.

Unending public health crises will keep authoritarians busy forever.  Indiana University Health recently announced that it will bravely stand against racism, injustice, and inaction." [...] Apart from the fact that the only systemic racism in America today is that universally and incessantly directed at white people and their supposed (and assumedly "systemic") "privilege," treating racism of any form as a health crisis is just another way of allowing government to dictate every aspect of our lives.  "Health experts" and progressives are labeling more and more things as "public health crises" every day.  If the COVID-19 pandemic ever goes away, the "systemic racism public health crisis" can seamlessly take its place.  Rampant homelessness is waiting in the wings, too, as are depression, alcoholism, opioid abuse, and heart disease. [...] In light of these terrible "public health crises," lockdowns and mail-in voting will become as inescapable and eternal as death and taxes.

Justice Alito is right:  The pandemic brought an assault on our basic rights.  The usual mainstream-media suspects wasted no time in blasting as inappropriate Samuel Alito's address last week to the Federalist Society.  Which is another way of saying they didn't like what he had to say.  The Supreme Court justice warned that "religious liberty is fast becoming a disfavored right," that freedom of speech is also "becoming a second-tier constitutional right."  He was exactly right — and his wake-up call was urgently timely:  Democrats threaten to "reform" the high court by packing it with liberals, while the pandemic has imposed what Alito called a "stress test" on the Constitution, creating a new ranking order of fundamental rights.  Simply put:  Basic respect for some rights is dying.  The justice made clear that he wasn't "diminishing the severity of the virus' threat to public health," nor even "saying anything" about whether lockdown rules are "good public policy."  Even so, "the pandemic has resulted in previously unimaginable restrictions on individual liberty" — and this happened "by executive fiat, rather than legislation."

Lockdown fatigue.  [Scroll down]  Unfortunately, the U.S. enters this season with the public health community having squandered its credibility with the American public.  Early on, the American people were told that they had to go into lockdown for just a few weeks.  The purpose, everybody was told, was to "flatten the curve," so there wasn't a huge spike in cases at a given time that could collapse the medical system.  The problem was that even after the curve had been flattened, and the medical system was in no way in danger, officials for months lobbied against efforts to reopen activity.  "Flatten the curve" was replaced by some vague notion of returning to normal when things were "safe."  While the nation did not remain in perpetual lockdown as it had in March, large public gatherings have still been canceled.  People have done without typical rituals from Memorial Day to July 4 to Labor Day.  And most importantly, in much of the nation, schools remain closed, despite the detrimental impact on children and families and the scant evidence that the virus poses a danger to either students or teachers or that schools have been a source of community spread.

Illegitimate President.  [Scroll down]  The fact is only 6% of the 245,000 deaths were from Covid.  The other 94% died from something else, while they had Covid. [...] We know virtually no one under the age of 50 dies from this over-hyped flu, but government school teacher unions refuse to teach children in person.  Only 450 deaths between 5 and 24 years old is far less than the annual flu deaths in this age group. [...] In April the deaths per case was 7%.  Two months-ago the deaths per case was 2.1%.  Today the deaths per case is 0.8%.  For the math challenged, the death rate has plunged by 88% since April. [...] It's the flu bro!  And you have a 99.7% chance of not dying from this scary virus.  Does anyone really think it was a coincidence Fauci and Pfizer withheld the results of their vaccination trial until a few days after the election?  Do you think that news would have swayed some votes?  What I have realized is there are no coincidences.  This is all part of the plan.

The Main Threat From Covid Is Not the Disease.  The Covid Deception was used in the US to justify fraud-ridden "vote by mail" in order to steal the election from President Trump.  Covid's next use is to assault civil liberty.  If the Democrats' theft of the election stands, we are likely to get the national lockdown that Biden's Covid adviser favors.  Little doubt that mandatory vaccination will be sold as the way to get released from lockdown.  There have been large protests in Britain and most of Europe against the lockdowns and restrictions on civil liberties mandated in the name of public health.  British journalist Chris Sweeney says he no longer recognizes the Britain that he knew. [...] It does look like more control over people, their ability to work, and their movements is what we are headed for.  Soren Korsgaard sees the alleged Covid pandemic as another assault on civil liberty like the police state measures ushered in by 9/11.

Horowitz: Pro-mask study withdrawn after virus spread in counties analyzed by researchers.  Call it the divine rule of masks.  You shall not utter a negative word about them.  You shall never question their effectiveness, even when they've failed to work for six months.  You shall never be caught without the idol on your face — even on the face of your two-year-old, for that matter.  You shall worship the cloth until the bitter end.  It doesn't take a scientist to see that masks don't work.  The experience of unprecedented universal mask-wearing for months — even in places that had few COVID cases to begin with but then skyrocketed after mask use — demonstrates that the idea of wearing a mask to block a respiratory virus is sheer lunacy.  Yet one group of researchers tried to cherry-pick data from a selected counties to show that cases dropped after the mask mandate, without any regard for the fact that each wave only lasts for about 6-8 weeks in a given area before dissipating — regardless of what actions are taken by the local population.  Then it comes back a few times until everyone has been exposed to the virus.

Michigan governor gets tough, announces brand-new lockdown.  Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced new restrictions Sunday evening [11/15/2020] meant to combat the worsening coronavirus pandemic.  The restrictions, which begin Wednesday and extend through the end of November, include the closing of high schools, colleges, indoor dining, casinos and movie theaters, Whitmer said in a press conference Sunday.  Michigan has recorded record amounts of virus cases in the past week, raising the state's seven-day average of daily new cases to 6,200, resulting in spikes in hospitalizations and deaths across the state as well, the Detroit Free Press reported.

Lockdown for thee, but not for me:  California governor attends swanky dinner party.  Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom is now saying he made a mistake by attending a Nov. 6 birthday party in Napa that appears to have violated state COVID-19 rules.  The about-face came after aides initially defended the governor, who has imposed aggressive lockdowns around the state and recently castigated state residents for not following the rules.  As reported by the San Francisco Chronicle, Newsom and his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, went to a restaurant for a 50th birthday party for Jason Kinney, one of the governor's political advisers.

Britain has become a Covid-obsessed police state.  Yes, the pandemic is a serious situation and we should not be complacent about 48,000 people dying.  Precautions have to be taken.  But what is happening across the UK is nothing short of barbaric.  Our police have turned into robots, carrying out whatever they are asked to, no matter how cruel or wrong.  The government has forgotten what a wonderful population they are tasked with representing, and are treating us all like North Korea does dissenters.  They say you never really truly appreciate something until it's gone.  And I'm petrified that the courteous, courageous sprit that defines Britain is on the point of disappearing for good, crushed by the uncaring iron first of the Covid-obsessed authorities.

Anthony Fauci Declares That Christmas May Be Canceled Because He Needs to Control What You Do.  As I've written about for some months, it is very, very obvious that the reaction to the epidemic of Chinese Lung Aids sweeping the nation by "public health professionals," Democrats, and panicked and gutless Republicans has nothing to do with saving lives (check out the death rates of the most vulnerable citizens in New York, New Jersey, and Michigan, if you doubt me) and everything to do with creating a "public health" exception to the Constitution, in general, and to the First Amendment, in particular.  The various rules promulgated have never been shown to be particularly useful in combatting the spread of disease, and the people making the rules show daily, by their own actions, that they don't believe what they are saying.

Voters Had a Chance to Reject COVID Tyranny, Now a Price Will Be Paid.  As I wrote some days ago, Chicago and the state of Virginia are already falling back into regulations that are reminiscent of the late spring.  Stay at home orders, limits on gatherings, closed churches, etc. have become a staple in Democrat run areas, and it appears there will be no slowing of that.  Now, Michigan and New Jersey are following suit after feeling emboldened by the election.  [Tweet]  Meanwhile, America's favorite little tyrant is out there letting you know that you'll need to wear masks and socially distance even after a vaccine that is 95% effective.  Think about the numbers involved in that. [...] While a flu vaccine is typically only 40% effective, new vaccines for COVID have shown effectiveness rates of 95%.  That means that once the vaccine is deployed, COVID will be far less of a problem than the regular flu.  Yet, Fauci still wants you to wear ineffective masks and socially distance for years afterward.  For what?

Trump adviser clarifies 'rise up' tweet against Michigan COVID-19 orders.  Dr. Scott Atlas, a special adviser the novel coronavirus to President Trump, tweeted to his almost 90,000 followers on Sunday [11/15/2020] that citizens should rise up against new Michigan COVID-19 restrictions.  He tweeted Sunday night:  "The only way this stops is if people rise up.  You get what you accept. #FreedomMatters #StepUp"  [Tweet]  He later followed up with a tweet to state he didn't condone violence. [...] Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's administration on Sunday ordered high schools and colleges to stop in-person classes, closed restaurants to indoor dining and suspended organized sports — including the football playoffs — in a bid to curb the state's spiking coronavirus cases.  The restrictions will begin Wednesday and last three weeks.

The New 9/11: A Global Virus Pandemic.  [Scroll down]  The "terrorist laws" that were rolled out subsequently to 9/11 were widely regarded as extreme, unconstitutional, and infringing upon basic human rights; however, the laws being implemented in numerous countries, right now, make the 9/11 laws pale in comparison.  The citizens of Australia have been thoroughly disenfranchised.  In the state of Victoria a Stage 4 Lockdown has been imposed, which means you must wear masks outside the home (fine for not wearing a mask, about $1,000).  The citizens can only exercise outside the home for one hour a day, cannot travel more than 5 km, must go alone for shopping or medical purposes, and there is a curfew from 8 pm to 5 am.  Those who break the curfew are penalized with a fine of about $5000.  If this is not prison there has never been one. [...] By exploiting the coronavirus crisis, totalitarian laws were quickly proposed and enacted across the world with a high degree of coordination and with very little variability.  In several countries, it is now a crime to spread information contrary to the controlled explanations.

Why a Mandatory COVID Vaccine is Unconstitutional.  A mandatory COVID-19 vaccine might save lives, but that doesn't mean it would be constitutional.  Many say "we must do what the doctors say" without any thought for constitutional restrictions.  Neither medical nor constitutional factors may properly be analyzed in a vacuum.  When they're brought together, there is no question that a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination law would conflict violently with the U.S. Constitution. [...] The legal question of the constitutionality of mandatory vaccinations is thus dependent on the medical evidence.  How deadly is COVID-19?  COVID-19 occupies a relatively innocuous position on that spectrum of deadly scourges, and the rates of mortality are declining.  That is, the medical evidence falls far short of surmounting that legal standard of strict scrutiny required by the United States Constitution.

COVID-19 is distracting us from another medical emergency.  On sheer death toll alone, COVID-19 has killed more people this year than measles — approximately five times as many.  The total COVID victims recorded by WHO so far is 1.29 million.  Yet there are two very big differences.  Firstly, while COVID is mainly carrying off the old and already-sick, the vast majority of last year's 200,000 measles victims were previously healthy children.  Had they not been killed by the disease they would have had a good chance of living into their eighties themselves.  If you measure the loss of life in potential life-years lost — which would be a vastly more sensible way of doing it than the metric we are fed with daily in the case of COVID: people who have died within 28 days of testing positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus — there would be little question as to which is the biggest killer:  measles.  The second difference is that we already have a measles vaccine.

South Australia Hit by Growing Cluster of Covid-19 Cases.  South Australia state is battling a growing number of Covid-19 infections, with 17 cases now linked to a family cluster in the capital, Adelaide.  "It is a very, very dangerous situation we're in," state Premier Steven Marshall said Monday, urging residents to get tested if they had symptoms.  He said his government would consider tougher social-distancing restrictions if necessary, adding "we will do whatever it takes to get on top of this cluster."  He urged people to work from home if possible, wear masks when social distancing wasn't feasible and cancel unnecessary travel plans, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported.

The Editor says...
Seventeen people get sick, and for that they lock down the whole country?  Chances are pretty good that all 17 have already recovered.

Washington governor bans Thanksgiving gatherings, announces new COVID business restrictions.  Washington Gov. Jay Inslee will implement new sweeping restrictions on businesses and activities as the state reported over 2,000 cases a day over the weekend and average coronavirus cases in the state have doubled in the past two weeks. [...] According to Inslee's new order, bars and restaurants will no longer be allowed to offer indoor seating.  Outdoor seating will be allowed as long as proper safety protocols are followed, including tables being limited to no more than five people at a time.  Restaurants will still be able to offer their customers to go orders.  All in-store retail, including grocery stores, will be limited to 25% capacity, and lingering in seated areas is off-limits.  Religious services will also be limited to 25% indoor occupancy or no more than 200 people, with face coverings required at all times.  No choir, band, or ensemble shall perform during the service.

The Editor says...
Yep, I'm sure all that sounds perfectly reasonable, to a resident of Cuba or North Korea!  No more indoor seating at restaurants — just in time for chilly winter weather in the far northwest.  No more singing in church, by order of the commissar!  Oh, that's okay, nobody in Washington goes to church anyway.  And you must wear a mask at all times, to signal your sheepish compliance.  All those in favor of Washington, Oregon, and California seceding from the U.S. to form a new socialist country, say bon voyage!

Sources: New Orleans Saints face significant discipline over videos of locker room celebration.  The New Orleans Saints are facing significant discipline for not wearing masks during their postgame celebrations last Sunday night — as seen in videos they posted to social media, including the team's own Twitter account — after their victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, league sources told ESPN.  Video of Saints players and head coach Sean Payton dancing and celebrating their 38-3 victory over Tampa Bay trended last Sunday night.  Multiple players were clearly not wearing masks during the celebration in the locker room, which is a violation of the NFL's COVID-19 protocols — and the league noticed, according to sources.

Democrats Hold Big, Fancy Dinners While Telling America To Cancel Thanksgiving.  While leftist lawmakers and unelected bureaucrats are hard at work canceling Thanksgiving for Americans, congressional Democrats are holding big, fancy dinners on Capitol Hill to welcome new members ahead of the fall holiday.  "It's very spaced," though, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reportedly told NBC correspondent Leigh Ann Caldwell to justify the dinner.  The dinner comes several months after the Democratic leader was caught getting an illegal haircut in San Francisco without a mask.  The congressional dinners fly in the face of Democrats urging Americans to stay home instead of visiting relatives for the holidays as coronavirus cases increase across the United States.  California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who declared war on Thanksgiving with sweeping restrictions limiting household gatherings, was also caught attending dinner with "a dozen attendees from several different households" just last week, according to the Daily Beast.

COVID-19 Is The Agenda — Biden is Merely The Delivery Vehicle.  There is a COVID-19 virus; however, COVID is not more dangerous than all other flu-like viruses that impact the respiratory system.  COVID-19 is very manageable and doesn't carry a higher fatality rate.  Why is COVID-19 being disproportionately hyped as such a dangerous threat, when the reality of the statistical danger is much less than the intense level of hype?  That is the key question.  The answer is:  social changes under the guise of COVID-19 mitigation, are the entry point for the goals and aspirations of the political left on a national and global scale. [...] Joe Biden is an avatar; a political pawn; a cognitively declining guy who has no idea what is happening around him.  The people behind the Biden campaign, those in real control of what this is about, have not hidden their goals and aspirations.  These are not stupid people.  They are scheming, conniving, ever-planning, ever-manipulating & Machiavellian types within the political system; lusting for power, influence and affluence.  What they are planning to do is weaponize COVID-19 to attain ideological objectives.

California governor attended birthday party in defiance of state's rules against gatherings involving multiple households.  If I'm not mistaken, he was exempt from the state rules pursuant to the overarching national rule that liberals are entitled to ignore social distancing guidelines so long as it's for an Important Cause™.  Like holding mass demonstrations against police brutality.  Or smoking weed in a park with strangers to celebrate Trump losing. [...] I'd much prefer to believe that Newsom thinks he's above the law than that California's state guidance really does amount to "no gatherings of more than three households *unless* you're at a restaurant."  That's completely idiotic, as restaurants have been flagged by the CDC and other experts as the engines of COVID transmission this past spring.  The masks come off, people talk and laugh, aerosols are exchanged in close proximity.  It's good that Newsom's event was held outdoors, at least, but it's inexcusable to have a rule in which you're allowed to bring a small crowd together so long as you make sure to do it in one of the riskiest possible venues.

Celebrate Thanksgiving [notwithstanding the] COVID Crusaders.  [Scroll down]  "Encourage guests to avoid singing or shouting, especially indoors.  Keep music levels down so people don't have to shout or speak loudly to be heard."  That is not a passage from some dystopian novel or a command by a Marxist dictator or a parody in The Onion.  It's guidance posted on the Centers for Disease Control website courtesy of the United States government.  Think about that:  Some federal bureaucrat, probably a highly credentialed "expert" with a messianic complex, is telling 330 million Americans that they should not sing.  In their own homes.  So they don't spread a mostly harmless virus to other people.  And that's only one part of the lengthy decree detailing how, when, and where families should gather.  People who refuse to organize a preposterous "virtual" dinner and selfishly meet in person, the CDC admonishes, should "avoid direct contact, including handshakes and hugs, with others not from their household."  Masks should be worn at all times and relatives from different households should stay six feet apart.

Pfizer, Biden, and the Birth of 'Socialism With American Characteristics'.  One of the more disturbing events of our disturbing times was the revelation Pfizer CEO Dr. Albert Bourla informed the Biden campaign of the success of his company's COVID-19 vaccine before the current president and his administration.  In fact, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said he learned about the breakthrough from media reports — this although President Trump and his people gave significant support, financial and otherwise, via Operation Warp Speed, to Bourla's company, something the Pfizer CEO tried to deny.  Now that Trump has signed the executive order he promised making the vaccine free for all, the company stands to make a killing at taxpayer expense.  But Bourla himself had already done that.  He sold $5.6 million of shares on the day of the announcement when Pfizer stock rose 8 percent.  A watchdog group is calling on the Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate.

Virginia orders new COVID restrictions:  Social gathering sizes cut, mask mandate expanded as virus cases rise.  Virginia is ordering a sharp reduction in the number of people who can gather and is expanding its mask mandate to young children in response to the latest rises in new COVID-19 cases.  The order from Gov. Ralph Northam, which takes effect at midnight Sunday, says all public and private in-person gatherings must be limited to 25 individuals.  The current cap is 250.  This order applies to outdoor and indoor settings.  It does not, however, apply to restaurants which have their own distancing and seating restrictions, said Alena Yarmosky, Northam's press secretary.  All Virginians 5 and over must wear face coverings in indoor public spaces.  The current mandate, in effect since May 29, requires individuals aged 10 and over to wear face coverings.  The new order from Gov. Ralph Northam also says violations of state guidelines for retailers on masks, maintaining distances between customers and staff and enhanced cleaning will be prosecuted as class 1 misdemeanors, which subject offenders to up to 12 months in jail and a $2,500 fine.

Grocers, food brands prepare for the new wave of coronavirus, bring back purchase limits.  The latest wave of the coronavirus pandemic is bringing back purchase limits in grocery stores.  This unhappy development is due to the anticipation that the approaching cold and flu season will bring a third wave of the virus, as some parts of the country are beginning to experience.  Retailers are trying to avoid the kinds of empty shelves that shoppers saw during the initial outbreak of the pandemic.  In order to prevent hoarding or large purchases of specific items during a single shopping trip, many major retailers are limiting purchases.  Items like paper goods and frozen foods are being limited for the first time since the spring.  With people at home more because of lockdowns and social distancing measures, there is a renewed demand for items like paper towels, toilet paper, and frozen food for easy meals.  New shortages of some items like spices and butter and other staple ingredients in cooking are being reported.

Dr. Anthony Fauci Says It Is Time for Americans to Shut [...] up and Do What Their Betters Tell Them to Do.  Today [11/13/2020] in an interview, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases told an audience his solution for stopping the dread Chinese Lung AIDS epidemic dead in its tracks:  ["]I was talking with my UK colleagues who are saying the UK is similar to where we are now, because each of our countries have that independent spirit, I can understand that, but now is the time to do what you're told.["]  Bingo.  [Shut up] and do what you are told.  This is and has always been the agenda.  From the earliest day of this Wuhan pandemic, I've contended that the primary goal of all the "public health" types is not to save your life or keep you healthy because they [don't care] whether you live or die.  The real game is to create a "public health" carve-out to the First Amendment that gives unelected bureaucrats and elected officials the right to rule by fiat.  Early in this self-generated crisis, the first target was church attendance.  Now we're seeing the same nasty little fascists who locked down entire states, while sending patients still infected with Wuhan virus into nursing homes in what appears like a conscious effort to slaughter the elderly and infirm.

Fauci says U.S. has 'independent spirit,' but now is the time to 'do what you're told'.  Whitehouse [sic] coronavirus advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci thinks that Americans have an independent spirit, but that there are times when it's in our best interest to follow the rules.  Fauci, speaking on Thursday at Washington National Cathedral with other top health experts on the pandemic, noted that it is a bit unfair to compare the United States' coronavirus response with other countries.  The United States isn't an island with five million people that can easily be shut down, he notes.  So suppressing and controlling the virus is a lot more of a challenge.  "I was talking with my U.K. colleagues who are saying the U.K. is similar to where we are now, because each of our countries have that independent spirit," he said on stage.  "I can understand that, but now is the time to do what you're told."

Media incompetence alert!
The White House is a place with a well-known name.  "Whitehouse," as a single unhyphenated word, is not an adjective.

New Mexico Governor Issues Stay-At-Home Order, Closes Non-Essential Businesses.  Amid a spike in coronavirus cases in the state, Democrat New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lynn Lujan Grisham has issued a stay-at-home order and demanded nonessential businesses close for 14 days.  According to Grisham, a two-week shutdown, set to begin on November 16, will attempt to curb the spread of the virus in the state.  "We are in a life-or-death situation, and if we don't act right now, we cannot preserve the lives, we can't keep saving lives, and we will absolutely crush our current health care system and infrastructure," Grisham said.  Non-essential businesses include hair salons, gyms, and spas.  During the 14 day shutdown, indoor dining will also be suspended.  Restaurants in the state will be allowed to offer curbside pickup and delivery.

Officials implement new coronavirus restrictions as cases skyrocket, but face angry backlash.  With the coronavirus raging out of control and hospitals nearing capacity, state and local leaders are facing once more the gut-wrenching decision of whether to order shutdowns.  But many are finding the call much harder to make this time — eight months after cities and states last implemented weeks-long shutdowns — amid angry backlashes, deeply polarized constituents and dire economic consequences.

LA Times Blames Seven COVID Deaths On Small Maine Wedding That Victims Did Not Attend.  The Los Angeles Times featured a story on Thursday about a wedding in Maine, which the CDC believes "likely" caused a COVID-19 outbreak, to argue that people should reconsider their small holiday gatherings.  "If you want to know why public health officials are so nervous about how much worse the COVID-19 pandemic will get as the holiday season unfolds, consider what happened after a single, smallish wedding reception that took place this summer in rural Maine," the article states.  The LA Times claims that while only 55 people were actually at the reception, one guest reportedly spread the virus before the onset of their symptoms, causing 176 others to test positive within less than 40 days.  Seven died.

Deutsche Bank recommends 5% work-from-home tax after pandemic.  A major world bank proposed a 5% tax on anyone working from home after the COVID-19 pandemic ends.  Deutsche Bank researchers argued that people working from home enjoy economic privileges that do not extend to those forced to work in person.  "Remote workers are contributing less to the infrastructure of the economy whilst still receiving its benefits," analyst Luke Templeman wrote.  In its "What We Must Do To Rebuild" report, Deutsche Bank said such a tax was long overdue.  Researchers argued that remote workers don't make as many daily purchases as in-person workers, therefore they should contribute to the economy in some other way, namely taxation.

The Editor says...
If you can be taxed because you don't use roads, bridges, and other infrastructure, why are the users taxed, too?

Wisconsin Supreme Court tosses governor's stay-at-home order.  The Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down Gov. Tony Evers' coronavirus stay-at-home order Wednesday [11/11/2020], ruling that his administration overstepped its authority when it extended it for another month without consulting legislators.  The 4-3 ruling essentially reopens the state, lifting caps on the size of gatherings, allowing people to travel as they please and allowing shuttered businesses to reopen, including bars and restaurants.  The Tavern League of Wisconsin swiftly posted the news on its website, telling members, "You can OPEN IMMEDIATELY!"  The decision let stand language that had closed schools, however, and local governments can still impose their own health restrictions.  In Dane County, home to the capital of Madison, officials quickly imposed a mandate incorporating most of the statewide order.  City health officials in Milwaukee said a stay-at-home order they enacted in late March remains in effect.

Roman Catholic diocese seeks Supreme Court emergency relief over Cuomo coronavirus restrictions.  The Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn is turning to the Supreme Court over coronavirus restrictions that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo imposed that include limits on how many congregants can gather for religious services.  The emergency court filing, submitted Thursday [11/12/2020], compares the prohibitions houses of worship face with the relative freedom afforded to many businesses under an order that Cuomo issued in October, in which he designated color-coded zones with varying degrees of limitations.  "While this Executive Order effectively closes churches and other houses of worship, all businesses deemed 'essential' by the Governor — including everything from supermarkets to pet stores, huge hardware stores to brokers' offices — are permitted to remain open without any capacity limitations whatsoever, even in the most restrictive 'red' zones.  In 'orange' zones, even the vast majority of nonessential businesses, including department stores, can remain open without limitation — yet churches cannot," the filing said.

Biden [was] Informed Of Pfizer's Vaccine News Before Government Health Officials.  Former Vice President Joe Biden was informed of Pfizer's successful coronavirus vaccine news before the nation's incumbent chief health care administrator, Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar.  "I, as Secretary of Health and Human Services, learned about this from media reports on Monday morning," Azar said Wednesday [11/11/2020] during an interview with Washington D.C. radio station WMAL.  On Monday, the pharmaceutical giant announced that its coronavirus vaccine candidate showed to be 90 percent effective in large-scale clinical trials, putting the end of the pandemic that has claimed the lives of almost 250,000 Americans since March on the horizon.

We'd planned to live here our whole life.  Thanks to Democrat policies, we're moving.  I came to Minneapolis in 1972, lived in the western burbs until I married in 1991, and bought a house in a small but growing suburb northwest of town.  We have been very happy here.  We like the place and the people.  It was our intent to spend the rest of our days here.  Then the Chicoms sent us a little biological warfare experiment.  If anybody else had done that, we would have called it an act of war.  The Dems and the Beltway swamp-dwellers had tried everything in the book and not in any book to put down the administration of the duly elected president.  Nothing worked until we got that little bio-gift from the Chicoms.  The "free press" ran with it.  They ramped up the fear, counted the cases, counted the deaths, counted everything and made the counts look as bad as they could.  If a foreign country had done that, we would have considered it an act of war.  But since our own "free press" spread the fear, it was just news. [...] It was not much more of an epidemic than other bad flu strains of the past.  It mostly kills people who were about to die anyway.  But with help from the "free press," we have made this epidemic into a panic and thus a pandemic.

Projection: 2,000+ COVID Deaths Per Day In U.S. By December 2.  This comes from Trevor Bedford, who was one of the first scientists in the country back in February to claim via statistical analysis that "invisible" community spread of coronavirus had already begun in the U.S. Within a few weeks, the spread was no longer invisible.  His point today is straightforward.  It takes about three weeks for a severe case of COVID to proceed from the point of infection to death; thus, based on the case fatality rate so far, we can guesstimate how many deaths there'll be on a given date based on how many new cases there are on a given date three weeks earlier.

Lockdown Joe:  Biden Wants Everyone To Live In Their Basement.  Should Joe Biden survive the election legal challenges ahead, he will roll into the Oval Office fully intent on doing what Democrats do — rob Americans of their liberty.  We have every expectation he will try to shut down the country, not because the coronavirus makes it necessary but because the oxygen of the political left is controlling other people's lives.  The Bongino Report tells us that Biden's coronavirus adviser is proposing a lengthy national shutdown to mitigate the spread as positive test results climb during the early weeks of the North American flu season.  "Under a Biden presidency (God forbid) we'd return right back to a full lockdown," writes Matt Palumbo, "and this time they're not pretending it'll only last 15 days."

The New Normal: By Any Means Necessary.  [Scroll down]  Consider another example that emerged only this week:  how the public announcement of the blockbuster result from the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine test was delayed until after Election Day.  The best coronavirus strategy that any president could come up with has always been to be president when vaccines start rolling out.  Thus Trump long claimed that a vaccine would succeed real soon now, while Democrats downplayed that idea and spread fear, uncertainty, and doubt about vaccines.

California Businesses Sue Gov. Newsom Over Pandemic Lockdowns.  Two small businesses in central California are suing Gov. Gavin Newsom over his strict continuing lockdowns purportedly aimed at combating the COVID-19 pandemic.  The 109-page lawsuit, Ghost Golf Inc. v. Newsom, filed in Fresno County Superior Court by Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF), a public interest law firm based in Sacramento, claims the governor lacks the power to unilaterally shutter businesses.  "An emergency doesn't give the governor authority to decide fundamental policy for the State; only the legislature can make law, and that remains true even in a time of crisis," said PLF attorney Luke Wake, an attorney at Pacific Legal Foundation, which is representing a mini-golf venue and a restaurant free of charge.  "The governor can't just make up whatever rules he wants for as long as he wants to.  California's courts need to uphold the state's separation of powers."

Memo To Joe:  COVID Is Skyrocketing In States That Already Have Mask Mandates.  Ever since the mainstream media declared Joe Biden the winner of the 2020 election, he's been prattling on about how a nationwide mask mandate is vital to slowing the spread of the coronavirus.  But has anyone noticed that the disease is spreading like wildfire in states that already have mask mandates?  The day after he made up his "President Elect" signs, Biden declared that he would call on governors around the country to impose mask mandates.  One Biden official told NBC News that "If a governor declines, he'll go to the mayors in the state and ask them to lead.  In many states, there is the capacity of mayors to institute mandates."

New York Times report may prove Rand Paul correct in cross-immunity disagreement with Dr. Anthony Fauci during testimony.  Sen. Rand Paul seized on a New York Times report showing many school-aged children already have antibodies from infection with other coronaviruses associated with common colds that could block the new SARS-CoV-2 strain causing the pandemic.  During a testy Sept. 23 Senate hearing, Paul repeatedly questioned Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, on the role preexisting cross-reactive immunity could play in stopping the spread of COVID-19.  Paul cited countries in Asia that had seen slower spreads of the disease, noting that it's possible their success could be attributed to immunity built up through coronavirus strains present in widespread common colds in those countries.  Fauci insisted no evidence suggested that was the case, instead pointing to mask mandates and social distancing efforts as being solely responsible for slowing the spread.

Dr. Fauci Shows He's Just Another Political Hack.  To say that I'm not a fan of Dr. Anthony Fauci is an understatement.  His honeymoon period, at least in regards to me and many on the right, ran out long ago.  His near constant media appearances, his undermining of the current administration, and the simple fact that he's been wrong about so much have made him an easy person to dismiss.  That he does all that with a completely undeserved arrogance makes it all the worse.  Now, as if he's wanting to ensure that everyone knows he was always just a political hack, the good doctor has decided to completely change his tone and his pronouncements following an election that appears to have gone his way.  Remember, this is a guy who has already been promised a top job in the Biden administration.

Dr. Scott Atlas Attacks Fauci, Raising Tensions Among Task Force Members.  Dr. Scott Atlas, a member of the Trump administration's coronavirus task force, publicly criticized Dr. Anthony Fauci Tuesday night, calling him a "political animal" and accusing him of adjusting his outlook on the pandemic once Election Day had passed.  Atlas's remarks came on Fox News' "The Ingraham Angle" after host Laura Ingraham juxtaposed earlier comments that Fauci made about the timeline of a vaccine with more optimistic comments he made Tuesday after Pfizer announced that their vaccine was over 90% effective.  "There's all kinds of prognostications that were made — all negative, all to undermine what the reality of the timelines were, all to undermine the president," Atlas said.  "And I think, you know, once you do that sort of thing and make yourself a political animal, basically, you lose your credibility."

C'mon, man!  It's only six weeks — until it gets extended again and again.
Biden's Coronavirus Advisor Is Already Flirting With Another 4-6 Week Shutdown.  On the campaign trail, Joe Biden promised the American people that he wouldn't shut down the country again if he was elected President, but that has turned out to be another gigantic lie.  As President Trump continues his legal battle to overturn the fraudulent result of this election, Joe Biden's "transition team" is trying to sell the public on another devastating shutdown. [...] Looks like Joe Biden lied again, folks.  He said he wouldn't shut down the country again, yet his top "experts" are already advising to do just that.

Biden Covid advisor says U.S. lockdown of 4 to 6 weeks could control pandemic and revive economy.  Shutting down businesses and paying people for lost wages for four to six weeks could help keep the coronavirus pandemic in check and get the economy on track until a vaccine is approved and distributed, said Dr. Michael Osterholm, a coronavirus advisor to President-elect Joe Biden.  Osterholm, who serves as director of the Center of Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, said earlier this week that the country is headed toward "Covid hell."  Cases are rising as more people grow tired of wearing masks and social distancing, suffering from so-called "pandemic fatigue," he said Wednesday.  Colder weather is also driving people indoors, where the virus can spread more easily.  A nationwide lockdown would drive the number of new cases and hospitalizations down to manageable levels while the world awaits a vaccine, he told Yahoo Finance on Wednesday [11/11/2020].

People could be asked to prove they've had Covid vaccine to get into sports events and concerts.  Ticketmaster could allow venues to ask people to prove they've had the coronavirus vaccine to get into sports events and concerts.  Drug company Pfizer announced earlier this week that early data shows their vaccine is 90 percent effective raising hopes that venues will be able to start hosting events again in 2021.  Ticketmaster says it has been working on a post-pandemic plan that could use fans' phones to verify their vaccination status or confirm they have tested negative before an event.  The company says the plan would be based on their own ticket app, third party health information firms and vaccine distribution providers.

'Trump vaccine'-trashing Cuomo snubbed Azar, skipped 17 White House meetings.  He's been trashing the Trump administration's COVID-19 vaccine plan but New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo stopped taking part back in June — skipping more than a dozen White House meetings and snubbing a one-on-one with Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, The [New York] Post has learned.  Cuomo skipped out on 17 consecutive governor calls with the White House Coronavirus Task Force designed to brief state leaders on the vaccine development and rollout process, while calling them "circuses" and "a joke" in a recent interview, a White House source confirmed.  Cuomo on Monday blasted President Trump's vaccine plan as "flawed" amid news of a Pfizer vaccine breakthrough, going so far as to threaten to block its distribution in New York, saying, "We can't let this vaccination plan go forward the way that Trump and his administration is designing it."

Biden Advisors [are] Already Suggesting "America Last" Strategy On COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution.  Joe Biden's premature status as "president-elect" has caused him to already begin assembling advisors, specifically on how to handle COVID-19.  More ridiculous is that his advisors are already doing what Democrats do and are putting together a plan that effectively puts America as a secondary concern.  According to Fox News, oncologist Dr. Zeke Emanuel has suggested that America not "hoard" the vaccine and advised that we don't resort to — and he actually said this — "vaccine nationalism."  Emanuel has created a guideline called the "Fair Priority Model," which calls for a "fair international distribution of vaccine."  According to the model, this distribution of the vaccine to the globe occurs before Americans get to it.

Dr. Anthony Fauci's weird obsession with killing off bars and restaurants.  Eight months after Dr. Anthony Fauci began urging the public not to eat at restaurants or "congregate" at bars, the restaurant industry has lost $240 billion in revenue and 100,00 restaurants have closed permanently across the nation.  The devastation has also meant the loss of millions of jobs, according to the National Restaurant Association.  Yesterday [11/10/2020], in a CNBC interview, Dr. Fauci says he "feels badly" about restaurants losing business.  The infectious disease doctor also feels it's obligatory in a "neighborly" way to order takeout a few times a week from those eating places near his $1.8 million home in Northwest D.C.  No doubt the career bureaucrat heading up the National Institute's of Health's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has seen the numbers coming out of the National Restaurant Association.  As a key member of the White House's coronavirus task force, Dr. Fauci was the leading voice in setting individual states' public health policies for lockdowns, mask-wearing and social distancing.

The calls for unity are falling on deaf ears, at least for now.  As soon as the television networks began to call the election for Joe Biden on Saturday morning [11/7/2020], spontaneous dance parties began in the streets of major cities.  Just like that, the coronavirus was not on anyone's mind as joyful Biden voters smushed together like sardines in the street.  Social distancing and masks don't matter if the right people are ignoring such guidelines.

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla sold millions in stock on same day of vaccine reveal.  Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla cashed in on his company's coronavirus vaccine breakthrough.  The executive sold more than $5.5 million worth of Pfizer stock on Monday [11/9/2020] — the same day the drugmaker said its experimental COVID-19 shot was more than 90 percent effective, records show.  The groundbreaking development sent Pfizer's share price surging as high as $41.99 that day, its highest level in more than a year.  Bourla dumped more than 132,000 shares for $41.94 apiece, just five cents shy of that peak, according to a Tuesday securities filing.  Those shares amounted to more than 60 percent of Bourla's Pfizer stock holdings, the filing shows.  He still owns 78,273 shares directly plus another 3,539 that are held indirectly.

My Pfizer vaccine is 90% effective, but why weren't we told sooner?  Along with 40-some thousand other people around the world, I'm enrolled in the clinical trials for the Pfizer COVID vaccine.  All has gone well for me, and I've had no side effects.  Of course, I've followed closely the progress of the trials, and I occasionally receive updates from Pfizer.  Pfizer announced yesterday that its early review suggests that the vaccine is astonishingly effective — over 90%. The FDA has previously said that it will approve a safe vaccine that exceeds 50% efficacy.  These early Pfizer results are based on 94 COVID cases that have been identified in the tens of thousands of trial patients.  The company's 90% efficacy determination suggests that all or nearly all those cases occurred in the 50% of the patients who received the placebo, and hardly any or perhaps none at all occurred in the other 50% who received the actual vaccine.

New study reveals the locations at highest risk of spreading COVID-19.  Most COVID-19 cases in large US cities stem from visits to just a few types of places, a new study suggests.  Restaurants, gyms, hotels and houses of worship are among the 10 percent of locations that would appear to account for 80 percent of the infections, according to research published in the journal Nature on Tuesday [11/10/2020].  "These are places that are smaller, more crowded, and people dwell there longer," said study co-author and Stanford University Professor Jure Leskovec at a media briefing on the research, CNN reported.  Reducing the establishments' capacity to 20 percent, as opposed to shutting them down entirely, could curb transmissions by 80 percent, the prof said.

Biden Plans To Create An Army Of 100,000 'Culturally Competent' Contact Tracers.  As if lockdowns and forced mask mandates aren't enough, there is another chilling detail of the hellish authoritarian state that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will preside over if he is installed into the White House.  Get ready for the creation of an army of political enforcers who will be imbued with the power of the federal government to act as "contact tracers" to keep tabs on Americans under the pretense of fighting COVID. [...] Biden has already made it clear that he is going to threaten Republican governors in order to pressure them into lockdowns as well as forced mask mandates but the conscription of at least 100,000 "culturally competent" contact tracers is directly out of the playbooks of history's most oppressive totalitarian regimes.

Joe Biden's taking a bow for the COVID vaccine.  [Scroll down]  President Trump pointed out that Pfizer, which embraced a $2 billion incentive from the feds to buy vaccines, should they develop one, was part of the vast operation of Operation Warp Speed, cutting useless regulations and red tape on the government side, providing funds, ramping up industrial production, so that the private sector could find a way to destroy the coronavirus.  This was Trump's baby, Trump's unheralded response to COVID-19, the one thing he could do to stop an imported virus, and did.  Biden, though, was the one standing up there on the podium, offering his congratulations to Pfizer, and commanding everyone to go out and wear masks.  No thanks of course to President Trump.  The victory was all his and he was patting the participants on the back.

Effective COVID-19 Vaccine Miraculously Announced Days After Election.  Nobody could have predicted this... and by "nobody", we mean everybody of course.  As the political media and democrats simultaneously drop their COVID-19 social distancing concerns to celebrate Joe Biden in the streets and DNC venues, as anticipated an effective vaccine is announced.  Within the announcement Pfizer admits they stalled announcing the results of the study in October, preferring to wait until after the election.  Not only was COVID fear hyped and weaponized for maximum political narrative engineering value, but news of the COVID vaccine was withheld for the same intents.

Biden Calls for Unity After Blaming Trump for Killing Over 200,000 Americans.  If the president had done his job," said Joe Biden at a CNN town hall in Moosic, Pennsylvania, on September 17, "all the people would still be alive.  All the people.  I'm not making this up.  Just look at the data.  Look at the data."  Every person who died from COVID-19 was Donald Trump's fault.  So said Joe.  CNN was mum in response to this cruel charge, not daring to challenge this viciously handy campaign narrative weaponized by its candidate.  Biden's shot was shameless, so much so that even PolitiFact rushed to Trump's defense.  But that hardly stopped liberals.  Four days later, several Democrats gathered outside the White House hoisting a neon sign that glowed, "Trump lied, 200,000 died."  The sign was paid for by the Democrat National Committee.

Newly appointed Biden coronavirus task force member accused of profiting off of lockdowns he advocated for.  Presumptive President-elect Joe Biden named Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel to his coronavirus task force.  Emaunel has been accused of profiting off lockdowns he has advocated for earlier this year.  Emanuel serves as a consultant for COVID-19 RECoVERY Consulting, which works with businesses on reopening and operating during the coronavirus pandemic by navigating laws regarding the virus.  The work earned him the ire of former New York Times reporter Alex Berenson in September, who said Emanuel was profiting off the "lockdown that he's pushing."  "Zeke is doing good by doing well and doing well by doing good.  He has his own consulting firm where he consults with people for profit to make money from giving them recommendations about how to get around and get past the lockdown advice that he's pushing.  The lockdown that he's pushing," Berenson told Fox News's Tucker Carlson in September.

After Heated Testimony, Twin Falls Council Reverses Course, Abandons Mask Mandate.  The Twin Falls City Council abruptly reversed course Monday, voting to indefinitely table a discussion on a face mask mandate after nearly four hours of heated testimony.  The motion to table came from Councilperson Shawn Barigar, who had proposed the discussion on a face mask mandate a few weeks earlier.  It passed 6-1. Councilperson Craig Hawkins voted against the motion to abandon the face mask discussion.  This week's vote follows a motion that passed 5-2 last week, instructing city staff to draft a face mask ordinance, which they presented on Monday.  Councilmembers Barigar, Chris Reid, Ruth Pierce and Greg Lanting were in favor of moving forward with a mandate the week before, but voted to table the mandate on Monday.

The Editor says...
A few public hearings would bing the mask nonsense to a halt.

Joe Biden Coronavirus Adviser:  Vaccine Should Be Distributed Globally, Not to America First.  Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, who was named to Joe Biden's coronavirus advisory team on Monday, published a paper in September arguing that any coronavirus vaccine should be distributed globally according to something called the "Fair Priority Model."  Emanuel, the lead author on a paper in Science called "An ethical framework for global vaccine allocation," argued that there should be a "fair international distribution of vaccine," rather than what he and his co-authors call "vaccine nationalism."

Report: Yale professor to co-chair Biden's COVID task force.  A professor with the Yale School of Medicine will serve as a co-chair of President-elect Joe Biden's task force on the coronavirus, according to a report from CNN.  Marcella Nunez-Smith, associate professor of internal medicine, public health and management and founding director of the Equity Research and Innovation Center, will be among three co-chairs of the group, two sources reportedly told CNN.  Former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy and former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner David Kessler will also helm the group, CNN reported.

Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith:  Racial discrimination could be the key reason for high mortality rates of COVID-19 among African Americans.  The COVID-19 has claimed over 190, 000 American lives.  There is increasing evidence that African Americans are being disproportionately hit hard by the virus.  Black people continue to experience the highest actual COVID-19 mortality rates nationwide — more than twice as high as the rate for Whites.  The new CDC data — made available after The New York Times sued the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — reveals a clearer and more complete picture.

Reaction to the article above:
We're Saved!  Biden's COVID Science Team Will Have Intersectional Pokemon Points Galore.  In contrast, high COVID death rates among blacks couldn't possibly have anything to do with problems that blacks could actually do something about on their own initiative, like lose weight or like, as movie director Tyler Perry has suggested, get more Vitamin D during colder seasons.

Biden Buyer's remorse will hit with the next lockdown.  A former adviser to President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore said over the weekend that she would not have voted for President-Elect Joe Biden if she knew about the lockdowns.  Author Naomi Wolf wrote on Twitter that lockdowns are a "historically unprecedented" and "terrifying practice," Townhall reported on Monday [11/9/2020].  She said the elites love them.  [Tweets]  Joe Biden was sold as a moderate who would heal the divide and conquer the virus with compassion and science.  The campaign lied about his intentions on many issues, including COV.  We noted yesterday that Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel is on Biden's task force, and he is a staunch supporter of another 12-18 month lockdown.  He's not the only one on that task force who wants to lock us down again.

Fauci said Trump 'asking for trouble' with potential super spreader rallies — but [he is] silent on Biden celebrations.  Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top disease expert, warned last month that President Trump was "asking for trouble" by holding large rallies amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, but has so far been silent on celebrations being held nationwide over President-elect Joe Biden's projected win.  Fauci, 79, made the comments during an Oct. 12 interview on CNN to discuss Trump's decision to hold campaign rallies despite having recovered from COVID-19.  "We know that that is asking for trouble when you do that," Fauci told host Jake Tapper.  "We've that when you have situations of congregate settings where there are a lot of people without masks, the data speak for themselves."

Celebrating Biden Fans Decide Mass Gatherings For Political Causes Are Okay After All.  We knew from this summer's massive BLM demonstrations that liberals, especially younger liberals, don't mean what they say when they call Trump's rallies irresponsible amid a pandemic.  They're right to single him out for criticism since he's the president and should set an example, but at the end of the day they have no problem with throwing caution to the wind on COVID in the name of politics.  It's purely a question of whether the cause is righteous enough.  Trump holding a rally?  No way.  Protesting racism?  Most definitely.  Getting drunk in a crowded park to celebrate your guy winning the election?  Sure, why not.

The Church of COVID.  Pet Valu, the specialty retailer of pet food and supplies in the U.S., announced it was closing all of its 358 stores by year's end. [...] One reason Pet Valu suffered, while others boomed, is they embraced the cultural aspects of the panic.  Rather than begrudgingly going along with the nutty rules cooked up by local tyrants, Pet Valu made a point of being on the cutting edge of the Karen revolution from the start. [...] Their stores were festooned with signs telling the world that they cared about the safety of the customers and employees.  After all, "we're all in this together" and "it is about being safe" during these "uncertain times."  Employees were instructed to repeat these slogans to customers, who were allowed into the store one at a time.  Those employees operated behind barricades of Plexiglas.  It turns out that treating your customers like plague carriers is not the best way to draw people into the store.

Biden coronavirus adviser Dr. Zeke Emanuel once argued it's not worth living past 75.  Oncologist Dr. Zeke Emanuel, one of 10 advisory board members named to Democratic President-elect Joe Biden's coronavirus task force, argued in a 2014 essay that he doesn't want to live past 75.  Emanuel, 63, wrote that "by 75, creativity, originality and productivity are pretty much gone for the vast, vast majority of us" in his 2014 essay "Why I Hope to Die at 75."  Biden is 77.  "Since 1960, however, increases in longevity have been achieved mainly by extending the lives of people over 60.  Rather than saving more young people, we are stretching out old age," Emanuel wrote in the essay.

The Unholy Trinity:  The co-chairs of Biden's COVID-19 panel.  On Saturday [11/7/2020], in what it said was a "scoop," Axios reported that three medical experts have been chosen to co-chair what is anticipated to be Biden's twelve-member COVID-19 panel.  This will be an outside group of individuals not currently employed by the government.  Therefore, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, will not be joining — or leading — the Biden effort until after Biden — God forbid — is certified and legally declared the winner and takes office next Jan. 20.  These three individuals, the first ones to be tapped by Biden to play major roles in a critical area of public health and the country's life in general, should give conservatives and Trump-supporters reasons for major concern.  First on the list is Vivek Hallegere Murthy, M.D., who served as President Obama's last surgeon general.

Biden's task force includes doctor calling for 12-18 month lockdown.  Joe Biden has formed his COVID-19 response task force.  It reads like a whos-who of Trump critics and Obama officials and supporters.  The panel includes Dr. David Kessler, Dr. Vivek Murthy, the surgeon general under the Obama administration, and Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, an associate professor of internal medicine, public health and management at Yale University.  Also on the board:  Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, an architect of the Affordable Care Act and former special adviser for health policy during the Obama administration.  Emanuel recently called for another lockdown for 12-18 months.

As de Blasio Allows Tens Of Thousands To Protest In The Streets, He's Going After Single Mother Business Owners In Red Zones.  Last night, as thousands of New Yorkers partied in the streets, sheriffs entered this pottery shop, owned by a single mom of five.  With no income coming into her "red zone" business, the owner was harassed while preparing craft kits to sell for the upcoming holiday.  [Video clip]

Cuomo would rather see body count rise than COVID vaccine under Trump.  It's probably the lowest thing Gov. Andrew Cuomo has ever done, and that's saying something.  On Monday morning, when everyone else was celebrating the spectacular news that Pfizer's vaccine for COVID-19 looks 90 percent effective, Cuomo, as is typical, reverted to politics.  "We can't let this vaccine plan go forward the way Trump is planning it," Cuomo said.  "We need to fix it or stop it before it does damage."  First he let people die in nursing homes because of his ineptitude.  Now Cuomo wants the body count to keep climbing because God forbid President Trump oversees a vaccine effort.

Democrats Pack Streets Celebrating Biden.  Following legacy media announcements proclaiming Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden the winner of the 2020 election, thousands of people packed the streets of cities around the country to celebrate.  On Sunday [11/8/2020], Fox News meteorologist Janice Dean, whose husband tragically lost both his parents to COVID-19 while they were residents of assisted living facilities or nursing homes in New York, fired off a powerful Twitter thread denouncing authorities for prohibiting families from being together during holidays or while their relatives were dying, but permitting huge gatherings of people celebrate Biden's results.

Millions of elderly and vulnerable will get free Vitamin D from government as evidence grows that it helps in battle against Covid-19.  Millions of vulnerable people will be sent supplies of Vitamin D by the Government as evidence grows that it helps in the battle against Covid-19 infection.  Care-home residents and people shielding because they suffer from conditions such as cancer will be sent enough supplies of the vitamin to last four months, with the first packages due to arrive early next month.  The move comes after Health Secretary Matt Hancock decided he had to act fast in light of the emerging evidence about the benefits of Vitamin D.

Biden plans to meet with governors to initiate nationwide mask mandates.  Joe Biden has plans to implement nationwide mask mandates if elected president.  Over the weekend, he updated his 'day one' administration priorities.  This came after multiple mainstream media outlets declared him the winner of the election.  The Democrat's first stated goal would be to tackle the coronavirus pandemic.  His plans include expanding testing, distribution of personal protective equipment and petitioning all governors to issue mask mandates.  During a town hall event in October, Biden already admitted he wouldn't be able to order a sweeping mandate and would, instead, need to get all governors to agree.

Already Struggling Queens Business Owners Say Summonses, Fines Over COVID Guidelines Are 'Unfair'.  Business owners already struggling because of the coronavirus pandemic are getting hit again, this time with summonses and fines for not following COVID-19 guidelines.  Lorraine Gericke, manager of Best Tress Hair Salon, was told by a city inspector she was doing it all wrong, using a notebook to write down customers' temperatures and information for contact tracing.  "They're slapping us with a $1,000 fine, which is so unfair," she told CBS2's Dave Carlin.  The penalty is because they did not use city forms instead.  "We were not aware that we needed these," Gericke said.

Biden's first move as president-elect?  Mask mandate for all.  One of Joe Biden's first priorities as president-elect will be implementing mask mandates nationwide by working with governors.  The future 46th president, however, says if they refuse than he will go to mayors and county executives and get local masking requirements in place.  Fox News medical contributor Dr. Marc Siegel believes that while masks are "the icing on the physical distancing cake" and should be worn properly both indoors and outdoors, especially when people are too close together, a more punitive approach to mask wearing may have the opposite impact of what the administration intends.  "I think masks are quite useful, but they have a place and they're not the be all and end all," Siegel said.  "I'm worried that mandating this with fines and such may actually lead to more of a rebellion against it."

Biden names fired surgeon general as a head of his COVID-19 taskforce.  President-elect Joe Biden has already selected the heads of his coronavirus task force, including the surgeon general who was fired soon after President Trump took office.  Vivek Murthy, who was the nation's top doctor when Biden was vice president under President Barack Obama, will be named as one of the co-chairs along with former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner David Kessler, Biden's deputy campaign manager, Kate Bedingfield, told NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday [11/8/2020].

Sorry Joe Biden, COVID-19 Restrictions Are Over in Red States, So Please Stop the Drama.  Once the CDC told Americans they could leave quarantine to vote, they lost the lockdown argument.  And when we see Biden supporters by the thousands congregating, playing musical instruments, shouting, and singing, authorities will be hard-pressed to shove otherwise healthy adults back into their homes.  So, this message from self-declared President-elect Joe Biden is pretty confusing.  Especially if you live in Georgia, Florida, or any other state that has been open and operating for months:  [Tweet]

Official data is 'exaggerating' the risk of Covid and talk of a second wave is 'misleading', 500 academics tell Boris Johnson.  The doctors and scientists said the Government's response to the coronavirus pandemic has become 'disproportionate' and that mass testing has distorted the risk of the virus.  They said tests are likely to be producing high numbers of 'false positive' results and the Government must do more to put infection and death rates within the context of normal seasonal rates.  The letter criticised the Government's handling of coronavirus for 'causing more harm than good'.

'Is Covid over?' Suddenly Dems like Schumer lead 'Super Spreader' events, but it's ok for them?  Now that Democrat presidential nominee Joe Biden has been declared by the media to be the winner of the 2020 presidential election, it appears the coronavirus pandemic has magically disappeared — just as had been expected.  How so?  The same Democrat politicians and liberal media figures who spent months promoting authoritarian decrees pertaining to masks, large gatherings and lockdowns have seemingly jettisoned all of their prior concerns.

Pro-Biden crowds are okay.  Pro-Trump crowds are forbidden.
Brit Hume Asks a Brutal Question, as Video Emerges of Crowd Celebrating Biden Win.  For over six months, Americans have been told that they can't leave their homes except to patronize companies seen as providing "essential services," they can't open their business store fronts to customers, kids can't go trick-or-treating on Halloween, and most recently, they cannot gather with their family members to celebrate Thanksgiving.  And most definitely, people who support President Donald Trump can't rally in large groups, or it's a superspreader event for the China plague.  They've also been assured that so many people were afraid to leave their own homes to vote at the polls, mail-in voting needed to be provided to everyone possible across the country.  So, what's the explanation for what we're seeing taking place today, after a wide swath of the legacy media has projected Joe Biden as winning the White House Saturday?

Liberals Suddenly Don't Care About COVID; Celebrate "Victory" By Gathering And Shouting In Large Groups.  For months, Democrats have been using the Coronavirus to scare people to death.  They pushed lockdowns and "social distancing" at every turn.  The far-left Governor of CA wants to cancel Thanksgiving and "limit" loud talking and signing.  However, now that the left has prematurely crowned Biden as "President-elect", their fear has apparently evaporated!  Make no mistake, we still believe in President Trump's ability to fight this fraud election in court, but the networks are celebrating like it's certain.  In several big cities, liberals are celebrating in the streets without masks and SHOUTING to the skies in celebration!

Chicago COVID-19 : Coronavirus surging, worse than 1st peak in spring, health officials say.  Chicago COVID-19 cases are surging in a way the city has not ever seen before, in an outbreak that is worse than the first coronavirus peak in April and May.  Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady emphasized Thursday that all Chicagoans needed to immediately take steps to contain the spread of COVID-19, including wearing masks, avoiding gatherings, washing hands and staying home.

Massachusetts is calling for a curfew to curb rising COVID-19 infections.  Experts say it's probably not enough.  Starting Friday night [11/6/2020], Massachusetts residents will be breaking the law if they're out between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m., unless on the way to or from work or school.  The curfew is the latest effort to stem the growing COVID-19 outbreak in Massachusetts, which was hard-hit in the spring but enjoyed a low infection rate in the summer and early fall.  In the last week, the state, which had around 200 cases a day for most of the summer, has routinely seen daily caseloads above 1,200.  And it's likely to get worse instead of better.  Across the country, the story is much the same, with skyrocketing COVID-19 caseloads.

The Editor says...
What are the definitions of case and caseload?  It could be that more and more people test positive for the virus, because there's more widespread testing, but how many are sick enough to be hospitalized?  I suspect very few are.  Healthy people should not live under lockdowns and curfews just because a few others are sick.

Fed Chair Powell:  Wearing masks will help bring U.S. economy back.  Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell reiterated on Wednesday that the economic recovery is dependant on how the country handles the coronavirus pandemic.  "As we have emphasized throughout the pandemic, the outlook for the economy is extraordinarily uncertain, and will depend in large part on the success of efforts to keep the virus in check," Powell said.  "The recent rise in new COVID-19 cases both here in the United States and abroad is particularly concerning," he said during his press conference following the decision to keep interest rates at record lows.

Newsom's Latest COVID Regs [are] Nuttier Than a Holiday Fruitcake.  Not many Californians will be trekking over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's house for the holidays this year if Gov. Gavin Newsom has his way.  According to guidelines issued by his office, Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations in the Golden State can include members of no more than three households, including everyone present — hosts as well as guests.  Granny will obviously have to be a little more careful about which set of aunts, uncles, nieces, and nephews she invites this year.  And for those who do wrangle an invitation, forget about singing any Christmas carols — or music of any kind, for that matter.  Newsom's edict directs that:
  •   instrumental music will be allowed, but only if the musicians maintain at least a six-foot physical distance between themselves (and all musicians must be from one of the three households; playing of wind instruments is strongly discouraged);
  •   everyone singing or chanting should wear a face covering at all times;
  •   all those singing, shouting, chanting or dancing should maintain physical distancing beyond six feet; and,
  •   they are strongly encouraged to do so quietly (at or below the volume of a normal speaking voice).

How modern democracy has given rise to lockdown totalitarianism.  hen a British police commissioner publicly threatens to invade people's homes at Christmas to break up "illegal" family gatherings, you know that you have entered a new political landscape.  At least, new for modern liberal democracies.  That sort of edict would scarcely have been noticed in the totalitarian states of the old Soviet bloc, or in the distant darker periods of Western history.  [Paywall]

The CDC said it was O.K. for COVID patients to vote in person?  We are told that we can't gather together even if we haven't tested positive for Thanksgiving or Christmas.  That's what the CDC and other state bureaucracies told us.  The CDC carved out an exception for protestors and rioters.  We can't go to church if we have no symptoms and haven't tested positive, nor can we go to indoor dining or many other places[.]  For months we have been told that even if we are asymptomatic, we can be spreading the disease.  We close down businesses, sporting events, schools, and other things if so much as one person has tested positive.  But if you have tested positive CDC says you can still vote in person.  They have to stay home for fourteen days unless they go to vote?

Anthony Fauci should've been fired long ago.  President Donald Trump suggested to a Florida rally crowd he might fire Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, once Election Day has passed.  This is called an About Time moment.  Fauci should've been fired long ago.  Truth be told, Fauci never should have been granted the wide-scale, nationwide public platform at the White House in the first place.  He should've been kept behind scenes, as one of many COVID-19 advisers to the president.  He only should have been given the media platform when he was speaking a tightly controlled administration-penned message.  Why?  The guy's done nothing but push economic, social, education and political policy for months — all under the guise of giving good medical advice — all the while pretending he's stayed far and clear from policy and politics.  He's been a tool of the left.  And my, how the left has taken hold and used him to jab this president.

Restaurants must collect diners' data under latest Gretchen Whitmer order.  Meals at Michigan restaurants came with a new side dish Monday:  What's your name and phone number?  The latest order kicked in from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's health department.  Restaurants must be able to contact customers if there's a virus case linked to the business.  Michigan's coronavirus cases have risen significantly, setting a new daily high Saturday at 3,792, the health department said.

The Graphic Truth:  Two different pandemics - EU vs US.  Although the United States and the European Union have comparable population sizes, until recently the trajectories of their COVID-19 outbreaks have been vastly different.  The US just surpassed nine million total infections as most states are fighting a third wave of the coronavirus.  But now Europe is doing worse:  the continent is fighting a full-blown "second wave" that has seen its latest average infection and mortality rates surpass those of the US, and led France, Germany and the UK to implement fresh national lockdowns.

The Mainstream Media's COVID Cover-up Continues.  On October 5th, The Great Barrington Declaration (GBD) was released to the public, almost three full weeks before Biden's interview.  For those who've never heard of the GBD, you shouldn't feel left out.  Our mainstream media has barely covered its existence, and are in fact doing everything they can to ignore it.  Written by three renowned infectious disease epidemiologists — one each from Harvard, Stanford and Oxford — the GBD makes several recommendations that sound suspiciously similar to what Dr. Atlas has advocated for, and what President Trump has pitched to the American public.  Among other things, the document advises:
  •   "Those who are not vulnerable should immediately be allowed to resume life as normal."
  •   "Restaurants and other businesses should open."
  •   "Schools and universities should be open for in-person teaching."
The GBD advises that communities and countries strive for herd immunity.  The very mention of herd immunity has become verboten in many circles, with opponents such as Dr. Anthony Fauci of the CDC suggesting such an approach will kill people.  But the credibility of the GBD is not simply limited to the credentials of its three authors, though their résumés are thoroughly impressive.  To date, there have been over 11,000 medical and public health scientists from around the world that have also signed the declaration, along with another 32,000 medical practitioners.  But Joe Biden told 17 million Americans that "no serious doctor around the world" agrees with Dr. Atlas?  And Norah O'Donnell just went right along with the lie?  As Joe might say, "C'mon man."

Something Happened at Trump's Rally Last Night that Should Single-Handedly Win Him the Election.  Last night, Trump barnstormed the country, doing five rallies in a single day.  If that has ever happened before, at least in regards to the geographic breadth, it has to be exceptionally rare. [...] But it wasn't just that the rally happened that made it newsworthy.  One segment involving Dr. Anthony Fauci stood above the rest because it may be the most important action that this country could take over the next several months.  [Video clip]  I don't think you need me to translate that for you.  If Trump is re-elected, he essentially just indicated that Fauci is going to be shown the door and kicked off the COVID task force, and if the President weren't going to do anything else in his next four years, that would be enough to justify putting him back in the White House.

Trump suggests he may fire Fauci after the election.  President Trump suggested in Miami on Sunday that he might fire infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci after the election.  Chants of "fire Fauci" broke out about 25 minutes into Trump's fifth campaign rally of the day.  In response, Trump indicated he was open to the idea.  "Don't tell anybody, but let me wait till a little after the election," he said.  "I appreciate the advice."  Technically federal civil service regulations prevent a president from directly firing Fauci, but someone higher up his chain of command does have that ability, including the secretary of the Health and Human Services Department.

Candace Owens: 'If You Believe That Government Can Stop a Virus, Then You Are an Idiot'.  Conservative author, commentator, and political activist Candace Owens has had enough of Nancy Pelosi, Joe Biden, the Democrat Party, and the liberal media ragging on President Donald Trump for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.  If you're among those who continue to blame the president, declared Owens in a mini-tweet storm, you're an "idiot." [...] Owens has also had enough of dictatorial governors like Michigan's Gretchen Whitmer, Oregon's Kate Brown, California's Gavin Newsom, et al., and their draconian lockdowns and other heavy-handed edicts that fly in the face of studies, including continued bans on in-person education, as I reported in late October.

Biden stumbles through another campaign speech:  "America is dead because of COVID-19".  Joe Biden is running a campaign based on the principle that this presidential election is a referendum on President Trump's response to the coronavirus pandemic.  Team Biden has put all its eggs into one basket — Americans are dying because Trump has botched the response to the virus.  To hear Joe Biden speak, it is as though Trump has the power to flip a switch and the highly contagious, deadly virus will just magically disappear.  Instead, he's left America in the dark.

White House rips Fauci for praising Biden, trashing Scott Atlas.  The White House has lashed out at Dr. Anthony Fauci — after the nation's leading infectious disease expert praised Joe Biden and warned that the US is "in for a whole lot of hurt" from COVID-19 this fall and winter.  White House spokesman Judd Deere called Fauci's comments "unacceptable and breaking with all norms."  "Dr. Fauci has a duty to express concerns or push for a change in strategy, but he's not done that, instead choosing to criticize the President in the media and make his political leanings known by praising the President's opponent," Deere said in a statement late Saturday.  "Dr. Fauci knows that the risks today are dramatically lower than they were only a few months ago with mortality rates falling over 80 percent."  In the lengthy interview with the Washington Post on Friday, Fauci said the country is in for "a whole lot of hurt" this winter.

Michigan Governor:  Up To Six Months In Prison If Businesses Don't Surveil Customers For Contact Tracing.  The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) is requiring restaurants, barbershops, tattoo parlors, recreational facilities, and entertainment establishments to record the names, contact information, and visit times of all customers to "aid with contact tracing." Any establishment that does not comply is threatened with a maximum $200 fine and a misdemeanor charge punishable with up to six months in prison.  The order, announced Friday [10/30/2020], comes as Michigan's Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and her administration began backtracking on the state's latest reopening plan and tightening COVID-19 restrictions, citing rising hospitalizations and deaths.  Other states including New York have implemented similar contact tracing rules, requiring restaurants to record diners' information in the case of an outbreak.  In addition to scaling back the number of people at gatherings at indoor venues from 500 to 50, the order also advised against shouting and screaming at events, claiming that cheering could spread the virus in the air 30 times more than speaking.

Winnie the Flu from the Land of Wu.  Huh.  Well this is interesting.  The current ratio of deaths to cases seems to be the inverse of what it was last spring.  Closer now to what you'd see from — oh, I don't know, a normal flu season perhaps?  Seems maybe we've learned a thing or two since then about testing for and treating the Wuhan virus.  Either that and/or it's mutating into a somewhat less lethal strain.  Meanwhile, in the USA, President Trump's approach has been to clear bureaucratic paths (no mean task) for drug companies to develop, manufacture and distribute a vaccine post haste without sacrificing safety or efficacy.  I'd vote for that approach over more lockdowns every day of the week.

Eight hard questions for the Democrats.  [#2] Why do you want to prolong the damage of the Wuhan virus to our economy?  Why extend lockdowns with endless "states of emergency" in supposed respect for bogus "science" when Texas's, Florida's, and other states' experiences show that the economy-murdering lockdowns of businesses and schools do not lessen virus contagions over the long term — they just extend individual suffering through unemployment, economic suffering, isolation, and harm to children?

Summarizing Joe Biden.  The Biden plan to end the pandemic is basically to take credit for what Trump has already done.  Trump's "Operation Warp Speed" is about to produce (in record time) a vaccine that will immunize us against the virus.  Trump's other efforts — increased testing, providing personal protective equipment and such — is all that can be done.  All that Biden adds is to threaten economic shutdowns if the "experts" advise him to do that.

Boris Johnson announces four-week national Covid lockdown in England.  A second national lockdown will be imposed across England from midnight on Thursday with all nonessential shops, restaurants, pubs and leisure facilities to close for at least four weeks, Boris Johnson has said.  The prime minister dramatically escalated the country's response to the pandemic in a press conference on Saturday evening, telling the public "the time has come for further measures" which will remain in place until 2 December.  People have been told to "stay at home as much as possible", but will be allowed to leave their homes for education, medical appointments and to shop for essential goods.

For Biden:  Three Strikes... You're Out!  [Scroll down]  Strike Three — which should be the one that totally disqualifies Biden from consideration — is his extremist attitude toward the COVID virus and his promise to continue the shutdown with its inevitable disastrous economic consequences and the emotional/mental health toll it is taking on the nation's citizens.  We've seen the economy bounce back from the partial reopening of businesses and greater mobility for the vast majority of citizens who are not especially vulnerable to the COVID virus.  We've learned how to deal with the virus and those who needs extra precautions.  We've increased our testing capacity and have achieved widespread distribution of needed equipment and medicines thanks to the Trump administration effectively working to mobilize private industry.  Although there are still questions about where and how people get the virus, we now know a lot more about how best to treat it.  The Trump protocols have worked; now, the number of people who recover far exceeds the number of people who die from it.  Dr. Ben Carson has cited research showing about 98% of people who get the virus recover from it and the survival rate of those under 50 exceeds 99%.

Bar Talk.  [Scroll down]  I cannot help but notice that the risk of death from COVID by age resembles very closely the risk of death by age from all causes:  That is to say, at a low age the risk is negligible, rising slightly and then very rapidly after the age of 65 — though there is no age at which the risk is zero.  In the age group to which I have the honor of belonging (though membership of it is not entirely voluntary), which is said to be at high risk of dying of COVID, though only a sixteenth as high as that of people over the age of 90, I noticed that in Britain, which had one of the highest levels of death from the disease, the chance of someone of my age dying of it during the height of the epidemic was 1 in 807.  The normal risk, that is to say without COVID, would have been about 1 in 1,200.  This is not the Black Death, then, though I suppose the death rate might have been much higher had it not been for the government measures taken.

Travelers to New York must quarantine for three days, then get coronavirus test.  Most people arriving in New York state must quarantine for at least three full days before taking a coronavirus test, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced on Saturday as he overhauled one of the strictest quarantine regimes for travelers in the United States.  If that test comes back negative, the traveler can leave quarantine.

The Next Populist Revolt.  This week, when Italian authorities reimposed curfews, restrictions on business, and bans on communal gatherings, violent protests broke out in Turin, Milan, and Naples.  Consider it a taste of the next populist revolt.  Lockdowns remain the preferred tool of governments whose public health authorities decide the coronavirus is out of control.  In September, Israel shut down for a month during the Jewish holidays to reduce its coronavirus infection rate.  In October, New York City targeted certain neighborhoods.  In recent days, Newark ordered "nonessential" businesses to close at 8 p.m., a county judge imposed a curfew on El Paso, and Massachusetts has gone back-and-forth on whether schools should be open or closed.  This response has placed the public under extraordinary strain. [...] Governments resort to shutdowns to impose discipline on an unruly population.  But shutdowns do not solve the problem.  They turn public health crises into economic and social ones.  After a while, the price of shutdowns grows too high.  The government reopens the economy.  The virus returns.  Before long, the cycle repeats.

Police to Raid Homes, Break up Christmas Dinner to Enforce Lockdown Rules; Riots Expected.  It's that time of the year: tinsel on trees, chestnuts roasting on an open fire, sleigh bells ringing — and the cops coming through the door and breaking up Christmas dinner.  No, this isn't neo-fascist China, but Britain, where police chiefs warn that this can be the consequence if people violate lockdown rules this Yuletide season.  This notice comes on the heels of the South Wales Police breaking up a church service in Cardiff, a move that inspired a comparison with pseudo-communist China.

Keith Ellison Wields Power to Restrict Freedom of Assembly of Political Opponents at Minnesota Trump Rally.  The venue for President Donald Trump's political rally in Minnesota scheduled for Friday will be restricted to only 250 people after Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison put pressure on the business owners of multiple locations.  The rally was initially planned at the Rochester airport, but Ellison's office demanded a "COVID preparedness plan" from officials from the City of Rochester, Olmsted County, and the Rochester airport, as well as the Republican National Committee to ensure the event was safe.

President Trump Blasts Minnesota Governor and AG for Blocking Rally and Undermining First Amendment.  President Trump blasted Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and State AG Keith Ellison for their transparent political scheme to block his campaign event.  The same state officials who allowed Black Lives Matter to organize and march without restrictions under the guise of political protest, are the same officials now limiting attendance to 250 people at Trump's rally in the state.  Meanwhile just outside the venue thousands of supporters defied the arbitrary state rule and gathered together near the entrance.  So President Trump stopped to talk to the media, blast the state officials, and then went to talk to the assembled crowd that could not attend the rally.  [Three video clips]

New Jersey's Gov. Murphy won't rule out another coronavirus lockdown as cases spike.  New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said Friday that "all options are on the table," including another lockdown, amid a spike in coronavirus cases in the state, according to reports.  "If we have to shut the whole place down we will," Murphy told Yahoo Finance.  "We were one of the first, if not the first state to do that in March.  I just hope we can avoid it again this time."  The governor had warned Thursday that a second wave of the virus has hit the state as cases and hospitalizations surged, according to NJ.com.  Murphy said the state hadn't seen daily cases numbers over 2,000 since May and urged residents to wear masks and social distance.

I won't stop fighting until these ruinous Covid lockdowns are thrown out by the courts.  Today [10/30/2020] my legal case against lockdown is being heard in the Court of Appeal.  This brings the UK's long and tortuous battle, with a virus, to a pivotal point.  Will the British public see its embarrassment of a Government held to account for its failures?  Will the meaning and significance of individual liberty be reasserted?  Or will the Court stand by and let our leaders win, condemning 66 million Brits to a cancelled Christmas in the process?  The significance of this legal case has been steadily growing since we launched proceedings back in March.  Once seen as outsiders, we have watched the tide of public opinion turn in our favour.  As the deleterious impacts of lockdown have so clearly begun to outweigh the fabled benefits, we now have the voices of thousands behind us.  This is no surprise.  No member of the public will have missed the stories: of the price of untreated illnesses, of broken mental health, of the poverty, desolation and heartbreak which the downfall of our economy will cause.

These 12 Graphs Show Mask Mandates Do Nothing To Stop COVID.  Masks are not merely a small inconvenience.  They have inadvertently become a key impediment to returning to a more normal life, a desirable goal for those seeking to twist the pandemic for political and electoral purposes.  Masks dehumanize us, and ironically serve as a constant reminder that we should be afraid.  People can now be spotted wearing masks while camping by themselves in the woods or on a solo sailing trip.  They have become a cruel device on young children everywhere, kindergarten students covered by masks and isolated by Plexiglas, struggling to understand the social expressions of their peers.  Face coverings are causing real harm to the American psyche, provide little to no medical benefit, and distract us from more important health policy issues.  The mask dogma had many cracks in it from the start.  For one, the U.S. surgeon general and the Centers for Disease Control both previously said that "masks are NOT effective in preventing [the] general public from catching coronavirus," so they were already starting with a credibility deficit.

Tens of thousands of heart attacks caused by preexisting conditions are being counted as COVID-19 deaths:  CDC.  As a general rule, if you're going to pay someone extra to tell a "little white lie," they'll do it.  After all, what difference does it make how someone died?  That seems to be the case with many hospitals across the nation as they're counting pretty much any death as a COVID-19 death.  Why?  Because they government will pay them more for it.

CDC Reveals Hospitals Counted Heart Attacks as COVID-19 Deaths.  The latest numbers from the CDC reveal hospitals have been counting patients who died from serious preexisting conditions as COVID-19 deaths.  One America's Pearson Sharp has more, as the CDC counts over 51-thousand patients who actually died from heart attacks, as opposed to the coronavirus.  [Video clip]

Study finds 20 percent of grocery workers had COVID-19, most without symptoms.  Grocery store workers — particularly those who interact with customers — are at serious risk of infection by the coronavirus, according to a new study in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine.  These workers likely became a "significant transmission source" for the illness without even knowing it because most in the study were asymptomatic, CNN reported.  The study found that 20 percent of 104 grocery store workers tested at a Boston store in May had positive nasal swab results, according to the network.  The analysis is the first to demonstrate the significant asymptomatic infection rate, exposure risks and psychological impact such workers have felt during the viral outbreak.

Polling places in Iowa are closing due to COVID-19, which could affect close races.  Voters in Iowa are facing shuttered polling locations less than a week away from Election Day, largely due to the various outbreaks of COVID-19 that have gripped the state.  Iowa is one of the several Midwest states experiencing record upticks in new coronavirus infections, with 1,133 Iowans testing positive for the virus yesterday [10/28/2020].  Two days prior, Iowa set a record for the number of new cases, reporting 2,691 on Oct. 26.  In total, more than 121,000 people in Iowa tested positive for the coronavirus.

The Editor says...
The right to vote must not be suspended due to irrational fear over positive test results.  Let me vote at my own risk!  I am not sick, and I am not afraid.

Sally the Salad Robot is replacing the traditional salad bar at Piggly Wiggly.  Salad bars have been mostly shut down since the coronavirus pandemic arrived in Wisconsin.  Fox Bros.  Piggly Wiggly is bringing back its salad bar with Sally the Salad Robot for a contactless experience.  The Piggly Wiggly in Oconomowoc will start using Sally the Salad Robot to prepare individualized salads for customers Friday, the grocery store company said in a statement Thursday [10/29/2020].  Fox Bros.  Piggly Wiggly is an employee-owned grocery chain with nine locations in Milwaukee's far northern and western suburbs.

The Editor says...
The Piggly Wiggly mascot looks a whole lot like Porky Pig.  I wonder if there has been any legal friction about this trademark issue.

Trump Team Tells Off Mitchell:  Biden & Media 'Colluded' to Exploit COVID.  Appearing on MSNBC Thursday afternoon [10/29/2020], Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh told off anchor Andrea Mitchell as he exposed how the Biden campaign and the leftist media "colluded" to exploit the coronavirus pandemic and turn it into a "political weapon" against the President.  To Mitchell's utter contempt, Murtaugh also called out Biden's "anti-vaxxer rhetoric" and the press sowing doubt about COVID-19 treatments.  "We are inches away from a vaccine in record time.  Meanwhile, you have Joe Biden on the other side using this anti-vaxxer rhetoric, scaring people away from taking the vaccine, and then the media happily trumpeting the polls that say that people are afraid of the vaccine," Murtaugh hammered.  He emphasized how irresponsible the rhetoric was:  "Joe Biden, a candidate for President, is warning people that it could be dangerous, that's reckless."

Paris police check shoppers are not flouting new COVID lockdown laws after tough restrictions came in at midnight, sparking exodus to the country.  Police in Paris have begun carrying out checks on shoppers to ensure they are not flouting France's new national lockdown laws which came into effect at midnight.  Pictures from the French capital showed officers patrolling the mostly empty streets around some of Paris' most recognisable attractions and checking on the few people who had chosen to venture outside.  The pictures from today offered a stark contrast to just a week ago when people could still freely move around the city during the day while bars and restaurants serving food remained open before the 9pm curfew.

The Covid-19 shutdown is on the ballot!
If Biden Wins, Dr. Fauci Will Lock Us Down for 111 Days.  [Scroll down]  The mortality rate for COVID-19 is plummeting.  The death rate is way down.  There isn't any reason for this panic.  There isn't any reason for this.  One-hundred-and-eleven days of lockdown?  We've been there, done that.  We destroyed livelihoods.  We blew up people's dreams.  We still have parts of cities and towns boarded up.  I don't even know if Shepard's right here.  I think it might have been New Zealand that shut down for 111 days.  Regardless where it was, it isn't necessary, and they're gonna face a spike.  If you shut down for 111 days, you're not getting rid of the virus.  You are not destroying the virus.  You're not wiping it out.  When you reopen after 111 days, you're gonna have a spike.  You're gonna have a COVID spike.  All they're doing is delaying the inevitable.

Will anti-lockdown sentiments spur the next populist revolt?  As the nation frets over the possibility of the "dark winter" that Joe Biden recently predicted, we're already seeing signs of renewed authoritarian lockdowns in many parts of the nation.  Curfews are being put back in place in a number of cities.  Orders forbidding gatherings of more than a certain number of people have accompanied them.  Far too many schools are still either closed or holding "virtual classes" that have been failing spectacularly.  There have already been signs of growing resentment toward yet another round of crippling restrictions on the activities of private citizens and businesses, along with the mounting damage these policies have done to what was one of the most thriving economies our nation has experienced prior to the arrival of the novel coronavirus.  So how much of this will people stand for before enough is declared to be enough?

Oregon's Public Health Authority Announces Covid Deaths While Dressed as a Clown.  In what has to be one of the most bizarre and mind-warping decisions of all time, Claire Poche, a senior official of the Oregon Health Authority gave a Covid update today while wearing a complete clown costume.  The makeup, the red tie, the polka dots.  The whole thing.  It's hard to even express how awkward this is.  [Video clip]

Bar Owners Vow to Defy Illinois COVID-19 Lockdown Order.  Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker has issued an Order re-implementing restrictions on bars and restaurants in southwestern Illinois ("Region 4") due to a rising COVID positivity rate.  (Three consecutive days of positive test rates above 8%.)  The Order, which went into effect yesterday, limits them to outdoor service only and imposes an 11:00 pm curfew.  Many of these establishments were only recently permitted to reopen and, heading into late fall and cooler temperatures, will likely not be able to ride out another lockdown.  Some have stated they don't intend to obey the Order.

The Editor says...
This is a lockdown based on "positive test results," not hospitalizations or deaths.  The state could conduct a massive series of tests for every living person, and come up with a great number of "positive test results," but that wouldn't necessarily indicate a real problem:  Almost certainly not a problem that would justify restrictions on small businesses.

Death Rates Have Dropped for Seriously Ill Covid Patients.  The coronavirus struck the United States earlier this year with devastating force.  In April, it killed more than 10,000 people in New York City.  By early May, nearly 50,000 nursing home residents and their caregivers across the country had died.  But as the virus continued its rampage over the summer and fall, infecting nearly 8.5 million Americans, survival rates, even of seriously ill patients, appeared to be improving.  At one New York hospital system where 30 percent of coronavirus patients died in March, the death rate had dropped to 3 percent by the end of June.

Do Masks Work?  I encountered a Washington Post figure making its way through social media, suggesting that not wearing masks is conclusively the reason for COVID spread:  [Graph] [...] There is no correlation whatsoever.  The "trend line" I plotted has a 0.02 correlation (1.0 means full correlation).  When you take the outliers out (WY, RI, MS, DC, SD), the correlation drops to 0.01.  In fact, some of the states with the worst RTs right now (NJ, CT, MA, RI) have the highest "mask wearing" percentages!  Furthermore, the graph is titled "Fewer covid-19 symptoms reported in states with higher rates of mask use" — which is completely wrong!  The data do not graph symptoms, only the loose perceptions of individuals who "know" someone, who were surveyed.  The fact that this passes off as "journalism" or "science" is incredibly pathetic — and it is being "liked" on social media by people who should know better.  The reasons for this are the obvious political implications.

A New Round of COVID-19 Restrictions Drives Illinois Eateries to Rebellion.  With their survival on the line amidst a new round of government restrictions targeted at slowing the spread of COVID-19, many Illinois restaurants and bars are refusing to comply.  It's the sort of defiance that erupted during the early days of the pandemic, but more widespread and better organized by business owners who say they have nothing to lose, since their only other option is disaster.  This is a rebellion that could have been foreseen by anybody who understands how people necessarily respond when their backs are against the wall.  In fact, it was predicted, repeatedly.  That needs to be taken into account by government officials already imposing new lockdowns and poised to inflict yet more pain on a public growing increasingly unwilling to submit.  "Unless the state of Illinois takes a more reasonable approach to mitigation, thousands of restaurants are at risk of permanent closure," the Illinois Restaurant Association (IRA) warned last week.

Study finds over 80 percent of COVID-19 patients have vitamin D deficiency.  Over 80 percent of 200 COVID-19 patients in a hospital in Spain have vitamin D deficiency, according to a new study published in the Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.  Vitamin D is a hormone the kidneys produce that controls blood calcium concentration and impacts the immune system.  Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to a variety of health concerns, although research is still underway into why the hormone impacts other systems of the body.  Many studies point to the beneficial effect of vitamin D on the immune system, especially regarding protection against infections.

Hours after Lightfoot announces new COVID-19 restrictions, Birx warns during Chicago visit that closing public spaces won't be enough.  Just hours after Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced new restrictions on businesses in response to rising COVID-19 cases, White House coronavirus response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx cautioned that closing public spaces won't be enough to stop the illness's spread.  Birx said it's possible some of the recent spread is happening in people's homes, during family gatherings, as the weather gets colder.

Parents sue Sarasota County School Board over requirement that students wear masks.  A group of Sarasota County parents has sued the Sarasota County School Board, arguing that its policy requiring children to wear masks while at school denies them their right to an equal education.  The 59-page lawsuit was filed Oct. 21 in Sarasota County by Amy Cook and Gustavo Collazo, as well as Nicholas Eastman and Catherine Gonzales.  The School Board is named as the defendant.  Several Sarasota County School Board members did not immediately return requests for comment on Monday [10/26/2020].  Board member Caroline Zucker said the board had not received a copy of the lawsuit as of Monday afternoon.

There's a Reason Why Trump Keeps Telling Voters He's Immune to COVID-19.  Early in the final debate, President Trump made a comment, almost an aside, about his personal battle with COVID-19 that the media have largely ignored but that could have considerable impact on the election results.  "I got better very fast," Trump said, "and now they say I'm immune.  Whether it's four months or a lifetime, nobody's been able to say that, but I'm immune."  The next night at a rally at The Villages, a Florida retirement community, Trump reiterated his claim that his medical team has declared him immune to COVID.  From that day on, Trump has repeated this message to rally audiences in North Carolina, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Nebraska and to the millions of voters watching the rallies nationally.  "But the fact is, I had it.  It worked out well.  Now I'm immune," Trump declared to an Ohio audience.  At rally after rally, amid seemingly innocuous personal anecdotes about his recovery from the disease, Trump weaves an unspoken message that subtly undermines his opponent even without directly mentioning him:  President Trump is immune to COVID-19, and Joe Biden is not.

More COVID Charts Democrats — And The Press — Don't Want You To See.  Joe Biden emerged from his bunker in the summer long enough to declare that "while other nations took steps to get control over COVID-19, Trump took no responsibility."  So how do Joe and company explain the fact that coronavirus cases are now exploding in Europe at rates far higher than the U.S., that the share of positive test results is higher in Europe, as is the case fatality rate?  "There's no question that the European region is an epicenter for disease right now," said the World Health Organization's Dr. Michael Ryan.  "Right now we are well behind this virus in Europe so getting ahead of it is going to take some serious acceleration in what we do."  The chart [left] shows daily new cases per 100,000 population in the U.S., Europe and a sampling of European countries.

France must accept new national lockdown, says hospital professor.  Professor Philippe Juvin, a leading member of Paris' Georges-Pompidou hospital, told RTL radio on Wednesday that France had to accept a new, national lockdown to tackle a resurgence of the COVID-19 virus.  "We must take it up," said Juvin.  French President Emmanuel Macron will give a televised address on Wednesday evening.  His government has been exploring a new, national lockdown from midnight on Thursday, BFM TV reported, albeit a slightly more flexible one than the two-month shutdown that began in mid-March.

The Great COVID Lie.  If this election had been held in February, Trump likely would have won.  And he likely would have won rather easily.  That's because Trump's often-terrible rhetoric would have taken a back seat to his actions, and Americans' pessimism about Trump's character would have taken a back seat to their optimism about his agenda.  Then COVID hit.  The economy, thanks in large part to overwrought lockdown policies, collapsed.  Hundreds of thousands of Americans died.  And Trump's rhetoric blunders took on renewed seriousness as Americans looked for steady leadership and instead found the usual Trumpian stew of bloviation and exaggeration and ire.  COVID has become the Democrats' chief electioneering ploy.  Their argument is patently wrong and immoral.  It is an argument repeated ad nauseum by Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, as well as their allies in the media.

If We're Doing a Mask Mandate, Do It Right!  The alleged "party of science" is condemning the president for failing to "control" the novel coronavirus, which is the most unsciency thing ever because it's impossible to control a virus without the widespread use of immunizations over a long period of time and even that isn't a guarantee.  Only a few deadly viruses in history, perhaps unbeknownst to the Democratic Party's credentialed class, have been completely eradicated.  The annual flu vaccine can combat just a handful of influenza strains.  The Centers for Disease Control admits that "Flu viruses are constantly changing so it's not unusual for new flu viruses to appear each year."  Despite Herculean efforts to "control" influenza, a vaccine is only about 40 to 60 percent effective.  Millions of Americans still contract the illness and tens of thousands, including children, die each year.  This year's vaccine targets a form of the Hong Kong flu first identified in 1968, the year I was born.  But somehow, Donald Trump was supposed to contain, control, or completely stop a novel (that means new) coronavirus within a matter of months.

The Editor says...
It certainly sounds like the Democrats have very high expectations of Mr. Trump!

Scott Atlas shoots down Biden's claim that 'no serious doc' agrees coronavirus restrictions should be loosened.  Dr. Scott Atlas hit back against Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden's claim that "no serious" doctor agrees with Atlas that coronavirus restrictions should be loosened.  "Dr. Scott Atlas ... is advocating young people go about their business and older people sequester," CBS's Norah O'Donnell said to Biden.  "Nobody thinks he makes any sense," the former vice president responded.  "Nobody.  No serious doc around the world."  Atlas took issue with the video clip, saying there are more than 11,000 other doctors who agree with him.

Anti-lockdown riots convulse Italy as resistance spreads in Europe.  Europeans are in open rebellion over the reimposition of harsh anti-Coronavirus lockdown measures.  Severe limits on personal freedoms have failed to arrest the spread of the China virus in Italy and Spain, as positive tests for the virus have surged in both nations after relaxing the measures imposed last spring. [...] Rioting resumed Tuesday night [10/27/2020], though there is scant coverage from our media, other than Fox News.  With Joe Biden endorsing a national mask mandate and discussing a national lockdown, media committed to his victory are loath to let Americans know that citizens in Europe are in open rebellion over such measures that have already failed.

French doctor warns his country has 'lost control' of virus.  A French doctor warned Monday that his country has "lost control of the epidemic," a day after health authorities reported more than 52,000 new coronavirus cases as nations across Europe enact more sweeping restrictions to try to slow surging infection rates.  Spain — the first European country to surpass 1 million confirmed COVID-19 cases — declared a state of emergency Sunday that included a nationwide overnight curfew, a cap of six people on social gatherings and possible travel bans in and out of the hardest-hit regions.  The effect was clear on Barcelona's famed Las Ramblas promenade, which was deserted Sunday night when it normally would have been teeming with people.

L.A. County Sends Health Department Workers To Fine Church That Sued Newsom.  A Catholic church in Los Angeles County is alleging that the local government dispatched two health department officials to harass them in retaliation for their priest suing Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom and other state officials.  On Oct. 15, two health officials showed up at Our Lady of the Angels Church in Arcadia, California, a congregation affiliated with the dissident Society of St. Pius X.  The officials watched approximately 11 parishioners leave the building from the sidewalk and then cited them for holding indoor worship services in violation of COVID-19 restrictions, according to a copy of the citation forwarded to The Daily Wire.  The citation carried with it a $1,000 fine.

NBC Report Intentionally Spreads COVID Fear Like Virus.  Based on IFR studies, Human Events created a hypothetical for readers to consider:  What if everybody in America got the disease at once?  There are two important things to consider under such a scenario.  The first is that if everyone got the disease at once, the impact on the healthcare system would be such that the IFR would most certainly increase.  This would not be because of an inherent change in the disease, but because the number of critically ill people in need of specialized advanced care would exceed the capacity to deliver such care.  Demand would exceed supply.  The other consideration to keep in mind is that it would be impossible for everyone to contract the disease at once.  That simply would not happen.  It is worthwhile simply to show the raw numbers for the purpose of understanding possibilities and setting responsible public policy.  Using 2019 Census Data (population 324,356,000), under the three different IFR scenarios provided by the CDC, the total number of deaths, ceteris paribus, would range from 1.201 million to 4.122 million with a likely number of 2.351 million.  Of the total in the likely scenario 81% would be in the over 70 and up age range.  Further, 98% would be over the age of 50.

Rob Reiner Claims Trump's Closing Strategy Is to 'Kill as Many Americans as Possible'.  Far-left Hollywood actor and director Rob Reiner belted out another wild rant exactly one week before Election Day, claiming that President Donald Trump's "closing strategy" is to "kill as many Americans as possible."  "Trump's closing strategy:  Blanket the country with super spreader rallies and kill as many Americans as possible," wrote Rob Reiner on Tuesday [10/27/2020], bizarrely suggesting that the president is trying to kill his own countrymen.

The Editor says...
[#1] There is a reason this man is known as "Meat-Head."  Think for just a moment about what he's claiming.  President Trump is a politician, running for re-election.  Why would he go around the country attempting to demimate his voter base, by spreading disease?  [#2] If someone wanted to "kill as many Americans as possible," the Coronavirus would be a very ineffective weapon — masks or no masks.

NYC eateries beg Gov. Cuomo to reopen — or at least get some info.  New York City's struggling restaurants have given up hope that they will be allowed to double their indoor seating on Nov. 1 amid rising infection rates and radio silence from Albany, The [New York] Post has learned.  Restaurant owners and lobbyists say they've heard zilch from Gov. Cuomo on his promise to consider increasing indoor dining capacity by the end of this month.  That silence has left them unable to plan — and bracing for another wave of closures.  "I think we would have heard by now if indoor dining was going to expand by November first.  People need time to prepare," said restaurant consultant Donny Evans.  "Restaurateurs are scared," Evans added.  "Without expanded indoor dining, there will be a tsunami of closings."

The Cult Of The Brave New Normal.  In March, it was just a three-week lockdown, to flatten the curve so as not to overwhelm the NHS.  The narrative has quickly evolved.  It has progressed from what seemed a reasonable idea of keeping NHS bed space free based on the completely false Neil Fergusson prediction that hospitals would be overwhelmed by patients suffering from COVID19.  This never happened.  Many weeks passed where face masks were not needed and then suddenly in July, long after the majority of supposed COVID19 deaths had occurred, face masks were made compulsory.  Indeed, the UK government advice from the likes of Chris Whitty and the World Health Organisation was that face masks were not effective in stopping the spread of COVID19 or in contracting it; science does not change that quick — anyone who tells you otherwise is a liar.  The result is that we have now fallen deep into a Covidian Cult, a totalitarian psychotic narrative that has little connection to reality or to the facts. [...] Cult leaders do this to their followers to short circuit their critical thinking.  Cult leaders will also change the rules or the narrative at a whim for no apparent reason.  Hence the change of now being able to get married without a face mask, even though the COVID19 restrictions are being tightened again all over the UK; it makes no sense, its not meant to, and the masses are meant to follow, not question and obey.  Cult leaders want to make the masses follow chaos.

California's Gavin Newsom goes bonkers issuing Thanksgiving COVID orders.  For someone whose previous career was in San Francisco's trendy restaurant industry, California's Gov. Gavin Newsom has some bizarre ideas about why people gather; what a comfortable dining experience is; and how people, as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says, will do what they do.  Nope, he's got some weird stuff up, motivated, he says, by a supposed new wave of COVID: [...] Anyone with a lick of common sense knows that neither he nor his constituents are going to observe these ridiculous diktats on the country's biggest family holiday from the comfort of their own homes.  The arbitrariness of these regulations is incredible.  Two hours together?  Why not one point five hours instead?  Thousands of lives could be saved!

Chicago Public Schools Says Teachers Union 'Refuses to Even Discuss' Returning to In-Person Classes.  Chicago Public Schools on Friday pushed back against the Chicago Teachers Union, which filed an unfair labor practice charge last week accusing the city's school district of illegally refusing to negotiate with the union on how to safely resume in-person classes amid health concerns.  The union has "refused to even discuss" returning to in-person classes, school district spokeswoman Emily Bolton said in a statement.  "We are disheartened that CTU continues to obstruct and mislead the public about the necessary planning measures needed to prepare for a potential return to safe in-person learning," Bolton said.  "While the district is doing everything in its power to plan for all possible scenarios, the CTU refuses to even discuss a return to in-person learning, even as hundreds of private schools in Chicago are open."

Also posted under Chicago and Unionized teachers.

34 Abstracts with Face Masks (Lack of Safety and Ineffectiveness) Research.  [34 links to various studies.]

Airborne coronavirus particle (<0.125 micron) will pass directly through a N95 face mask..  In December 2019, a cluster of patients with pneumonia of unknown cause was linked to a seafood wholesale market in Wuhan, China.  A previously unknown betacoronavirus was discovered through the use of unbiased sequencing in samples from patients with pneumonia.  Human airway epithelial cells were used to isolate a novel coronavirus, named 2019-nCoV, which formed a clade within the subgenus sarbecovirus, Orthocoronavirinae subfamily.  Different from both MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV, 2019-nCoV is the seventh member of the family of coronaviruses that infect humans.  Enhanced surveillance and further investigation are ongoing.

Penetration of cloth masks by influenza particles was almost 97% and medical masks 44%..  The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of cloth masks to medical masks in hospital healthcare workers (HCWs).  The null hypothesis is that there is no difference between medical masks and cloth masks.

The Coronavirus Experts Were Wrong, Now They Need Scapegoats.  The problem isn't just the China Virus.  It's that we adopted the China Model to fight it.  Public health experts adopted China's draconian lockdowns without knowing how well they really worked and in a country that, fortunately, lacks the power to truly enforce them.  China's deceptiveness and lack of transparency meant that we did not know how well anything that the Communist dictatorship did to battle the virus that it spawned actually worked.  Despite that, our public health experts, and those of most free countries, adopted the China Model.  We don't know how well the China Model worked for the People's Republic of China, but it failed in every free country that tried it.  Lockdowns eventually gave way to reopenings and new waves of infection.  This was always going to happen because not even the more socialist European countries have the police state or the compliant populations of a Communist dictatorship.

Researchers Find Light Frequency That Kills COVID-19 Virus Without Harming People.  Columbia University and Japan's Hiroshima University researches found that a UVC light wave of 222 nanometers works.  [Video clip]

Majority Are Already Immune Against SARS-CoV-2.  Several studies suggest immunity against SARS-CoV-2 infection is far more widespread than anyone imagined, and that the threshold for herd immunity is far lower than previously estimated[.] [Paywall]

Media Weaponize COVID Fear to Cover Biden Disappearance.  With reports of Joe Biden cancelling all in-person campaign events, the Club members are trying to carry their Potemkin candidate across the finish line.  Everyone is now aware Joe Biden is a cover for the real person the puppeteers want in the oval office, Kamala Harris.  That said, the DNC needs to weaponize the COVID-19 threat as a cover story to explain the lack of campaigning by the Democrat candidates; hence, the media hype of the coronavirus is back this week in full swing.  COVID fear is a narrative cover-story to hide the lack of support for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.  Part of that cover-story is needed because the MAGA community was showing up in overwhelming numbers at Biden-Harris events, and the false illusion of support — propping up the Potemkin village — was being exposed.  All of these machinations are part of a remarkable attempt at psychological operations in this election.

Are Recent Reports of COVID Surges an Attempt to Suppress In-Person Voting?  Back in March, the COVID mantra was, "15 days to slow the spread", meaning flattening the curve.  The purpose was to avoid overwhelming the medical system as no one really knew what we were up against with the Wuhan virus.  This allowed time for the system to adapt and recalibrate to this new illness.  As the virus peaked in mid-April, the subsequent months should have been the normal course of a viral pandemic, some getting sick to varying degrees, others unfortunately dying, but eventually reaching herd immunity, itself a longstanding concept — suddenly controversial.  This has been the course of past flu seasons and other viral pandemics, but none lead to shutting down economies all over the world, causing incalculable financial and social devastation to cities, states, countries, and individuals.  Just when we see a light at the end of the tunnel there is a reported surge in cases, often timed to political events.

Anarchy in New York?  The Covid-19 pandemic led to the release of inmates from jails and prisons across New York.  "The number of New Yorkers held in NYC jails has plummeted, shrinking by 27% in ten weeks, a steeper population decline than in all of last year," boasted the mayor's Office of Criminal Justice.  "The jail population is at a number not seen since 1946."  That would be good news if the incarcerated population were tracking the crime rate, but the exact opposite is true.  Crime is up dramatically, as released inmates, now adjusted to a climate of permissiveness, resume criminal activity.  Advocates for reform sneered at the suggestion that bail reform or pandemic-related releases were responsible for the lawless surge, but arrests have plummeted across the city.  It goes against common sense to assume that the rise in crime has nothing to do with the release of thousands of career criminals into the community.

The Grinch Who Stole Thanksgiving.  Governor Gavin Newsom's Department of Health has issued an updated "Guidance for Private Gatherings" in time for Thanksgiving.  Basically, fun is illegal in California:  ["]Gatherings that include more than 3 households are prohibited.  This includes everyone present, including hosts and guests.["]  So if you have three kids, you can invite two of them.  ["]All gatherings must be held outside.  Attendees may go inside to use restrooms as long as the restrooms are frequently sanitized.["]  This would not work well in Minnesota.

New York City Restaurateurs Can No Longer Swallow Subjective, Unscientific COVID Restrictions.  Restaurants, delis, and pubs are the lifeblood of our neighborhoods.  They're places we go to congregate with colleagues, celebrate with family, and catch up on "hyperlocal" news and gossip with neighbors.  Much of the character and vibrancy of a neighborhood is found in its eateries.  On April 13, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced a Northeast regional plan to reopen the state's economy in coordination with New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Delaware:  "We have reached a plateau in the number of cases and ... should start looking forward to reopening but with a plan.  The art form will be doing it smartly, in a coordinated way, cooperatively and share intelligence."  Unfortunately, Cuomo long ago ditched the idea of coordinating the full reopening of New York City with nearby states, and the Big Apple lagged months behind other regions in the state — and in the entire Northeast — to allow indoor dining and drinking.

'Truth' Over Facts.  [Scroll down]  While it is certainly fun to mock this stuff, the salient point here is that the people in charge believe the narratives they create. [...] The petty tyrants imposing crazy rules on people in response to the COVID virus really believe they are engaged in a life-and-death struggle to save their people from the virus. [...] Can a society carry on when it is ruled by giant toddlers obsessed with fantasy stories, rather than adults doing the hard work of governing a people?  What happens when a significant portion of the people collectively realize that the people in charge are dangerously nuts?

Multiple journals reject major mask study amid hints that it shows masks don't stop COVID.  A major study out of Denmark that sought to examine the efficacy of face masks at limiting the spread of COVID-19 has reportedly been rejected by multiple academic journals amid hints that the study found face coverings are not effective in protecting individuals from the coronavirus.  Masks have been among the most persistent and controversial flashpoints of the COVID-19 epidemic for months.  Health officials around the world initially argued strongly against their use, claiming that studies over the years had demonstrated that masks were ineffective at stopping respiratory viruses and unnecessary for the current pandemic.

How Expert Worship Is Ruining Science.  The coronavirus pandemic has put a spotlight on the question of science as a whole and biology and drug research in particular.  Now, the popular narrative is that if only we listened to the scientists, we would have prevented this, presumably contrasting scientists against "politicians" and perhaps some un-specified "non-expert" others.  The pandemic is happening against a completely unprecedented backdrop of censorship of what seems to me like normal-people discussion about the effects of different drugs and therapies.  The CEO of YouTube has specifically said that the platform would block people suggesting vitamin C has beneficial effects on helping one recover from coronavirus.  This is, of course, done "in the name of" science, because everything ought to be done in the name of science in the West.  My current view is that large numbers of fields which are considered "scientific" in the West are a complete mess and lack the essential feature of what it means to be a science in the first place.

Joe Biden Promises to Push Elected Officials into Issuing Mask Mandates Nationwide.  Former Vice President Joe Biden is promising that, if elected, he would urge state and local governments to issue mask mandates nationwide.  The Democrat nominee, who has shifted on his support for a federal mask mandate, told supporters in Delaware on Friday that it was vital for the government to implement a "national strategy to position our country to finally get ahead of this virus."  As part of the strategy, the former vice president promised not only to get a spending bill, that deals with both the economic and public safety aspects of the novel coronavirus, through Congress by January, but also to push for comprehensive mask mandates.

Joe Biden Promises Forced National Mask Mandate and Regulatory COVID Nightmare When Elected.  Earlier today those behind the Biden campaign dropped all pretense, openly having their candidate state publicly his intention to control the lives of all Americans using the authority of a weaponized federal government to advance national COVID-19 regulations.  As you watch this video from Biden's campaign today it is important to remember state government officials have already moved to define "essential businesses" and "essential workers" during the forced shut-downs.  That is going to become a bigger issue downstream; however, for now just watch closely what Joe Biden is saying here:  [Video clip]

Major Denmark Study May Show Masks Are Largely Ineffective, 'Science' Promptly Censors It.  With the United States reaching it's highest daily case total of the pandemic yesterday, the case for masks continues to become more perilous.  At no point has the country had more widespread mask mandates and usage than now, yet once again, we see almost no correlation between face coverings (most of which were never previously thought to be effective) and infection numbers.  One study may have shown just that, and it may have happened all the way back in June.  Unfortunately, the "scientific community" has decided that religious devotion is more important than an honest assessing of the facts.

Schoolchildren Seem Unlikely to Fuel Coronavirus Surges, Scientists Say.  Months into the school year, school reopenings across the United States remain a patchwork of plans:  in-person, remote and hybrid; masked and not; socially distanced and not.  But amid this jumble, one clear pattern is emerging.  So far, schools do not seem to be stoking community transmission of the coronavirus, according to data emerging from random testing in the United States and Britain.  Elementary schools especially seem to seed remarkably few infections.

Take your mandates and shove it.  "I've been preparing you for this for a while," Buck Sexton said this week on the establishment's assertion that lockdown measures and mask mandates may be a long-term necessity.  "Fifteen days to slow the spread" has become "life for the foreseeable future," he added.  "To that I say no, I refuse... They're gonna have to arrest me."  Sexton condemned the overkill of those in the media and elsewhere who continue to call for lockdowns and mask mandates regardless of circumstances.  [Video clip]

Decimal points are so inconvenient!
Kamala Harris Claims 220 Million Americans — 66% of the Population — Died from CoVID.  Senator Kamala Harris raised the eyebrows of voters across the United States this week when she claimed the Coronavirus is responsible for 220 million fatalities in the United States alone; roughly 66% of the entire population.

The City is Killing America.  New York City, with the highest population density in the country, also accounted for the highest death toll.  San Francisco, the second highest among large cities, was a major incubator.  Pandemic maps of the death toll show the deaths concentrating around major cities before making the slow trek from urban into suburban and eventually rural areas.  The urban lockdowns didn't stop the spread of the virus.  What they really did was trap poor and middle class residents in urban areas, while the wealthy fled, and the virus spread to urbanites with the least mobility.  The people with the worst immune systems, in the densest living conditions, and the least ability to get up and leave, suffered the most, from nursing home patients to minorities with large families. [...] But the coronavirus is an urban problem and all the official solutions to it are urban solutions.  And the urban problems and their solutions are killing us and taking down the whole country.

Is China Now In Control of Our Flow of Information?  The focus on China as a formidable enemy was quickly squashed by many American institutions from academia, sports, Hollywood, press, and the mainstream media.  The attention upon China was quickly replaced with the onus on our president with unfounded accusations for the spread of the virus and for not doing enough to stem it.  Regardless of President Trump's effort to halt the spread of the virus as early as Jan. 31, by instituting a travel ban on China, ordering production of ventilators, and using of our military's floating hospitals, the media perpetuated the lie that President Trump was guilty of mishandling the virus.

Trump: On Cable News, 'All You Hear Is COVID, COVID, COVID.  The coronavirus pandemic "is rounding the corner," President Donald Trump told a rally in Gastonia, N.C. on Wednesday [10/21/2020].  "They hate it when I say it," Trump said, pointing to reporters: [...] ["]That's all they put on because they want to scare [...] everyone.  And you know, the more testing you have, the more cases.  They say cases are up — yeah, testing is up.  We have more testing than India, China and almost every other country put together. [...] ["]

Lawmaker demands COVID-19 contact tracing data from Pritzker administration.  Gov. J.B. Pritzker said bars and restaurants are among the places where people are contracting COVID-19 and that's why he's targeting them throughout the state.  One state lawmaker wants to see the raw data.  State Rep. Mike Murphy, R-Springfield, used to own a restaurant and said businesses in his district are upset at possibly having prohibition on indoor service.  While Region 3 that includes Springfield isn't under stricter prohibitions, there are still limits to how many can be served inside an establishment.

Chris Cuomo is threatened with a $500 fine by his apartment building for not wearing a mask despite lecturing his CNN viewers for months on their importance.  Chris Cuomo's New York City apartment building threatened him with a $500 fine in August because he was seen not wearing a mask, despite lecturing viewers for months about the importance of face coverings.  According to an August 6 letter from the building's management, Cuomo was seen on several occasions without a mask.  A copy of the letter was first obtained by Tucker Carlson of Fox News.  It comes after Cuomo spent months telling viewers about how important masks are — and in defiance of an official mandate issued by his NY Governor brother Andrew.  The letter was leaked just weeks after the CNN host blasted a virus-stricken President Trump as a 'COVIDIOT' for removing his face covering after returning to the White House from the hospital.  'You have been observed entering and exiting the building and riding the elevator without the required face coverings,' the letter reads.

In Staying Closed, Schools Ignore Low COVID-19 Rates, Needs of Families.  Evidence continues to mount that COVID-19 affects children the least, and ad hoc school district e-learning platforms, hastily assembled in the spring, are driving families away from assigned schools.  Some of the largest school districts in the U.S. are still offering only online instruction, despite reports of losing contact with thousands of students, from Philadelphia to Houston to Los Angeles, when districts went online earlier this year.  According to reports, districts have still not been able to reach those students.  School officials have the unenviable task of balancing health and safety concerns with student learning, but those leaders should be considering the research on the spread of COVID-19 and the needs of local families and children in making reopening decisions.  Yet some district leaders are doing neither.

Delusional psychosis drives Americans to enforce fear-based COVID restrictions.  From the beginning, fear hasdriven the government response to the coronavirus pandemic.  Americans have been told they should be afraid.  More important, they have been instructed that expressing fear, through the wearing of masks and self-isolation by the healthy, is their moral duty.  For the first time in United States history, fear is no longer seen as an emotion to overcome, like jealousy or greed, but rather as one to embrace.  We should be proud to be afraid, we are told, and we should call out anyone who isn't.  In fact, any act of courage must be condemned as immoral as well as illegal. [...] This mass psychosis would be tragic if it affected only the sufferers themselves.  Its greatest danger, however, resides in what directly follows from it:  group control.  In the beginning of the coronavirus government response, mandates issued by politicians and bureaucrats compelled behavior that served their interests of consolidating power.

Small COVID Victory — Pennsylvania Restaurant Owner Wins Fight Against Unilateral State Decrees.  A Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, restaurant took their COVID-19 $10,000 state fine to court and said "not guilty."  The judge agreed with their legal position that Governor Tom Wolf's unilateral decrees were arbitrary, unconstitutional and not enforceable.  If one restaurant and/or bar opens, the state can and will target the owner.  But if every bar and restaurant in town opens; and if everyone ignores and dispatches the silly dictates of the local, regional or state officials; there isn't a [...] thing they can do about it.  Unfortunately, the cost of fighting back against these dictates is considerable.  Lawyers and legal fights cost money; thus the state enforcement authorities start out with a massive advantage to deny freedom.

Twitter removes anti-mask tweet from Dr. Scott Atlas.  Twitter removed a tweet from a top White House coronavirus adviser, saying that, contrary to official Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance, masks don't prevent the spread of the virus.  On Saturday [10/17/2020], Dr. Scott Atlas tweeted that evidence showed masks don't work, according to NBC News.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released guidance in April urging Americans to wear masks in public to prevent the spread of coronavirus after weeks of recommending the opposite.

US surgeon general to be in court on Hawaii virus citation.  The U.S. surgeon general is set to be arraigned Wednesday in a virtual court hearing in Hawaii on charges he illegally entered a public park that was closed because of the coronavirus. [...] Adams told a police officer who cited him that he was visiting Hawaii to work with Gov. David Ige on COVID-19 and didn't know parks were closed.  Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell had closed them at the time to try to prevent crowding that could spread the virus.

Trump pounces on CBS News star for not wearing a mask with him.  [Scroll down]  President Trump's White House has had strict rules about staff and visitors using masks in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.  And the president sometimes has used one despite the fact he's not often actually mingling with crowds.  There also are requirements for testing.  Democrats have claimed the president personally is responsible for the more than 200,000 deaths attributed to the Chinese virus.

Court: San Quentin must release prisoners due to lack of COVID care.  Finding that state officials have acted with "deliberate indifference" to the health of prisoners at San Quentin — where 75% of them have tested positive for the coronavirus and 28 have died — a state appeals court took the unprecedented step Tuesday of ordering at least half of the prison's 2,900 inmates transferred or released.

Will Changes to American Life Become Permanent?  During the pandemic, government has become more intrusive and yet seemingly more impotent and incompetent.  Pick a month and some government official issues yet more contradictory orders on mask wearing, social distancing, and lockdowns — all to be soon reversed. [...] When institutions and politicians cannot accommodate radically changed circumstances, people will no longer value institutions and politicians.  In their place, citizens will seek to ensure their own livelihoods, leisure, and safety in ways that are more reliable and affordable — with their circumstances in their own hands rather than in those of distant others.  And their adjustments won't always be calm or polite.

Trump calls Dr. Fauci an 'idiot' and 'disaster'.  In a phone call Monday [10/19/2020] with campaign staff that included reporters, President Trump called White House coronavirus adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci "an idiot" and said people are "tired of hearing about COVID."  "People are saying whatever.  Just leave us alone.  They're tired of it.  People are tired of hearing Fauci and all these idiots," Trump said, according to Politico. [...] The president called Fauci a "disaster," who is a "bomb" in TV interviews but a "bigger bomb if you fire him."

The Editor says...
Obviously, Dr. Fauci will be fired in early November, unless Joe Biden wins the election.  Who do you suppose Dr. Fauci is rooting for?

Restaurant Won't Have to Pay Fines for Opening During Shutdown, Judge Says.  A Pennsylvania restaurant that was fined $10,000 for violating Governor Tom Wolf's coronavirus executive orders was found not guilty and will not have to pay the fines.  Pennsylvania Magisterial District Court Judge Carl Garver ruled Friday [10/16/2020] that "the family business was unconstitutionally cited and the restaurant was found not guilty," reported Harrisburg's WHP.  "The crux of the legal argument is that orders that have been issued by the governor and the Department of Health are legally unenforceable.  Judge Garver agreed with that argument," said Eric Winter, attorney for siblings Michael Mangano and Christine Wartluft, owners of Taste of Sicily restaurant in Palmyra.

Michigan Barber Who Defied Shutdown Mandates Has Charges Dropped.  Karl Manke, a 78-year-old barber in Owosso, Michigan, who has been cutting hair for 59 years, can rest a little easier.  Charges for violating local health orders and defying Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer's COVID mandates were dropped last Friday [10/16/2020].  Manke gained national attention and notoriety as a "folk hero" among many who saw that Whitmer's edicts went far beyond the law.  When she shut down the state initially, Manke complied.  But after she unilaterally extended her mandates beyond April 30 without gaining approval from the legislature to do so, Manke reopened his barbershop, saying at the time, "I feel the governor is not my mother, never has been."  When reminded that he was violating Whitmer's mandates, Manke said, "I could care less.  If they want to put me in jail, put me in jail. ... I will be governed ... but not ruled.  This is a police state action."

Sweden: Lockdown Facts Fauci Won't Tell You.  As their history also tells us, Swedes are not given to mass hysteria, fear, or believing in hasty actions.  So, when COVID-19 appeared they examined the threat and dealt with it calmly and logically.  Unlike the U.S. and other industrialized countries, they did not lock down their country.  Instead, the Swedish government simply banned meetings of more than 50, asked citizens to use social distancing, and asked senior citizens to avoid contact with others as much as they could.  Masks were not required or even suggested.  Instead, Swedes were asked to exercise, work, keep their businesses open, and lead their lives as if they were experiencing an annual flu season.  Schools, shops, restaurants, and industry remained open.

Large Group Of International Doctors And Health Scientists Argue For New Approach To Coronavirus.  A large group of doctors and health scientists — over 30,000 to date — have signed onto the Barrington Declaration.  That declaration states that: current lockdown policies are producing devastating effects on short and long-term public health.  They further note these effects "include lower childhood vaccination rates, worsening cardiovascular disease outcomes, fewer cancer screenings, and deteriorating mental health — leading to greater excess mortality in years to come, with the working class and younger members of society carrying the heaviest burden." In addition these specialists say that keeping children out of school "is a grave injustice."

More "Experts" [are] Being Silenced By Big Tech — What Did They Say?  America's Frontline Doctors held their 2nd Summit in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on Saturday [10/17/2020].  They are a group of physicians and researchers who feel strongly that mass lockdowns, masking requirements and the prevention of early COVID-19 treatment has caused immeasurably suffering — and likely unnecessary deaths — in our fight against COVID-19.  As of early this morning, their video and tweets appear to still be spreading on Twitter and YouTube. [...] America's Frontline Doctors held its 1st Summit in June of this year and articles, tweets, Facebook posts, and videos were widely censored online.  Just days ago, Dr. Scott Atlas — a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force was suspended from Twitter for posting that masks don't work particularly well in the fight against COVID-19.

Fauci's COVID-19 Folly.  [Scroll down]  On May 22, 2020, the U.K. medical journal The Lancet joyously published a paper stating that hydroxychloroquine doesn't work.  Medical authorities around the world reacted by withdrawing hydroxychloroquine from treatment of the Wuhan virus.  Death rates spiked up dramatically about two weeks later.  This is illustrated by the experience in Switzerland, as shown by the following graphic from France Soir:  [Graph]  The gray-shaded area is the period of increased deaths in Switzerland due to the study in The Lancet.  The death rate jumped 13 days after the administration of hydroxychloroquine was withdrawn, and then it dropped 13 days after the resumption of dispensing hydroxychloroquine.  That was just Switzerland.  The Lancet retracted the paper on June 4, more over the damage it was doing to its reputation than embarrassment at the number of deaths it caused.  Nobody in the media has displayed any interest in who was behind this hit job.  It has been estimated that the fatwa against hydroxychloroquine resulted in 80,000 deaths around the world.

Studies: Fatality Rates From COVID Are Dropping Sharply Everywhere.  For the second straight day, a bright light shines through the gloom of a darkening COVID outlook this fall.  Yesterday [10/19/2020] the good news was that fears of schools becoming mass incubators of coronavirus appear to be overblown.  Positivity rates across a sample of tens of thousands of students and staff in NYC are minuscule.  Maybe we can have safe in-class instruction this fall.  Today's news is even better.  As cases explode in Europe and climb towards a new peak in the U.S., a tantalizing mystery has emerged:  Why aren't we seeing the same crushing death tolls in hot spots that we saw in the spring?  Deaths are rising in Europe from their summer lows (upwards of 150 daily on bad days in the UK and France recently) but they're nowhere near the gory levels of April even though both countries are setting records in the number of daily cases.

China's economy is booming during the pandemic it unleashed.  How galling it is to see China bouncing back from the global pandemic that it unleashed.  While the rest of the world wrestles with fear, mistrust, unemployment, recession, stagnation, non-Covid health catastrophes, countless blighted lives and a 'second wave' of the virus, China is set to enter 2021 stronger than it was in January 2020.  That was the month when Chinese complacency, deceit and the ruthless diktat of the Communist Party allowed coronavirus to get its first foothold among humankind.

The Editor says...
The Chinese economy may be recovering, but it comes at a price:  Nobody knows how many people died after being forcibly sealed inside their cheap little apartments at the beginning of the Coronavirus outbreak.

A very San Franciscan president.  [Scroll down]  Another new development is Gavin Newsom adopting, in lieu of COVID, the rule by decree.  California legislator Kevin Kiley has counted over 400 laws which Newsom unilaterally changed since he imposed the statewide shelter-in-pace orders in March.  It is no wonder that Californians are leaving the state, and that the exodus sped up after the quarantine orders.  Since then, San Francisco, the epicenter of lockdowns fundamentalism, saw a 20 percent drop in rents and a 53 percent drop in sales.  Meanwhile, just 133 people have died from the illness in the city over the last seven months.  It's fair to say that if you want a vision of what Kamala Harris's America will look like, look at California.

Idaho Teachers Go on 'Sick-out' to Protest School Openings — Every Last One of Them Should Be Fired.  The first day of in-person public school in the West Ada School District in Idaho was canceled on Monday [10/19/2020] after over 600 teachers called off work in an apparent "sick-out."  Fire every last one.  Fire them for being science-deniers.  They're teachers, for crying out loud.  It shouldn't be that hard to find the transmission numbers among students and see that COVID transmission is nearly non-existent and, in fact, there is ample evidence that children don't even pass it on very well.  They are less "sticky", meaning the virus, for whatever reason, doesn't really "stick" to them and then "shed" elsewhere.  All of the school numbers from March of 2020 up until this very moment support that.  We need teachers who believe in science and information and data.  We need teachers who go find information instead of waiting for it to be delivered to them.  We need curious teachers.  If you're denying science you really have no place in the public school system. [...] If you feel you can't do the job you've agreed to do — for whatever reasons — it is your responsibility to quit.  Go find other work that doesn't require you to be in a classroom with children.

Dr. Birx Rips the Mask Off and Goes After Scott Atlas.  Dr. Deborah Birx has been less combative and openly partisan compared to Dr. Anthony Fauci, but that doesn't mean she's anymore open minded.  According to a new report, which itself is rife with false, biased information, Birx has gone after Dr. Scott Atlas, attempting to get him fired from the coronavirus task force.  More recently, she apparently praised the decision by Twitter to ban Atlas for posting factual information on masks.

Cuomo threatens to withhold eventual COVID-19 vaccine from New York until his own doctors deem it safe because he doesn't trust Trump administration.  Governor Andrew Cuomo is threatening to withhold a COVID-19 vaccine from New York until his team of doctors deem it safe because he doesn't trust the FDA or CDC, raising serious questions about how and when it will eventually become available and who will be the arbiter of it.  Cuomo said during an interview with Good Morning America that the American people will be 'skeptical' about a vaccine because of how the federal administration has handled the pandemic and that he won't rush to recommend it.  It's unclear if, once the FDA approves it, Cuomo will have the power to stop it from being administered across the state.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer:  If You're Tired of Masks And Wish You Could Go Back to Church, Vote for Biden.  Are you sick of watching family-owned stores and businesses in your neighborhood fold because of reopening restrictions?  Are you saddened as you watch your favorite watering holes and restaurants close their doors for good, as unconstitutional lockdowns drag past the 200-day mark of "15 days to slow the spread"?  Have you had to move your family out of your state just to find a school your child can attend?  Do you find yourself wondering just when all this madness will end, and how?  Well, look no further.  There's a solution on the horizon and it's a mere 15 days away.  If you want COVID and the ensuing restrictions to disappear forever, all you have to do is... Vote for Biden/Harris 2020.  Don't shoot the messenger.  This logic came straight from the horse's mouth this past Sunday [10/18/2020] on "Meet the Press" — the horse being Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, and the mouth being one adorned with bright red lipstick and frothing with Trump Derangement Syndrome.

Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander praises Fauci after Trump slams infectious disease expert.  Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander voiced his support for Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government's top infectious disease expert, after President Donald Trump blasted Fauci on Monday [10/19/2020].  Trump called Fauci a "disaster," a day after Fauci said in an interview that he was unsurprised that Trump got COVID-19.  Fauci said it was because Trump regularly flouted the use of masks "as a statement of strength."  Alexander released a statement Monday afternoon praising Fauci.  "Dr. Fauci is one of our country's most distinguished public servants," said Alexander, R-Tennessee.

Illinois governor blames Trump's allies for state's wrong direction on coronavirus.  Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said on Sunday [10/18/2020] that his state was not going in the right direction when it came to fighting the coronavirus, attributing its failures to President Trump's allies.  "People are not following the mitigations, because the modeling is so bad at the leadership level, the federal level," Pritzker told CNN's Jake Tapper on "State of the Union" on Sunday.  "We are trying to get the word out and you're trying to continue to convince people to do the right thing but it is the president's allies in our state, all across the state, who are simply saying to people don't pay any attention to the mitigations, don't follow the rules."  Tapper noted that Illinois had recently broken its record for the most cases recorded in a single day with over 4,500 people testing positive on Friday.

The Editor says...
Really?  Did 4,500 people test positive on Friday, or were 4,500 positive test results reported on Friday?  There's a difference.

5 Other Things We'll Learn About Biden After The Election.  [#2] Biden doesn't have any plans to solve the COVID-19 problem.  Biden endlessly claims that Trump fumbled his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, without ever saying what he'd do differently.  When he has tried to make the case that he would have acted sooner, he comes up against his own contemporaneous statements undercutting his claims of better foresight.  Don't be surprised, then, that Democrats and the press suddenly "discover" that the threat from COVID-19 has been exaggerated.  They'll point out that the CDC has been counting deaths with COVID-19, not from COVID-19.  They'll further note that the deaths that have occurred were almost entirely concentrated among the old and very ill.  They'll discover that schools can and should reopen without posing undue risk.  They'll note that the case fatality rate has been steadily dropping.  They'll point to evidence that shutdowns don't work.  They'll call for calm and for people to get back to their normal lives.  And the press will suddenly lose interest in coronavirus death counts.

Here's how the media is misreporting COVID-19's death toll in America.  On Sept. 22, CNN triumphantly announced that 200,000 people had died from COVID-19 in the United States.  CNN tried various ways of rubbing in the 200,000 figure.  Their best effort was an infographic blaring, "US COVID-19 deaths are equal to having the 9/11 attacks every day for 66 days."  Here's a less biased, but less catchy, comparison: 2020's attributed COVID-19 deaths were equivalent to having another 2017-2018 flu and pneumonia season boosted by 13 percent.  The CDC estimated that about 177,000 Americans died during the 2017-2018 flu season, from either the flu itself or by complications of pneumonia. [...] That was a bad year, noted at the time, but mostly by medical professionals.  Those with good memories will recall seeing more "Wash Your Hands" and "Cough Into Your Elbows" posters.  Still, nobody remembers a panic.  Just as nobody remembers mask mandates or political leaders shutting down small businesses and locking the healthy in their homes.  Because, of course, none of that happened.

CDC's Method of Estimating 'Expected Deaths' and 'Excess Deaths' Is Misleading.  [Scroll down]  There are more examples of the CDC and other public health officials skewing or otherwise misrepresenting COVID-19 data.  There is the CDC's March 2020 guide to death certificate-certifiers stating that "the rules for coding and selection of the underlying cause of death are expected to result in COVID-19 being the underlying cause more often than not."  There is the observation that the CDC is ignoring their own COVID-19 severity criteria, which suggests that COVID-19 is not nearly as severe as they are claiming, using fear appeals to artificially heighten risk perceptions.  There is the observation that the CDC is apparently ignoring basic medical facts on pneumonia and respiratory viruses in favor of potentially wrongfully increasing COVID-19 death counts.  Such questionable interpretations, misrepresentations, and methods could collectively lead one to question the reliability of some or all of the CDC's COVID-19 data — including the CDC's weekly COVID-19 anecdotes.

Casket outside Brooklyn nursing home filled with 6,500 covers of Cuomo's book.  A silver casket was wheeled to the front of a Brooklyn nursing home Sunday — and 6,500 copies of the cover of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's new book were dumped into it in protest of his COVID-19 policies.  The number of covers was equal to the roughly 6,500 people who have been reported killed by the coronavirus in nursing homes in the state — although the ralliers said they believe the figure is much higher.

Birx confronted Pence about Atlas.  White House coronavirus response coordinator Deborah Birx recently confronted Vice President Pence about the increasing influence of Scott Atlas over the administration's handling of the pandemic, a person familiar with the exchange confirmed to The Hill.  Birx raised concerns about the information Atlas was giving President Trump and suggested he be removed from the White House coronavirus task force.  Atlas is not an infectious diseases expert but has emerged as one of Trump's most influential advisers on the pandemic.  The exchange was first reported by The Washington Post, which said Pence asked Birx and Atlas to work out the strife on their own and to present data to their colleagues supporting their viewpoints.

Whatever happened to Deborah Birx?  Deborah Birx is nowhere to be found at the White House these days.  Though she retains the title of coordinator of the White House coronavirus response, Birx has not attended any of President Trump's press briefings on the pandemic since he started them anew in late July, nor was she at a recent event to tout the administration's advances in testing.  Instead, Birx has been on the road, visiting 36 states and 27 different colleges and universities since the end of June to meet with state, local and university leaders to advise on best practices for containing the coronavirus and to gather information on what's been working in each place.

Trump never had COVID, say three of 'The View' hosts who now believe he faked the whole thing.  Two of the hosts of the ABC talk show "The View" admitted this week that they believe President Donald Trump's coronavirus diagnosis was fake.  Their admission came Thursday, a day after tech giants Facebook and Twitter began suppressing an unconfirmed story about Democrat presidential nominee Joe Biden's youngest son, Hunter, that media pundits had claimed was a "conspiracy theory."  The first admission was made by co-host Whoopi Goldberg as she was responding to a fellow co-host's complaints that the idea of herd immunity — which is currently being considered by the White House — "seems cruel, seems callous."  "It doesn't look good anywhere," Goldberg responded before suddenly trotting out what could be the conspiracy theory of the year.

There's Never Been a More Important Time to Choose Wisely.  [Scroll down]  Consequently, intellectuals also have a huge personal stake and fierce resistance to risking their exalted status by testing their theories.  This dishonest approach is found in everything from alarmist global warming theory to paper face mask mandates.  Proponents presume the conclusions.  No debate permitted.  Progressives say CO2 emissions will devastatingly heat the planet, and wearing face masks will stop transmission of microscopic virus.  Even when testing these suppositions demonstrates CO2 is an essential food to grow crops and harmless in historic atmospheric concentrations far greater than today's; even when rigorous scientific testing repeatedly demonstrates face masks' utter ineffectiveness to prevent spreading viruses, intellectuals remain unpersuaded.  They know better, they say.  Not only do they reject testing, but they demonize anyone who suggests that their theories should be tested.

The Chinese Virus — Why We Panicked and Why We've Got to End the Panic Now.  [Scroll down]  It's safer, the Quarantine Karens say, to wear a mask, to "socially" distance.  Then they say it's imperative.  Safer, in a way, but only in an exaggerated and half-blind manner, and most certainly not imperative.  The rationality is never questioned ("my science beats your science").  And most especially, the negative aspects, including the negative effects on one's health, are ignored.  They don't exist for Quarantine Karens.  Look, either we pull out of this or we will be sucked in to it like into a black hole.  (Half of Great Britain is being locked down again; Germany is doing much the same; all this with a decreasing death rate.)  We've got to pull out now, because they've got something ready and it's coming down the pike.  (They had to come up with something new because the vaccine is nearly ready and even without the vaccine we have fabulous treatments [like the one that restored the stricken president in a few days]).  They're saying the lockdowns and restrictions are here forever — not because of the Chinese virus — but because of ... wait for this ... the flu.

Modern science:  Celebrating a "high priestess" instead of data.  [Scroll down]  Moreover, she [Trisha Greenhalgh] — along with the writer of this Science article — also copies another global warming dishonest tactic, posing a false argument by claiming that the opposing scientists requried a "randomized controlled trial" to demonstrate the usefulness of masks.  This is an absurd misstatement, as it ignores decades of research that already exists and was referenced by those opposing scientists, that showed that mandating widespread mask use was generally a bad idea, and would accomplish nothing good.  Greenhalgh, who belongs to a WHO committee that she forced to change from "claiming masks are harmful" to now endorsing mask use, very clearly falls into this mindset.  She is outraged that scientists would dare defy her opinion on masks.  Despite the clear uncertainty of the science and the solid evidence that improper use of masks can be harmful (as illustrated by the WHO graphic to the right), she forged ahead with her political campaign and got WHO to comply.  Apparently the editors and writers at Science also agree with her approach of ignoring data for the sake of an political agenda, as this article lovingly endorses her campaign and tactics.

Fear The Walking D(r)ead.  Richard Feynman wrote "science is the belief in the ignorance of experts," and nothing could demonstrate that point more readily than the public's growing disaffection with the experts of the public health apparatus — the WHO, the CDC, and Dr. Anthony Fauci.  Their proscriptions (often conflicting) respecting the handling of Covid-19 were simply not "scientific." They were, in fact, nothing more than guesses which did not work out.  Not that that stopped them from silencing those whose experience, both medical and non-medical, contradicted their guesswork.  Ignoring cost-benefit analysis and utterly discounting the contradictory experience of thousands of medical doctors who were actually treating patients with the dreaded Covid, they've wreaked havoc and hardship throughout the world and doubtless contributed to many more deaths than necessary.  Unfortunately, much of the media still insist that their actions were based on pure science, and many of our fellow citizens — driven to neurosis by it all — have been propagandized to thinking this is akin to the Black Death.  It's hard to know where to even begin answering this.

Pritzker's COVID-19 Positivity Rate 'Not Scientifically Founded'.  In case you missed it — and you probably did — Belleville News Democrat reporter Kelsey Landis pulled back the veil on Gov. J.B. Prtizker's biggest coronavirus crisis fib.  I'm talking about Pritzker's claim that his administration's coronavirus response has been "guided by science and data," a refrain he repeats so often that otherwise reasonable people believe it to be true.  Landis told me she didn't intend to unearth evidence that Pritzker's administration has been intentionally citing less-than-scientific statistics to justify executive orders implementing regional coronavirus restrictions.  But there it was, tucked in the scrappy downstate newspaper's story that Landis says aimed to help readers better understand the state's coronavirus "positivity rate."

15 Crazy Things Joe Biden Said at the ABC Town Hall.  Aside from many factually-challenged statements, Biden said a number of truly outlandish things. [...] [For example,] Trump could have kept schools and businesses open during the pandemic.  Biden:  "The president had an opportunity to open and allow schools and businesses to stay open if they got the kind of help they needed."  (Didn't he say Trump should have shut everything down sooner?) [...] Biden:  "Inject bleach in your arm, and that's going to work.  I'm not being facetious, he's actually said these things." (No, actually, he did not.) [...] America has 20% of the world's coronavirus deaths.  Biden:  "W[e] make up 4% of the world's population.  We have 20% of the world's deaths."  (That presumes China and other "developing" countries are providing accurate figures — a big presumption.)

Denver limits gatherings to 5 people, will require face masks in certain outdoor settings.  Citing an uptick in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, the City & County of Denver will now require face masks in certain outdoor public settings as well as reduce gathering limits from 10 to five people.  "We are, as a county, brimming on the edge of a crisis that could further endanger individuals' health as well as damage our economy," Denver Mayor Michael Hancock said during a virtual news conference announcing the two new public health orders.

The Editor says...
The First Amendment guarantees "the right of the people peaceably to assemble."  It doesn't say anything about crowd size.

We have all bitten enough bullets already.
Dr. Fauci Tells Americans to 'Bite the Bullet and Sacrifice' Thanksgiving.  First, CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield warned that sharing Thanksgiving dinner indoors with a group of loved ones was very, very dangerous.  Now, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Mendacious Midget™, is joining the chorus.  In an interview with Norah O'Donnell on CBS News, the media darling said the following about the holiday:  [Omitted for brevity, among other things.]  It is impossible to express the level of disdain I have for this man.  The Mendacious Midget™ has been all over television, speaking out both sides of his mouth for months.  As an example, early in the pandemic, Fauci said public masking would do absolutely no good.  In fact, he said that improper use could cause infection.  Now, if you don't wear one between bites while eating at an outdoor restaurant, you are trying to kill grandma.  Still, he is ubiquitous on television and radio, complete with leisure magazine covers.  One could believe Fauci is enjoying his notoriety, with attention lavished on him largely because he is a foil to President Trump.  To maintain that position, he often uses weasel words to avoid the president's wrath.

Risk of COVID-19 exposure on planes 'virtually nonexistent' when masked, study shows.  United Airlines says the risk of COVID-19 exposure onboard its aircraft is "virtually non-existent" after a new study finds that when masks are worn there is only a 0.003% chance particles from a passenger can enter the passenger's breathing space who is sitting beside them.  The study, conducted by the Department of Defense in partnership with United Airlines, was published Thursday.  They ran 300 tests in a little over six months with a mannequin on a United plane.

Biden Muddles Through Gentle, Hunter-Free Town Hall.  Joe Biden came into Thursday night's [10/15/2020] town hall, which was originally supposed to be a debate, stung by new allegations of influence-peddling involving his son Hunter. [...] Joe appeared with Greek heartthrob George Stephanopoulos.  They started off with a question from a Democrat who was dismayed by Trump's response to COVID-19.  What would Biden have done differently?  Now listen, carefully.  He wanted more access to China; so did Trump.  After that?  Biden wrote a USA op-ed.  But he can point to nothing he would have done substantively differently from Trump's response.  Nothing.  This is important.  According to Democrats, Trump killed 200,000 people, but they can't say what they would have done differently.  Biden's big plan going forward seems to be a mix of big signs about masks in stores, ventilation systems, and bearing the example of wearing a mask.

Tennis star Sam Querrey flees Russia on private jet after positive COVID-19 test.  Mixing tennis with a global pandemic just got even more wild.  Amid quarantine bubbles and Novak Djokovic's disastrous Adria Tour, the sport has endured a rocky ride in its bid to restart but Sam Querrey's response after testing positive to COVID-19 takes the cake.  In a lengthy Twitter thread, New York Times tennis reporter Ben Rothenberg detailed the series of events that saw Querrey flee Russia on a private jet with his family after contracting coronavirus. [...] "Sam received an unexpected call from someone with the Russian health authorities who said that the family would be visited by a doctor, and if they were found to have symptoms they could be forced to be hospitalised," Rothenberg reported on Twitter.  "The Querreys, who were experiencing what they considered mild symptoms, feared any or all being hospitalised in Russia, especially so given that they were travelling with their eight-month-old son, from whom they did not want to be potentially separated in a foreign country.

Scott Atlas:  The Other Doctor on the COVID Task Force.  Dr. Scott W. Atlas joined the president's coronavirus task force in August, but after two months, he has yet to sit for a photo shoot or throw out a first pitch or inspire a single artisanal cocktail.  No one has impersonated him on "Saturday Night Live" either, and there certainly isn't any grassroots campaign to get him nominated as People magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive."  Although he has a medical degree from the University of Chicago, Atlas is the other doctor, and he knows it.  "I'm not here to make friends.  Okay?" he tells RealClearPolitics in a rare interview.  "I'm here to help the president save American lives.  Period."  Every other member of the commission would say the same.  Combating the coronavirus is the whole point, and saving lives through disease mitigation and prevention remains their goal.  But Atlas, a neuro-radiologist and senior fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution, has different ideas about how to beat COVID-19. He says publicly that children do not frequently spread the virus.  He questions the efficacy of mask mandates.  He condemns lockdowns as not just ineffective but deeply destructive.

US Army Wants To Make COVID Social Distancing 'Permanent' Even After Pandemic Ends.  For the majority of Americans wondering when this socially distanced dystopian nightmare of '6 feet apart' and 'wear a mask!' and 'mandatory hand sanitizer' will finally be over, the Pentagon has just given serious cause for concern.  When will it all end?  Perhaps leading the way as an example of where we all might be headed as a country, the United States Army has strongly hinted that it's looking to make its coronavirus protective measures permanent.

Destroying the Institutions We Inherited.  The World Health Organization's director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, is the first person without a medical degree to hold that position.  Why?  No one really knows.  In the critical first days of the rapidly spreading COVID-19 pandemic, almost every statement issued by Tedros and the WHO about the origins, transmission, prevention and treatment of the virus was inaccurate.  Worse, the announcements predictably reflected the propaganda of the Chinese government.

The Democrats' Abuse of Children in 2020.  [Scroll down]  Democrats and their indoctrinated followers constantly tell us rubes that coronavirus is not like the flu; they're right, it's less deadly.  In response to this natural biological event, the Democrats' response has been endless and harmful lockdowns.  Schools in particular have been emptied, both out of the irrational fear of many teachers (who, by no coincidence, are overwhelmingly Democrats themselves) and the same irrationality of parents.  Again, if those parents don't remove their kids from school during flu season, it's a losing argument they're making.  School closures undoubtedly hurt academics, but that's fine, because many schools have replaced traditional learning with heavy doses of white privilege and white supremacy sessions anyways.  Where school closures make a lasting impact, though, is on the emotional well-being of our young people, who rely on social interactions to meet emotional and psychological needs.

Michigan's Comrade Whitmer Declares COVID-19 Will Attack if Standing, But Not if Seated.  In the latest example of corona madness; and in the face of state supreme court rulings declaring her unilateral dictates unconstitutional; Comrade Gretchen Whitmer of the Michigan Directorate declares an even more bizarre state rule:  "... bars are now allowed to operate but they may only serve alcohol to people who are sitting down and 6 feet apart."  Apparently the moonbat-science is settled.  If standing with beer, the COVID-19 virus will swoop down and attack; however, if you take a seat with beer your are protected.  Thus continues the abject nuttery from the Michigan Directorate of COVID Compliance.

Does Recent CDC Data Show That Mask Wearers Are More Likely To Contract COVID-19?  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a study in late September which revealed that over 70% of "case-patients" who tested positive for COVID-19 got the virus despite "always" wearing a mask.  Additionally, over 14% of those infected with COVID-19 in the July study reported wearing masks "often."  The study results appear to show fairly conclusively that the results strongly indicate that "always" and "often" mask-wearing individuals were more likely to test positive for COVID-19.  Many doctors and scientists have been stating for months, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH)'s Dr. Fauci, that mask-wearing has not been proven effective in preventing the spread of viruses — including the SARS-CoV-2 — in community settings.

Black Trump Supporter Is Kicked Off Southwest Air Flight For Pulling His Mask Down To Eat Peanuts.  A black man wearing a Black Voices For Trump hat was kicked off a Southwest Airlines flight for pulling his mask down so he can eat some peanuts.  The person filming the incident before the flight had taken off asked the flight attendant repeatedly what the airline regulations were for eating on a flight.  She specifically asked if there was a rule against pulling the mask down to eat.  The flight attendant didn't appear to want to answer the passenger's questions in the video.  [Video clip]

The Globalist Elite Are Getting Ready To Lock You Down Again, This Time For Global Warming, Calling It 'The Great Reset'.  Sky News host Rowan Dean says the next World Economic Forum in Davos has morphed from a "jet-setter climate gabfest" into a sinister "anti-democratic enterprise designed to destroy your job, steal your prosperity and rob your kids of a future".  "It's a hardcore leftist eco-horror show replete with quasi fascism," he said.  Mr Dean highlighted what he described as a "disturbing trend among many of the world's left-wing elites to increasingly conflate COVID-19 with climate change.  "Many are going so far as to suggest that all the measures applied to the coronavirus, the lockdowns, the destruction of businesses, the suppression of dissent, curfews, strong-arm police tactics, should become the 'new normal' for dealing with climate change.

Hawaii "Has Committed Suicide" — Local Rages "Hardly Anyone Is Sick, But We're All Broke".  While we have grown used to the people (well, at least those who are capable for thinking for themselves) of Michigan and California complaining that the tyrannical COVID lockdown rules imposed by Governors Whitmer and Newsom are arbitrary and capricious (if not downright unconstitutional), it is less often we hear from those living on the beautiful islands of Hawaii. [...] ["]The new travel requirements will trap Hawaii residents here as securely than if they were slaves.["]

There is no good evidence for a circuit-breaker lockdown.  The Government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) has high confidence that planned, short, stay-at-home orders — now better known as a "circuit breaker" — would have similar effects to the national lockdown in spring.  According to newly released minutes from a meeting in September, the group believes that such a break would put the epidemic back 28 days and reduce the prevalence of infection in December.

Yale Scientist:  Fauci 'in Bed with Forces,' 'Decisions not Based on Science,' 'Killing Americans.' Why Is No One Investigating This Man?  You may not have heard, but on August 23, a guy named Harvey Risch made some shocking accusations against Anthony Fauci.  Of course, that by itself doesn't say much since a lot of people have accused Anthony Fauci of a lot of things since he stepped into the spotlight as the de facto leader of America's response to COVID-19.  But Harvey Risch isn't just anybody.  Risch is a professor of epidemiology at Yale University.  He has an M.D. from UC San Diego, a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, and he's published over 300 papers in a career that spans four decades.  Harvey Risch can't be dismissed as a "crackpot conspiracy theorist."  You can't brush aside such unbelievably serious accusations with some mantra about "following the science" when a world-renowned scientist is the one making them.  Yet what's in a way more alarming than Risch's accusations themselves is the way they, nonetheless, have been completely brushed aside.  There hasn't been a single call by anyone to investigate whether there's any truth to what Risch is saying.

Ten Lessons from a Tumultuous 2020.  [#1] The Chinese Coronavirus pandemic has revealed that virtually all Democrat elected state and local government officials are fully capable of doing the unthinkable: creating a de facto police state. [...] [#2] A plurality of the American people have shown that they are willing to sacrifice their freedoms and way of life in order to empower a potential police state in the guise of conquering a pandemic.  Thus, they are emboldening those who seek political hegemony through the vehicle of the Democrat party, as governments never easily surrender power once attained.  They only seek to normalize it. [...] [#3] Far too many scientists in the medical field, once respected and revered, have been exposed to be in the thrall of corporations, political parties, foreign entities and governments as they have, for political reasons, aided and abetted the police state tactics of elected officials.

COVID-19 Lockdowns Have Been A Disaster — End Them Now.  For those who don't recall, the initial lockdowns were sold to the public as an emergency move to "flatten the curve" for 15 days during March to keep hospitals from being overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients.  Americans, wanting to do their part, grudgingly agreed to the two-week suspension of normal economic and social activities.  Unfortunately, governors used the opportunity to keep their economies closed indefinitely, in some cases clearly for political reasons.  In California, where the shutdown has been devastating, recent re-opening guidelines included "equity measures" ranging from gauging neighborhoods' "tree canopy" to alcohol availability and voting statistics.  To be absolutely clear, these benchmarks have nothing whatsoever to do with COVID-19.  They are merely an effort by far-left California Gov. Gavin Newsom to pander to his increasingly extreme base of voters.

The Great Barrington Declaration Is A Spark of Sanity In A Mad World.  In an era in which every dubious decision is "due to COVID-19," we hear policymakers repeating the same mantra:  "If just one life is saved," it's worth relinquishing our freedoms, our sanity, and possibly our future.  More often than not, this ethical dilemma is presented without mentioning the obvious trade-offs or long-term consequences.  Imagine you're an administrative dictator.  If you could "save just one life" — or even thousands — by crippling the youth, vaporizing a million careers, wiping out small businesses, crushing your nation's civic culture, severing the ancient continuity of religious rites, forcing healthy people into paranoid isolation, traumatizing an entire generation with viral terror, ending hugs and handshakes, depriving the elderly of intimate care in their final days, wrecking the national economy, unleashing a dystopian surveillance state, and turning your neighbors into neurotic germaphobes, would it be worth it?  It's a serious question.

Dystopia USA.  Democrats have [struck] fear in the hearts and minds of Americans over COVID — far worse than warranted.  According to the Gallup poll, Democrats are especially terrified.  They are terrified enough to ruin a school prom.  1984 is now a documentary — just the wrong year.  This is the dystopian existence we face:  [Video clip]

Nursing Home Residents Protest Cruel Anti-Science Lockdown: 'I'd Rather Die of COVID Than Loneliness'.  You know what they do when a criminal in prison misbehaves and needs a little extra punishing?  Exactly what government officials across America have been doing to our elderly nursing home residents for over six months now — they deprive him of companionship with other human beings.  It's the most effective way to punish someone without getting your hands dirty — apart from keeping him in a relentless state of dread.  But, of course, we did that too.  Deprived of visitors and even forced to keep away from fellow residents — the frailest among them unable to even leave their beds — many were left with nothing but the TV for companionship.  So they found themselves terrorized nonstop for months by fake news about a virus that, in reality, is at worst no more deadly than than a typical seasonal flu.

Another Leftist Hypocrite:  St. Louis County Executive Sam Page Orders Strict Mask Mandates for All Local Citizens Then Is Caught Out in Public Without a Mask.  St. Louis County Executive Sam Page has some of the strictest lockdown measures in nation.  The Democrat has extended unnecessary lockdowns on children and has ruined youth sports.  His outlandish rules have caused hundreds of county businesses to close down for good.  Poor and middle class county residents are hurt the most and their children are suffering.  In August Sam Page toughened his orders requiring face masks, in an effort to keep the coronavirus from spreading.  Under Page's crackdown businesses are not able to serve people who aren't wearing masks, and children over age 5 will have to wear them in school.  People will also need to wear masks at indoor and outdoor businesses.  Page also forced children to wear masks in public parks on the way to their soccer games even though others in the park were not wearing masks.  On Saturday [10/10/2020] Sam Page was caught at a local business sitting, chatting and having drinks with friends without a mask.

Dr. Fauci Isn't Stupid, He Just Thinks You Are.  Over the last year, I've tried to be fair to Dr. Anthony Fauci.  I understand that a situation like the current pandemic is unpredictable and that even well thought out positions can often be wrong.  But what I've never had patience for is arrogance in failure from bureaucrats who we have no way of holding to account because it takes an act of God to remove a government employee.  Dr. Fauci is now at that place.  He doesn't deserve to have his job anymore, leaving a string of highly damaging failures in his wake which he's now couching in an incredibly insulting arrogance.  Here's one of his latest whoppers.  [Video clip]

Dr. Fauci's Mind-Numbingly Stupid Remarks About COVID Deaths.  Dr. Anthony Fauci isn't an idiot, but [...] man — are you for real with this remark about COVID deaths?  The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases chief who has been a trainwreck on masks now has a new mind-numbingly stupid hot take on COVID deaths.  He simply doesn't see how there could be excess deaths in this year besides those from COVID.  He said this during an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper.  Tapper was teeing up whether the COVID death count has been undercounted.  Some study showed that the U.S. saw 20 percent more deaths between March and August of this year.

After supporting coronavirus lockdowns for months, the WHO just made the reversal of the year.  As recently as July, the World Health Organization was still scaring people around the world — who'd either just started coming out of months-long, localized coronavirus lockdowns or whose communities were about to clamp down for the first time — by saying that "total lockdown" might be needed to nip the COVID-19 pandemic in the bud in some places.  Dr. Michael Ryan, executive director of WHO's Health Emergencies Program, said as much during a press conference in early July.  "We all want to avoid whole countries going back into total lockdown," he said.  "That is not a desire that anybody has.  But there may be situations in which that is the only option."  The WHO was warning countries at that point that they should only very "slowly" come out of any coronavirus lockdown they'd imposed, and that every nation around the world needed to answer the "fundamental question" for itself as to when and how (and whether) there might be a need for another future lockdown period.  "Once lockdowns were ended, there was always the risk that the disease could bounce back," Ryan continued during the press conference.

Rebellion Virus.  As a second wave of infections surged in Europe, lockdown-weary populations sought another way to contain the coronavirus pandemic.  ["]Police said 'several thousand' people marched through Berlin on Saturday [10/10/2020] in a silent protest against restrictions.  Protesters also rallied in Rome, Warsaw and London against mask-wearing requirements and virus curbs.  Governments across the globe are struggling to keep up with a sharp rise in infections and manage growing public frustration over a new restrictions as the pandemic enters a second wave.["]  The costs of quarantine were taking their toll even in Spain, initially one of the worst-hit countries in Europe, where a Madrid court rejected government orders to lock down the Spanish capital.

NYT: Experts Confident Pandemic To Be Over 'Far Sooner' Than Expected, Trump Efforts 'Working With Remarkable Efficiency'.  A new report from The New York Times indicates that experts have "genuine confidence" that the coronavirus pandemic will end "far sooner" than originally expected and that President Donald Trump's Operation Warp Speed — the administration's efforts to facilitate and accelerate the development, manufacturing, and distribution of vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics — has been "working with remarkable efficiency."  The report, published on Monday [10/12/2020], comes with just over three weeks left in the presidential race between Trump and Democrat presidential nominee Joe Biden.

Even the New York Times Is Admitting Trump's Strategy on COVID-19 Is Working Now.  The New York Times may have just given President Donald Trump one of the greatest nods they've ever given him, even if they didn't mean to.  The Democrats have been attempting to sell the idea that Trump failed the coronavirus response and that there are so many dead here in America because he failed to act in a timely manner.  This is, of course, a whopping falsehood.  When Trump was closing off countries from the United States in order to limit the spread, Democrats were calling him xenophobic for doing so.  In fact, it was Democrats who were out in the streets telling everyone to come out and not be afraid of the virus at all.  Now, the New York Times released a report citing experts who have "genuine confidence" that the pandemic will be over far faster than many anticipated and that Trump's plan to combat the virus called "Operation Warp Speed" is "working with remarkable efficiency."

Idaho is arresting psalm singers.  Christians were arrested in Idaho of all places for singing Psalms and allegedly not social distancing. [...] Are the Californians moving into Idaho?  Who are these people arresting people singing and maybe not social distancing?  Is this America?

How a Feud Between Cuomo and de Blasio Led to a Chaotic Virus Crackdown.  Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo had barely finished a fairly routine coronavirus briefing earlier this month when he got word that the New York City mayor, Bill de Blasio, had just blindsided him.  The mayor unexpectedly announced that he intended to close down schools and nonessential businesses in parts of Brooklyn and Queens, where the coronavirus was surging in communities with large Orthodox Jewish populations.  Mr. de Blasio asserted that he had been in contact with the state, whose approval was needed.  It took less than 24 hours for Mr. Cuomo to fire back.  He halted the mayor's plan to shutter businesses, calling it imprecise and incomplete, and sped up the closure of schools.  By the next day, the governor unveiled his own plan:  another phased-in lockdown, complete with color-coded maps and a barely veiled message for Mr. de Blasio.

Did the lockdowns worsen the COVID outbreak?  The response to the COVID-19/Coronavirus/Wuhan Flu is unquestionably unprecedented.  Never before have we shut down the majority of society worldwide — economic and societal concerns be damned, quarantined large groups of healthy people — sometimes indefinitely, cancelled weddings, funerals and religious services — then allowed mass protests and riots and implemented large-scale masking requirements.  Never before, at least in free nations.  The impetus for these restrictions was to save lives.  The goal was to 'flatten the curve,' so the hospital systems were not overwhelmed, but that morphed into "crush the virus."  This mimicked the Chinese response, as they allege it was successful.  In reality, the Chinese government is known for its dishonesty so we cannot know the true effects lockdowns had in mainland China.  New York Governor Cuomo, who presides over the state with the highest coronavirus deaths and one of the most draconian lockdowns succinctly put it this way; "And if everything we do saves just one life, I'll be happy."  Semantic grandstanding aside, did these measures save lives?

Oops: WHO Now Says Lockdowns Are a Bad Idea That Should Be Avoided.  The World Health Organization (WHO) has changed its position on government lockdowns as a measure for combating the Wuhan coronavirus.  The WHO now believes that lockdowns have unintended consequences and should be avoided.  "We in the World Health Organization do not advocate lockdowns as the primary means of control of this virus," Dr. David Nabarro, the WHO's Special Envoy on Covid-19 told The Spectator.  Dr. Nabarro then cited some of the harmful negative consequences of prolonged lockdowns that conservatives and President Trump have been warning about for months.  "Lockdowns just have one consequence that you must never ever belittle, and that is making poor people an awful lot poorer," Dr. Nabarro warned.

Coronavirus: WHO backflips on virus stance by condemning lockdowns.  The World Health Organisation has backflipped on its original COVID-19 stance after calling for world leaders to stop locking down their countries and economies.  Dr. David Nabarro from the WHO appealed to world leaders yesterday, telling them to stop "using lockdowns as your primary control method" of the coronavirus.  He also claimed that the only thing lockdowns achieved was poverty — with no mention of the potential lives saved.  "Lockdowns just have one consequence that you must never ever belittle, and that is making poor people an awful lot poorer," he said.  "We in the World Health Organisation do not advocate lockdowns as the primary means of control of this virus," Dr Nabarro told The Spectator.

No social distancing here!

Store Opening with crowd.  Video shows crowd crowding through the store.  Representative of the store was taken to give testimony and can be served for a crime against public health.  [Video clip, location:  Belém, Brazil]

Are COVID Case Surges More Fake News?  COVID cases are on the rise, or so we are told daily by a hysterical media.  Newspaper headlines scream panic as this recent USAToday article proclaimed, "COVID-19 cases rising in 39 states — 9 months into the pandemic:  We are overwhelmed."  It's the American people that are overwhelmed.  Nine months into masks and lockdowns, with a presidential election just weeks away, facing a daily barrage of doom and gloom from the media.  Are cases really on the rise or are these simply positive tests? [...] What exactly is a "case"?  The USA Today article doesn't say.  Neither do other articles or cable news doctors and other "experts."  Is a "case" simply a positive test?  The CDC answers this question with a "case definition."  A case is not just a positive test.  Instead what is needed is, "Presumptive laboratory evidence AND either clinical criteria OR epidemiologic evidence."  Notice the AND, meaning not simply a positive test.

Schools Aren't Super-Spreaders.  Fear and bad press slowed down or canceled school reopenings elsewhere.  Many large urban school districts chose not to open for in-person instruction, even in places with relatively low positivity rates.  Chicago, L.A., Houston — all remote, at least so far.  It's now October.  We are starting to get an evidence-based picture of how school reopenings and remote learning are going (those photos of hallways don't count), and the evidence is pointing in one direction.  Schools do not, in fact, appear to be major spreaders of COVID-19.

WHO official urges world leaders to stop using lockdowns as primary virus control method.  The World Health Organization's special envoy on COVID-19 urged world leaders this week to stop "using lockdowns as your primary control method."  "We in the World Health Organization do not advocate lockdowns as the primary means of control of this virus," Dr. David Nabarro said to The Spectator's Andrew Neil.  "The only time we believe a lockdown is justified is to buy you time to reorganize, regroup, rebalance your resources, protect your health workers who are exhausted, but by and large, we'd rather not do it."

DoD Test of Viral Spread on Commercial Planes Reveals Good News, General Says.  The head of U.S. Transportation Command offered a sneak preview Wednesday [10/7/2020] of the results of a Defense Department test of particulate spread on commercial aircraft — and they are surprising.  Speaking at the National Defense Transportation Association's annual fall meeting, Gen. Stephen Lyons cited an aerosol test held Aug. 24-31 aboard two large passenger aircraft:  the Boeing 767-300 and 777-200.  The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, better known as DARPA, teamed up with biodefense company Zeteo Tech Inc. to evaluate in-flight spread of airborne particles.  Industry partners included Boeing and United Airlines.

Some Facts You're Not Hearing That Might Dampen Your Enthusiasm for a Shot of COVID-19 Vaccine.  [Scroll down]  On the frightening side:  Two of the leading contenders in the race to produce a vaccine are using experimental technology that artificially stimulates an immune response by... hold on to your seats... genetically altering your cells with RNA from the virus so they start producing proteins from its outer shell.  Though it probably won't be described this way in any ad campaign, it's tough to see what's inaccurate about saying mRNA technology works by genetically modifying you into a human-coronavirus hybrid.  Moreover, not only are these potential COVID vaccines being developed with never-before-witnessed haste, mRNA technology has never been approved for use before.  In fact, this will be the first time it's even been tested in a large-scale clinical trial!  There's always some risk attending the introduction of any new medication.  But put all of this together, and it's hard to see how the impending COVID-19 vaccine won't be one of the riskiest if not the riskiest pharmaceutical product ever marketed.  The pharmaceutical companies racing to be the first to develop it certainly seem to think so.

Also posted under What's the rush?

Warren vows Biden will 'hold Trump accountable' for pandemic.  Sen. Elizabeth Warren made a vow to "hold Trump accountable" should Joe Biden win the 2020 presidential election.  Warren stumped for Biden in Maine and New Hampshire Saturday [10/10/2020], during which she spoke more about Trump than about her own candidate.  She said a Biden-Harris presidency would hold Trump "accountable" for his response to the pandemic, his alleged remarks about those in the military and his response to climate change.  "For me, accountability, at this moment, means 210,000 Americans have died from a virus that we should have under control," Warren said to a crowd of 65 gathered in Manchester, N.H.

The Editor says...
The last figure I saw was 9,683. That's the number of people in the U.S. who have died from Covid-19 alone.  Not 200,000.  The virus itself will probably spread to everyone in the country, sooner or later, and there is little or no hope that the movements of a virus will ever be controlled by the government.  But that doesn't mean the situation in the U.S. is "out of control."

Trump [is] no longer considered a risk to transmit COVID-19, doctor says.  President Trump is no longer considered a risk to transmit COVID-19 to others, according to a memo released late Saturday by the White House physician, though the White House did not say that the president has tested negative for the virus.  "This evening I am happy to report that in addition to the President meeting the CDC criteria for the safe discontinuation of isolation, this morning's COVID PCR sample demonstrates, by currently recognized standards, he is no longer considered a transmission risk to others," physician Sean Conley wrote in a memo released by the White House.  The White House still has not made clear when Trump last tested negative for COVID-19, but Conley's memo provides some cover for the president as he resumes holding public gatherings and speaking to supporters.

President Trump working hard to distribute 'free' doses of new treatment he credits for swift recovery.  President Donald Trump announced late Wednesday afternoon [10/7/2020] from the White House that he'd like every American to benefit from the same medications and treatment that were offered to him after he was diagnosed with the coronavirus last week.  "I walked in, I didn't feel good.  A short 24 hours later, I was feeling great, I wanted to get out of the hospital, and that's what I want for everybody.  I want everybody to be given the same treatment as your president because I feel great," he said.

No Spike in Florida Coronavirus Cases Despite Lack of Enforceable Mask Mandate.  There has been no spike in cases of the Chinese coronavirus in Florida over the last two weeks, despite Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) lifting key coronavirus restrictions and nixing the enforcement of local mask mandates across the Sunshine State last month.  On September 25, Gov. DeSantis took a major step, lifting key coronavirus restrictions at the state level.  The order allowed businesses, such as restaurants, to operate at full capacity at the state level and required local governments to "justify" any restrictions on capacity moving forward.  Additionally, DeSantis suspended all penalties related to local mask mandates, as he never issued a statewide mandate despite mounting criticisms from the left.

Mask-Shamer Joe Biden Literally Removed His Mask to Cough.  Some things you just have to see to believe.  During a drive-in campaign event in Las Vegas, Nev., on Friday, Joe Biden did something really stupid.  First, as you can see in the video below, he was unnecessarily wearing a mask while alone at his podium.  Second, he was wearing it wrong, with his only his mouth covered, and not his nose.  But the real absurdity came when he had to cough, and he literally pulled his mask down to cough into his hand, before readjusting his mask (correctly) and placing his now germ-ridden hand on the podium that some campaign intern would then be tasked with removing.  [Video clip]

Biden accidentally reveals the mask con job.  Yesterday [10/9/2020], while campaigning in Nevada, Joe Biden behaved spontaneously and demonstrated that he does not really believe masks offer protection against the spread of Covid-19. The mask mandate that Biden proposes is useful for demagoguing President Trump as a "super spreader" because he does not wear them 100% of the time but only when he is in close proximity to others.  The governmental mandates and constant drumbeat of propaganda forcing people to wear masks whenever in public serve to accustom us to automatically do what we are told by government authorities, and symbolize our submission to them, while crippling nonverbal communication among a population that may wish to resist authoritarianism.  Watch Biden pull down is mask in order to cough into his hand while speaking at a podium in Nevada, well more than 6 feet distant from other humans:  [Video clip] [...] Were President Trump to cough into his hand, you can be certain that MSMers would claim he has "blood on his hands."  The truth is that masks offer little protection, unless they are tightly-fitted (and difficult to breathe through) N95 masks.

Trump Is Now One With Countless Essential Workers.  [Joe] Biden has no real idea of who is keeping this country in general, and his own household in particular, alive — much less how hard that task is at a time of plague and quarantine.  Class differences, considerations, and interests are the real themes of this election. [...] So COVID, the quarantine, and the president's illness alike have now become class issues.  On the one hand, are the elite and entitled "Karens."  They scream and rant when they see a slipped mask.  They worship Lord Zoom and His Highness Skype.  They brag about their near-perfect quarantine, and become insufferable when talking of "the science" and "Dr. Fauci." [...] Dr. Fauci may be a saint.  But take any key issue of the last six months — from wearing masks, to quarantining, to taking cruises, to blind dating, to projecting viral loads and likely lethality — and he has not just been mistaken, but predictably self-contradictory.

World's first Covid passport technology will be trialled on flights from Heathrow this week.  Coronavirus passport trials are taking place at Heathrow this week to test technology to let people travel the globe without risk of being quarantined.  Passengers on United Airlines and Cathay Pacific are trying out an app called the CommonPass.  The phone software is a digital health pass which can hold a certified COVID-19 test status or show someone has been vaccinated in future in a way designed to satisfy various governments' different regulations.

Another Lecture:  New England Journal of Medicine Wants Trump Voted Out.  Another medical and science publication is going far left.  The New England Journal of Medicine on Thursday [10/8/2020] endorsed Joe Biden, calling for the incumbent to be voted out of office because he and his administration have "failed at every step" when responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.  According to an article posted by Lydia O'Connor, a reporter for the liberal HuffPost website, the "rare political statement from a scientific journal" was the first such recommendation in the publication's 208-year history.  Quoting information from the journal's editorial, O'Connor declared:  "November's election will have life-or-death consequences for people across the country regardless of party alignment" since truth "is neither liberal nor conservative."

Thousands of Michigan criminal charges and fines under question under now-unconstitutional coronavirus orders.  Thousands of Michiganders are wondering if criminal charges and fines levied against them are still valid after the Michigan Supreme Court last Friday ruled Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's COVID-19 executive orders issued after April 30 are illegal.  Some don't have answers — yet.  Owosso barber Karl Manke's attorney David Kallman told The Center Square he's expecting Attorney General Dana Nessel's office to drop criminal charges against Manke, who operated his barbershop in violation of Whitmer's orders.  The administrative charges through the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs are unclear.  "We've got criminal cases all over the state for gym owners," Kallman said.  "I'm expecting all of those to be dismissed shortly."

The End of Covid Hysteria.  Most of the nation was stunned by the news that Donald and Melania Trump had contracted COVID.  I found out early morning the night after it was announced.  Already the Democrat/media complex was gleefully hoping for death, reportedly focusing on Trump's "cavalier attitude" towards COVID precautions.  As the center-right media began to report the left's response, the obvious was clear.  Few on the right would have reacted that way had Biden contracted it. [...] Fact is, most of the country is sick of the hysteria.  Most simply want to live their lives, intelligently with caution, and return back to what we all remember was a decent life.

COVID & The Escalation Of Medical Tyranny.  The coronavirus crisis has served as a powerful tool in highlighting many of the faults that previously existed in society.  It exposed which politicians have an inherent need to control and which ones are guided by humility.  It reminded us of the political power that lies in fear, and how crucial it is to be skeptical of prevailing narratives.  It emphasized the different economic realities for those who live paycheck to paycheck and those who benefit from economic financialization.  Already we have seen agents of the state, at various levels, seek to leverage a viral medical crisis to expand their power.  Governors and local officials have sought to use vague "emergency" powers to lock down businesses and to create criminal penalties, and have then attacked any attempts by judiciaries to rein in their actions.  Judges have sought to leverage the power they hold in deciding child custody to force citizens to make medical decisions they disagree with.  Anointed government experts, such as Dr. Anthony Fauci, in spite of his own inconsistencies, have been held up as the final word on science, at the expense of the voices of other credible scientists.  Whether by design or by the instinctual reaction, we have seen a concerted effort of government authorities — amplified by a corporate press with a particularly vivid political agenda, and supported by the credentials of an academic landscape that suffers from ideological capture — to weaponize a centralized scientific narrative for the purpose of achieving certain policy ends.

Biden's Pseudoscientific Masquerade.  Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden insists that, if he wins the November election, his COVID-19 policies will "follow the science." This would certainly be a welcome departure from his rhetoric regarding the pandemic.  Biden's public statements, particularly on mask mandates, general lockdowns, and in-person education, are clearly at odds with the recommendations of an increasing number of epidemiologists and public health scientists.  His continued advocacy of countermeasures that have proven ineffective or even harmful suggest that the former vice president is scientifically illiterate or has deliberately ignored the discoveries made by genuine scientists about COVID-19 since it claimed its first U.S. victim in February.  The most risible manifestation of Biden's imposture concerning COVID-19 involves his science-free claims that mask mandates will somehow ameliorate transmission of the virus.

First Man Charged with Crime Because he Ignored Pandemic Rules.  A man from Kentucky is set to face charges in November.  John Pennington was travelling from Alaska to the lower 48 in the United States.  He has now been charged with violating Canada's Quarantine Act with accusations that he failed to follow Coronavirus public safety rules while in Banff.  If he's found guilty, he could be fined up to $750,000 or sentenced to six months in jail.  It started with a call from the Rimrock Hotel to police in late June.  "Staff at the hotel were concerned about an American guest they thought was breaching the quarantine," Staff Sgt. Michael Buxton-Carr told the News.

COVID-19 Hype is Needed In Order to Justify "Virtual Debates" Between Biden and Trump.  In order to support the most important political objectives of the DNC writ large in the 2020 election, COVID-19 hype is essential:
  •   Without COVID-19 panic Democrats cannot easily achieve 'mail-in' voting; which they desperately need in key battleground states in order to control the outcome.
  •   Without COVID-19 panic Democrats cannot shut down rallies and political campaigning efforts of President Trump; which they desperate need to do in key battleground states.
  •   Without COVID-19 panic Democrats cannot block the campaign contrast between an energetic President Trump and a physically tenuous, mentally compromised, challenger.
  •   Without COVID-19 panic Democrats do not have an excuse for cancelling the DNC convention in Milwaukee; thereby blocking Team Bernie Sanders from visible opposition while protecting candidate gibberish from himself.
  •   Without COVID-19 panic Democrats do not have a mechanism to keep voters isolated from each-other; limiting communication and national debate adverse to their interests.
  •   Without COVID-19 panic Democrats cannot keep their Blue state economies easily shut down and continue to block U.S. economic growth. [...]
  •   Without COVID-19 panic Democrats cannot easily keep club candidate Joe Biden sealed in the basement; where the electorate is not exposed to visible signs of his dementia.
  •   Without COVID-19 panic it becomes more difficult for Big Tech to censor voices that would outline the fraud and scheme.  With COVID-19 panic they have a better method and an excuse.

On Trump and the virus.  President Trump was discharged from Walter Reed Medical Center a few days ago. [...] Trump can now speak from personal experience, and his authority on the matter will make a difference in the COVID narrative as we hurtle toward the election.  Bear in mind:  we do not have one new piece of information about how the virus works, how fatal it is, or how to cure it, that we did not have last week.  But all this — the lockdowns, the masks, the thunderous moralizing — was never about information.  This is a virus which, according to the CDC, has a survival rate of over 99% for everyone under 70 (for those over that age, like Trump, it's 94.6%).  There is little evidence to suggest its spread can be meaningfully curbed by masks, except those of the N95 variety when used in confined spaces.  And yet Democrat rulers and their media apparatchiks have been insisting — demanding — that we practice ever-more baroque and elaborate forms of meaningless antiviral gestures.  Wear masks outdoors.  Shut down the gyms and the churches (but riots are fine). Your life must be disrupted, your livelihood ruined.  Obey or be mocked, unpersoned, condemned.  What is this all about?  Not a virus, but a story — a tale told by idiots, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

A Failed Experiment:  The lockdowns must end.  Lockdowns are typically portrayed as prudent precautions against Covid-19, but they are surely the most risky experiment ever conducted on the public.  From the start, researchers have warned that lockdowns could prove far deadlier than the coronavirus.  People who lose their jobs or businesses are more prone to fatal drug overdoses and suicide, and evidence already exists that many more will die from cancer, heart disease, pneumonia, and tuberculosis and other diseases because the lockdown prevented their ailments from being diagnosed early and treated properly.  Yet politicians and public-health officials conducting this unprecedented experiment have paid little attention to these risks.  In their initial rush to lock down society, they insisted that there was no time for such analysis — and besides, these were just temporary measures to "flatten the curve" so as not to overwhelm hospitals.  But since that danger passed, the lockdown enforcers have found one reason after another to persevere with closures, bans, quarantines, curfews, and other mandates.

Over 4,000 Doctors, Public Health Professionals Sign "Great Barrington Declaration," Urging End to COVID-Restrictions.  Over 40,000 people, including over 4,000 epidemiologists, doctors, and public health professionals from around the world, have signed the "Great Barrington Declaration" that urges nations to return to normal life as the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic continues.

When Fear Rules.  We know now that demeaning confidence and courage is fashionable among hacks — two more American virtues to be ground under in a transformed America.  Of greater urgency, the November elections loom, so displays of courage are precisely what Democrats and their media enablers fear.  For courage in just one man can spread, serving as a remedy to fear in many others.  Voters who aren't scared into masks aren't as likely to vote for Democrats. [...] Democrats champion masks because masks acknowledge the rule of fear.  They're symbols of subordination and surrender — yes, subordination to fear of a germ, and surrender of rights and freedoms. [...] You see, fear is a means.  It's a weapon in the hands of Democrats.  The mainstream media are eager henchmen.  Power lust drives Democrats to use fear to gain what they covet.  A virus, like a crisis, isn't to be wasted.  A contagion that helps manufacture a crisis is too tempting to pass up.

White House Physician:  Donald Trump Has COVID-19 Antibodies.  White House physician Dr. Sean Conley said Tuesday that the president's blood was showing antibodies for COVID-19.  "Of note today, the president's labs demonstrated detectable levels of SARS-CoV-2 IgG (COVID-19) antibodies from labs drawn Monday, October 5th," Conley wrote in a memo sent to reporters.  He added that the president's blood work drawn on Thursday did not show any antibodies.

Dr. Fauci's Worst Is yet to Come.  Dr. Anthony Fauci is playing the long game.  That's my suspicion given his change in demeanor over the last few months and his latest comments.  Any deference he used to show to the White House is gone, and he's regularly making the media rounds to contradict and push back against Trump's handling of the coronavirus.  Now, he's predicting doom again if we don't do exactly what he says we should do, as if the lockdowns weren't disastrous and ineffective enough the first time around. [...] New York, where 33,000 people have died, was being held up as a shining light of progress by the media not too long ago.  Now, they are seeing spikes in cases and deaths again.  If that level of lockdown hasn't worked there to "crush the virus", why in the world would anyone assume something similar would work elsewhere?  There is no scientific answer to that question and Fauci knows it.  But what Fauci is doing here is setting himself up for the future.  He sees Joe Biden possibly winning the presidency, and the former VP has already pledged to retain the doctor as a top advisor.

CNN's Sanjay Gupta Makes Wild Claim About Steroid Drug Trump Was Prescribed, Then Facts Get Dropped.  As I wrote earlier this week, the media-driven hysteria over President Trump being prescribed the steroid drug dexamethasone as part of his Wuhan virus treatment plan got out of hand fast.  This misinformation being spread on cable news networks and the social media feeds of "journalists" on this issue was so bad that actual pharmacists pushed back big time against TV "medical experts" who suggested that prescribing it to Trump was "evidence" his condition was far more serious and grave than his medical team had led the public to believe.  Another "medical expert" with a credibility crisis in progress this week is CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta, who has been a regular fixture on the network since the pandemic started.

Texas to Re-open Bars and Saloons.  Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued an order on Wednesday that will allow bars and other entertainment establishments to re-open beginning on October 14. The order allows county judges to work with the Texas Alcoholic Beverages Commission to re-open, as long as they assist in enforcing health protocols.  In a video from the Office of the Texas Governor, Abbott announced protocols for re-opening bars and other entertainment facilities across the state to 50 percent capacity in areas of the state with "low #COVID19 hospitalizations."

Jane Fonda Says What Democrats Are Thinking:  "COVID is God's Gift to The Left" Because It May Defeat Trump.  Hanoi Jane is out stumping for Biden and during a Zoom call, said what many Democrats are thinking — COVID is great for Biden's election chances.  The Washington Free Beacon grabbed the video:  [Video clip]

Jane Fonda says coronavirus is 'God's gift to the left' because it could help Biden defeat Trump.  Actress Jane Fonda called coronavirus "God's gift to the left" because it allowed Americans to see President Trump isn't helping the working class.  The far-left star was busy urging Americans to vote for Democratic nominee Joe Biden and said the upcoming election is a crossroads for the nation.  "We are people who can help determine which way humanity goes.  What a great gift, what a tremendous opportunity, we're just so lucky, we just have to use it with every ounce of intelligence and courage and wherewithal we have," Fonda said in a video published online.

Thousands Of Health Experts Sign Declaration Calling For End To Lockdown, Warn Of 'Irreparable Damage'.  Thousands of medical and public health experts have signed on to a declaration calling for an end to lockdown policies in favor of a more targeted approach to combatting the coronavirus pandemic.  Harvard University professor Dr. Martin Kulldorff, Oxford University epidemiologist Dr. Sunetra Gupta, and Stanford University physician and epidemiologist Dr. Jay Bhattacharya wrote and published "The Great Barrington Declaration" on Sunday.  It has since drawn tens of thousands of signatories.  By Wednesday morning [10/7/2020], nearly 3,200 medical and public health scientists, nearly 4,800 medical practitioners, and over 73,100 others had signed onto the declaration.  The declaration comes as some elected officials in the U.S., such as New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, are cracking down again on their states with renewed lockdown measures.

Doctor, 28, who died from COVID-19 wore same mask for 'weeks if not months'.  A 28-year-old doctor who died fighting COVID-19 had been wearing the same mask at the Houston hospital where she worked for "weeks if not months" when she became infected with the illness, her family said.  Dr. Adeline Fagan, who was from Syracuse, started experiencing symptoms while doing a rotation in July treating coronavirus patients at HCA Houston Healthcare West, the Guardian reported.  It's unclear how she became infected, but her family believes that her alleged lack of proper PPE likely played a role.  "Adeline had an N95 mask and had her name written on it," her sister, Maureen Fagan, told the outlet.  "Adeline wore the same N95 for weeks and weeks, if not months and months."

Orthodox Jewish community erupts in protests over new COVID-19 restrictions.  Hundreds of Orthodox Jewish men gathered in the streets of Brooklyn, New York, lighting bonfires and defying orders to disperse, in protest of the state's new COVID-19 restrictions Tuesday night.  The demonstrations came in response to Gov. Andrew Cuomo's decision to reinstate restrictions on public gatherings and to shutter schools and businesses in neighborhoods where COVID-19 cases are surging.  The move aims to restrict capacity at houses of worship, schools and nonessential businesses in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19 in the state's rising hot spots.  Many neighborhoods affected by the new restrictions are home to large populations of Orthodox Jews, and some protesters said the community was being unfairly targeted by the policy.

Are Bill De Blasio and Andrew Cuomo Targeting New York City's Jews?  The leftists running the Big Apple and the Empire State have settled on a convenient COVID-19 "super spreader" scapegoat of choice.  Their choice should be surprising to no one: the Jews.  In a Monday press conference, Governor Andrew Cuomo did not merely single out New Rochelle, in Westchester County, as the first outbreak hotspot — he emphasized, for good measure, the "Orthodox Jewish" identity of the culprit.  "We know religious gatherings have been a problem... for weeks," he continued, belying any semblance of neutrality as to which particular community he had in mind when TV producers flashed images of black hat-clad Haredi Jews across the screen.  In Kafkaesque fashion, as Jewish Insider's Jacob Kornbluh pointed out, one of the photos appeared to be from 2006.  Cuomo's press conference followed his flagging, on Twitter last week, "20 hotspot ZIP codes" — clustered around the New York City metropolitan area — of locations to "target[]."

Sweden has destroyed the case for lockdown.  [Scroll down]  The most stupid of these excuses is that Sweden has a low population density (59 people per square mile). Forgive me for insulting your intelligence but it seems some people need to hear this:  Swedish people are not evenly spread out across the country.  Scotland also has a low population density (65 people per square mile) because most of the country is wilderness.  This has not stopped Glasgow becoming a Covid-19 hotspot.  The country with the highest per capita death rate from Covid is Peru, which has a population density only slightly higher than Sweden at 65 people per square mile.  Brazil and Chile have also had more deaths per capita than Sweden, despite having low population densities of 65 and 60 people per square mile respectively.  Like Sweden, these countries have vast areas in which nobody lives.  There is no reason to think that this should help combat the coronavirus.  It is not as if everyone in Sweden lives in little villages, either:  88 percent of Swedes live in urban areas.

October Surprises Everyone.  Anyone who has witnessed the last six months impartially is aware that from the first appearance of COVID-19 as a serious threat, the Democrats and their media allies have made unheard-of efforts to frighten the country, provoke a profound economic shutdown, and blame every death on the president personally.  It has been one of the most cynical political operations in American history.

Big Pharma's Experimental COVID-19 Vaccines Cause Horrific Side Effects During Human Trials.  The early trials of the experimental COVID-19 vaccines are showing horrific side effects, including fever, headaches and sustained exhaustion as Big Pharma rushes to get them approved for the masses.  Pharmaceutical giants Moderna and Pfizer are already injecting these dangerous shots into patients, and many of the people involved are reporting terrible side effects. [...] Tens of thousands of individuals are participating in these trials, with some receiving experimental drugs while others receive placebos.  The pharmaceutical giants are underplaying the negative side effects in order to protect their cash cow.  They stand to make billions, if not trillions, from the vaccines after the media has primed the masses with hysterical and irresponsible propaganda for months.

Fear Versus Freedom.  [Scroll down]  It's clear what is happening here.  President Trump is telling the American people to be careful, but live your lives and don't let the fear of the virus dominate your life.  Biden and the media are telling you the opposite.  The bigger question is:  Why?  It's obvious, isn't it?  Fear is what allows the government to tell you you can't go to church.  Fear allows the government to close the public schools you pay for.  Fear allows the government to regulate and control behaviors you would never allow them to control.  If you aren't afraid and don't believe the government will protect you from that thing you aren't afraid of, you will never allow them the power they have snatched in the past few months.  One national politician, President Trump, is trying to wrestle this culture of fear out of our lives and allow us to return to our liberty-loving status.  The other, Biden, wants you to continue living in that fear and is indignant that Trump would suggest that you transcend that fear.  And the media is clearly on Biden's side.

Medical experts:  Lockdowns do more harm than good.  As infectious-disease epidemiologists and public-health scientists, we have grave concerns about the damaging physical and mental-health impacts of the prevailing COVID-19 policies and recommend an approach we call Focused Protection.  Coming from both the left and right, and around the world, we have devoted our careers to protecting people.  Current lockdown policies are producing devastating effects on short- and long-term public health.  The results (to name a few) include lower childhood-vaccination rates, worsening cardiovascular-disease outcomes, fewer cancer screenings and deteriorating mental health — leading to greater excess mortality in years to come, with the working class and younger members of society carrying the heaviest burden.  Keeping students out of school is a grave injustice.  Keeping these measures in place until a vaccine is available will cause irreparable damage, with the underprivileged disproportionately harmed.

Finger-wagging Maxine Waters confronted for not wearing a mask.  Rep. Maxine Waters spent months wagging a finger at Americans and lecturing about wearing protective face masks but, in the end, did not even follow her own orders.  The California Democrat was caught on camera recently without a face covering, making excuses about her non-compliance and hypocrisy.  Fox News host Tucker Carlson shared a video clip of Waters on Tuesday [10/6/2020] in a segment on the double standards of Democrats who refuse to abide by the same rules they impose on everyone else.

Trump, Atlas:  Time to Face Down Coronavirus Fear.  The uproar over the president's COVID-19 diagnosis made one thing abundantly and terrifyingly clear:  Coronavirus hysteria is here to stay — and there are signs it might be getting worse seven months after we first confronted the unknown disease.  Rather than accept that nearly all the early advice dispensed by self-proclaimed "experts" was not just wrong but resulted in devastating consequences that will impact the country for years to come, lots of Americans — including the entire news industry and leaders of both political parties — are endorsing more punitive government decrees to "stop" a virus that poses almost no serious health threat to the overwhelming majority of Americans.  People are fixated on masks; the president of the United States isn't allowed to take a brief ride in an SUV with people trained to take a bullet on his behalf without enduring widespread condemnation for "risking the lives of others" even though everyone wore a mask and other protective gear.

The final four weeks of the campaign will be fought over re-opening the economy.  Sacrificing the economy, the education of our children, and our collective mental health for the purported purpose of slowing the spread of a disease that is survived by more than 99% of those under 70 who contract it is no longer tolerable, and President Trump is waging his presidential campaign on ending the madness.  Here is the CDC's best estimate of the lethality of COVID for each age cohort:
  •   0-19 years: 0.00003
  •   20-49 years: 0.0002
  •   50-69 years: 0.005
  •   70+ years: 0.054
Now that we know how to treat it, COVID is not something to panic over unless you are very old and already have health problems (comorbidities) that are very likely to shorten your expected lifespan even without COVID.  President Trump's rapid recovery, despite being 74 and overweight (which caused the MSM to go insane, predicting his impending demise over the weekend), stands as dramatic evidence that the panic used to justify devastating the economy and closing schools is foolishly overblown.

Mourners Admonished For Moving Chairs Closer Together At British Funeral.  Video from the UK shows a worker at a crematorium scolding mourners during a funeral because they moved their chairs to be closer to each other during the service.  Under draconian covid rules, funerals services are limited to 30 people, and they must all wear masks and sit 2 metres apart from each other.  The Daily Mail reports that Craig Bicknell, attending his father's funeral last week, was chided during the ceremony for attempting to comfort his mother.  [Video clip]

More Melbourne Insanity:  Mom Arrested At Beach For Traveling "Outside Her Permitted 5km Radius".  We've previously detailed protests that have sprung up in various major cities across the Australian continent over authorities' ultra-restrictive coronavirus lockdown measures, which are especially stringent and far-reaching in the southeast state of Victoria.  There's been multiple instances caught on video of police cracking down on elderly people and even pregnant women for merely resting outside on park benches, supposedly in "violation" of coronavirus social distancing measures, even as case numbers have significantly dropped since August.  And now here's the latest incident to go viral as citizens flock to newly reopened beaches, after Victoria slightly relaxed some of its more severe lockdown restrictions: [...]

The Cult of Covidism Has Invaded the Church.  What should have been a purely scientific response aimed at control and cure of a disease quickly evolved into the political-religious cult of Covidism.  Objective scientific analysis of and responses to what is the contagious pathogen COVID-19 were almost immediately suffocated by a plethora of arbitrary pseudo-religious rituals.  The capitulation of the churches to rituals radically modifying and even antagonistic to Christian rites may be because the Church, continually rent by internal crises and scandals, did not recognize the rival religion when it appeared.  It may be that the budding religious cult prevailed rapidly because Covidism was purported to be based on science.  But it is actually an offshoot of the religion of scientism, which elevates speculative metaphysics and mystery rituals on the basis of scientific-sounding but untested suppositions.

Gov. Tony Evers' administration limits capacity at bars, restaurants and stores to 25% as virus surges.  Gov. Tony Evers took action Tuesday [10/6/2020] to limit indoor gatherings including in bars and restaurants as coronavirus cases surge in the state and despite repeated legal challenges from Republicans to such measures.  The move by his administration to cap businesses at 25% of capacity starting Thursday comes as Wisconsin suffers from some of the worst COVID-19 outbreaks in the country and as the presidential campaign moves into its final phase.  "There's no other way to put it, we are overwhelmed," Evers told reporters in a media briefing on Tuesday.

Bias alert!
What the presidential campaign has to do with this story is a mystery to me.

Gavin Newsom Edges Ahead in the Country's Dumbest Governor Competition.  COVID-19 has certainly exposed one of two things.  Either some of the dumbest people in the country are leading our states, or they are so hyperpartisan they will beclown themselves to toe the Democrats' preferred narrative on the virus.  The latest ridiculous instructions come from Gavin Newsom's office:  ["]Going out to eat with members of your household this weekend?  Don't forget to keep your mask on in between bites.["] [...] One of the primary reasons that masking is controversial is because people don't know how to use [them].  Apparently, this lack of knowledge goes straight up to the governor's office in California.  As a former healthcare worker trained on how to don and doff personal protective equipment (PPE) properly, this is painfully stupid.

Reports: Members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff are quarantining due to coronavirus concerns.  The top U.S. general, Gen. Mark Milley, and members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff are quarantining after a top Coast Guard official tested positive for coronavirus, several U.S. defense officials tell CNN.  CNN reported several members are quarantining, but soon after, ABC News reported that all members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff are doing so.  The vice commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, Adm. Charles Ray, tested positive on Monday.

Scientist: No Shame In Talking About Obese Folks' COVID-19 Risk.  While the nation debated the veracity of conspiracy theories on President Donald Trump's coronavirus diagnosis, I began to worry about the one thing that The Donald, quarantined Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, hospitalized former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and 42.4 percent of Americans — including me — all have in common.  We're dangerously fat.  As soon as Trump tweeted his positive test results, news stories quoted respected physicians and "Dr. Oz" dropping the O-word — "Obesity," that is — issuing speculative warnings that Trump's fast-food physique might cause the president extreme suffering, or worse.

The Editor says...
Until two weeks ago, it was forbidden to mention obesity as a risk factor for those infected with Covid-19, because any discussion of obesity is considered "fat shaming."  But now that Trump has had the virus, it's okay to bring up the topic.  Obese or not, Trump beat the virus at age 74.

Why Won't the Media Listen to These Scientists?  This week dozens of esteemed medical experts with blue-chip academic credentials published a warning about the destructive policies adopted to address Covid-19.  Since the Sunday publication of this "Great Barrington Declaration" more than a thousand biological scientists and more than 1,500 medical practitioners have added their names to the petition.  Yet it's been almost entirely ignored by the media outlets that spend much of their days presenting themselves as obedient to science.  [Paywall]

Saturday Night Live PAID audience members $150 to attend the premiere.  Saturday Night Live paid audience members $150 to attend the season premiere in order to meet state coronavirus requirements of only allowing hired staff on the premises.  Audience members lucky enough to receive free tickets to the NBC show in New York where 'hired' as cast members on Saturday [10/3/2020].  The show opened its 46th season this weekend, having not aired a new episode since March 7, but concerns were raised about how it would allow for its usual live audience.  New York state health guidelines only allow for 'paid employees, cast, and crew' in a studio audience.

Newsom's office tells Californians to wear masks 'in between bites' of food when dining with members from same household in public.  Gov. Gavin Newsom's office told California residents they should wear masks "in between bites" of food while dining in public spaces with people from the same household.  "Going out to eat with members of your household this weekend?  Don't forget to keep your mask on in between bites," the office of the governor tweeted over the weekend.  "Do your part to keep those around you healthy," the tweet added.

The Editor says...
Fortunately, a tweet is not a law.

California governor's office tells diners to wear masks 'in between bites'.  The office of California Gov. Gavin Newsom has told residents in the Golden State that if they go out to eat, they should be wearing a mask "in between bites" to protect themselves from COVID-19. [...] For emphasis, the tweet shows an image of someone at a dining seat wearing a mask, then not wearing a mask while taking a bite, and then putting the mask on again.  However, the image then advises people to "minimize the number of times you take your mask off."  California has allowed limited indoor dining to resume in a number of counties.  San Francisco allowed indoor dining last week at 25% capacity.  California has had more than 800,000 cases and more than 16,000 deaths due to the virus.

The Editor says...
That is not true.  The total number of deaths from Covid-19 is less than 10,000 nationwide.  The number of people who have died with the virus (not from it) is much higher.

Gavin Newsom goes 'Bananas': 'Don't forget to keep your mask on in between bites'.  So Gavin Newsom of California has gotten excited about masks again, just as Joe Biden and assorted leftists have made it mask-wearing the most recitable part of the Democrats' party platform in the wake of President Trump's diagnosis of COVID.  Joe Biden is out preaching for the wearing of masks, but for Newsom, merely wearing them at the grocery store is no longer enough. [...] It's also a day late and a dollar short, being ordered a time when COVID cases are way down in California and deaths are precipitously declining. [...] A ridiculous order like this, detrimental to public health, is nothing short of the whims of a dictator drunk on power.  It's like a scene from Woody Allen's 1971 Bananas about a fictional tropical dictator who looks like Fidel Castro.

Against Fear.  The United States has wiped out decades of hard-won prosperity by following the spirit-crushing injunction to "stay safe." The lockdowns have destroyed the dreams of thousands of entrepreneurs and have put millions out of work, leaving cities like New York moribund ghost towns.  The school closures are consigning millions of children worldwide to stunted lives due to delayed, if not now permanently deferred, acquisition of reading, writing, and socialization skills.  Children are being inculcated into a culture of fear. [...] It is not even clear that a more work-friendly policy would lead to more deaths.  While the profile of the typical coronavirus decedent has been known for months — median age 80, suffering from co-morbidities that likely would have killed the person anyway — the exact path of transmission remains mysterious.  There is no correlation globally between degree of lockdowns and coronavirus death rates.  Countries such as Britain that imposed strict lockdowns have massively higher death rates than many countries, such as Japan, that mandated no lockdowns.

Biden and the Modern-Day Front Porch Campaign.  It did not matter that Biden had revealed during the early primaries that he was neither mentally nor physically capable of carrying out the duties of the most grueling job on earth, much less of campaigning the length and breadth of the country attempting to garner voter enthusiasm for a candidate so devoid of charisma, gravitas and mental acuity.  Thus, a modern variation of the old front porch campaigning was formulated using fear of the Chinese Virus pandemic as a cover.  This was done by dramatically exaggerating the dangers of the virus, keeping lockdowns in place in blue states and precipitating a never-ending drumbeat of mandatory, but in reality, needless mask usage at all times and in all places.

Yelp data shows 60% of business closures due to the coronavirus pandemic are now permanent.  Yelp on Wednesday [9/30/2020] released its latest Economic Impact Report, revealing business closures across the U.S. are increasing as a result of the coronavirus pandemic's economic toll.  As of August 31, 163,735 businesses have indicated on Yelp that they have closed.  That's down from the 180,000 that closed at the very beginning of the pandemic.  However, it actually shows a 23% increase in the number of closures since mid-July.  In addition to monitoring closed businesses, Yelp also takes into account the businesses whose closures have become permanent.  That number has steadily increased throughout the past six months, now reaching 97,966, representing 60% of closed businesses that won't be reopening.

New Possibility as to Virus Exposure to White House Officials Puts Media on the Hot Seat.  News came out today that White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany tested positive for the Wuhan coronavirus.  Jim Acosta tried to blame her for not wearing a mask at a briefing yesterday, when she was outdoors and socially distanced from anyone. [...] The White House Press Corps had three members diagnosed with the virus last week on Friday, according to CNN.  So the reporters had it before McEnany did, so it's more likely she got it from them.  Three coming down with it ,and a White House staffer who sits in the lower press area and has close contact with reporters also getting it, suggests that's where a concentration might be.

President Trump Announces He Is Planning on Participating in October 15th Debate with Joe Biden and His Former Intern.  President Trump recorded a stirring address to the nation immediately upon his return from a three-day stay at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland for treatment of an infection by the COVID-19 China coronavirus.  Trump was diagnosed with the virus early Friday morning after showing symptoms on Thursday and then Friday during the day.  Monday night Sean Hannity announced that President Trump is planning on participating in the October 15th presidential debate.  The president will debate Joe Biden and his former intern Steve Scully.

Americans really are drinking more during the pandemic.  Americans really are drinking more during the COVID-19 pandemic.  New research suggests that alcohol consumption in the United States rose 14% during pandemic shutdowns.  The most dramatic increase was in heavy drinking episodes in women, defined as four or more drinks within two hours.  Women reported a 41% increase in episodes of heavy drinking in the spring of 2020 compared with their drinking level in the spring of 2019.

Cruise ships in the scrap yard:
Drone view of a ship graveyard as cruising market collapses in pandemic.  Dozens of workers stripped walls, windows, floors and railings from several vessels in the dock in Aliaga, a town 45 km north of Izmir on Turkey's west coast.  Three more ships are set to join those already being dismantled.  [Video clip]

Don't tell me the COVID-19 virus could not have been manufactured by China.  So far, the global scientific community has been unable to identify a natural origin of, or a logical evolutionary pathway for, the COVID-19 virus.  In contrast, the entire history of coronavirus research is punctuated by the ubiquitous use of genetic engineering to produce new viral combinations, which makes a laboratory origin a far more likely scenario.  In 2008, just five years after the first 2002-2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) pandemic, Dr. Ralph Baric of the University of North Carolina published an article entitled "Synthetic recombinant bat SARS-like coronavirus is infectious in cultured cells and in mice," in which he described the creation in the laboratory of an entirely new virus capable of producing a human SARS-like infection.

Massive Fight Breaks Out On Phoenix Flight Over A Mask.  A fight broke out between two passengers on an Allegiant Air flight from Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport on Oct. 3 after one passenger confronted another for allegedly refusing the flight attendant's request to wear a face mask in addition to a face shield.  A spokesperson for Allegiant Air confirmed that an altercation happened on Flight 607 to Provo, Utah, after a passenger refused to comply with airline policy.  [Video clip]

Corporate Media Is Vomiting Trump Coronavirus Reporting All Over The Bed.  The latest news cycle over President Trump's COVID-19 diagnosis illustrates yet again how destructive the U.S. corporate media are to national unity and a clear understanding of reality.  While we are all aware that COVID-19 can be a truly devastating and deadly disease for some, despite the volume of media coverage dedicated to it in the past seven months, the American public still lacks crucial context for understanding Trump's diagnosis.  Not only has major media coverage not brought clarity, but it has also, as usual, obscured reality.  This is especially harmful to a story with such significant potential ramifications for the nation and world.  As the president himself has alluded to in his post-diagnosis social media posts, it's common knowledge that the Wuhan virus hits the elderly especially hard.  Trump is 74.  Yet even among his age demographic, surviving the disease, not death, is by far the norm.

Joe Biden Proposes 'Nationwide Mask Guidance' Instead of 'Mandate'.  Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden has dropped a "national mask mandate" from his platform but instead proposed a "guidance" on Saturday [10/3/2020]. Speaking to the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU), Biden went through a litany of changes he would implement, including ordering his Department of Transportation to create a "nationwide mask guidance".

Fauci Looks To UN To 'Rebuild The Infrastructure Of Human Existence'.  Dr. Anthony Fauci is a United Nations wolf in sheep's clothing telling America why it is so important to save lives from the dreaded COVID-19 virus while pandering for the most radical parts of United Nations agenda for the world.  That is, Sustainable Development, aka Technocracy. [...] I am mildly put off by Fauci's relishing embrace of worldwide celebrity.  I thought it a bit frivolous, for example, his agreeing to be interviewed for a cover story in the fashion magazine, In Style. [...] But now, Fauci has crossed a line that should sound the alarm — audaciously declaring that combatting infectious disease requires the mindboggling task of "rebuilding the infrastructures of human existence."  Not only that but he opined that accomplishing these top-to-bottom "radical changes" requires "strengthening the United Nations and its agencies, particularly the World Health Organization."

How Long Does the Coronavirus Live on Surfaces?  The coronavirus that causes COVID-19 mainly spreads from person to person.  When someone who is infected coughs or sneezes, they send droplets containing the virus into the air.  A healthy person can then breathe in those droplets.  You may also catch the virus if you touch a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touch your mouth, nose, or eyes.  The coronavirus can live for hours to days on surfaces like countertops and doorknobs.  How long it survives depends on the material the surface is made from.  Here's a guide to how long coronaviruses — the family of viruses that includes the one that causes COVID-19 — can live on some of the surfaces you probably touch every day.

CDC revises coronavirus guidance to acknowledge that it spreads through airborne transmission.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revised its coronavirus guidance Monday [10/5/2020], acknowledging that it can sometimes spread through airborne particles that can "linger in the air for minutes to hours" and among people who are more than 6 feet apart.  The CDC cited published reports that demonstrated "limited, uncommon circumstances where people with COVID-19 infected others who were more than 6 feet away or shortly after the COVID-19-positive person left an area."  "In these instances, transmission occurred in poorly ventilated and enclosed spaces that often involved activities that caused heavier breathing, like singing or exercise," the CDC said in a statement.  "Such environments and activities may contribute to the buildup of virus-carrying particles."

The Editor says...
[#1] If the CDC thought the virus did not spread through airborne transmission, what were the masks for?  [#2] Now it sounds like normal ventilation and fresh air will keep the virus from being an issue, which is just common sense (at last).

How Whitmer Plans to Circumvent MI Supreme Court's Lockdown Orders.  The Michigan State Supreme Court on Friday delivered a blow to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) and her Wuhan coronavirus lockdown orders.  Whitmer was relying on the 1945 Emergency Powers of the Governor Act to lock the state down without legislative approval.  The high court, however, voted 4-3 saying Whitmer's moves were unconstitutional.  A separate law, the 1976 Emergency Management Act, also prevented Whitmer from extending her original shutdown orders without legislative approval.  That means that the lockdown should have expired on Apr. 30th, unless the state legislature decided to extend it.  "Our decision leaves open many avenues for the governor and Legislature to work together to address this challenge, and we hope that this will take place," Justice Stephen Markman wrote in the majority opinion.

Michigan AG Dana Nessel Won't Prosecute People For Breaking Whitmer's Lockdown Orders, Leaves It Up To Local Law Enforcement.  Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said Sunday [10/4/2020] she will not continue to enforce Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's executive orders "through criminal prosecution" after the state Supreme Court ruled the orders unconstitutional Friday.  "In light of the Supreme Court's decision on Friday, the Attorney General will no longer enforce the Governor's Executive Orders through criminal prosecution," read a statement from Nessel's press secretary posted to Twitter on Sunday.  "However, her decision is not binding on other law enforcement agencies or state departments with independent enforcement authority." [...] The court issued a split decision Friday, ruling that Whitmer's extension of emergency declarations used to mandate lockdown restrictions were unconstitutional, according to the Detroit Free Press.

Why Big Names Are Getting COVID-19.  It's a common belief that our well heeled betters live in a different world than we do.  If they wish to, people of power and means can enjoy the very best nutrition, housing, and health care available.  When it comes to buying personal protective equipment, money's simply no object to them.  So why are luminaries like the president, members of the Senate, White House correspondents, and NFL stars coming down with COVID-19?  Because the measures the so-called experts keep blathering about, wearing face masks and social distancing, are next to useless.  COVID-19 is simply working its way through the population, regardless of catchy slogans like "New York Tough" and "A small ask, wear a mask!" [...] Fact is, viruses gonna virus.  This particular pathogen is very democratic.  Its effect on the poor and homeless is well documented.  But the rich and powerful are surely following the rules to the best of their ability, using the finest PPE, yet they're still catching COVID.  Does shutting down stop the virus?  No, it merely slows it, the primary goal of a shutdown being to keep the health system and infrastructure from being overwhelmed.

35 Years of Research Into Coronavirus Infections Show Long-Term Immunity Is Unlikely.  Even once a person gets sick with a coronavirus that's no guarantee they won't contract it again, new research suggests.  While SARS-CoV-2 is the coronavirus that has the world's attention right now, there are numerous others that we've known about for decades, which are not only known to infect humans, but are highly seasonal.

Stats Hold a Surprise:  Lockdowns May Have Had Little Effect on COVID-19 Spread.  In 1932, Supreme Court justice Louis Brandeis famously called the states "laboratories of democracy." Different states can test out different policies, and they can learn from each other.  That proved true in 2020.  Governors in different states responded to the COVID-19 pandemic at different times and in different ways.  Some states, such as California, ordered sweeping shutdowns.  Others, such as Florida, took a more targeted approach.  Still others, such as South Dakota, dispensed information but had no lockdowns at all.  As a result, we can now compare outcomes in different states, to test the question no one wants to ask:  Did the lockdowns make a difference?

President Trump and Top Republicans (But No Democrats) Contract COVID — Now Cleveland Announces Outbreak Connected to Presidential Debate.  With only top Republicans, including the President, contracting the China coronavirus this week, Americans are curious why no Democrats contracted the virus.  Now authorities have been able to determine that a recent outbreak started in Cleveland at the site of the Presidential debate.  Now let's see if authorities can tell us who these people are and how this happened.  FOX News provided a list of Americans who have contracted the China coronavirus along with the President — note all of these people are Republicans.

Trump actions on coronavirus saved hundreds of thousands of lives, new report shows.  When House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., announced a new select subcommittee to investigate and oversee the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic, Republicans knew we were in for a fight.  Democrats were going to use this subcommittee to relentlessly hamper, harass and pass blame on the Trump administration in the middle of the worst pandemic in a century.  Over the past months, I've led Republicans on the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis as we've tried to cut through the noise and partisanship.  After over a dozen hearings, Democrats have still failed to uncover any major fault in the Trump administration's pandemic response[.]  However, despite Democrats' best efforts to obstruct our investigations, select subcommittee Republicans established several key takeaways about the Trump administration's pandemic response, as well as some shocking revelations about Democratic governors' deadly "must admit" orders in nursing homes.

Don't blame the lack of masks for Trump's illness.  Many Democrats have responded to news of Trump's Wuhan virus diagnosis by blaming him.  He wouldn't wear a mask, they say, so he did this to himself — and so did the other Republicans who have tested positive.  There are two problems with this claim:  (1) Trump and the other Republicans did wear masks or were in carefully screened and tested environments; (2) there's no evidence that the masks that most people wear make any difference.  Normal, decent people, upon hearing about President Trump's Wuhan virus diagnosis, wished him well.  That included all conservatives and a small number of Democrats.  Mostly, though, Democrats obsessed about masks and blamed Trump for his illness.  They then extended this blame to those other Republicans who were diagnosed with the virus.

Pritzker Is Keeping Illinois Locked Down Not For Health But For A Federal Bailout.  Having moved past the initial shock and panic due to the frightening presence of an unknown virus, we've learned much about SARS-CoV-2 and have accustomed ourselves to new social practices.  Across the country, state governors are lifting restrictions and encouraging commerce.  We're returning to work, opening our storefronts, and sending our children to school.  Most Americans are, anyway.  In Illinois, unfortunately, life hasn't changed much since spring.  Although hospitalizations and deaths in the state have remained flat since mid-June, Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker refuses to fully reopen the state.  While much of the country returns to normal (more or less), he's reimposing and heightening restrictions.  Pritzker says his restrictions are based on science.  In reality, they're political calculations based on opportunism and election-year math.

AG William Barr to self-quarantine for several days out of caution.  Attorney General William Barr will self-quarantine for several days out of caution, a spokeswoman said on Sunday [10/4/2020].  Barr, who has tested negative for the coronavirus, has remained at his home since attending a meeting at Justice Department headquarters on Friday.  All four of Barr's coronavirus tests since Friday have come back negative, Justice Department spokesperson Kerri Kupec said.  But she said the AG plans to self-quarantine for several more days.

Trump 'doing very well' and has no difficulty breathing, medical team says.  President Trump is "doing very well" and has no difficulty breathing, his medical team said Saturday — although a senior administration official warned that the next 48 hours will be "critical."  White House physician Dr. Sean Conley and other members of the medical team briefed reporters on Trump's condition.  Conley said they were "extremely happy with the progress" Trump is making.

Trump coronavirus symptoms 'resolving and improving,' doctor says.  President Donald Trump's symptoms are "resolving and improving", his physician said Saturday, and he said doctors were "extremely happy" with the president's progress, after news early Friday that Trump had COVID-19.  "The team and I are extremely happy with the progress the president has made," said Dr. Sean Conley at Walter Reed Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., where the president is staying.  "He had a mild cough and nasal congestion and fatigue, all of which are now resolving and improving," said Conley.  Conley said that Trump had no fever for 24 hours and that the president was not currently on oxygen.  But he did not say whether Trump had ever been on oxygen despite reporters' repeated questions.

The Editor says...
Rabid Democrats in the news media were among those rooting for the HIPAA laws, 20 years ago, which keep your "protected health information" from being revealed to anyone else, such as random strangers and newspaper reporters.  Now they want to ignore those laws and demand the details of President Trump's medical treatment.

Regeneron co-founder on the antibody cocktail Trump is taking to fight coronavirus.  President Trump's physician is treating his coronavirus diagnosis with Regeneron's experimental treatment and his one infusion "seemed to go through very well" and "will last a long time," the company's chief scientific officer explained to "CAVUTO Live" Saturday.  White House physician Dr. Sean Conley and other members of the medical team briefed reporters on Trump's condition.  Conley said they were "extremely happy with the progress" Trump is making.  "It's all about beating the virus and so we're just helping the natural immune system beat it, by supplementing it with this antibody cocktail," Dr. George Yancopoulos, the co-founder, president and chief scientific officer of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, explained to host Neil Cavuto.

Trump Praises Walter Reed Staff: 'With Their Help, I Am Feeling Well!'.  In his latest Twitter update from Walter Reed Military Hospital, President Donald Trump heaped praise on his medical team, adding that he is "feeling well" as he continues to battle the coronavirus.  "Doctors, Nurses and ALL at the GREAT Walter Reed Medical Center, and others from likewise incredible institutions who have joined them, are AMAZING!!!" the president tweeted Saturday afternoon [10/3/2020].

China Says No Need To Vaccinate Entire Population Against COVID-19.  According to reporting from CNN, the government of China has announced that they do not intend to vaccinate their entire population.  China's head doctor Gao Fu, Director of China's CDC made the statement at a vaccine summit in the city of Shenzhen on Saturday, according to state-run news agency China News Service. [...] Fu said that they planned to focus on vaccinating frontline workers and did not see the necessity to attempt to vaccinate their entire population.  China's policy is a departure from other countries who are focussed on a broader implementation of vaccines against COVID-19.

Mississippi is first state to lift mask mandate as COVID cases fall.  Mississippi became the first state in the union to lift a mask mandate to curb the spread of the coronavirus, as cases fall.  Mississippi's statewide mask mandate has been in place since Aug. 4. Gov. Tate Reeves Reeves, a Republican, has chosen to extend the mandate several times since then.  However, on Wednesday, he said the declining number of confirmed virus cases and hospitalizations are positive developments that call for the lifting of some restrictions.  The new executive order ending the statewide mask mandate, effective Wednesday at 5 p.m. and expiring Nov. 11 — after the presidential election — also limits group gatherings where social distancing is not possible to 20 people indoors and 100 people outdoors.  These restrictions do not apply to voting precincts, religious entities and schools, according to the order.

Literally Thousands of Doctors and Scientists Have Come Out Against Fauci's Lockdowns Including a Nobel Prize-Winning Biophysicist.  The Media Just Doesn't Want You to Know.  [Scroll down]  But, even putting aside how their advice seems to change with the political winds, the idea that there's some scientific consensus in favor of the extreme measures inflicted on us in response to COVID-19 couldn't be further from the truth.  Though you don't hear their perspectives on CNN, countless scientists and doctors have tried to warn us not only that COVID-19 isn't nearly as deadly as we've been led to believe; they're also confident that the real threat to public health we're facing is from the lockdowns.  For example, though the establishment media has somehow failed to make it widely known, in May, over 600 physicians from "all specialties and from all states" signed a public letter to President Trump describing, not COVID-19, but the lockdowns as a "mass casualty incident." Since the letter first appeared, the number of doctors signing on has grown into the thousands.

The Unscientific Attack On The Science Of Dr. Scott Atlas.  The news media until recently had rarely criticized the medical advice of experts — especially those who worked for federal bureaucracies, international organizations or elite universities.  Yet the much-praised Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, has demonstrably weakened the effort to fight COVID-19.  During the critical initial weeks of the virus's spread, Tedros parroted Chinese propaganda.  He falsely assured a complacent world that the virus was likely not transmissible between humans and did not warrant travel bans.  That Tedros was the first WHO director not to have a medical degree was seldom cited by the media.

Doctors: COVID-19 case counts, hospitalization numbers, and death counts are "meaningless".  It has all been lies upon lies upon lies:  According to an editorial written by Kristin Held, president of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS), the case counts, hospitalization numbers, and death counts published by government agencies across the United States are "meaningless" and "manipulated."It has all been lies upon lies upon lies:  According to an editorial written by Kristin Held, president of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS), the case counts, hospitalization numbers, and death counts published by government agencies across the United States are "meaningless" and "manipulated." [...] This article also maybe explains some of the strange numbers that have come out of New Jersey (on June 25th) and Arizona (beginning on July 25th).  On those dates both states showed sudden and unrealistic spikes in their death or hospitalization counts.  Could it be that the new definitions imposed by the CDC just prior to these dates encouraged a redefining of many deaths and hospitalizations as COVID-19, in order to cash in on government money?

COVID-19 Statistics and Facts:Meaningful or a Means of Manipulation?  The COVID-19 case counts, hospitalization numbers, and death counts are meaningless in their current fluid form.  Their malleability primarily serves those who seek to distort reality.  The morphable numbers are reported, then manipulated by federal, state, county, city, and hospital authorities and agencies.  The manipulation is driven by power and money and fueled by fearmongering, panic stoking, and promise of monetary and political gain.  All this is bought and paid for under the guise of trying to save the world from the COVID-19 pandemic.  We must ask the appropriate questions and demand answers, which must then be verified.  We must answer the question of what happened in Texas, Florida, and current "hot spot states" around Jun 14-16.  Something did, according to the statistics.  Did redefining what constitutes a COVID-19 case, hospitalization, or death change the numbers?  Did federal financial aid to hospitals change admitting thresholds and practices?

Chris Wallace Rips the Mask Off Completely, Sinks to a New Low.  Chris Wallace has been a hot topic of discussion since his recent performance as a moderator of the first presidential debate.  To be frank, he was absolutely awful in the role, exhibiting bias that not even I thought he had in him, and I've been a critic of his for a long time.  Wallace hasn't stopped since though.  He's actively chosen to lie about some of Biden's answers, claiming that the former VP answered the question about packing the Supreme Court when he clearly didn't.  In fact, it was Wallace who saved him by moving on instead of pressing.  Now, Wallace is weighing as if he's a medical expert, trashing Scott Atlas, who is serving as a senior advisor to the President during the current pandemic.

Time to End COVID Lockdowns and Mask Mandates.  Draconian lockdowns invoked by governmental fiat with little basis in science are nonsensical and unconstitutional.  I live in Washington state and I have a mustache.  I went to my barbershop when they were first allowed to open on a limited basis and got a haircut and mustache trim.  Last week, they were able to cut my hair but not my mustache.  We the people, should not blindly follow these mandates and surrender our civil rights without question.  State public health agencies during outbreaks of epidemics do have limited police powers to isolate or quarantine people who are sick or are coming from foreign areas that have highly infectious and deadly diseases.  The federal government has the same power for people entering the US and traveling between states. [...] Our public health quarantine laws are antiquated and require updating.  Notwithstanding their antiquity, one thing is obvious; there is a right of due process and equal protection.

'Never Happened': Cuomo Claims Coronavirus Patients Were Not Sent Back to Nursing Homes.  New York governor Andrew Cuomo (D.) said Wednesday that the widely reported readmission of coronavirus patients to nursing homes at the height of the pandemic in the state "never happened."  Cuomo said that despite a March 25 advisory issued by his administration barring nursing homes from denying admission to patients "solely based on a confirmed or suspected case of COVID-19," readmissions never took place.  He claimed that, because the state "never needed" those nursing home beds, readmitting COVID-positive patients "just never happened."  Cuomo admitted his administration implemented the policy but said it was only an "anticipatory rule," in case hospitals became overwhelmed with patients.

Gavin Newsom Moves Goalposts on Reopening AGAIN, Now Adding 'Equity' Measures.  On the 197th day of "15 days to slow the spread," California Gov. Gavin Newsom (Democrat, of course) has moved the reopening goalposts yet again.  Originally counties had to meet metrics aimed at ensuring adequate rates of testing and the availability of hospital/ICU beds/ventilators.  (Contact tracing was supposed to be a part of that, but that effort's been a big fat joke).  Once hospitalization rates, ventilator usage, and death rates plummeted over the summer Newsom changed his strategy and enacted by gubernatorial fiat a tiered system that completely ignored those metrics and instead focused on daily new cases and positivity rate.  Now that more counties are set to move out of the most restrictive tier, Newsom's changed the game again and has added an "equity requirement" counties must also meet before they can move down a tier.

President Donald Trump, First Lady Melania Trump Test Positive for Coronavirus.  President Donald Trump announced shortly after midnight [10/2/2020] that he and First Lady Melania Trump had tested positive for coronavirus.  The president said he and the First Lady will be going into their "quarantine and recovery process immediately."  The First Lady added in her own tweet that she and the president are "feeling good" and she has "postponed all upcoming engagements."

Chris Wallace rips Dr. Scott Atlas' credentials after he predicts Trump will make full and fast recovery.  Fox News anchor Chris Wallace has joined the Beltway chorus throwing shade on Dr. Scott Atlas, who has been advising President Trump on the federal government's pandemic response.  In an on-air discussion, colleague Sandra Smith teed it up by asking Wallace — who in the exchange described himself as a truth teller — for his opinion about the doctor's optimism for the president's possibly quick recovery from COVID.  Wallace is neither an expert on public health nor apparently debate moderation, the latter based his disastrous performance in emceeing the presidential debate on Tuesday night.  But lack of medical credentials isn't stopping Wallace from dismissing Atlas' claim that President Trump and wife Melania will make a rapid and complete recovery from COVID-19.

Michigan Supreme Court rules against Whitmer on emergency powers.  The Michigan Supreme Court issued a split decision late Friday that ruled against Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in a battle over her power to extend emergency declarations used to mandate COVID-19 restrictions over the last five months.  The court's opinion throws into question dozens of orders issued by Whitmer related to the coronavirus pandemic, appearing to void them.  At the same time, however, since the decision came as a response to questions submitted to the court by a federal judge — and not as part of a state case before it — it wasn't immediately clear what would happen next or when it would take effect.  Whitmer issued a statement denouncing the decision.

President Trump Skips Scheduled Conference Call, Pence Takes Place.  President Trump skipped the only function on his public schedule Friday [10/2/2020], with Vice President Mike Pence taking his place apparently at the last minute for a 12:15 p.m. conference call on the COVID-19 China coronavirus and the elderly.  There was no prior announcement that Pence would take Trump's place on the call. [...] Trump reportedly has a cough and a fever while First Lady Melania is reported to be asymptomatic.

Trump delivers video message saying he thinks he is 'doing very well,' after testing positive for coronavirus.  President Trump thanked Americans for their "tremendous support" and said he is "doing very well" in a pre-recorded video he tweeted out Friday as he was being flown by Marine One to Walter Reed Military Medical Center where he will be treated for mild symptoms after testing positive for the COVID-19.  The president's message was upbeat, though his tone was more subdued than usual in the video, which is believed to have been shot just before he was transferred to Walter Reed "out of an abundance of caution," according to the White House.

'Pray for him': Trump diagnosis roils Capitol.  Lawmakers in both parties struggled to digest the news Friday that President Trump has contracted coronavirus, a disease Democrats said he did not take seriously, but which may now threaten his life.  For Democrats, the news forced many to confront their own disdain for the president, and it raised new concerns about the lack of a formal coronavirus testing program within Capitol Campus.  Sen. Mike Lee, a Utah Republican, announced Friday that he, too, had tested positive for the virus, adding his name to dozens of staff and more than one dozen lawmakers who have contracted the disease.

Trump has mild symptoms, will remain on job: chief of staff.  President Donald Trump has mild symptoms after testing positive for COVID-19 but he was expected to remain on the job, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said on Friday [10/2/2020].  "The American people can rest assured that we have a president that is not only on the job, will remain on the job and I'm optimistic that he'll have a very quick and speedy recovery," Meadows told reporters at the White House.

Trump and first lady test positive for COVID-19.  President Donald Trump said early Friday [10/2/2020] that he and first lady Melania Trump have tested positive for the coronavirus, a stunning announcement that plunges the country deeper into uncertainty just a month before the presidential election.

With Some Restrictions, Trick-Or-Treating Will Be Allowed For Halloween In Chicago.  Kids in Chicago will be able to go trick-or-treating this Halloween, but there are restrictions for those getting candy and those giving candy.  And forget about house parties.  "You can only meet in groups of six or less.  And you have to stay moving.  We must simply avoid congregating in front of houses on streets.  Keep it moving folks," Lightfoot said.  "People passing out candy are also asked to try to maintain social distancing.  That means no parties and traditional haunted houses, simply cannot be allowed for Halloween in Chicago.  We really want to give our kids, something to look forward to."  Dr. Allison Arwady of the Chicago Department of Public Health said everyone who's participating must wear a mask, and not the costume kind.

The Editor says...
Why doesn't "the costume kind" of mask suffice?  What if a costume includes a bandana over one's face?  That's completely permissible for coronavirus purposes, even though it's also completely ineffective.  These ad hoc rules and revisions will continue to pop up at random until all the mask nonsense is ended — right after the presidential election.

Every leftist [is] a doctor now:  President Trump gets fact-free hectorings on mask use.  Is there anything more obnoxious than a health scold?  About 40% of Democrats are "happy" that President Trump has caught COVID, according to a MorningConsult poll.  Some have popped out of the woodwork and expressed just that, making their "I hope he dies" tweets the words they'll be remembered for.  But some are a little smarter than that bunch, recognizing how repellent such a response is to normal people.  Instead of death-wishing, they're concern-trolling.  They're the Karens, hectoring President Trump and Republicans in general that he didn't wear a mask and of course he should have worn a mask, they know for sure he caught COVID by not wearing a mask and (they would have us think) they simply care so much about Trump's health.  Democratic pols such as Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi are particularly prominent in this, as is Julian Castro.

Coronavirus is the Democrats' all-purpose excuse for delaying, blocking, or restricting everything.
Democrat Chris Murphy: 'No Business Should Proceed' in Senate After Trump Coronavirus Diagnosis.  Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) wrote in a statement Friday that "no business should proceed" in the Senate, which would include the confirmation of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, until the Senate understands the scope of the coronavirus spread in Washington, DC.  Murphy released a statement after President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump tested positive for the coronavirus, as Breitbart News reported.

NY Times:  Up to 90% Who've Tested COVID-Positive Wrongly Diagnosed!  TRUTH: A Whole Lot Worse!! (Pt 2).  The [New York] Times looked at three sets of PCR testing data from Massachusetts, New York, and Nevada and discovered that, because of faulty procedures used at every single testing site in the country, "up to 90 percent of people testing positive carried barely any virus" at all.  The experts they talked to were astonished that such cases are even getting classified as infections.  Yet, for some reason, the Times ran a weak-sauce headline completely downplaying their scandalous discovery: Your Coronavirus Test Is Positive.  Maybe It Shouldn't Be.  But those eye-popping stats exposing the pervasive fraud propping up our regime of mass COVID-19 testing aren't just absent from the headline.  Readers don't find out about the enormous percentage of faulty diagnoses the Times discovered until their article's half over!

NY Times:  Up to 90% Who've Tested COVID-Positive Wrongly Diagnosed!  TRUTH: A Whole Lot Worse! (Pt 3/3).  [Scroll down]  The New York Times goes on to say that the "C.D.C.'s own calculations suggest that it is extremely difficult to detect any live virus in a sample above a threshold of 33 cycles."  But, this is a deceptive way of stating what the CDC's data shows that significantly understates how using 40 or even 37 cycles is going to result in massive amounts of positive diagnoses that ought to be negative.  The CDC didn't just have "extreme difficulty" finding any live virus in samples whose cycle threshold was above 33.  They were straight-up unable to find any.  Moreover, they were frequently unable to find any live virus even in samples with lower cycle thresholds.  But the worst is yet to come.  Though the CDC replied to the Times by saying they were "examining the use of cycle threshold measures for policy decisions," the New York Times either didn't know or didn't want you to know that the CDC already has guidelines that recommend... wait for it... 40 amplification cycles.  Even though their own researchers were unable to find any live virus in samples with a cycling threshold greater than 33!

Could The COVID Vaccine Be Canceled Before The First Injection?  [Scroll down]  The vaccine companies, forced to enroll tens of thousands of live humans in their clinical trials, need to decide:  who will these volunteers be?  Will they be the elderly, most of whom are already ill with prior conditions, their immune systems already very weak — who could — as even public health agencies warn — keel over from any vaccine injection?  Of course not.  The volunteers will have to be healthy adults.  Yes.  But that presents a huge and fateful problem.  Remember, these volunteers, after they receive either the vaccine or the placebo, will be sent back to live their lives while everyone waits.  Waits to see who "catches COVID-19."  What sort of COVID-19 illness?  Very mild?  Quite serious?  The answer is obvious.  It can't be "quite serious."  That would mean pneumonia.  The vaccine companies could wait around for 10 years and still not record 150 cases of real pneumonia among these healthy volunteers.  No, the vaccine companies would wait for 150 mild cases of COVID-19.  Meaning, nothing more than a simple cough, or chills and fever, and a positive PCR test.  Can you see it yet?  The vaccine companies are in a box.  They're trapped.

Keywords: dictator, monarchy, tyrant.
October Surprise:  Michigan Governor Extends Her Executive Orders.  There has never been a person who has loved bypassing a State Legislature more than Governor Gretchen Whitmer.  I think she dreams of ways to bypass them and can't wait until the morning where she can excitedly run into her staffers with her crazy new idea.  On Tuesday [9/29/2020], Whitmer continued her odd balancing act of allowing the peasants to open stuff up while extending her overzealous control of the State and deciding that she and no one else should have a say in how the State is run. [...] Hopefully, the Michigan State Supreme Court will end this very soon.  They heard a case regarding the authority she is claiming she has in the Michigan Constitution to continuously do this on Sept 9th and a decision should be coming any day now.

New York City imposes $1,000 fine for people who don't wear masks in public.  New York City residents who refuse to wear a mask while in public will be subject to a fine of $1,000.  On Wednesday [9/30/2020], Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the new fine as the rate of positive COVID-19 tests in the city rose above 3% for the first time in months.  The Democrat said that the penalty is being put in place as a means to protect residents of the city from contracting the disease ahead of the flu season.  "We don't want to fine people, but if we have to, we will," de Blasio told reporters.  New York state health officials and police will be in charge of enforcing the rule, and de Blasio said that both will be instructed to offer a mask to a person without one before levying a fine against an individual.

Dallas salon owner jailed for defying lockdown orders wins spot in run-off for state senate seat.  Remember Shelley Luther, the Dallas salon owner who reopened her business during the coronavirus shutdown?  She decided to turn her story into action and is running for a seat in the Texas State Senate.  Tuesday night [9/29/2020], she earned a spot in the run-off for that seat.  While everyone else was consumed with the presidential debate, a special election race was being held in the Dallas area.  Sen. Pat Fallon (R-Prosper) is running for Congress so his seat has been vacated.  The district is a solidly red district and stretches to the northwest around Dallas-Fort Worth.  With 100% of precincts reporting, she and state Rep. Drew Springer of Muenster ended in a dead heat.  The third-place finisher was the only Democrat running.

NWO Police State Ramps Up In NYC: "Mask Patrols" Will Fine People Who Don't Comply.  New York City is ramping up the New World Order police state.  The city now has "mask patrol" that will fine those who disobey the NWO order commands to mask up.  Apparently, 9 ZIP codes in New York City are seeing a spike in new COVID-19 cases.  Because of this, NYC mayor comrade Bill de Blasio says he will use the "Trace Corps" to punish anyone who won't comply with their own enslavement and wear a face mask.  De Blasio says this campaign to catch people and fine them if they don't wear a mask will be rolled out "aggressively."  "That will happen aggressively.  Clearly, our goal, of course, is to give everyone a free face mask and get them to wear it," de Blasio said.

COVID-19 Case Number Lies Continue.  A record number of COVID-19 cases were reported on September 24 in Alabama.  Just two labs reported that there were 2,451 positive test results, but those included old numbers.  The lies continue as those who seek ultimate power and control try to lie their way through this scamdemic.  At this point, no numbers from any mainstream media source or government agency should be trusted.  There's more than enough evidence to prove this is all manipulated in order to push fear on the public.  More People Died Of Suicide Last Week In Tennessee Than COVID-19.  The department of public health says that the "record-breaking" number of COVID-19 cases is due to the fact that two labs provided test data to the state after not providing any information to ADPH (Alabama Department of Public Health) the entire pandemic.  About 1,500 of the positive test results were reported from those labs.  Some of the results dated back to June.

Pennsylvania Democrats Busted Admitting Masks Are Just "Political Theater".  Pennsylvania State Representative Wendy Ullman and Governor Tom Wolf were caught joking on a hot mic about taking their masks off just before they spoke at a press conference. [...] Just as Wendy Ullman was preparing to speak behind the podium at a press conference north of Philadelphia on Tuesday, Tom Wolf can be heard off-camera to her left, saying:  "So Wendy, I'm gonna take, I'm gonna take my mask off when I speak."  Ullman walks toward Wolf, off-camera, and says:  "I will as well, just, I'm waiting so that we can do a little political theater."  [Video clip]

Mask Madness.  Back in April, during the peak of The Virus, the New England Journal of Medicine — one of the most prestigious of medical journals and one within the pages of which Anthony Fauci and CDC head Robert Redfield themselves published this past spring — said this:  "We know that wearing a mask outside of health care facilities offers little, if any, protection from infection.  Focusing on universal masking alone may, paradoxically, lead to more transmission of Covid-19 if it diverts attention from implementing more fundamental infection-control measures...."  It continued:  "The chance of catching Covid-19 from a passing interaction in a public space is therefore minimal. [...] ." [...] Masks, particularly of the kind that are in vogue among the public, are theater.  For the elites that mandate their use, they are a means to augment their power and exert control over the masses.

No shutdown and no nationwide panic resulted from this:
The Pandemic On Biden's Watch Killed 13 Times As Many Children As COVID.  Imagine the reaction of the public to a new virus outbreak that targeted children, sending 10 times as many to hospitals, and killing 13 times as many as COVID-19.  Would you call the government's handling of this pandemic a success?  That is what happened in 2009 when the H1N1 — aka, the swine flu — pandemic swept across the land.  While the total number of deaths from the swine flu was much lower than COVID-19, its impact on children and younger adults was far more severe.

Mask Empire.  In a monologue on a recent episode of his top-rated show on the Fox News Channel, Tucker Carlson notes that within the last six or seven months, America has become a "different country."  Whether America has become a different country or current events have simply revealed what has always been, the bottom line is that 2020 has been [quite] a year.  And not for the better.  In this monologue of his, Tucker was referring primarily to the Virus Internment:  the transformation, under the pretext of waging "war" to prevent citizens from catching a cold virus, of America's states, cities, and homes by power-obsessed politicians into what essentially amounts to an internment camp.  There is no more ominous symbol of the present state of the union than that of... The Mask.

People Are Arrested For Not Wearing A Mask During OUTDOOR Prayer Service In Moscow Idaho.  Three people have been arrested after an Idaho church held a psalm-singing event without masks in a city hall parking lot in violation of a town's mask order.  Christ Church pastor and event organizer Ben Zornes told the Moscow-Pullman Daily News that Wednesday's event in the community of Moscow was aimed at criticizing what he called a "largely groundless" mask order.  It was issued by the city council in an effort to slow the spread of the new coronavirus.  [Video clip]

Denmark Nears Pre-COVID Normality:  No Masks Or Distancing In Schools, Just Common Sense.  One of the more diabolical aspects of the protracted COVID 'crisis' in countries like the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia, is the intellectually dishonest claim that Coronavirus in their countries is somehow different from the Coronavirus in other western countries.  It's like there are two parallel universes now.  While the Anglosphere continues to ramp-up its emergency 'pandemic' measures and mandatory mask and quarantine policies, their Scandinavian counterparts like Sweden, Norway or Denmark have already returned to life as normal; no masks on public transport (although Norway just introduced a new rule today advising masks on crowded carriages), no obsessive social distancing rules, no snap lockdowns, and certainly no draconian laws and threats of £10,000 fines made by government leaders, or holding the country hostage until a wonder vaccine arrives in the spring.  The contrast couldn't be more extreme.

I got locked out of Twitter for having the 'wrong' opinion on Covid.  I woke yesterday morning to find that I had been locked out of Twitter for "violating our rules against abuse and harassment".  I was dumbfounded.  Which of my recent tweets had been abusive or harassed anyone?  I glanced down the email to see something I had posted last week in response to yet another We're All Doomed! report on the BBC news.

Four graphs prove the utter failure of lockdowns and masks.  The data is now in.  Not only is the coronavirus nothing more than a very bad flu, harmless to the vast majority of the population, the bad policy imposed by almost all governments worldwide has done nothing to alleviate it, and in fact has probably helped kill people, from both the virus and their bad policy.  This conclusion is starkly illustrated in the following four graphs, all of which show the history of COVID-19 during the entire 2020 epidemic, now clearly ending.  All four graphs are updates of graphs I've referenced previously, but now they take us through the epidemic's present waning, and give us a better context of both the virus' flu-like nature and the terrible policies imposed by governments in their panic over it.

Mike Pence's Superb Coronavirus Response.  Ever since President Donald Trump tapped Vice-President Mike Pence to lead the White House Coronavirus Task Force at the end of February, he has presided over more than 340 briefings including 35 governors' briefings, with over 156,000 state, local, and tribal participants.  He has discussed the federal government's strategy of deploying financial resources, supplies, and technical assistance.  He has coordinated the delivery of critical PPE, and helped ramp up testing for states, localities, and tribes.  He has stressed the importance of implementing best practices for slowing the spread of the virus, and has spoken at great length about the safety procedures and guidelines for reopening the country.  He has discussed strategies that will allow students to safely return to school.

Just 1,800 out of 110,000 occupied beds are taken up by Covid-19 patients.  Covid-19 patients are currently occupying fewer than 2 percent of all hospital beds in England, official data suggests.  The most NHS recent snapshot — released three weeks ago — shows just 478 out of 110,000 beds in use were by Covid-19 patients on September 3.  This has since risen to 1,883, according to Department of Health data.  Health chiefs have yet to update the total beds occupied figure since but it barely changed over the summer.

That's okay, the California tourism industry was already dead.
The Most Miserable Place On Earth:  Disney Firing 28,000 Workers.  In what may be the biggest mass layoff in recent history, after the market close Walt Disney unveiled its transformation to the most miserable place on earth, announcing that it would lay off 28,000 workers in its U.S. resort business, in the latest confirmation that the covid pandemic continues to devastate all tourism and communal experiences.  "As heartbreaking as it is to take this action, this is the only feasible option we have in light of the prolonged impact of Covid-19 on our business," Josh D'Amaro, the chairman of the parks division, said in a memo to workers.

Tragic kingdom:
Disney to lay off 28,000 employees as COVID-19 continues to hammer its theme parks.  The Walt Disney Company's Chairman of Parks, Experiences and Products, Josh D'Amaro, announced Tuesday evening that approximately 28,000 employees — known as "cast members" — will be laid off at its theme parks due to the ongoing impact of the coronavirus pandemic.  Citing "limited capacity due to physical distancing requirements" and the uncertainty of the duration of the pandemic D'Amaro said the company has made "the very difficult decision to begin the process of reducing our workforce."  As recently as Sept. 22, D'Amaro and Disney pleaded for help from the State of California.  In making the announcement D'Amaro noted the decision was "exacerbated" by the "State's unwillingness to lift restrictions that would allow Disneyland to reopen."

De Blasio Tweets He Will Keep New York Under COVID-Unism Forever.  "Two weeks to flatten curve."  Remember that?  It was several months ago now.  The deal elected officials struck with the American people was to trade lockdowns for hospital capacity.  The fear in the early days of the COVID pandemic was that hospital capacity would be overwhelmed if we didn't lock down, curb activity, and so forth.  So we got "two weeks to flatten the curve." [...] Well, Mayor Bill de Blasio has altered the deal.  ["]We've made great progress on COVID-19, but we're not done until we hit zero.["] [...] The likelihood that we ever get to zero cases is, well, zero.  Coronavirus is a virus.  Once virii hit human populations, they tend to come and go seasonally.  Despite all the promising news we've heard about vaccines lately, vaccines don't mean the virus cases zero out anytime soon, if ever.

The Church Has Spectacularly Failed the COVID Test, and the Faithful.  When logic is denied to us it will literally drive us insane.  Logic has long ago left the COVID discussion and the result is that people like my friend are breaking.  They've had enough.  But where do you turn when you've had enough of the status quo but every coping mechanism you've had in your life is now off-limits?  This is where the Church (the Body of Christ in general) has failed, at least here in California.

Media Gunning For Scott Atlas Because He Keeps Exposing Coronavirus Lies.  "Dr. Scott Atlas is arming Trump with misleading data" about COVID-19, Centers for Disease Control Director Dr. Robert Redfield told a colleague Friday [9/25/2020], according to a Monday report by NBC News political reporter Monica Alba.  Within hours, numerous outlets ideologically allied with NBC amplified the coverage.  Here are some screenshots of the Google News results for the story just a short while later, but is Redfield's assertion correct?  The Federalist spoke to numerous epidemiologists to find out.

Dianne Feinstein Caught Not Wearing Mask At Private Airline Terminal.  The wearing a mask dogma does not live loudly in Diane Feinstein.  Like most liberals, California Senator Dianne Feinstein believes rules aren't for her — even the rules she wants to create[.]  Tucker Carlson exposed Dianne Feinstein's hypocrisy on Monday evening [9/28/2020].  Feinstein was photographed in an airport without a mask just months after she called for a nationwide mandatory mask policy for airport passengers. [...] I wonder if the pilot is carrying Senator Feinstein's bag and dog.  After all, she can no longer rely on her former driver/Chinese spy to carry her bag and dog, or to even remind her to wear a mask.

There's a game-changer out there that should end the Wuhan virus paranoia.  The 15-day lockdown that Americans agreed to in March to prepare hospitals for a possible influx of Wuhan virus patients has lasted for over half a year in some places.  It's disrupted businesses, education, and family life while harming people's mental and physical well-being.  On Monday, though, a game-changer hit the scene when President Trump announced an affordable rapid test for the Wuhan virus.  The new test can be self-administered and will produce a result in around 15 minutes.

Tucker Carlson Shows Dianne Feinstein Not Wearing Mask At Airport After She Wrote Letter Demanding 'Mandatory Mask Policy' At Airports.  Fox News host Tucker Carlson aired photos on Monday night that allegedly show Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) not wearing a mask while at an airport, which Carlson claims came after she wrote a letter to the Federal Aviation Administration demanding that "all airport and airline employees and passengers" wear masks.  Carlson began the segment by showing a news report from June in which a reporter states:  "More and more lawmakers are calling for nationwide rule on wearing face coverings.  Senator Dianne Feinstein has written to federal agencies asking for a mandatory mask policy both in the air and on public transit."

Trump administration will deploy 150 million new COVID-19 swabs for schools.  Tens of millions of new COVID-19 rapid tests will be made available for the nation's teachers and students as schools begin to reopen across the country, President Trump announced Monday [9/28/2020].  "The support my administration is providing will allow every state to, on a very regular basis, test every teacher who needs it," Trump said at a ceremony in the White House Rose Garden.  In coming weeks, more than 150 million new swabs from Abbott Laboratories will be sent to vulnerable communities, nursing homes and state governments, he said.

The Editor says...
There are 56.4 million kids in public schools, so 150 million swabs should be plenty.

Teachers, walk away from unions that keep fighting against reopening schools.  More than a month into the new school year, it is already evident that in-person school instruction is not causing mass outbreaks of the coronavirus.  Researchers at Brown University have found extremely low levels of infection among students and teachers.  To be specific, the rate of suspected and confirmed student infections is just 0.21%. [...] Unfortunately, no one seems to have informed the union bosses about any of this.  The Little Rock Education Association is only the latest union to threaten or to encourage teachers to walk out of the classroom based on deliberately exaggerated and thoroughly unscientific fears about the coronavirus.

The corruption of science.  With summer 2020 finally in the rearview mirror, and after seven months of "two weeks to flatten the curve," I'm getting a little sick of "the science."  Not science, mind you, but theee science, the thing that leftists keep assuring us exists — a singular, canonical truth we all must obey.  Mind you, it sure seems like there's not a great deal of agreement about "the science" regarding COVID:  You don't need masks/You do need masks.  Hydroxychloroquine doesn't work/Hydroxychloroquine totally works.  Sunlight doesn't help/Sunlight helps.  COVID doesn't linger in the air/COVID totally lingers in the air/COVID doesn't linger after all.  Large crowds spread COVID/Large crowds don't spread COVID (if it's a BLM crowd).  Theee science is whatever today's CNN home page says it is.  If that happens to contradict yesterday's home page, well, that's your fault for having a memory.

A great deal of confusion and uncertainty': Trump coronavirus adviser infighting breaks into open.  White House Coronavirus Task Force advisers are openly disagreeing with each other, sending mixed messages about the pandemic.  Both Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government's top infectious disease expert, and Dr. Robert Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in recent days, have criticized Dr. Scott Atlas, a conservative neuroradiologist from Stanford who has become the top adviser to President Trump on the coronavirus.  "Everything he says is false," Redfield said about Atlas during a phone call made in public on a commercial flight and overheard by NBC News.  Redfield's comment came after Atlas accused him of "misstating" the facts about the coronavirus.

Was the COVID-19 Test Meant to Detect a Virus?  [Scroll down]  You don't have to shout, "Stay safe!' to your neighbors.  We are safe.  We have an immune system that is a miracle like The Sistine Chapel.  It withstands toxic, microbial inundation on a grand scale at all times, while operating a super-highway of adaptive life-sustaining genetic information, on cellular bridges, emitting telegrams of vital evolutionary code, slandered as "viruses" or "retroviruses."  People die — yes.  But people don't die the way Bill Gates would have you believe, at the mercy of malicious, predatory pathogens, "lurking" on every surface, and especially other humans.  That's not "science." That's social engineering. [...] The people who have taken all your freedoms away in recent weeks, they're social engineers, politicians, globalist thought leaders, bankers, WHO fanatics, and the like.  Their army is composed of "mainstream media," which is now literally a round-the-clock perfect propaganda machine for the Gates-led Pandemic Reich.

CDC Admits There is No Proof COVID-19 is Airborne Virus and They Have Been Misleading the Public All Along.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has admitted that the organization has deceived the public throughout the entire coronavirus pandemic, backtracking on their claim that COVID-19 is an airborne virus.  "CDC is currently updating its recommendations regarding airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2," the CDC explained in a note published earlier this week.  "This was an error on the part of our agency and I apologize on behalf of the CDC," said John Brooks, chief medical officer for the CDC's COVID-19 Emergency Response, while on a call with medical professionals on Monday [9/21/2020].

New CDC Estimates:  Fatality Rate For COVID-19 Drops Again And May Surprise You.  What's are the real chances of dying if you are infected with COVID-19?  You'll probably be surprised how low they are according to new numbers from the Center for Disease Control.  We'll state those numbers simply for those of you who aren't crazy about math.  The CDC's new estimate, for the first time, is broken down by age groups.

It's a COVID Casedemic, not a Pandemic.  [Scroll down]  We later found out that deaths were over counted, with health authorities making no distinction between dying "with" or "from" COVID. George Floyd would be classified as a COVID death since he tested positive at autopsy, despite his true cause of death being a fentanyl overdose.  Gunshot deaths and alcohol poisonings were counted as Chinese virus deaths simply because of a positive test.  The CDC recently revealed that only 6 percent of COVID deaths were solely from the virus, without confounding comorbidities that may have contributed to but not necessarily caused death.  Now it is case counts, every positive test hysterically trumpeted by the media in doomsday fashion. [...] A flu virus that has been in this country for the better part of a year is ubiquitous with many individuals exposed at some point.  After exposure, the virus replicates, but not enough to cause any symptoms, much less serious illness.  Dead viral fragments may stick around deep within the nasal cavity for months, triggering a positive test, and what the media now describes as "a case".

Fauci backpedals on COVID immunity theory he previously touted.  In a testy exchange with Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul at a Senate hearing last week, Dr. Anthony Fauci distanced himself from his earlier support of an encouraging COVID-19 immunity theory.  Fauci, who has headed the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) since 1984 and has played a pivotal role in the federal response to the coronavirus, was appearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee.  At the hearing Wednesday, Fauci at one point got into an argument with Paul, who argued in part that New York City had developed a degree of herd immunity sufficient to prevent another explosion of COVID-19 cases there.

Viral Loads In COVID-19 Infected Patients Drop, Along With Death Rate, Study Finds.  A new study has found signs that the severity of COVID-19 — and the viral loads those infected carry — may be fading.  Researchers at Wayne State University say that viral loads, which is the amount of the virus in a patient's system, continue to drop, which could explain why the death rate is falling.  "Dr. Said El Zein and his team analyzed viral loads of SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing COVID-19, coming from patient nasal swabs over two months," Study Finds reported on Sunday [9/27/2020].  "From April 4 to June 5, a downward trend in the amount of virus detected in patients at Detroit Medical Center was discovered."

The Progressive Medusa.  We do not know fully yet the lasting effects upon city living from the virus, the quarantine, Zoom and Skype telecommuting, and urban violence.  Certainly, millions are questioning the wisdom of living in high-rises, predicating their existence on constant elevator use, and riding on crowded mass transit in this age of globalized viruses.  Add in filth, crime, high taxes for terrible services, and the chance to work at home — and home can become far, far away.

News media fearmongering continues:
Surviving the plague planet.  How long till the world returns to "normal" is unknown.  The BBC writes that "a vaccine would normally take years, if not decades, to develop.  Researchers hope to achieve the same amount of work in only a few months ... Most experts think a vaccine is likely to become widely available by mid-2021, about 12-18 months after the new virus ... That would be a huge scientific feat, and there are no guarantees it will work."

Andrew Cuomo has gone loco on crime and vaccines.  Gov. Cuomo was really losing it last week.  Strike one:  His absurd vow that New York will do its own testing on any COVID-19 vaccine the feds approve. [...] The gov named a committee of 20 to advise him on distributing any vaccine — but it's stacked with his donors and labor cronies.  And it's just nuts to say he's assembling a panel of experts tasked with "double-checking" any Trump-administration-approved vaccine for efficacy and safety.  Sorry:  The work on vaccines is all being done by professionals — some of whom would be sure to scream if politicians (insanely) tried to push a bad vaccine.

Stanford expert blasts COVID lockdown failures: 'We quarantined the healthy ... exposed the sick'.  Citizens and public authorities fixated on society-wide lockdowns as a key measure to combat COVID-19 have failed to account for the devastating effects those measures can have on society as a whole, a Stanford professor of medicine says.  Jay Bhattacharya, the director of Stanford's Program on Medical Outcomes as well as the director of the school's Center on the Demography and Economics of Health and Aging, said in an interview this week on the John Solomon Reports podcast that he found it "shocking" that, as countless countries earlier this year moved to shut down ahead of COVID-19, so many had forgotten to "think about both the cost and benefits" of such policies.  "Country after country made the same decision with a couple of exceptions," Bhattacharya said.  "And I think that was a major problem."

Massive Anti-Lockdown Protest In London Turns Violent When Police Come To Crush Speech.  London police clashed with demonstrators Saturday as they broke up a protest against COVID-19 restrictions in Trafalgar Square amid rising tensions over limits on everyday life as the government tries to stem a sharp rise in infections.  Police and protesters were injured when officers moved in after three hours of speeches in front of thousands of people who packed the iconic square in London, waving placards opposing mandatory vaccinations, face mask requirements and limits on civil liberties.  Police said they intervened because the demonstrators refused to comply with the very social distancing rules they were there to protest.  [Video clip]

Media's Wuhan Lies Lengthen, Deepen.  Make no mistake about it:  we have suffered an unprecedented loss of jobs and businesses, the shutdown of schools, entertainment, and hospitals; the mandating of masks and "social distancing"; and the like, not because of a global pandemic, but because of our foolish and unprecedented reaction to a global pandemic.  In other words, much of what was "unprecedented" in the fight against the Wuhan virus was simply unnecessary. [...] Probably the most repeated lie in this evil episode is the near-endless reporting on Wuhan virus "case counts."  As has been noted multiple times, these reports are filled with numerous deceptions. [...] The vast majority of those 300,000 cases in Georgia saw the person infected require no hospitalization and completely recover, or, more often than not, have no symptoms whatsoever.

Florida Governor Reopens State — Removes Restrictions on Restaurants, Nullifies All Local Mask Ordinances, Blocks Fines and Penalties.  Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has moved the entire state into phase three of the COVID-19 recovery plan.  All restrictions against restaurants and businesses are removed by executive order and all local mask ordinances are nullified by the same order.

'We do not consent': London rally against Covid-19 measures draws huge crowds.  Demonstrators descended on London for the second straight weekend to air their disapproval of the coronavirus guidelines, with police warning they will break up the rally if protesters don't follow social distancing rules.  Several thousand protesters assembled at Trafalgar Square on Saturday, with some eyewitnesses claiming that attendance was even higher than the turnout at a similar event held last weekend.

From a Small Town in Idaho, COVID's 'New Normal'.  We have been in this lockdown for over 6 months.  By any rational standard, by now, we ought to be able to go back to normal.  When I talked to our governor's office here in Idaho, I was informed that it was now up to our local health district.  When I talked to our local health official to find out what was the standard they would use before we could go back to normal I was informed it would probably be some time next spring.  Thus, we are told that we will just have to get used to a New Normal.  Things will never be normal again. [...] People die of the flu every year.  So what is different about this year?  Many medical professionals insist that this year is no different than any other flu year and there was no reason for an emergency lockdown.  The end result of all this activity is to give the government more power.  These orders by our governors have violated the First, Fourth, Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.  Some people saw that right away, but governors were not listening.  What the CDC said was gospel permitting no other suggestions.  Some states did not require lockdown of businesses and they have had no more cases of virus than those that did.  In one state, the governor was recently sued and the court set aside those decrees, saying they were unconstitutional.

Democrats Blame a Church 120 Miles Away for Corona Deaths in a Nursing Home Owned by a Democrat Mayor.  There's over 200 miles of distance between the Tri Town Baptist Church in East Millinocket, a small Maine town with a population of under 2,000, and York County, with over 200,000 people.  But when prison inmates at the York County Jail began testing positive for coronavirus, Democrat officials chose to blame the Tri Town Baptist Church for the sins of York County Jail.  The story is a familiar one because the media loves to tell it so often.  A wedding was held at the small Tri Town Baptist Church which with its white wooden steeple and whitewashed clapboard walls looks as if it had been plucked from a picture postcard.  Democrat officials claimed that the wedding then spread the virus across Maine and to the jail.  The inmate's death can't be confirmed as due to the virus until another 50 years have gone by because of HIPAA privacy restrictions, but that hasn't stopped the media from doing it anyway.

The sickening effects of the news cycle.  [Scroll down]  Now for some positive news from the pandemic you may have missed.  "We have very much replicated what's been seen worldwide, which is over time the mortality in ICUs have decreased," Dr. Craig Coopersmith, director of the Emory Critical Care Center, recently explained on NPR.  "We should applaud and appreciate the medical community for being able to find rapid ways to improve the outcome of this life-threatening illness," Dr. George Lemp, an epidemiologist and former director of the HIV/AIDS Research Program at UC's Office of the President, tells The Mercury News.  "New data reveals that while patients are still being rushed to intensive care units, a greater proportion are coming out alive.  Since the pandemic began, the cumulative death rate for Californians with COVID-19 has fallen by more than half in the past three months," writes the Mercury News' Lisa Krieger.  Coopersmith, who oversees ICUs at five hospitals in the Emory system, notes that mortality in ICUs has decreased in the range of 20% to 50%.

Harris makes misleading statement on COVID-19 business loans while campaigning in Michigan.  Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris made a misleading claim while campaigning in Michigan on Tuesday regarding the supposed disparities in COVID-19 relief funds to Black restaurant owners, according to a report.  While visiting Flint and Michigan, Harris claimed that out of the hundreds of restaurants in Michigan that received relief funds from the Paycheck Protection Program, only one was Black-owned, The Detroit News reported.

Is The Wuhan Coronavirus Really A Chinese Bioweapon?  After nearly one year, questions remain unanswered about whether the Chinese coronavirus was natural or man-made and whether its release into the world was accidental or malicious.  Chinese scientist Li-Meng Yan has stirred up media attention with her claim that the coronavirus connected with COVID-19 is the result of Chinese bioengineering.  She's been saying this for a while, but the renewed attention follows a paper she and her coauthors uploaded to a public research repository.  Tucker Carlson recently interviewed her on his popular Fox News show, where she went so far as to claim that Chinese authorities not only created the bug but released it on the world intentionally.  These claims, which we should treat separately, have been in the air for months.

Victoria's health minister resigns after being accused of botching Covid-19 quarantine program.  Jenny Mikakos, the health minister of Victoria, Australia, has stepped down after the state's premier claimed she mismanaged a hotel quarantine scheme.  Victoria has seen nearly five months of strict Covid-19 measures.  Her resignation comes a day after Premier Daniel Andrews told an inquiry that he "regarded her accountable" for the decision to use private security guards, instead of police or military personnel, at hotels that had been converted into quarantine centers.

Governor DeSantis reopens Florida restaurants and bars at full capacity and ends fines for not wearing a face mask.  Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Friday lifted all COVID-19 restrictions on businesses, including restaurants and bars, and dropped penalties for not wearing a face mask — sparking a protest among upset residents.  DeSantis made the announcements during a noon press conference in St. Petersburg, and quickly drew ire from residents who protested the new protocols.  He argued that threat of the coronavirus pandemic — which has surpassed seven million cases and 203,000 deaths — had eased sufficiently to allow the state to enter Phase 3 of its reopening.

Biden's Authoritarian America.  [Scroll down]  For example, Biden said he would shut down the country if necessary in order to stop the spread of the coronavirus, even though the direct oversight of public health is not a power delegated to the president or the federal government.  Only the states have the power, under the 10th Amendment, to determine what is in the best interest of public health and the police power to enforce it when necessary.

Trump's New C19 Advisor Cites Research Showing Widespread Immunity!  Calls Out CDC Head Redfield's False Testimony to Stunned Press.  Most of our readers probably already know that Trump appointed Dr. Scott Atlas of Stanford University's prestigious Hoover Institution to his COVID-19 task force last month. [...] Way back in April, Dr. Atlas tried to save America from the deadly quack medicine we were convinced to guzzle down like a junkie who's stumbled on a gallon jug of cough syrup in an op-ed titled:  ["]The Data Is in — Stop the Panic and End the Total Isolation.["]  He explained five facts that were already apparent a month after lockdowns started and some of which should have prevented anyone from ever even suggesting the heretofore unheard-of lunacy.
  •   Fact 1:  The overwhelming majority of people do not have any significant risk of dying from COVID-19.
  •   Fact 2:  Protecting the older, at-risk population would have been sufficient to prevent hospital overcrowding, (which it turns out was never a danger anyway).
  •   Fact 3:  Total isolation policies, if effective, PREVENT vital herd immunity and, hence, only PROLONG the problem.
  •   Fact 4:  People are dying because medical care for other ailments was shut down due to hypothetical COVID-19 fatality projections (that were produced by a guy with a history of massively inflated projections and, predictably, turned out to be total garbage).
  •   Fact 5:  We have a clearly defined population at risk who could've been better protected by adopting targeted measures.

Democrats Are Making a U-Turn on Mail-In Voting.  Democrats used COVID-19 as a pretext to try and change the way America votes.  In fact, mail-in voting, ballot harvesting, and other various and sundry election law changes were part of the reason Democrats refused to debate a narrow COVID relief bill.  Because Republicans wouldn't agree to give up every election security feature we have, you and your family couldn't get your unemployment benefits extended, schools lost money, and small business owners were left without assistance.

Oregon's youngest COVID-19 victim did not actually have the virus, according to CDC test.  An Oregon family is searching for answers after new testing from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed that their son, once presumed to be the youngest COVID-19 victim in the state, did not actually have the virus.  Matthew Irvin, 26, died suddenly in early July after falling severely ill just a few days prior.  At the time, state health officials said his death was likely the result of the coronavirus due simply to the fact that he displayed several of the symptoms.

Dogs Deployed at Helsinki Airport Can Detect COVID-19 With Almost 100% Accuracy.  Passengers alighting at Helsinki Airport in Finland starting from earlier this week will have a speedier — and much fuzzier — way of getting tested for COVID-19.  A team of dogs has been deployed to fill their snoots with eau d'arriving passenger to sniff out those infected with the virus behind the current global pandemic.

COVID-19 surveys halted in Minnesota amid racism, intimidation.  A door-to-door COVID-19 testing survey has been halted due to multiple incidents in greater Minnesota of residents intimidating and shouting racial and ethnic slurs at state and federal public health survey teams.  The CDC pulled its federal surveyors out of Minnesota this week following reports of verbal abuse and intimidation, including an incident in the Iowa border town of Eitzen, Minn., in which a survey team walking to a house was blocked by two cars and threatened by three men, including one who had a gun.  Frustration with the state's pandemic response "is totally understandable," said Dr. Ruth Lynfield, state epidemiologist, "but that is distinctly different than taking out frustration on another human being who is trying to help and is especially galling when there is a taint of racism.  There is no justification for this — the enemy is the virus and not the public health workers who are trying to help."

The Editor says...
The enemy not the virus, it is door-to-door tyranny.  Covid ain't the plague.  If there is a bona fide public health emergency, with honest statistics and rational reporting, you'll get a lot more cooperation.  But what you've got today is an overblown reaction to (essentially) the flu, and a never-ending series of power grabs by petty dictators.  Don't come knocking on my door looking for DNA samples of everybody in the house, using Covid-19 as your fig leaf.

President Trump Says New FDA Standards On COVID Vaccine Are Politically Motivated.  President Trump has said the health of the American people is his primary concern when considering new FDA guidelines on a vaccine.  On Wednesday, the President announced the White House may not approve tougher guidelines on the emergency use authorization of a coronavirus vaccine.  According to reports, the FDA was gearing up to announce the stricter standards ahead of the election.  As part of the new guidelines, manufacturers seeking authorization would have to follow trial participants for at least two months after a second vaccine shot.

Civilization Requires Collective Common Sense.  The World Health Organization initially swore that the virus was not transmissible by humans, did not warrant travel bans or mask-wearing, and was not a significant global threat.  The organization's Chinese patrons had given WHO an unscientific party line.  And its director then branded the propaganda with superficial scientific authority.  American experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other federal health agencies were often inconsistent on travel bans, testing, masks, quarantines and medical therapies, and intolerant of dissident medical research.  Authorities rarely could consistently explain to the public how the virus was spread; why children, who were rarely stricken, were kept from attending school; and whether quarantines were aimed at flattening the curve of infection, eliminating it altogether, or just waiting out the virus.  The elderly were rightly deemed the most vulnerable.  But then, inexplicably, they were often exposed to newly arriving infected patients in their long-term care facilities.

Senator Rand Paul Confronts Dr. Anthony Fauci For Months of Lies and Manipulative Statements.  Senator Rand Paul confronted Dr. Anthony Fauci today about his history of false claims, lies and manipulative statements surrounding the COVID-19 virus and direction for U.S. mitigation efforts.  It's about time someone called the baby ugly.  Anthony Fauci, a political ideologue and leftist advocate, was the primary government influence that has led to trillions in economic damage and impacted the lives of all Americans with false assertions and brutally political virus mitigation efforts.  [Video clip]

Predicted Mass Infections From Reopening Schools Fails to Materialize.  Last month, we were inundated with stories from teachers' unions, school administrators, and public health officials about the coming catastrophic outbreak of coronavirus in the schools.  It's still happening, with New York City schools ready to partially reopen and many other school districts allowing only virtual learning.  But experts tracking the pandemic have been surprised that the expected disaster of tens of thousands of kids getting sick hasn't happened — yet.  It still might get very bad as large school districts begin to reopen, but so far, the number of infections among K-12 students has been far less than public health officials feared.

Idaho Christians Arrested for Singing Hymns Maskless Outside City Hall in County with Zero Covid Deaths.  It seems Moscow, Idaho, is going the way of its Soviet namesake, arresting a group of unmasked Christians who had peaceably assembled outside the city hall to sing psalms and protest an extension of the city's masking order.  On Wednesday, Moscow's Christ Church, whose pastor is famed Christian theologian Douglas Wilson, announced that a "Psalm Sing" would be held outside city hall that afternoon. [...] On Tuesday, the city council extended the mandatory masking order, set to expire on October 6, until January, despite the fact there have been no deaths, or even hospitalizations, due to the COVID-19 virus in Latah County.

Mother Tased & Arrested for Not Wearing a Mask at Son's Middle School Football Game.  An Ohio mother who drove an hour and a half to watch her seventh-grade son play football was tased and arrested for reportedly refusing to wear a mask.  Did I mention the football game was played outside?  As reported by the Ohio Star, Alecia Kitts was rooting for her son's visiting team from the Marietta City School District when she was reportedly approached by a police officer for not wearing a mask.  In the video below, Kitts appears to be properly "social distancing" from other families in the stands.  The encounter gets physical as the police officer attempts to arrest Kitts, and she resists.  Kitts repeatedly tells the officer to "get off of me!" and at one point screams:  "You're not arresting me for nothing, I ain't doing nothing wrong!"  After a two-minute struggle, the officer tases Kitts.

Why Biden's Repeated Mask Mandate Flip Flops Matter.  Over the course of five weeks, Joe Biden has stated five different positions on a national mask-wearing mandate.  This is the guy who says he long ago worked out a comprehensive plan to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic and who keeps promising steady leadership if elected president.  For those who haven't been able to keep up with Biden's shifting position on masks, here's a timeline. [...] So why does this kerfuffle over masks matter?  It matters because Biden has made the pandemic the single issue on which he wants voters to decide who should be president.  Yet he still can't articulate a position on one of the key containment policies.  And it matters because Biden and everyone around him keep chanting about his "steady, unifying, experienced leadership."  How does that square with his wobbliness on this relatively simple issue, and what is his experience worth if still can't understand the limits of presidential power?

The Moral Case for Reopening Schools — Without Masks.  If you're a public-minded student or teacher committed to reducing the death toll from Covid-19, what is the morally correct way to behave?  According to the epidemiologist Sunetra Gupta, you should do just about the opposite of what's being preached by college presidents, teachers' unions, political leaders, and the scientific and media establishment.  Unless you're elderly or particularly vulnerable, you shouldn't be wearing a mask all day, or shaming others for going unmasked.  You should be careful not to endanger the vulnerable, but otherwise you should be exposing yourself to the virus in order to promote herd immunity.  Gupta, 55, wants to teach her classes at Oxford in person, without a mask, and she is appalled at her colleagues' reluctance to go back to the classroom.

Melbourne Police Surround & Arrest 2 Elderly Women Resting On Park Bench For 'COVID Violation'.  "Victoria Police have lost all commonsense," one Australian eyewitness quipped upon posting a video showing police telling a 38-week pregnant woman she can't sit down due to coronavirus and social distancing enforcement measures.  It's one of many recent viral videos to come out of Australia's southeast state of Victoria, home to Melbourne, showing absurd "crackdowns" by police for alleged coronavirus policy violators.  "As a pregnant woman I can't sit in the park?" the incredulous woman whose story was covered widely in local media asked the couple of officers who harassed her.  Apparently not... because COVID.  "You can only be out of your house for one of four reasons," the officer responded.  "One of those would be exercise.  Sitting in a park is not one of the four reasons."

Nancy Pelosi and the Party of 'Science, Science, Science'.  It should come as no surprise that "ardent Catholic" Nancy Pelosi is once again at odds with a bishop.  This time, the disagreement is with her local shepherd, archbishop of San Francisco Salvatore Joseph Cordileone.  The archbishop has started to complain publicly at the way California's lockdown rules are specifically aimed at keeping houses of worship shuttered, and he wants his churches re-opened.  Pelosi, on the basis of no scientific evidence at all, says that because it's not yet "scientifically safe" for people to attend Mass in person, it will be "jeopardizing people's health" to follow Archbishop Cordileone's rash counsel.  "With all due respect to my archbishop," Pelosi says, "I think we should follow science on this."  But the archbishop hasn't got any problem with science.  He just wants an answer to one parishioner's question:  "I can spend three hours indoors in Nordstrom, why can't I go to Mass indoors?"

Some Coronavirus Facts Democrats And The Media Want To Keep Buried.  For those who feel as if the coronavirus crisis is never going away, we offer some optimism.  Get it here, because lockdown Democrats and their pandemic-cheerleading media allies want to keep the pessimism running high.  On two separate occasions in recent weeks, we've presented data that indicate the crisis is winding down.  No, this doesn't mean that infections and deaths will drop to zero.  The virus isn't going away.  What it does mean is that the virus isn't the threat it was when deaths spiked in the middle of April.  This is primarily based on deaths in excess of the expected numbers of fatalities.  The Centers for Disease Control chart [sample at left] shows that total deaths, the blue bars, have fallen below the threshold for excess deaths.  Stanford biophysics professor and 2013 winner of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry Michael Levitt called it "a huge milestone."

Store operators outraged at Subway's COVID-19 demands.  After getting kudos for its early response to the coronavirus, Subway Restaurants is now being blasted by store operators for demanding that they return to business as usual despite still-sagging sales in the midst of the pandemic.  Subway this month told its roughly 23,000 US restaurants to resume operating 84 hours a week, or an average of 12 hours a day, as they did before the pandemic, sources said.  It has also demanded franchisees begin repaying royalties fees that the company graciously deferred in the early days of the health crisis after it shuttered the restaurant industry.  The demands, franchisees say, come as Subway sales continue to lag — leaving store operators unnecessarily exposed to both the coronavirus and added expenses, including higher payroll costs.

CDC Says It Mistakenly Posted Guidance Saying Virus Spreads Via Air, Travels Beyond 6 Feet.  The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said this week it erroneously published new guidance acknowledging that the coronavirus spreads through tiny particles that can linger in the air and travel beyond six feet.  CDC officials have been saying for months that the virus primarily spreads between people in close contact (within about 6 feet) via large droplets produced when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or talks that end up in the mouths or noses of people nearby.

NFL teams, 3 coaches fined over $1 million over masks.  The NFL has fined teams and head coaches over $1 million over their failure to wear protective face masks during games on Sunday [9/20/2020].  Following a memo last week with a strong reminder about wearing face coverings during games, three head coaches and teams were hit with hefty fines totaling $1.05 million, sending a clear message about how seriously the coronavirus guidelines are being taken by the league, CBS Sports reported.

The Editor says...
[#1] Wearing a mask while playing football is like trying to win a NASCAR race with a restrictor plate in the carburetor.  [#2] Does anyone at the NFL think the players are at risk from virus exposure during a football game, and that such a risk is greater than the risk of concussions, broken bones, and torn ligaments?

Trump Blasts China On Coronavirus Pandemic In United Nations Speech.  President Donald Trump on Tuesday ripped China and the World Health Organization (WHO) for mishandling the virus that led to a pandemic.  In recorded remarks to the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Trump blamed China for the coronavirus that has killed nearly 200,000 Americans and almost 1 million worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins Center for Systems Science and Engineering.  "As we pursue this bright future, we must hold accountable the nation which unleashed this plague onto the world:  China," Trump said in the speech, filmed Monday [9/21/2020] in Washington, D.C.  "The Chinese government and the World Health Organization, which is virtually controlled by China, falsely declared that there was no evidence of human-to-human transmission.  Later they falsely said people without symptoms would not spread the disease," Trump said.  "The United Nations must hold China accountable for their actions."

Man Is Dragged Out Of School Board Meeting By Police For Refusing To Wear A Mask.  A defiant anti-masker was dragged out of a South Dakota school board meeting by police for refusing to wear a face covering, according to footage shared on social media.  The man, identified as Reed Bender, was asked repeatedly to wear a mask at the Mitchell Board of Education meeting Monday [9/21/2020] before cops were called to the scene, local newspaper the Mitchell Republic reported.  [Video clip]

FDA Nears Approval of Injectable Biochip Implants for COVID Detection, Linked to Computers.  The Department of Defense, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, have partnered with a Silicon Valley company, Profusa, to implement a technology which could control our minds and bodies.  What may seem like science fiction, is in fact happening in real-time.  A permanent chip made of an advanced material called hydrogel irreversibly ties humans to the Internet "cloud." The chip, about the size of a grain of rice, provides feedback to a database on changes in body chemistry and other biometrics.  The company says technology will be used to detect COVID in the general population, before symptoms show.  The latest revised CDC overall survival rate for the COVID virus is 99.8%, versus 99.9% for the common flu.  Nevertheless, nearly 150 days after governments proclaimed that 15 days of "lockdowns" and social distancing would be necessary to "flatten the curve" so that hospitals would not be overwhelmed, US governors still exert emergency powers based on the announcement of "new cases."

More about RFID technology and its impact on privacy and freedom.

Coronavirus cases and deaths continue to decline, but officials vow to continue restrictions.  Numerous high-ranking public authorities throughout the United States have pledged to continue enforcing COVID-19 restrictions — including social distancing rules and mask mandates — even as cases of and deaths attributed to the virus continue a steady two-month decline throughout the country.  Those officials have signaled that the restrictions will not be lifted unless and until an effective vaccine is developed, approved, distributed throughout the country and utilized by enough of the population to create functional herd immunity.

The Editor says...
"Officials" without names think of us as a herd.

SF archbishop asks why people can shop at Nordstrom, but not go to church inside.  The Catholic archbishop of San Francisco led a protest on Sunday criticizing the city's restrictions on reopening churches during the coronavirus pandemic.  Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone delivered an impassioned sermon at an outdoor mass at the Cathedral of St.  Mary of the Assumption after a march through the streets, calling for the right to worship indoors.  Cordileone condemned city leaders for allowing retail to operate indoors before houses of worship.

Doctors [are] studying why obesity may be tied to serious COVID-19.  Excess weight increases the chances of developing a number of health problems, including heart disease and diabetes.  And those are among the conditions that can make COVID-19 patients more likely to get very sick.  But there's some evidence that obesity itself can increase the likelihood of serious complications from a coronavirus infection.

Precaution Can Kill — During a Pandemic and Beyond.  Regulation frequently can cause more harm, in the long run, than the risks from which regulations are supposed to protect us.  Consider, for example, "chemicals-of-concern lists."  Such reports from government bureaucrats, flag chemicals that might — might — be risky, and, as a result, tend to scare firms away from developing or creatively deploying substances that likely benefit millions.  Canadians, however, stand to gain by their government's taking of a different approach.  Although Canada maintains a list of potentially dangerous chemicals, in evaluating those substances, lawmakers in Ottawa have subjected the precautionary principle to some welcome, tough scrutiny, clearing a number of chemicals as not harmful — unlike regulators in Europe and the U.S., which continue to be hostages to the idea.

Unwarranted Fear Has Won The Covid Narrative, At An Enormous Cost to the Country.  Today we live in a nation where nearly half of all U.S. citizens deeply believe they will get the Covid virus and die.  This fear is pervasive, and it is false.  Data on who is infected, who becomes ill, and who has died from Covid isn't subject to many questions; it is objective, available and knowable data.  So how can there be such a wide gap between data and fear?  It has been half a century since existential events pierced the psyche of the American mind with such abject fear.  The possibility of a global atomic attack sent children to protective bunkers in the basements of schools.  Polio outbreaks terrorized minds with the profound angst, "My entire family can be paralyzed, especially our children."  A century ago, the Spanish Flu was a virus everyone feared with good reason as it was both indiscriminate and lethal.  Covid19 has now earned its stripes as a fear-inducing menace, and yet the data across America is quite different from other historical threats to public health and safety.

From the beginning, the COVID pandemic has been shrouded in lies.  For months, as coronavirus brought the American way of life to a halt, our scientific establishment ignored the most basic question of all:  Where did this illness come from?  [Video clip]

More Coronavirus Lawsuits Have Been Filed Against Andrew Cuomo Than Any Other U.S. Governor, Complaint Tracker Shows.  Thousands of lawsuits have been filed in the U.S. since the start of the coronavirus pandemic as citizens, business owners, government officials and more contested the legality of measures put in place to slow the spread of the virus.  Government officials quickly became a popular magnet for legal challenges as local and state leaders began implementing stay-at-home orders, instituted mask mandates, restricted businesses' indoor capacities and more during the spring.

Pseudonymous commentator who called pandemic a 'massive fraud' revealed to work for Fauci.  A harsh critic of the federal government's response to the coronavirus has been revealed to work as a public affairs specialist for the government health agency headed by Dr. Anthony Fauci.  William Crews, who has been editing and writing for the conservative site RedState under the pseudonym "streiff," has railed against his colleagues at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, accusing them of being part of an anti-Trump conspiracy.  He has also called Fauci, the government's top infectious disease expert and the director of the NIAID, "attention-grubbing" and "media-whoring," the Daily Beast reported on Monday [9/21/2020].

Government's COVID Response Makes Us All Subjects in a Cruel Experiment.  A story in the Washington Post headlined "Pandemic isolation has killed thousands of Alzheimer's patients while families watch from afar" provides a stark and disturbing example.  The story tells the tale of those suffering from irrecoverable dementia.  Since the pandemic broke, over 130,000 of these victims have died of their dementia.  They have died all alone.  They have essentially been put in glass-windowed cages where their relatives can view them, like some wild beast.  But to enter the room and hug them or kiss them or even to just touch them is forbidden.  A wife may not kiss her husband.  A son or daughter may not hug his mother.  Its forbidden.  By whom?  Why?  Are we that worried a patient suffering severe and fatal dementia might catch COVID?  Touch is the one language still understood by someone with dementia on that scale.  Such pure cruelty.  Are we so worried about COVID that we deny this most basic human kindness?  Men and women in white coats from prestigious institutions give these cruel and inhumane orders.  But we are the ones who follow them.

GOP Report Claims China Tried To Cover Up Scope Of COVID-19, Could Have Prevented Pandemic.  A new Congressional report claims China could have prevented a vast majority of coronavirus cases before the end of February if officials followed international health guidelines after the first outbreak occurred in Wuhan.  The report, released Monday [9/21/2020] and authored by Republican members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, found that China initially covered up the spread of SARS-CoV-2 — which causes COVID-19 — and that the World Health Organization (WHO) was complicit because it "parroted" Chinese propaganda.

Why mass PCR testing of the healthy and asymptomatic is currently counter-productive.  The CDC has updated their testing guidance to say the asymptomatic "do not need a test," a change that has, according to the New York Times, "prompted confusion and alarm from experts." [...] In a review of data from three labs, the New York Times found that "up to 90 percent of people testing positive carried barely any virus," meaning that only about 10% of people who test positive may actually need to isolate and submit to contact tracing.

E-MASK-ulation: How we have been lied to so dramatically about masks.  If you are looking for the scientific rationale behind universal mask-wearing, you certainly won't find it now that the issue has become as political as guns, abortion, and taxes.  We are now at a point where Canada's chief public health officer is calling on people to wear masks when engaging in sexual activities and 19-month-old babies are being forced to wear them on airplanes.  There is no rational thought in a political cult.  But what did the governmental and scientific literature say on the issue before it became political?  On April 3, already several weeks into the unprecedented lockdown over coronavirus, but before the big media push for universal masking, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued guidance for respiratory protection for workers exposed to people with the virus.  It stated clearly what governments had said all along about other forms of airborne contamination, such as smoke inhalation — [...]

CDC removes guidelines saying COVID-19 can travel beyond six feet.  The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has pulled its updated guidance that the coronavirus is airborne and can travel distances beyond 6 feet — saying a draft version was posted in error on its website.  "It is possible that COVID-19 may spread through the droplets and airborne particles that are formed when a person who has COVID-19 coughs, sneezes, sings, talks, or breathes," the CDC said in an update posted Friday [9/18/2020].  The CDC had said for months that the disease is mainly transmitted between people in close proximity through large droplets.  But after adding last week that tiny particles known as aerosols could transmit the virus, the agency restored its earlier guidelines about how the deadly pathogen is spread, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The Editor says...
[#1] The CDC's version of what's safe and what's not safe is constantly changing.  [#2] Unless you're a surgeon, there will always be viruses in the air wherever you go.  That's what your immune system is for.  If you're already sick, you're at greater risk from whatever new germs you encounter.  That's nothing new.

The Brave New World of Coronavirus Safetyism.  We have entered the seventh month of coronavirus panic, with large parts of America still partly or wholly shut down.  What began as a 15-day expedient designed to "flatten the curve," has gradually become the norm in American life.  The goalposts have continued to shift.  First, the focus was on hospital overcrowding; then it moved to overall deaths; then it moved to number of positive cases; now it seems to be shifting to the availability of a vaccine.  The real endgame appears to be the November election. [...] Some day, however, the pandemic will be behind us.  When we look back, how will our unprecedented response to this virus be remembered?  Will it be remembered as an authoritarian and financial nightmare, something to learn from and to never again be repeated?  Or will it be viewed as the model response and a template for the future?  Dr. Anthony Fauci has left little doubt which side he's on. [...] As journalist Jordan Schachtel noted, Fauci seems to believe that we are living in a "permanent pandemic era," which is the fault of human progress, and one that requires immense action to combat.  Simply put, Schachtel said, "they are now blatantly attempting to leverage the pandemic to permanently change the way we live."

Will the Lockdowns Outlast the Coronavirus?  There is a popularly repeated regret that COVID-19 resulted in the shuttering of so many small businesses and in the loss by so many of jobs.  This rumor is false.  Coronavirus was not the disease that did such lasting damage to the economy of the United States; tyranny was.  Tyranny is a virus that once it develops in the body politic always spreads and infects all the members until the body is left lifeless or until the cure is deemed more traumatic than the disease itself.  After the arrival of the coronavirus, state legislators and governors across the union began issuing statutes and orders mandating that residents remain "quarantined" inside their homes and that businesses close up shop until the healthcare community could catch up to the predicted press of victims of the virus.  This was the so-called "flattening of the curve."  The curve was flattened, but the trajectory of tyranny was ever upward.

Buried News Reports.  [Scroll down]  On August 26, 2020, the Center for Health Statistics, a federal agency connected to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), issued an update on the number of deaths due to COVID-19 as of that date.  It stated matter of factly that the number of deaths attributed to COVID-19 alone was only 6 percent of the 160,000 deaths reportedly caused by the disease since its outbreak early in 2020.  In other words, most of the deaths attributed to the Coronavirus by the CDC resulted from people dying with COVID-19, not because of COVID-19.  These were far and away mostly older people who had separate health problems such as pneumonia, diabetes, heart condition, obesity, and more.  It cannot be stated too often — or too loudly — that COVID-19 has not been the major cause of the 160,000 deaths reported then, or a larger number reported later.  Yet the American people are being told repeatedly that all of these deaths are from the coronavirus — which is a gross misrepresentation of the facts.  In numerous previous years, many Americans died during flu season without draconian mandates issued by government.  All of this means that the mandated lockdown destroying many small businesses, and the so-called social distancing, quarantines, and mask wearing have converted truly free people into obedient servants of government.  All of this has been unnecessary from the outset of worry about COVID-19.  They have been necessary, however, at gaining control of our nation's economy and its people.

It's looking like Sweden's herd immunity strategy worked.  In the global battle against the pandemic, few countries drew as much scrutiny and frequent criticism as Sweden during the early days.  While the United States and most of Europe shut down their economies and put everyone on lockdown, the Swedes largely went about their business with no mandates for the wearing of masks or prohibitions on public gatherings.  Sweden initially experienced a surge of novel coronavirus cases as compared to its neighbors.  And then it felt like we stopped hearing about them quite so much.  So what's been going on?  As this report from the Associated Press indicates, what's been going on has largely been... not much, at least in terms of the virus.  Sweden only made slight modifications to its policies after the initial surge, but largely stuck with the herd immunity strategy.  And now, just as much of Europe is experiencing a second surge in cases, Sweden has some of the lowest numbers in all of Europe.

HHS Secy. Azar Touts Progress In Fight Against COVID-19.  Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar recently announced the nation has made "incredible progress" in combating the coronavirus, thanks to the vigilance of the American people.  On Sunday, he emphasized how well the American people have responded to the President's call to action and taken individual responsibility during the pandemic.  He reported cases and hospitalizations are down by 50%, while deaths have declined by even greater rates.  Azar also highlighted the progress the administration has made to develop a vaccine.

The Covid-19 Election.  The 2020 election presents us with the mother of all kitchen table issues, the COVID-19 pandemic, because it directly affects everyone's lives.  How much danger do we have of getting the disease or even dying from it?  Does Dad or Mom — or both — still have a job?  If not, how can we pay our bills?  The virus is about 90 nanometers in size, which is about four millionths of an inch, and even the best N95 masks at most filter out particles that are about a thousand times larger.  Why wear masks that don't filter out the virus?  When will we be able to get a vaccine that can protect us against the virus?  There have been over 200,000 American deaths related to COVID-19.  Last week Biden said that all of those people would be alive if Trump had done his job.  That's utter nonsense.  Let's look closely at what Trump has actually done — which Biden criticizes so harshly — and what Biden promises he would do if he is elected.

2022: A Vaccination Passport.  The EU Keeps Quiet Over Suspicious Documents.  Surprise, surprise, the European Commission (EC) had a "Roadmap on Vaccination" ready months before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out.  The Roadmap should lead to a "commission proposal for a common vaccination card / passport for EU citizens by 2022".  Last updated during the third quarter of 2019, the 10-page document was followed, on September 12th, by a "global vaccination summit" jointly hosted by the EC and the World Health Organization (WHO).

China's Pandemic Strategy.  There has been considerable controversy of late regarding expatriate Chinese virologist Dr. Li-Meng Yan who claimed that China used a secretive virological process called gain-of-function to modify the SARS-CoV-2 virus genome and hide its origin prior to facilitating its release.  Yan, a virologist working on a vaccine study formerly at the Hong Kong School of Public Health, told Spicer & Co. that the process made "this not harmful virus into the human, highly contagious and dangerous virus" and that the Chinese government meant "to make it harmful."  Her appearance on Tucker Carlson Tonight generated the predictable backlash.  Facebook suppressed the video, "presumably on behalf of the Chinese government," Carlson said.  Instagram followed suit and Twitter suspended Dr. Yan's account.  But Dr. Yan's credentials, Carlson points out, are impeccable.

Coronavirus:  WHO sets rules for testing African herbal remedies.  The World Health Organization (WHO) has agreed rules for the testing of African herbal remedies to fight Covid-19.  Sound science would be the sole basis for safe and effective traditional therapies to be adopted, it said.  Any traditional remedies that are judged effective could be fast-tracked for large-scale manufacturing.  Madagascar's leader has been promoting an untested product he says can cure the disease despite the WHO warning against using untested remedies.  The WHO said the new rules were aimed at helping and empowering scientists in Africa to conduct proper clinical trials.

Big Orange Man Make Big Orange Sky.  [Scroll down]  Fail to wear a mask, and you will view the world through the bars of a cell.  Set your thermostat too low in a heat wave, and your assets will be frozen.  Still, the ultimate threat is that silence could come with the highest price tag of all.  If left unchallenged, the use of fear and stupidity for political gains could, over time, reverse the course of civilization.

What Has 2020 Taught Us?  [Scroll down]  I also hope we've learned to question "the experts."  Up until COVID we kowtowed obediently to anyone with any kind of fancy degree, anyone with an important-sounding government position, anyone wearing a lab coat.  I suspect that after nearly seven months of Fauci and Birx and their contradictory attempts to sterilize the world, that we take to questioning the so-called experts a little more carefully.  We should have learned that from the climate-change nonsense, but it evidently took a second dose for the lesson to sink in.  What is the lesson? — When an "expert" opinion contradicts common sense, common sense has more clout.  Let's not forget that. [...] I hope we've learned how precious freedom is — for a free people to be suddenly told to stay home, to always wear masks, to try sterilizing everything we touch should have been a major alarm bell to us all.  What?  We can't go to church?  We can't have weddings?  We can't have funerals?  We can't sing??  Government control of everything is not what any of us want to live with.

Biden-Harris Ticket All Over the Place on Nationwide Mask Mandate.  Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have struggled to deliver a consistent message on whether they would enforce a nationwide coronavirus mask mandate in office.  [Video clip]

Van Morrison Attacks 'Fascist Bullies' In Anti-Lockdown Protest Songs.  Irish singer-songwriter Morrison has released three new protest songs railing against the 'pseudoscience' surrounding Chinese Coronavirus and accusing the UK government of being 'fascist bullies disturbing our peace.' [...] Last month, Morrison called on his fellow musicians to protest against misguided coronavirus policy.  "I call on my fellow singers, musicians, writers, producers, promoters and others in the industry to fight with me on this.  Come forward, stand up, fight the pseudo-science and speak up."

Michigan infant with COVID died from serious birth defect.  The immediate cause of death for a 2-month-old the state's top medical doctor said died because of COVID-19 was a birth defect called gastroschisis, a condition in which a baby is born with intestines located outside the body, according to the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner.  Necrotizing enterocolitis and COVID-19 also were listed as other conditions on Hudson King's death certificate, according to a medical examiner report obtained by The Detroit News.  Hudson was announced, but not named by the state, as Michigan's youngest victim of COVID-19 Wednesday, but no details were given as to the infant's gender, hometown or any underlying conditions.

'Until We Are Done With the Elections'.  Did the official in charge of public health in Los Angeles County give the political game away in early September about the true purpose of the lockdown in her area?  In a conference call with school administrators, obtained by Steve Gregory of the radio station KFI, Barbara Ferrer spoke these words:  "We don't realistically anticipate that we would be moving to either Tier 2 or to reopening K-12 schools at least until after the election, in early November... it seems a more realistic approach to this until we are done with the elections."  Ah.  And what does the timing of the November election have to do with the spread of a virus that has afflicted this country since January?  Ferrer insists on being called "doctor" — the honorific is all over every bio of her on the Internet, which, of course, she wrote — but she is not a medical doctor.  She has a "Ph.D. in social welfare," whatever that means, from Brandeis.  Which is to say, she is neither physician nor epidemiologist, but a left-wing political activist and an official appointed by a liberal Democrat.  What role do you think she was playing on that conference call?

Sit, stay, and roll over, America.  Sit!  Yes, sit still and await your next command.  Sit in front of your cell phone, tablet, or television and watch as we tell you one thing and then reverse it later.  Sit at your window and look out longingly at a world that is rightfully yours, America.  You may look, but you cannot go out and enjoy it.  Stay!  Stay in your homes till we tell you it's safe to go outside.  Stay away from your church.  Stay away from your fitness centers, restaurants, bars, parks, and other places of enjoyment.  Stay away from your jobs that we, the all-powerful politicians, have deemed unessential, even if you go broke and cannot pay your bills.  Force your puppies to stay at home, away from the schools that your taxes have paid for as we continue to pay the teachers who do not want to go near your children.  And most importantly, Roll Over, America, and surrender your constitutional rights!  Listen to us, your elected officials, whom you hired to manage the taxes we take from your pay to provide safety, roads, utilities, and schools.  We are not your employees; we are your Ruling Class.

Covert Covid Collaboration.  To all but the willfully blind, contends Angelo Codevilla, Fauci is a deep-state fraud.  The NIAID boss based his call for a lockdown on various "models," not hard data about the true mortality rate.  In the early going, Fauci said the pandemic was no threat, masks were no help, and so forth.  With new coronavirus cases now declining, Fauci tells anybody who will listen "Don't ever, ever underestimate the potential of the pandemic.  And don't try and look at the rosy side of things." [...] "Dr. Fauci said we're entering a 'pandemic age.'  What does that mean?" runs the headline on a September 2 Mic.com report by Joseph Lamour.  Fauci's prediction is based on a paper he authored with his NIAID colleague David Morens.  He believes that coronavirus might be only the first of a series of worldwide diseases and "the phenomenon is similar to the exponential growth of climate change." [...] As Tucker Carlson of Fox News has noticed, the pandemic and climate change share a curious connection.  "Both are useful pretexts for mass social control," Carlson explains.

Federal judge in Pittsburgh declares Wolf's key COVID-19 restrictions unconstitutional; Wolf plans appeal.  A U.S. District court judge in Pittsburgh has struck down the most significant portions of the Wolf administration's efforts to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, finding that state-imposed limits on outdoor gatherings, its stay at home order, and its business shutdown orders were unconstitutional.  Officials in four southwestern Pennsylvania counties:  Butler, Fayette, Greene and Washington counties, brought the action.  They were joined by businesses and Republican office-seekers.  "The Constitution cannot accept the concept of a 'new normal,' where the basic liberties of the people can be subordinated to open-ended emergency mitigation measures," U.S. District Judge William S. Stickman IV wrote in a 66-page opinion.  "Rather, the Constitution sets certain lines that may not be crossed even in an emergency."

Emails show Nashville mayor intentionally HID low numbers of COVID cases from bars, restaurants.  The Nashville Democratic mayor's office is in very hot water.  It's just been revealed they intentionally hid the very low numbers of new covid cases that came from bars and restaurants from the public and there are emails to prove it. [...] [Councilmember Steve] Glover notes that they raised taxes 34 percent and put thousands of people out of work based on bogus data.  He's furious and says 'that should be illegal'.  You know this is exactly what Trump has said is happening, that certain Democrat officials would keep businesses closed just because of the election.  And that appears to be what's happening here.  Why else would he and his office lie about these numbers?

The 'Whistleblower' Who Told Tucker Carlson COVID-19 Is a Chinese Bioweapon May Be Playing a Very Devious Game.  [Scroll down]  But, if what Dr. Yan is saying is true, the enthusiasm Chinese authorities showed for hyping the virus is tough to explain.  You'd think that they'd want to keep their bioweapon a secret, so it does as much damage as possible before it's detected.  Why would the CCP want to identify the bioweapon they'd unleashed and its Chinese origins months before it even struck its targets?  For that matter, why would they release it in China first and let it make its way to the West, instead of starting it off in one of the countries they were targeting? [...] But the problem here is that, even if you buy all the official stats, COVID-19 just isn't very harmful at all.  And it's not just a problem for Dr. Yan's first response to Carlson.  It's another reason on top of the fact that China tried their [best] to make us anticipate their bioweapon that shows COVID-19 can't be any such thing.

Email Records Show Democrat Nashville Mayor Hid COVID-19 Data To Intentionally Inflict Economic Hardship on Bars and Restaurants.  While the background story of data manipulation to intentionally inflict economic damage is stunning, the severity of the position of Nashville Democrat Mayor John Cooper is actually not a surprise.  It must be remembered this is the same Nashville Mayor who created COVID-19 internment camps to forcibly detain people in a quarantine camp at a fairground.  When one person jumped the fence to escape the police hunted him down and Nashville authorities charged him with "escaping a penal institution."  COVID-19 was criminalized.  Two months after the internment camp incident a non-domiciled Nashville citizen named Joseph Bryant (61) was arrested for refusing to wear a face mask outside.  His bail was set at $500 and he was incarcerated for not wearing a face mask.  So it doesn't come as a complete surprise to discover the same officials hid data showing low COVID-19 infection rates in order to inflict the maximum amount of economic pain on business owners.

The Editor says...
The mayor appears to be making the virus threat look worse than it is, in order to give himself more power.

When cameras at town hall are off Biden, he violates social distancing rules.  When it comes to wearing a face mask and obeying all the other rules of COVID-19 etiquette, the Left is more interested in selling the sizzle than the steak.  Ben Bowles noted a prime example yesterday in the person of CNN's Kaitlan Collins.  At a press briefing on Wednesday, Collins sardonically asked, "So have any medical experts told the president that masks aren't good or is he only citing non-medical experts like [sic] he did last night?" But the second the presser ended, Collins doffed her mask despite being well within the 6-foot limit of the nearest reporter.  But Collins is small potatoes when it comes to self-righteous lectures on mask wearing.  If you need an example of hypocrisy at the highest levels, seek no further than Joe Biden, [...]

Joe Biden and Anderson Cooper slammed for scrapping social distancing as the cameras pull away.  Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and CNN host Anderson Cooper were criticized on social media Thursday night, after viewers noticed that the two threw social distancing out the window as the cameras pulled away after carefully staying far apart during the nominee's town hall.  Pundit Steve Krakauer shared footage of the incident, tweeting, "Joe Biden and Anderson Cooper are making a point of social distancing during the CNN Town Hall while on the stage.  But when they think they've gone to commercial break, they get so close to each other that Biden is whispering in Cooper's ear[.]"  [Video clip]

Why Can't the U.S. Be More Like Europe?  This Is Why.  The left has been touting the "success" of European countries in fighting the coronavirus and wondering, why can't the U.S. be more like the EU?  Probably because the Europeans' rates of infection are now worse than they were when the coronavirus first hit the continent in March.  For a while, there were many success stories in Europe and life was beginning to get back to some sense of normalcy.  But the coronavirus is now raging across the continent, and the WHO is warning of "alarming rates" of infection.

Modern fascist America:  No mask, no healthcare.  Today I learned unequivocally that in today's America, you will be denied healthcare if you do not wear a mask, even if you have legitimate medical issues for not doing so.  I have both asthma and heart issues, and according to numerous long-standing advisories by both doctors and government health agencies (until May of this year), wearing a mask when you have such conditions is a mistake. [...] Yet now doctors are demanding all patients, no matter their health, wear these feel-good useless muzzles, or they will deny you all treatment.  In late May I simply raised this issue with my long-standing GP, only to receive a letter from him the next day telling me he had cancelled me as a patient.  Just raising the issue with him was verboten.

The Party Of Panic.  The latest contrived issue to bedevil the left is President Trump's statement to Bob Woodward in March that he was downplaying the virus to avert panic.  Leftists have interpreted this attempt to avert panic as a "lie," even though they have never shown any ability to discern truth from lies in the past.  So this week, the leftists are betting their chips on the Woodward book.  Missing from this discussion is any description of the events of March 2020.  We all had good reason to want to stop the panic at that time.  As news of the virus began to dominate public discussion, the left did its best to create panic and oppose solutions each step of the way.

The CDC director has doubled down on masks, but is he wrong?  The CDC has had more prominence this year than usual, thanks to the Wuhan virus.  However, when America looked to it for help, it wasn't ready, whether with tests or useful advice.  Its lack of preparedness might have been because the CDC's been expending its time and your money training its people in Critical Race Theory (CRT) rather than disease control.  And while I'm currently agnostic about a vaccination's efficacy (I need a lot more information), I'm also suspicious when the CDC's director, Dr. Robert Redfield, announces that his surgical mask is what will save him and what will save all of us.  Aside from being inherently distrustful of the CDC thanks to its epic run of errors and unpreparedness, I'm also suspicious about the timing of Redfield's attack on Trump's plans for the vaccination.  The CDC just engaged in a small but significant power struggle with Trump.  Days after Trump exercised his constitutional executive authority to end CRT seminars in federal agencies, the CDC announced that it would proceed with a mandatory 13-week CRT seminar.  The administration has canceled the training, but it's clear that the CDC is at war with the administration.

Joe Biden says he would mandate masks on federal land.  Democratic nominee Joe Biden went after Attorney General Bill Barr for saying that coronavirus lockdown orders were the 'greatest intrusion on civil liberties in American history' since slavery — and called Donald Trump's handling of Covid 'close to criminal.'  'Quite frankly they're sick,' Biden remarked of Barr's comments at a Thursday night [9/178/2020] CNN town hall with Anderson Cooper, held just outside his hometown of Scranton, PA.  'I never, ever thought I would see such a thoroughly, totally irresponsible administration.'

Biden says if Trump acted sooner on coronavirus 'all the people would still be alive'.  Joe Biden indicated during a CNN town hall Thursday that President Trump is responsible for every single coronavirus death.  "If the president had done his job... had done his job from the beginning, all the people would still be alive," the Democratic presidential nominee told the audience in Pennsylvania.  "All the people — I'm not making this up.  Just look at the data.  Look at the data."  Critics on social media were quick to jump on Biden for his comments.

Biden Claims Trump Is Responsible For 'All The People' Who Died From Coronavirus: 'I'm Not Making This Up'.  Democrat presidential nominee Joe Biden claimed without evidence on Thursday night that President Donald Trump was responsible for every single person who has died from the coronavirus, which originated in China.  "If the president had done his job, had done his job from the beginning, all the people would still be alive.  All the people — I'm not making this up.  Just look at the data.  Look at the data," Biden stated.  One study suggested that a large number of people may not have died if certain measures had been implemented weeks earlier, but the study in no way stated that earlier action would have saved "all the people."  It's worth noting that Biden held eight rallies in March while Trump only held one.

William Barr Speaks Truth to (Illegitimate) Power.  The attorney general, bucking the behavior of attorneys generally, displays all the emotion of a mortician, approaches an audience with the calm detachment of a psychiatrist, and speaks in the reading-room volume of a librarian.  His bearing rarely proves contagious.  "The person in the white coat is not the grand seer who can come up with the right decision for society.  A free people makes its decision through its elected representatives," Barr noted in a speech Wednesday [9/16/2020].  "Putting a national lockdown, stay at home orders, is like house arrest," Barr explained.  "Other than slavery, which was a different kind of restraint, this is the greatest intrusion on civil liberties in American history."  He continued, "Most of the governors ... treat free citizens as babies that can't take responsibility for themselves and others."

Eyes Are Rolling After 'Journalist' Jon Karl Equates Covering Trump Rallies to Taking Family Trip to Fallujah.  Every once in a while, the masks completely slip off and supposedly objective journalists accidentally reveal in no uncertain terms what their political colors to their readers and viewers.  Such was the case earlier this week when former White House Correspondents' Association president and ABC News White House correspondent Jon Karl talked to National Journal, which did a story on how "the White House press corps finally drew the line" Sunday on covering President Trump's indoor campaign rallies, which they apparently find hazardous to their health in the age of the Wuhan coronavirus.

The Editor says...
The left-wing news media wants everyone in America to live in constant fear of the coronavirus (and the rioters, and the Russians, and 5G telephone service, and earthquakes, and hurricanes).  They want Americans to believe that it's dangerous to walk into a crowd without a face mask.  I'm not buying it.  It wasn't unsafe a year ago, and it's not unsafe today.  From where I'm sitting, it appears that the coronavirus crisis, if there really was one, is over now.  As soon as the presidential election is over, the news media will forget all about it, because America can go back to (the old) normal at any moment — just as soon as somebody sends out the "all clear" decree.

HCQ was found beneficial:  Govt.  Limited use of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) for treatment of Covid-19 patients was allowed as it has proved to be clinically beneficial in small single centre studies, the Centre told Parliament on Tuesday [9/15/2020], reports Mohua Chatterjee.  Junior health minister Ashwini Choubey was replying to a question on whether the government had accurate data regarding efficacy of HCQ.  The minister said, "The government has re-purposed the drug HCQ for treatment of mild (but high-risk cases) and for moderate cases.  However, the drug is not recommended for severe cases and those with pre-existing cardiac disease...."

New York City again delays in-person learning at public schools.  With only four days' notice, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on Thursday [9/17/2020] delayed in-person learning at public schools for a second time for most students as the nation's largest system struggles to find enough staff willing to teach in classrooms during the coronavirus pandemic.

COVID-19 emails from Nashville mayor's office show disturbing revelation.  The coronavirus cases on lower Broadway may have been so low that the mayor's office and the Metro Health Department decided to keep it secret.  Emails between the mayor's senior advisor and the health department reveal only a partial picture.  But what they reveal is disturbing.  The discussion involves the low number of coronavirus cases emerging from bars and restaurants and how to handle that.  And most disturbingly, how to keep it from the public. [...] Again, FOX 17 News wasn't told by the mayor's office this wasn't true.  We were told to file a freedom of information act request.  Which allows us now to ask the question, why are you keeping this from us?  Why would you even want to?

US District Judge Stickman Rules PA Governor Wolf's Coronavirus Restrictions Unconstitutional.  Governor Tom Wolf's (D-PA) COVID-19 restrictions have been ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge.  The complaint was filed back on May 7, arguing that the governor's orders, limiting the size of gatherings, the stay-at-home order, and the closure of non-life-sustaining businesses, were unconstitutional.  The original complainants in the suit were the counties of Washington, Butler, Greene, and Fayette, (although the judge dismissed the county governments from the case), Pennsylvania Rep. Mike Kelly, Republican State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, and various businesses including hair salons, a farmer's market vendor, a horse trainer, and drive-in movie theaters.  US District Judge William Stickman IV, ruled on Monday [9/14/2020] in a 66-page opinion that the restrictions were overreaching, arbitrary, and violated citizens' constitutional rights.

Judge rules Gov. Tom Wolf's pandemic restrictions are unconstitutional.  Gov. Tom Wolf's pandemic restrictions that required people to stay at home, placed size limits on gatherings and ordered "non-life-sustaining" businesses to shut down are unconstitutional, a federal judge ruled Monday [9/14/2020].

Americans [are] against unconstitutional mask mandates.  Good news:  The anti-mask mandate movement is gaining steam.  Americans yearning to breathe free are waking up from their pandemic stupor.  Common sense and constitutional principles, now more than ever, are vital to a sovereign nation's health.  On Monday [9/14/2020], a federal judge rescinded Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf's shutdown orders restricting gatherings, forcing "nonessential" business closures and directing citizens to stay at home to combat COVID-19.  U.S. District Judge William Stickman determined that the sweeping measures violated "the right of assembly enshrined in the First Amendment."  He noted Wolf's hypocrisy in severely limiting indoor and outdoor fairs, festivals, concerts and other gatherings and condemning a small anti-lockdown protest of small-business owners (whom he called "selfish," "cowardly" and "unsafe") — while marching with thousands of non-socially distancing Black Lives Matter radicals in Harrisburg in June.

Why are Casinos Treated More Favorably than Churches During a Pandemic?  [Scroll down]  Consider the recent decisions of the Supreme Court to deny emergency relief to churches that have been subjected by states to restrictions that are more onerous than to casinos and other secular institutions and businesses.  The churches sought emergency relief under their First Amendment right of the free exercise of religion.  The Supreme Court, in two 5-4 decisions, has denied that relief, with the swing vote being cast by the deeply religious and strongly conservative Chief Justice John Roberts, who joined the four liberal justices.  The other four conservative justices dissented in both cases.  The first amendment's approach to religion is anything but clear or simple.  It contains several relevant provisions:  it prohibits "an establishment of religion."  It also protects against laws "prohibiting the free exercise" of religion.  Finally, it guarantees "the right of the people peaceably to assemble," although that provision seems geared more to political than religious assemblies — a distinction that may be difficult to make in an age in which everything, including religion, is political.

Horton Hears a WHO.  The editor-in-chief of the United Kingdom-based medical journal The Lancet, Richard Horton, continues to mislead the world, this time about the Communist Party of China's and the World Health Organization's responsibility for the worldwide spread of the Wuhan virus, aka the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).  I have written about their responsibility for AT [elsew]here.  Several months ago Horton [misled] the world about a drug being used to treat the virus.  On June 5, 2020 The Lancet retracted an article that falsely maligned the use of the drug hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for the Wuhan virus.  The article was used by the propaganda division of the Democratic Party, aka the mainstream media, to attack President Donald Trump.  It is time for another retraction, but this time, for statements made during an interview.

Report: Coronavirus May Permanently Replace Human Jobs with Machines.  The coronavirus pandemic could potentially see jobs for humans permanently replaced with machines according to a new study from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.  Jobs that are at risk of disappearing include retail salespersons, parking attendants, slaughterhouse workers, and toll collectors.  Bloomberg reports that a recent study from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia claims that the coronavirus pandemic could potentially see many jobs previously held by human workers taken over by robots and machines.

The Editor says...
[#1] How much of the automation is due to the virus, and how much is due to the excessively-high minimum wage?  [#2] Any time an employer can find a machine that will competently do the work of a human, or multiple humans, the employer will buy the machine, even if it doesn't save a lot of money.  Why?  Because machines don't require an HR Department, a restroom, a lunch room, a telephone, or a parking spot.  They work 24 hours a day, they are more easily forgiven, and nobody keeps track of what color they are.  The biggest down-side might be that if a machine is performing its job incorrectly, it will keep doing its job wrong indefinitely, and machines are more difficult to retrain.

The Executioner's Face Is Always Well-Hidden.  Personally, I am not reassured when scientists who have no experience in offensive biological warfare and who are not privy to sound intelligence tell us COVID-19 was not produced in a lab.  I am even less reassured when, each time we see the argument, it is an argument from individual ignorance:  "COVID-19 does not have property X.  I, distinguished Professor J, would have engineered a biological weapon with property X.  Therefore, the Luxembourgeois did not engineer COVID-19."  But even if COVID-19 was not a deliberate attack or an escaped lab product, the damage it has done — and that we have done to ourselves in responding to it — requires us to think anew about the prospects of a biological attack.

Biden says he may have authority to implement nat'l mask mandate.  Joe Biden has reiterated he will implement a national mask mandate if he's elected president this year.  During a news conference in Delaware, the Democrat presidential candidate said his legal team believes he has the authority to mandate mask wearing.  This came after he previously stated he's not sure whether that order would even be enforceable.  Biden claimed if he can't impose it, he will propose the mandate to every U.S. governor.  He added, "We must do it."

Questions for Dr. Fauci.  As you may be aware, health-care providers across the country and around the world have reported great success in using Hydroxychloroquine + Zinc + Azithromycin (the "HCQ cocktail") to treat COVID-19.  According to these physicians and researchers, the key to success is to use the HCQ cocktail within the first seven days after onset of COVID-19 symptoms.  Nevertheless, ever since President Trump endorsed Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), its use has become a highly politicized and controversial matter.  The opposition to HCQ started with Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.  At the same press conference that the president first expressed hope about using HCQ to treat COVID-19, Dr. Fauci challenged its effectiveness and stated that he would not take it outside the confines of a clinical trial.  Since then the opposition to HCQ has increased even to the point where it is almost impossible to find physicians willing to prescribe it and pharmacies willing to provide it.

Donald Trump Opposes National Mask Mandate During Pandemic:  A Lot of People Don't Want to Wear Masks.  President Donald Trump on Tuesday repeated that he did not want to issue a national mask mandate during the coronavirus pandemic.  "There is, by the way, a lot of people who don't want to wear masks," Trump said.  "There are a lot of people that think the masks are not good."  The president commented on masks after a voter from an ABC News town hall hosted by George Stephanopoulos asked him why he did not support a national mask mandate.

Reich Down Under:  Police Drag Woman From Her Car At COVID Checkpoint In Australia For A Charging Cell Phone.  Confronting footage shows the moment a young woman was dragged from her car screaming as she attempted to pass through a coronavirus checkpoint in Victoria.  Natalie Bonett said she was making her way through the COVID blockade in Wallan, north of Melbourne, on Sunday when she was stopped by police.  They informed her it was against the law to have her phone attached to a car charger which was mounted onto her windshield.  Following a brief and tense exchange, video shows the officer reach in and attempt to scoop up the masked woman and drag her from her car.  [Video clip]

COVID-19 Should Not Become a Tool for Releasing Detained Immigrants.  An investigator is calling for the release of "high-risk" detainees at Farmville Detention Center in Virginia after more than 80 percent of the center's 300 inmates contracted the coronavirus earlier this year.  U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema ordered an inspection of the facility by two investigators in a response to a lawsuit by inmates over coronavirus conditions.  The outside investigator, Dr. Homer Venters, a former medical officer for New York City jails, inspected the detention center last month and released his report on Friday, September 4, citing poor screenings for COVID-19 symptoms.  He claims that high-risk detainees face significant health risks as the center's response is often "slow."  He also claims that the outbreak was a result of transfers from other facilities facing COVID cases.

Falling for the Biggest Hoax in History.  It will probably take months if not years for the truth of the Covid-19 pandemic to emerge, but when it does will any politician take responsibility for the lies and disinformation or the damage this hoax caused this great nation?  I don't think so, but what it did prove was what happens when the Democrats are in charge.  They may not be in the White House but it is the House that wields the power over legislation and our money.  Couple this power with the useful idiots in the mainstream media to promote the widespread hysteria, and we then had the total capitulation of a frightened nation that accepted an unprecedented total lockdown of its existence.  Shame on us.  If the fourth estate had done its job or had any integrity left, it would have reported the actual figures of the coronavirus' impact instead of what would generate the most fear.  So what is the truth?  Why did hospitals and doctors count practically all deaths, even motorcycle accidents and cancer deaths, as Covid-19 deaths?  Could it be because of extra government funding for these cases?

Joe Biden Can't Debate.  [Scroll down]  The mask has become a symbol of fear.  And in times like this authorities want people afraid because they have learned, they have deduced that people are more acquiescent when they're afraid.  And if they believe that the suggestions being made by the authorities will keep them safe or safer, then they will follow the instructions. [...] And the mask conveys something.  It conveys either fear or trouble or danger, something.  And it also conveys people following orders.  It conveys people acquiescing and doing what they're told to do.

Is The Coronavirus Crisis Finally Over?  A Nobel Laureate Says It Might Be.  A few weeks ago, we asked this same question about the pandemic — is it safe to go outside yet?  The data made a good case that it was.  Today, they look even better.  According to the Centers for Disease Control's latest data, released six days ago, shows that, through Aug. 29, predicted excess deaths have moved below the threshold for excess deaths.  When we last wrote about this, after total deaths had for months exceeded the threshold, the two numbers were moving closer.  Stanford biophysics professor Michael Levitt, who won the 2013 Nobel Prize for Chemistry, says the pandemic might have come to an end.

Twitter Shuts Down Account of Chinese Professor Who Has Evidence China Created the Coronavirus in a Lab.  Twitter is at it again.  This time shutting down individuals who tweet information detrimental to the Chinese Communist Party.

Chinese Scientist Says COVID-19 was Created by China's Military.  Dr. Li-Meng Yan, who investigated the origin of the COVID-19 virus during the initial outbreak in Wuhan China as a medical researcher in Hong Kong, has now provided unequivocal evidence that the virus was not of natural origin.  In the article, "Unusual Features of the SARS-CoV-2 Genome Suggesting Sophisticated Laboratory Modification Rather Than Natural Evolution and Delineation of Its Probable Synthetic Route," Dr. Yan and her colleagues have offered a detailed description of how the virus was synthesized in laboratories controlled by China's military.  The Chinese Communist Party and some Western scientists have long insisted that the COVID-19 pandemic was a naturally-occurring outbreak, acquired by humans after exposure to infected animals, an unsubstantiated conclusion eagerly promoted by a politicized media.

The Carnival Cruise Ship That Spread Coronavirus Around the World.  At about 6 a.m. on March 19, William Wright, a retired Australian mortgage broker, woke up feeling a little off.  He had a cough and his nose was running, though it didn't seem too bad.  In any case, there was no time to linger in bed.  Wright and his wife, Lucia, had just docked in Sydney after a 10-day journey around New Zealand on the Ruby Princess, a 950-foot, 1,542-cabin vessel operated by Carnival Corp.'s Princess Cruises subsidiary.  The couple's disembarkation time was 8:05 a.m., so they quickly packed up and had breakfast.  They arrived on schedule in the Explorers Lounge, the nightclub where they'd been told to assemble with other passengers leaving at the same time.  Unloading a cruise ship is a complex process, and delays aren't unusual.  But the Wrights waited only a short while before being told they could go.  They made their way through the corridors, past crew members waving goodbye and offering high-fives.  Getting through Sydney's Overseas Passenger Terminal took only a few minutes.  Despite the accelerating Covid-19 pandemic, Australian officials had cleared the Ruby to disembark without restrictions.

The Conservative Argument Against Mask Mandates is Stronger than the Media Pretends.  People in red/conservative states are far less in favor of government mask mandates than those in the blue/liberal states (today has even been declared a day of "Mask Off" protests in some portions of the country).  This disparity was most obvious at the recent political conventions and campaign events, showing that Donald Trump supporters are very likely to not wear masks, while Joe Biden backers would rather go out naked in public after gaining the "Lockdown 15" than being seen without a facial covering.  The news and entertainment media, to no rational person's surprise, has gone all in on masks in every possible way.  Reporters regularly wear them in the field even when it appears they are not absolutely necessary, and those who dare to not wear masks, whether at a Trump rally, or at a football game (even on the sidelines of an NFL game where everyone has just tested negative), are routinely subjected to intense public shaming and ridicule in nearly every variety of media.

The Truth About Our Pandemic Response.  The curve has been flattened for some time now.  Hospitals never had to choose life or death between an elderly patient and a younger patient.  We ended up manufacturing more ventilators than we needed.  Free COVID-19 tests have been available for months across the country.  We have been experiencing a shortage of personal protective equipment because we've been relying so heavily on China to provide that PPE, but now we understand why it's so important to keep critical manufacturing within the United States. [...] On March 19, the Washington Post reported that 2.2 million people in the United States could die if we didn't flatten the curve and mitigate our chances of spreading COVID-19 unhampered.  In fact, the same article noted that if we did the mitigation, we would still see 1.1 million people perish.  Six months later, and the death toll is 190,714 — as of this writing, only a fraction of what experts were expecting.

The use of coronavirus as a red herring:
Murphy's Law and Vote Fraud in New Jersey.  Since early March, New Jersey governor Phil Murphy has besieged Jerseyans with more than 70 pandemic-related diktats restricting the freedom of movement, commerce, and the practice of religion.  Some have loosely followed science; others appear to be triggered by mere hunches, random predictions, and temper tantrums.  Many were handed down with a blind eye to the Bill of Rights, a document the governor openly called "above my pay grade."  On August 14, Murphy once again skirted convention, subverting federal election laws, breaking the protected custody of an e-vote, and evoking pandemic fears by issuing Executive Order 177.  E.O. 177 writes off COVID downtrends by implying that in-person voting in a general election is a viral super-spreader.  The governor has dusted off the state's voter rolls and will soon mail unrequested November ballots to six million registered voters still presumed to be alive and living at their last known addresses.

Michigan residents get enough signatures to repeal Governor Whitmer's emergency powers, if certified.  More than 400,000 Michigan residents have signed a petition that would trigger a statewide referendum on lockdown-loving Democrat Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's draconian emergency powers provided that state authorities determine that at least 340,000 of the signatures turn out to be legitimate.  During the pandemic, Gov. Whitmer has relied on a 1945 law to enforce open-ended COVID-related restrictions, and the referendum outcome could mean the repeal of that mandate.

Spirit passenger removed from flight after bizarre tirade about white privilege.  A passenger was removed from a Spirit flight for being a royal pain — after claiming she is a queen from California during a tirade about white privilege and a trip to the toilet, according to a report.  The unidentified black woman got up to use the bathroom at the back of the plane after it landed in Sacramento last week, Fox News reported.  A passenger's video captured the woman arguing with a flight attendant who was trying to get to the front of the aircraft.  "Don't push me," she says.  "Did you see what she did?  She put her hands at me.  She wants me to go to jail, y'all.  See how she's antagonizing me?"  The woman, whose mask hangs below her chin, then tells the crew member that she has "white privilege."  "It's over with — it's 2020.  Wake up, you got a mask on.  So you're under the government, too.  You're confined and you don't have white privilege anymore," she says.

Federal Judge Rules Pennsylvania "Lock-Down Rules", and COVID Compliance Decrees, Unconstitutional.  A federal judge in the Western District of Pennsylvania had ruled that Governor Tom Wolfe's dictates, decrees and rules were/are unconstitutional restrictions on liberty.  U.S. District Judge William Stickman IV concluded the governor's stay at home orders, limits on gatherings and closure of "non life-sustaining" businesses violated citizens' Constitutional rights.  The judge was responding to a lawsuit brought by a group of Pennsylvania businesses.

The left isn't fighting against fascism, they are fighting FOR authoritarianism.  [Thread reader]  Leftist-run cities have shown what happens when police and federal law enforcement are demonized and unsupported by elected leaders; when local leadership can seize "emergency powers" — then pick and choose who to punish:  rioters are exempt from lockdowns; you can sing in the streets but not in churches; masks are required, but not for them.  They can tell you what counts as a substantive meal, essentially holding businesses hostage to their arbitrary and incoherent edicts:  pot dispensaries and large warehouse stores can open; gyms and restaurants cannot.

Addiction and COVID-19: Study finds link between substance abuse and infection risk.  A new study's findings have uncovered a link between substance abuse and a higher risk for infection.  It was a global health crisis long before SARS-CoV2. Opioid use disorder.  Now researchers from the National Institute on Drug Abuse say those abusing the highly addictive drugs may suffer worse when it comes to COVID-19.  Compromised lung and heart function may play a role, but experts say there are other factors at play.

Scientists discover antibody that 'neutralizes' virus that causes coronavirus.  Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have isolated "the smallest biological molecule" that "completely and specifically neutralizes" the virus that causes coronavirus.  The antibody component is 10 times smaller than a full-sized antibody, and has been used to create the drug Ab8, shared in the report published by the researchers in the journal Cell on Monday.  The drug is seen as a potential preventative against SARS-CoV-2.  According to the report, the drug has been "highly effective in preventing and treating" the SARS-CoV-2 infections in mice and hamsters during tests.  The drug also reportedly does not bind to human cells, which suggests it will not have negative side-effects in people.

What took him so long?
Federal judge rules Gov. Wolf's shutdown orders were unconstitutional.  A federal judge in Pittsburgh on Monday [9/14/2020] found that orders issued by Gov. Tom Wolf restricting the size of gatherings and closing non-essential businesses to protect against the spread of covid-19 were unconstitutional.  In a statement, Wolf said his office will seek an immediate stay to halt the order and file an appeal.  U.S. District Judge William S. Stickman IV wrote in his 66-page opinion that even though the actions taken in the spring by Wolf and Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine were laudable, they violated the First Amendment right to freedom of assembly, and the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the 14th Amendment.  "It's a complete and total victory for the counties, the businesses and the representatives," said attorney Thomas W. King III, who represented the plaintiffs in the case.  "You can't order the entire population of Pennsylvania to stay at home."

If Masks Work, Why Don't They WORK?  Remember back in May and June when they said, "Hey, if everyone would just wear masks for a few weeks, it'll all be over and we can go back to normal!" Remember that? [...] Remember them telling us it was only temporary, that masks had the power to stop COVID-19 right in its tracks and save grandma?  Except, neither the masks nor the lockdown measures every really stopped COVID-19 in its tracks, did they?  Nope, the virus just kept right on virusing, as highly-contagious respiratory viruses are prone to do.  You can lock down and delay the inevitable, but as soon as you peek your nose out the virus will be waiting.  You can mask up 'till the cows come home, but even the CDC now admits that, with or without masks, 15 minutes of close contact with an infected person will spread the virus.  And given the fact that it has ALWAYS taken 15 minutes of close contact with an infected person to spread the virus, that means masks are generally useless.

Why More Americans Distrust the Experts.  [Scroll down]  Now comes a CBS poll that reveals that only 54 percent of Americans trust the CDC for the health information they provide concerning the Wuhan virus.  Down from 86 percent just a few months ago.  There was a time before science was politicized when health experts were trusted implicitly.  No more.  The experts have squandered their credibility largely by stifling honest scientific debate.  Anyone who questions the official narrative must be silenced.  It is sophomoric.  Witness the arrogant treatment that dozens of brave clinicians have received over their use of hydroxycholoquine.  Not satisfied with simply being dismissive, several governors (including Minnesota's) actually banned its distribution.  Our FDA now publicly discourages its use outside hospital settings.  The FDA must know that the proponents have consistently argued that once people are sick enough to be hospitalized, the benefits are largely lost.

Fauci Spills The Beans:  A Vaccine Won't End COVID-19 Restrictions.  Dr. Anthony Fauci just spilled the beans:  contrary to the implicit promise numerous politicians made that COVID-19 restrictions would only last "until there's an effective vaccine," Fauci says the arrival of a vaccine won't mean life will return to normal, perhaps for more than a year.  "If you're talking about getting back to a degree of normality which resembles where we were prior to COVID, it's going to be well into 2021, maybe even towards the end of 2021," said the director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases on Friday [9/11/2020].  A safe and effective vaccine produced this quickly would be a stunning scientific accomplishment that could save thousands of lives.  But Fauci warned that widespread distribution and getting "the majority, or more, of the population vaccinated and protected" won't happen until perhaps the end 2021, and therefore means we cannot be free from oppressive lockdown measures until at least that point.

Do you want to be controlled or do you want to be free?  Some people want everyone else to be mandated to wear face masks and social distance at all times and in all situations (other than Black Lives Matter protests, of course).  Others want the freedom to open up the economy, send our kids to school, and live without face diapers.

Akron's Highland Tavern becomes first Ohio bar to have liquor license revoked for violating coronavirus health orders.  The Ohio Liquor Control Commission has revoked the liquor license of Akron's Highland Tavern in connection with three violations of the state's health orders to curb the spread of the coronavirus.  Highland Tavern, on West Market Street in the city's Highland Square neighborhood, has also received a fourth citation, for which the commission has not yet held a hearing.  The bar's liquor permit is set to be revoked effective at the close of business on Oct. 2, according to an order issued by the Liquor Control Commission.

Kids went to open-air schools during this epidemic.  In winter.  In New England.  Nine schoolchildren sat at their desks wrapped in chunky layers of flannel, their feet resting on heated soapstones as the frigid New England air stung their faces.  In January 1908, amid a tuberculosis epidemic, these Rhode Island students were part of a unique experiment to combat the infectious disease:  America's first open-air school.  More than a century later, educators are touting outdoor classes as a way to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus among America's schoolchildren.  In the early 1900s, it was estimated that as many as 30 percent of school-age children in Providence carried tuberculosis, a bacterial infection that often attacked the lungs.  Although many of the infected children showed no outward symptoms, the infection could lie dormant for years and ultimately contribute to death in adulthood.  To combat this, medical experts urged the importance of plenty of sunshine and fresh air.

What's Happening in Las Vegas Will Destroy America.  Our clueless or suicidal (take your pick) governor made the decision to shut down the Nevada economy back in March, thereby killing the entertainment capital of the world.  Six months later, while casinos are open, bars are still closed, and churches are limited to 50 congregants. [...] Although pools are open, our guests have to wear masks while sitting by the pool, in direct sun, with temperatures around 110 degrees most of the summer.  How refreshing!  We're now the mask-at-the-pool capital of America.  While you have to wear a mask while sitting by the pool, even though you're outdoors and chairs are six feet apart, only steps away, hundreds of guests are in the pool without masks, kissing, dancing, gyrating and drinking in a tangled mass of human anatomy.  Obviously, COVID-19 only attacks people lying in a lounge chair, not dancing in the pool inches from one another.

The 'rule of six': what are the new UK coronavirus restrictions?  The phrase "rule of six" was used by Boris Johnson in his press conference last week, where he announced a ban on meetings of groups of more than six people in England, applying indoors and outdoors [beginning] Monday [9/7/2020].  The law replaces existing guidance on no more than two households meeting indoors, meaning that the six individuals can be from up to six households.  Households and support bubbles of more than six people are exempt.  In England, the "rule of six" will not be changed to exempt children under 12, Michael Gove has insisted.  Similar rules in Wales and Scotland do not include children under 11 and 12 respectively.  But Gove said the England rules were "absolutely right".

Boris Johnson needs to bin the rule of six.  When Boris Johnson returned to work in April after his brush with coronavirus, he warned that lockdown restrictions must remain to prevent a second wave.  Ever since, beset by anxieties, doubts and fear, and surrounded by a platoon of advisors, the PM has made one cautious, catastrophic error after another.  Last week's roll of the dice with the 'rule of six' could well be the policy that tips the British public over the edge.  For it is a disturbing decision that has no scientific evidence to back it up, and may well end up having major social consequences.  The government has decided to blame young people for the latest restrictions, having spent August asking them to revive the economy.  What was the purpose of Chancellor Rishi Sunak's 'eat out to help out' scheme if at the first sign of a rise in cases the PM's hasty response is to lockdown again?  We were told to get back to work, what did the government expect?  Increased activity at the end of summer leads to an increase in acute respiratory infections, as it does every year.  This is not rocket science.

Sarcasm:
The Religion of Covid.  [Scroll down]  As for the extensive list of eminent COVID whistleblowers, asserting that the global response to the disease has been blown out of proportion by orders of magnitude, these individuals are indisputably charlatans.  And there is more.  City News reports that a group of 18 prominent health experts in Canada, including two previous chief public health officers, has been calling since early July for an end to attempts to eliminate the coronavirus.  "It's a fool's errand," says Dr. Neil Rau, an infectious disease specialist with the University of Toronto.  "We're not going to win with that strategy."  The physicians argue that "business closures, mandatory masks, and complete border closures are doing more harm than good."  City News plainly must be a fascist news service.  Similarly, Common Law Assembly officials for two communities on Vancouver Island have passed a Public Safety Bylaw prohibiting COVID restrictions such as distancing, masking, quarantines and vaccinations as "unlawful, unwarranted and medically unsound."  Thankfully, these officials are being threatened with arrest.

Ten Great Deceptions Designed to Destroy the Republic.  There are at least 10 major lies that are now so ubiquitous that most people never question them: [...] Lie #7 — The Lie of the Mask:  Remember The Minority Report in which "criminals" are prosecuted before they've committed a crime?  Welcome to the machine.  Because it's all about potential, proof is not necessary, but we all need to be afraid.  Very afraid.  If it isn't the end of all life with climate changes, it's a virus that will end yours soon if you don't wear the solidarity mask even if you have no symptoms.  In this version of leftist Utopia, we are faceless disease vectors, quarantined forever in pursuit of an impossible level of safety.

Administrative Discrimination.  My own interest of the administrative state began when I became aware of its threat to scientific inquiry and publication.  Though I had long been familiar with administrative power from my practice in tax law, I became academically engaged with it only when, about two decades ago, I learned about Institutional Review Boards (IRBs).  To my astonishment, my friends in the sciences and social sciences were being censored.  IRBs were preventing access to information, delaying research, and even precluding publication.  And already then, some of the scientists were worrying about lost lives.  In order to prevent a relatively small amount of dangerous research on "human subjects," IRBs impose prior administrative licensing on the full array of such research, regardless of whether it is federally or privately funded.  I am not talking about the use of IRBs to review testing of unlicensed drugs and devices under the Federal Drug Administration, but the use of IRBs to license human-subjects research, mainly under the auspices of Health and Human Services.

Let's Not Pretend That the Left Would Have Ever Listened to Trump.  Some of the statements made by Democrats go a little something like this:
    "Trump knew it was more severe than it was and didn't do anything."
    "Trump knew it was deadly and lied to the American people about it."
    "Trump knew it was going to spread and made it worse!"
Except there's one problem.  Everything Trump has done up until this point to combat the Wuhan Virus has been opposed by Democrats.  Literally, everything.  At what point have Democrats ever listened to or gone along with literally anything Trump has ever said or done?

Chinese virologist who fled to the US after claiming Beijing covered up Covid-19 vows to publish evidence PROVING the virus is manmade.  A virologist who claimed the Chinese government covered up the coronavirus outbreak says she will produce scientific evidence the virus was man-made.  Respected Chinese virologist Dr Li-Meng Yan, who specialised in virology and immunology at the Hong Kong School of Public Health, claimed that Beijing knew about the coronavirus well before reports began to emerge.  She has since been forced to flee Hong Kong fearing her life is in danger, and appeared today [9/11/2020] on Loose Women from a secret location, revealing that the Chinese government had 'removed all her information' from government data bases.  Dr Yan claimed that reports that Covid-19 originated at a wet market in Wuhan are a 'smoke screen', and that she plans to publish a report she claims has evidence the virus is manmade.

Vitamin D reduced the rate of ICU admission from 50% to 2%.  Given that people with dark skin are more likely to be deficient in Vitamin D, wouldn't studies like these be the best way to show that black lives actually matter?  Would you like training in cultural sensitivity or to avoid the intensive care unit?  In the Castillo study in Spain, 76 patients were randomly assorted into Calciferol treatment (0.532 mg Vitamin D).  Of the 26 who didn't get it, 13 were admitted to the ICU.  Of the 50 who got Vitamin D doses on days 1, 3, and 7 — only one ended up in the ICU.  It's worth noting that all patients got HCQ as well, and azithromycin too.  A second study tested 500 people to find out if they were deficient and followed them to see if they caught Covid.  Why has it taken 6 months of pandemic to do these small studies?

Dakotas lead US in virus growth as both reject mask rules.  Coronavirus infections in the Dakotas are growing faster than anywhere else in the nation, fueling impassioned debates over masks and personal freedom after months in which the two states avoided the worst of the pandemic.  The argument over masks raged this week in Brookings, South Dakota, as the city council considered requiring face coverings in businesses.  The city was forced to move its meeting to a local arena to accommodate intense interest, with many citizens speaking against it, before the mask requirement ultimately passed.

The Editor says...
Beware of one-dimensional statistics:  "virus growth" in this case apparently means an increase in the number of people who have tested positive for the Covid virus.  That number will never decrease.  It is an aggregate.  The number of deaths per capita per month is the most important number to watch, and in the Dakotas, that number is near zero.

Group tops 400K signatures to repeal Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's virus powers.  Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, faced with lawsuits challenging her use of emergency powers to fight the coronavirus, could continue to prevail in court.  But she may be unable to stop a Republican maneuver that would rescind a 75-year-old law that has enabled her to issue and lift COVID-19 restrictions unilaterally.  A ballot drive said Friday it was in the "home stretch" after collecting more than 400,000 signatures in just two months.  Its goal is 500,000.

Judge Grants Injunction Barring Grace Community Church From Constitutional Right To Worship.  Judge Mitchell L. Beckloff of the Los Angeles Superior Court issued a preliminary injunction Thursday [9/10/2020] that prohibits Pastor John MacArthur and Grace Community Church from "conducting, participating in, or attending any indoor worship services."  The ban also extends to services held outside "unless onerous restrictions are followed."  Since the church first began meeting in-person and defying local lockdown orders in July, Los Angeles County officials have threatened fines, arrest, and even terminated the lease held between the church and the county for parking lot space claiming health and safety concerns.

School district suspends student for attempting to come to school.  Officials at William Floyd High School in New York recently hit Maverick Stow, a 17-year-old student, with a five-day suspension for coming to school on a Tuesday in early September, a "designated remote learning day" for Stow.  The school district said Stow believed he should attend school in person five days a week, not four.  That's right, Stow was suspended for not skipping school.  To make matters worse, the student-criminal returned to school on the Wednesday [9/9/2020] and Thursday following his suspension and was promptly arrested by the Suffolk County Police Department for unlawfully entering school grounds.  Though the district said it agrees with Stow's view that in-person instruction should take place five days a week, it also said it was required to follow state social distancing regulations and labeled his actions as "irresponsible and selfish behavior."  And a "publicity stunt."  Huh?  State social distancing regulations allow students to attend school "in person" four days a week but not five?  Do the powers that be think trimming the number of students allowed on campus by 20% makes all the difference?

No, Biden Didn't Support Trump's China Travel Ban.  Joe Biden's national press secretary claimed Thursday [9/10/2020] that the former vice president was in favor of President Donald Trump's decision to restrict travel from China, but all of Biden's public comments, including from the day the decision was announced, indicate otherwise.  "Joe Biden has been clear that he was not against that travel ban at the time," TJ Ducklo told Fox News anchor Bret Baier.  Ducklo's claim contrasts with Biden's previous statements on the travel restrictions, including some made on the very day the policy was announced.

I Just Got a COVID-19 Test.  Who Now Knows I Got It?  Anytime a person gets tested for COVID-19, it creates a data point public health officials can use to track the spread and prevalence of the virus — but it also creates a financial opportunity for a private company administering the test.  There is a multibillion-dollar market for health data in the United States, and those same companies that are now scaling up coronavirus testing, like LabCorp and Quest Diagnostics, have been making money from patients' medical data for years.  When a patient gets tested at a private lab, that lab often removes the patient's name, then feeds the test information to third parties like pharmaceutical companies, advertisers, researchers, and other companies with an interest in analyzing large quantities of health data.

The Data Clearly Shows That the Dem Panic Not the Pandemic Caused the Excess Death We've Suffered:  Pt 1, the Official Stats.  The stats you've heard on COVID-19 fatalities are complete garbage.  In the U.S., we were told months ago that anyone dying while diagnosed with the virus gets counted as dying from it.  Doesn't matter how mild a case they had or how clear it is they really died of something else.  Doesn't matter if they died in a motorcycle accident or from a gunshot wound.  We've since found out that it's even worse than that.  Standard practice is to count anyone dying within 60 days of a positive PCR test for COVID-19 as a fatality.  Again, that means anyone, regardless of how patently obvious it is that something else killed them.  [Tweet]  Furthermore, the standard PCR test for the virus is itself complete garbage anyway.  It doesn't test for live virus.  It massively amplifies the number of small segments of dead viral remains until there's enough to detect.  And even the CDC admits they can remain in your system up to 9 weeks after you've beaten the infection.

Quebec city will isolate 'uncooperative' citizens in secret corona facility.  Authorities in Quebec City, Canada have announced they will isolate "uncooperative" citizens in a coronavirus facility, the location of which remains a secret.  During a press conference, Dr. Jacques Girard, who heads the Quebec City public health authority, drew attention to a case where patrons at a bar were ordered to wait until their COVID-19 tests came back, but disregarded the command and left the premises before the results came back positive.  This led to them being deemed "uncooperative" and forcibly interned in a quarantine facility.

Up to 90% who test positive for Covid barely carry any virus & aren't contagious, making it hard to grasp true scale of virus.  It has been revealed that standard tests being used in parts of US to diagnose Covid-19 cases are extremely sensitive, with the vast majority of those marked down as "positive" turning out to be asymptomatic non-spreaders.  Top US virologists have been stunned by revelations about the laxity of the US Covid testing regimen.  It turns out that tests that deliver a simple binary "positive or negative" result are not fit for purpose, as they tell us nothing about the contagiousness of each person.

The 1% blunder:  How a simple but fatal math mistake by US Covid-19 experts caused the world to panic and order lockdowns.  In February, US Covid guru Anthony Fauci predicted the virus was 'akin to a severe flu' and would therefore kill around 0.1 percent of people.  Then fatality rate predictions were somehow mixed up to make it look ten times WORSE.  When you strip everything else out, the reason for lockdown comes from a single figure: one percent.  This was the prediction that Covid, if left unchecked, would kill around one percent of us.  You may not think that percentage is enormous, but one percent of the population of the world is 70 million people — and that's a lot.  It would mean 3.2 million Americans dead, and 670,000 Britons.  But where did this one percent figure come from?  You may find this hard to believe, but this figure emerged by mistake.

The Hard Facts on Covid-19 Science Denial.  [Scroll down]  One key fact revealed by death rates is that there is not a fixed relationship between the number of C-19 cases and deaths.  For example, the people currently contracting C-19 in Florida are relatively young, and thus, they are far less likely to die from it.  During Florida's first infection peak in April, about 25% of reported C-19 cases were among people aged 65 and older, but this figure plunged to 13% by August 5.  Death rates can also cut through the noise caused by changes in testing capacity.  This is important because the vast majority of C-19 cases are mild or asymptomatic, and greater testing rates can detect such cases and distort trends.  Between April 1 and July 13, the number of tests per day in Florida increased by 6.5 times.  This can create an illusion of "exploding" cases when, in fact, Florida's tame death rate suggests that a sizeable portion of the rise in cases is from more testing, which is a positive development.

New Mass Transit Mask Refusal Fine Takes Effect in New York Monday.  Gov. Andrew Cuomo says he expects substantial upticks in mass transit use as New York City and the rest of the tri-state area take more reopening steps in the coming months — and he wants people who ride subways and rails to feel safe.  To that end, the governor said Thursday he was ordering the implementation of a $50 fine for MTA passengers who refuse to wear masks on public transportation.  Cuomo said that part of the reason behind the measure is that New York City doesn't need an influx of vehicular traffic, which has been the case as people tenatively return to work amid the pandemic.  The goal is to convince people it's safe to ride the subways, buses, LIRR and Metro-North with COVID precautions.

The Editor says...
No, the goal is to see how much the American people will tolerate before a widespread rebellion occurs.  If they really thought you were spreading a deadly disease, would the fine be only $50?

Also posted under The police state on wheels.

LA County's Public Health Director says what we suspected about the lockdown.  A Democrat bureaucrat finally said what we all have known to be the truth:  The Wuhan virus limitations that Democrat politicians and bureaucrats have imposed on Americans will go away after the election because that was the plan all along.  As 2019 ended, the Democrats knew that Trump was cruising to reelection. [...] The Democrats' troubles continued in 2020.  In January, their impeachment imploded.  Worst of all, the Democrat primary candidates did not excite the base. [...] The Wuhan virus was an extraordinary and unlooked-for blessing for the Democrats because they used it to destroy Trump's economy.  Right now, some might say, "That's harsh.  The Democrats have been trying to save lives.  It's worked out well for them that their efforts wrecked the economy, but that doesn't mean that they deliberately manipulated the economy, destroying thousands of businesses and hundreds of thousands, even millions, of lives, only to win the election."  Sorry, but it's true.

South Dakota Officials Blast 'Blatantly Faulty' Study Calling Sturgis Rally a Superspread Event.  South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem and South Dakota officials are pushing back against a study from the left-wing IZA Institute of Labor Economics claiming that last month's Sturgis motorcycle rally was a "superspread" event.  The dubious study, which has not been peer reviewed, estimates that 267,000 COVID-19 cases nationwide, which accounts for 20 percent of the overall cases across the country over the time span, were caused by the Sturgis rally, costing the U.S. $12.2 billion in healthcare costs.  They came to these numbers, according to Newsweek, by analyzing "anonymized cellphone data to track the smartphone pings from non-residents and movement of those before and after the event."  The city of Sturgis released a press release disputing this ridiculous fear-mongering study and its implications.

A Tale of Two COVID Treatments.  There are only a few ways out of this quagmire.  Herd immunity has been the traditional endpoint for past viral pandemics as it occurs relatively quickly.  Sweden has likely achieved herd immunity without shutting down as did their neighbors.  Israeli Professor Isaac Ben-Israel used statistical analysis demonstrating, "The spread of COVID-19 peaks after about 40 days and declines to almost zero after 70 days — no matter where it strikes, and no matter what measures governments impose to try to thwart it."  Other options include therapeutics or a vaccine.  Viruses are notoriously difficult to cure with medications.  Vaccines provide varying degrees of protection against viruses but take many months or years to develop and earn FDA approval.  Short term, therapeutics are the best option aside from waiting for the virus to burn itself out as in past pandemics.

Fact Check:  Did Biden Deplete the National Stockpile of Face Masks and Not Replenish It?  CLAIM: The Obama-Biden White House depleted and did not replenish the nation's emergency stockpile of medical supplies, including N95 masks.  Joe Biden is attempting to rewrite history, pretending that he and Obama didn't deplete the nation's stockpile of medical supplies and leave it empty after the pair's eight years together in office.  It's the same revisionism they're attempting to do with travel restrictions that President Trump placed on China in the early days of the pandemic.  Biden not only opposed those restrictions — restrictions that even Dr. Fauci credits with saving an untold number of lives — Biden attacked the restrictions as "racist" and "xenophobic."  The Democrats didn't care about saving lives.  They were using the opportunity to smear Trump as a racist.  In a now-deleted tweet, Nancy Pelosi invited everyone to ignore the president and head on down to Chinatown.  It's pathetic, and now Joe Biden is pretending like he didn't set the whole country up for disaster when he and Obama burned through our stockpile of medical supplies and never replenished it.  So, what's the verdict?  Is it true?  VERDICT: Yup.  It's TRUE, according to USA Today.

The pandemic is history.  A curious but fortunate characteristic of virus epidemics is their limited life spans.  No one knows why, but guesses include herd immunity and mutations of the virus. [...] There's nothing unusual about the fact that the coronavirus death count is dying a natural death.  That should have been anticipated, and it should now be widely publicized.  Why are we pretending not to know this good news?  These facts are easy to find.  We ought to be celebrating as we did when WWII ended.  This COVID-19 death profile is extremely significant yet is almost totally ignored by the media.  Their focus is on cases, not deaths.  The number of cases has not decreased as rapidly as the number of deaths.  Only a small percentage of cases now end in death, and the death count is vastly more important than the case count.  The case count may linger, but that problem is becoming increasingly manageable.

The CDC Accidentally Admits Cloth Masks Are Not Effective.  [Scroll down]  They just told us that smoke particulates are too small to be stopped by a cloth mask.  While N95 masks will protect up to 95% of particles, down to .1 microns in size.  A quick Google search will tell us that smoke particles and debris are usually .4 to .7 microns in size.  According to the CDC, cloth masks are not effective in stopping materials that size.  Another quick Google search will tell us that the Wuhan Virus is .12 microns in size, about a quarter in size of the smoke and fire debris particulate.  Even if we factor for the "respiratory droplets" that are allegedly to blame for the spread of coronavirus, those droplets are as small as .5 microns, or as small or smaller than smoke and fire debris particulate.  These factors and figures aren't hidden in some CDC vault that only their scientists are capable of accessing.  Yet another quick Google search will show these figures within seconds.

Fight — or the Dems Will Steal This Election.  [Scroll down]  As Gore tried to do with his, "we count until I win" strategy in 2000, in 2020, the Democrats and their newly hired 600 lawyers are going to insist that every vote be counted no matter how long it takes.  And when the mail-in votes suspiciously turn a Trump landslide into a Biden victory, they will declare Democrats believe in science and were afraid of COVID and therefore, voted by mail.  Why do you think Biden wears the mask and keeps mentioning the pandemic?  Why do you think Democrat governors are keeping economies closed even though COVID is fast disappearing as a threat?

Biden spokesman cries foul when asked if Biden uses a teleprompter.  [Scroll down]  The virus was not the Democrats' fault.  What was the Democrats' fault, though, was the insane over-reaction to the Wuhan virus.  Initially, the American people were willing to sign on to a vast societal experiment:  A 15-day lockdown to slow the spread of the disease, which would allow health facilities all over America to prepare for a possible onslaught.  That would also give the federal government time to do what Trump, in fact, did:  Mobilize the private sector to produce the masks, ventilators, medicine, and other supplies necessary for Americans to deal with the disease.  As we say at Passover, Dayenu!  (It would have been enough.)  But for the Democrats, it wasn't enough.  Instead, they saw a wonderful vista spread before them:  A ruined economy that would wipe out Trump's chances of reelection.  Who cared if people's life savings were wiped out, if clinical depression and drug and alcohol abuse ran rampant through society, if suicides increased, if treatable diseases went untreated, if spousal and child abuse rocketed, if divorces multiplied, and if businesses were destroyed?  Beating Trump was worth it.  And so we suffered.

Washington Post January 2020: POTUS "Hyping" COVID Panic — September 2020: POTUS "Downplayed" COVID Panic.  After watching political narrative engineering for years, this attempt was predictable.  The reason why CTH maintains a "pinned thread" on the White House COVID-19 response from January and February of 2020 is specifically because we knew the narrative engineers would attempt to weaponize the politics of the virus later in the election year.  We knew the narrative engineers would flip the script.  Today [9/9/2020] they did exactly that.

Flight canceled after feud about toddler not wearing face mask.  A Canadian flight was canceled after a feud with a family over their young children not wearing masks on a flight.  Safwan Choudhry said crew members approached the family on the WestJet flight Tuesday from Calgary to Toronto about putting masks on their 3-year-old and 19-month-old daughters, CBC News reported.  "It started with my toddler and once we got a mask on her, they turned to my 19-month-old infant and said, 'Every person on the plane has to wear a mask or the plane can't take off,'" Choudhry said.

Canadian Flight Cancelled After Toddler Refused To Wear Face Mask.  A WestJet flight from Calgary to Toronto was cancelled this week after a family was ejected from the flight for refusing to make their child, a toddler, wear a face mask.  Safwan Choudry and his family were removed from the flight on Tuesday after an argument broke out about whether or not the man's 19-month-old toddler should be wearing a face mask to prevent the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus. [...] "It started with my toddler and once we got a mask on her, they turned to my 19-month-old infant and said 'every person on the plane has to wear a mask or the plane can't take off," he said.

Are Video Arcades More Dangerous Than Casinos During a Pandemic?  Casinos and video arcades, both of which feature rows of electronic games that people use in close proximity to each other, pose similar risks of COVID-19 transmission.  Yet in Massachusetts, casinos have been open for two months, while video arcades remain closed under an order that Gov. Charlie Baker originally issued in March.  Like many of the distinctions drawn by the COVID-19 lockdowns that all but a few governors imposed last spring, this one makes no medical sense.  A federal lawsuit filed last week argues that Baker's discrimination against video arcades is unconstitutional because it is scientifically indefensible.  Baker originally included video arcades in Phase III of his reopening plan, which took effect on July 6, but changed course without explanation on July 2.

At this point, the Covid-19 scare is entirely political.
Audio: Los Angeles County Health Director Says She Expects Schools To Reopen 'After The Election'.  On Wednesday [9/9/2020], audio surfaced of Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer saying that K-12 schools in America's largest county likely will not open until after the November election.  KFI News radio reporter Steve Gregory said he received a partial audio recording of a conference call between Dr. Ferrer and "a collection of school nurses, school administrators, other education and medical professionals."  During that discussion, Ferrer indicated that she does not expect schools to reopen before the November election.

Michigan Supreme Court justice pushes back on Whitmer's emergency powers.  A justice of the Michigan Supreme Court raised pointed and repeated questions Wednesday [9/9/2020] about whether the 1945 emergency law relied on by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was ever intended to deal with a health pandemic.  Justice David Viviano pressed the issue during oral arguments, pointing out that the Emergency Powers of Governor Act was enacted in the wake of Detroit's 1943 race riot, as it is known, and was referenced in news reports at the time as providing the governor with the police powers needed to respond to such events without having to declare martial law.  The 1945 law says it is intended to "invest the governor with sufficiently broad power of action in the exercise of the police power of the state."

Biden botches military coronavirus death count, campaign says he accidentally cited Michigan number.  Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden misspoke during a campaign stop in Michigan, incorrectly saying that over 6,000 U.S. military members have died from the novel coronavirus.  Speaking in Warren, Mich., Biden cited the number of confirmed cases and deaths from COVID-19 in Michigan as being the numbers for the military, saying the armed forces had seen 118,984 cases and 6,114 deaths.  Shortly after the event, Biden's campaign quickly clarified that Biden had mixed up the numbers for Michigan with those from military.  As of Wednesday, only seven members of the military had died from COVID-19.

The media had hoped for the worst, but got nothing.
Cringeworthy Study Debunked:  There Was No 'Sturgis Superspreader' COVID-19 Event.  There was not a "Sturgis superspreader" event infecting hundreds of thousands with COVID-19 at a cost of billions to American taxpayers.  A recent study claimed that the annual motorcycle rally held last month in Sturgis, South Dakota was a "superspreader event" infecting more than half of the 460,000 attendees at a cost of $12 billion to our public health institutions.  The Sturgis event happened, in that same wonderfully crazy way that the Sturgis rally always happens.  The "Sturgis superspreader" event did not happen.  Not even a little.

8,000 cargo planes are needed to distribute COVID-19 vaccine, group says.  Roughly 8,000 jumbo jets could be needed to distribute coronavirus vaccines around the globe — a massive logistical challenge that will require careful planning from governments worldwide, an airline trade group warns.  The staggering estimate is how many 747 cargo planes it would take to carry just a single dose of a COVID-19 inoculation for each of the world's 7.8 billion people, the International Air Transport Association said Wednesday, calling the task of delivering the vaccines "the mission of the century for the global air cargo industry."

The Editor says...
Who says the vaccine must be delivered by air?  Who says everyone in the world wants it?  Who's going to pay for all that jet fuel, not to mention the vaccine itself?  Where are all the left-wingers who constantly moan about "carbon footprints?"

Reports of Superspreader Outbreak From Sturgis Rally Go Down in Flames.  As my colleague Brad Slager reported two weeks ago, MSM reporters were chomping at the bit over the possibility they might get to declare the annual Sturgis rally in South Dakota a coronavirus "superspreader" event because mask-shaming and guilting people for allegedly being irresponsible during the pandemic has become the MSM's gig (with left-wing protests, riots, and haircuts for high-profile Democrats being the exceptions to the rule, of course).  At the time of Brad's report, 103 cases had been confirmed, which is a tiny percentage of the 366,000 people who were said to be in attendance.  Fast forward to now, and the mainstream media are eagerly reporting on a study they believe confirms their suspicions and which alleges the rally may have caused a widespread outbreak.  Here are some of the headlines: [...] The big problem with the "study" the MSM is falling all over themselves to share on their websites and social media is that it's garbage, according to some investigative digging done by Reason.com[.]

This Obama-Biden Administration Failure Killed More Americans Than COVID-19.  What the Democrats and the media don't want us to know is that their scaremongering campaign against hydroxychloroquine, a drug Trump touted as a potential game-changer back in March, could have saved thousands of lives had they not turned public opinion against the drug simply because Trump had brought attention to it after a French study showed it had promise in treating the virus.  In fact, countries that are widely using the drug early to treat patients have much lower death rates than those that aren't.

Supermarket chain:  U.S. flag face masks too 'offensive' for employees to wear.  North Carolina-based grocery chain Food Lion will now permit its employees to wear American flag-themed face masks while working at its stores.  The company went viral earlier this week after one of its employees revealed he quit after being told to avoid wearing his American flag-themed mask.  According to a recent report from WCTI-TV, the move appears to be in response to the employee — as well as his supporters — demanding such masks after the company initially prohibited them.

Lifeguard Arrested, Led Away in Handcuffs by Hazmat Cops for 'Surfing with Coronavirus'.  Remarkable footage has revealed the moment police officers — dressed head-to-toe in hazmat suits — frogmarched a young woman up a beach in handcuffs after she went surfing after being diagnosed with coronavirus.  A professional lifeguard was reported to police by her own colleagues in San Sebastian, in the Bay of Biscay in Spain's Basque country on Monday [9/7/2020] after she was spotted surfing while placed on medical leave by her employer following a positive coronavirus test.

The Editor says...
[#1] If she's surfing, she must not have any serious symptoms.  That's how horrible this disease is:  You may not even know you've got it.  [#2] Who is going to catch Covid-19 from a surfer?  Everyone else who's surfing is young and fit, and, we now know, at little or no risk.

Andrew Cuomo Rants: 'Donald Trump Caused The COVID Outbreak In New York'.  Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday [9/8/2020], New York Governor Andrew Cuomo ranted, "Donald Trump caused the COVID outbreak in New York," then immediately chanted again, "Donald Trump caused the COVID outbreak in New York." [...] As Fox News has noted, over 6,200 elderly residents may have died from COVID-19 in New York nursing homes according to state health department statistics.  On March 25, the New York Department of Health issued an advisory that stated nursing homes had to accept residents returning from hospitals whether or not they had a diagnosis of COVID-19.

Dr. Anthony Fauci Defends Trump on Coronavirus: 'I Don't Think He Ever Distorted Things'.  Dr. Anthony Fauci defended President Donald Trump from claims Wednesday that he lied about the coronavirus, telling Fox News:  "I don't recall anything that was any gross distortion in things that I spoke to him about."  On Wednesday [9/9/2020], it was revealed that Trump told journalist Bob Woodward that he had downplayed the threat of the coronavirus pandemic to prevent the public from panicking.

Why Don't Alternative COVID Therapies Get More Trials in America?  In case anyone still thinks it is, the COVID-19 pandemic is not a hoax.  How and why it originated may never be known for certain.  How societies ought to respond to it, and who are most vulnerable to the disease, are both topics of intense debate.  But deaths in America from all causes are up year-to-date by over 200,000 compared to recent years, and while we may hope the worst is behind us, this is not over.  The single most authoritative source for statistics on deaths in the United States is the CDC website, and a way to eliminate any doubt about the cause of death is simply to bypass the categories and look at deaths from all causes.  If that number is only marginally up this year, then you can argue that COVID-19 is overhyped.  If that number is up significantly, then something terrible is going on, and COVID-19 probably accounts for most of that.

Los Angeles County bans trick-or-treating this Halloween due to coronavirus.  Traditional Halloween activities won't be allowed for residents in Los Angeles County this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to local health officials.  The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health announced a ban on door-to-door trick-or-treating, carnivals, festivals, live entertainment and haunted houses.  "Door to door trick or treating is not allowed because it can be very difficult to maintain proper social distancing on porches and at front doors especially in neighborhoods that are popular with trick or treaters," officials said in a news release detailing guidelines for the annual tradition.

Update:
Los Angeles quickly reverses trick-or-treat ban.  Los Angeles pulled a Halloween switcheroo on Wednesday — first banning, and then quickly unbanning, trick-or-treating.  Less than a day after saying the door-to-door candy grab is banned due to coronavirus concerns, county officials changed course and said the popular children's tradition is now just "not recommended."  The revision came after parents and businesses "went apoplectic with outrage," Deadline reported, citing a press briefing by LA County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer.  Also not recommended — but no longer outright banned — are LA's popular "trunk-or-treat" events, in which costumed kids go car to car instead of door to door.

Save Yourself: Stop Believing in Lockdown.  As Voltaire wrote during the Enlightenment — when society still had time away from the screen to reflect on philosophy, morality, and fundamental truth — "those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities."  This has never been more true than in the age of social media, when information and opinions constantly bombard us from all sides, isolating us from our own thoughts and values.  We have a moral duty to critically examine our beliefs — especially our belief in "lockdown," the most oppressive and universally destructive public policy implemented in our lifetimes.  Is it the least-restrictive means available to minimize casualties in this pandemic?

Are Democrats Hiding the Truth about COVID?  COVID is not the first viral flu pandemic America has faced, yet the reaction is unprecedented.  The entire economy has been shut down for months, some sectors still closed.  Elective yet necessary medical care has been postponed leading to excess sickness and death well beyond that caused by the Chinese virus.  Many schools