You Can Kill Covid With a Flick of a Light Switch, Study Shows

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Ultraviolet LED lights kill coronavirus quickly, efficiently and cheaply — but don’t go stringing purple lights all over your home.
You can kill Covid with a flick of a switch, study shows:

Ultraviolet LED lights kill coronavirus quickly, efficiently and cheaply — but don’t go stringing purple lights all over your home.

By ISRAEL21c Staff December 17, 2020:

Israeli researchers discover that coronavirus can be quickly and easily killed using UV LED lights. =
As the world continues to race toward a vaccine for Covid-19, new Israeli research shows that the humble light bulb could become a major player in the fight against the pandemic.

Researchers have discovered that coronavirus can be killed quickly, efficiently and cheaply using ultraviolet light-emitting diodes, or UV LED lights.

In a study recently published in the Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology B: Biology researchers found the optimal wavelength for killing the coronavirus is 267 nanometers.
They also discovered that a wavelength of 286 nanometers is almost as efficient, requiring less than half a minute to destroy more than 99.9 percent of the coronaviruses – good news considering that 286 nm LED bulbs are much cheaper and more readily available, and could be installed in air conditioning and water systems.
“The entire world is currently looking for effective solutions to disinfect the coronavirus,” she says. “The problem is that in order to disinfect a bus, train, sports hall or plane by chemical spraying, you need physical manpower, and in order for the spraying to be effective, you have to give the chemical time to act on the surface.
“The disinfection systems based on LED bulbs, however, can be installed in the ventilation system and air conditioner, for example, and sterilize the air sucked in and then emitted into the room.”
Mamane explains that it is quite simple to kill the coronavirus using LED bulbs that radiate ultraviolet light.
“But no less important, we killed the viruses using cheaper and more readily available LED bulbs, which consume little energy and do not contain mercury like regular bulbs. Our research has commercial and societal implications, given the possibility of using such LED bulbs in all areas of our lives, safely and quickly.”
Ultraviolet radiation is a common method for killing viruses and bacteria. Ultraviolet disinfecting bulbs can be found, for example, in home water purifiers.
Earlier this year, scientists determined that applying ultraviolet light on the inside of ventilation systems in indoor spaces can quickly and efficiently deactivate both airborne and surface-deposited Covid-19.
Despite the exciting discovery, this is not the time to string purple lights all over your home.
“Of course, as always when it comes to ultraviolet radiation, it is important to make it clear to people that it is dangerous to try to use this method to disinfect surfaces inside homes,” Mamane warns.
“You need to know how to design these systems and how to work with them so that you are not dire

RELATED ARTICLE: COVERUP OF THE CENTURY: Leaked Documents Expose Extent Of Communist China’s Coronavirus Lies/Disinfo/ Censorship
EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

VIDEO: FL State Senator Joe Gruters’ bill would prohibit businesses from discriminating against a customers’ COVID vaccination status

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Florida’s State Senator Joe Gruters (R-District 23) has introduced legislation that would prohibit businesses from requiring customers to show proof of having been vaccinated against covid and/or from discriminating against would be customers who cannot and/or will not show such proof.
Watch the Cape Coral TV news blurb:

What you say? I do not support government intrusion into how a private business is operated.

  1. This bill would stop, in its tracks, attempts by Government to require the general citizenry to show proof of being vaccinated during the course of their normal day-to-day activities.
  2. This bill would stop, in its tracks, attempts by Government to, “under the color of law”, force businesses to become the “vaccination police”

That said, I would rather see legislation that prevents the State of Florida from imposing ANY sort of “must show proof” requirements and let businesses make their own decisions on the matter.
Then, again, when I walk into a bank lobby and some minion tells me I must wear a mask and then, using their bare hands (God only knows where their hands have been), from an open box (God only knows where it has been), hands me an unsealed mask (God only knows who has handled them) and demands that I put it on my face?
Let’s just say that we need something along the lines of Gruters’ bill and we need it damn soon.
Read the Bill here:https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2021/364
©Tad MacKie. All rights reserved.

Mask Mandates Seem to Make CCP Virus Infection Rates Climb, Study Says

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This article is published in The Epoch Times on December 22, 2020 and updated on December 23, 2020

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 reverse correlation between periods of masking and non-masking is remarkable,” RationalGround.com co-founder Justin Hart tweeted on Dec. 20.

The 15 states that went without a statewide mask mandate for the duration of the analysis were Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Wyoming, Daniel Horowitz notes in an explainer at Conservative Review.

Continue Reading at The Epoch Times

San Francisco Sees More Overdose Deaths Than Covid Deaths in 2020

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Data show alarming trends in drug overdoses and suicide as people—especially young people who are least at risk from COVID-19—are forcibly cut off from friends, families, and communities.

It’s quite likely that wherever you are reading this, you are currently subjected to lockdowns, restrictions, regulations, or executive orders to one degree or another, as government officials respond to the coronavirus pandemic with increasing coercion and control. Indeed, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that US states and cities have “imposed the most extensive restrictions on business and social gatherings” since the spring.
Many argue that these new restrictions are essential for slowing the current surge in coronavirus cases in certain areas, but some public health researchers have pointed out that lockdowns and related government orders that focus entirely on containing COVID-19 cases lead to worse public health outcomes in other areas. This collateral damage from lockdowns is already glaringly apparent. In particular, data show an alarming trend toward drug overdoses and suicide in 2020, as people—especially young people who are least at risk from COVID-19—are forcibly cut off from their friends, families, and communities.

The desperation is revealed in startling new statistics. According to the Associated Press, a total of 621 people have died of drug overdoses this year in San Francisco, compared to 173 deaths in the city from COVID-19. The number of San Francisco drug overdose deaths is up from 441 in 2019. California has enacted some of the strictest public health orders in the country this year, and is still seeing its cases rise.
One survey by YouGov found that 39 percent of respondents who were recovering from an addiction prior to lockdowns have relapsed. Other research shows increasing rates of drug and alcohol abuse in 2020, and the CDC reports that overdose deaths are accelerating during COVID-19.
Federal surveys show that 40 percent of Americans are now grappling with at least one mental health or drug-related problem.
Martin Kulldorff, a biostatistician and epidemiologist at Harvard Medical School, has been critical of widespread lockdowns since the beginning of the pandemic, warning that these coercive strategies would lead to other serious public health harms and increased mortality.
“The current lockdown strategy has led to many excess deaths, both from COVID-19 and from the collateral damage on other health outcomes,” Kulldorff recently told Newsweek. “A focused protection strategy, as outlined in the Great Barrington Declaration, would minimize disease and mortality by better protecting older and other high risk people while letting the young live near normal lives.”
Kulldorff also suggests that new data showing US excess deaths in 2020 for people ages 25-44 are mostly due to the collateral damage caused by lockdown policies.

In addition to rising drug and alcohol abuse and overdose deaths, suicidal thoughts and attempts are also increasing this year. The Washington Post reports that depression and anxiety have surged since the arrival of the coronavirus.
“Federal surveys show that 40 percent of Americans are now grappling with at least one mental health or drug-related problem. But young adults have been hit harder than any other age group, with 75 percent struggling,” the Post reports. “Even more alarming, when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently asked young adults if they had thought about killing themselves in the past 30 days, 1 in 4 said they had.”
The Post explains that we won’t have accurate data on suicide rates for 2020 until another couple of years, due to slow reporting mechanisms. But state and city data for some areas suggest disturbing suicide numbers this year, including in Oregon’s Columbia County where suicides by summertime had already exceeded the area’s 2019 total, and DuPage County near Chicago reports a 23 percent increase in suicides over last year. Other large counties in the US have seen similarly ominous trends, and in Japan, more people died of suicide in the month of October alone than have died from COVID-19 this entire year.

As families weigh the trade-offs this holiday season between social isolation to slow the spread of coronavirus and the harms that this separation can cause, many of them are choosing to ignore public health warnings to avoid travel and holiday gatherings. The New York Times reports that millions of people have passed through airport security checkpoints this week, while The Wall Street Journal indicates that nearly 85 million Americans are expected to travel between Dec. 23 and Jan. 3, a decline of just under 30 percent from last year.
More families may be seeing the damage these lockdowns and related policies are causing their loved ones and are no longer willing to comply with draconian orders to stay away from others. Their decision may be made easier when they see public health officials and politicians personally violating the holiday travel and gathering warnings and rules they thrust on others.
COVID-19 should be taken seriously as a public health threat, but so too should the harms of lockdowns and government orders that are leading to record numbers of drug overdose deaths and suicides, along with other types of collateral damage such as rising global poverty and declining cancer screenings.
While public health and elected officials remain singularly focused on COVID-19, families gathering this holiday season recognize that ensuring the overall health and well-being of their loved ones extends beyond one virus.
COLUMN BY

Kerry McDonald

Kerry McDonald is a Senior Education Fellow at FEE and author of Unschooled: Raising Curious, Well-Educated Children Outside the Conventional Classroom (Chicago Review Press, 2019). She is also an adjunct scholar at The Cato Institute and a regular Forbes contributor. Kerry has a B.A. in economics from Bowdoin College and an M.Ed. in education policy from Harvard University. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts with her husband and four children. You can sign up for her weekly newsletter on parenting and education here.
EDITORS NOTE: This FEE column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Russian/Chinese Intel: Carousel and COVID-19 in America

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When Karl Marx published his Specter of Communism in the 19th century, even he couldn’t imagine that Specter in our midst in the 21st century. Yet, we have it… A compromised House Intel guy, Rep. Erik Swalwell sleeping with a Chinese communist spy is the latest revealed activity of the Specter. It didn’t surprise me—I am writing about Socialist/Communist Intel activities and have been for the last three decades. To be precise about the Russia/Chinese Intel, it has spread its propaganda globally and even owns the Democrat Party. This triangle is fighting our Constitutional Republic on a variety of fronts for decades. Whatever the name of the ideology – Marxism, Socialism, Communism or Fascism, all of them have the same nature, origins and agenda-control and power. To survive you first need to identify it, because it is a war by an aggressive Specter against Humanity.

Russia’s Global Agenda

For Russia, this Specter became a reality in the 1917 Socialist Revolution and Russian leaders ever since have been directed by the Specter. If the Global Domination was first imagined by Marx, the structural format, methods and arrangements of the war have been worked out by these Russian leaders: Stalin, Andropov and Putin. Those three have spread the ideology globally. It took Stalin 29 years to create the Chinese Communist State. I am constantly repeating that knowledge of Russia and her Intel is a Must, because both Russian and Chinese Ministries of State Security are identical—they have been built by Comrade Stalin with the same ideology, strategy, methods, and dirty tricks.
Though equally abused and subordinated to the malignant Communist regime yet, there is a distinction between the two populations: a billion hard-working Chinese people with entrepreneurial spirit have achieved much more than sick, alcoholic, state-dependent Russians. It is a matter of quantity and quality, plus the tremendous world technological advancements in the 21st century that have been appropriated by the Chinese CCP. Neither Intelligence service use their money for research and development—they rely on stealing the secrets from us. Writing about Russia’s Intel I use the term KGB—it is a collective image–those three letters are familiar to the vast majority of Americans… Do you remember Putin’s KGB Mafia-Army spread globally, BLM and Antifa infiltrating the midst of the American society?
Seventy years later we are dealing with a Global Spy Ring of multi-national forces subverting their target peoples: primarily Western civilization and American capitalism. The Russian leaders have chosen to act by destroying their enemy, us, from within and they have. The main target was American capitalism and in prior articles, I have shown you how the infiltration and destruction was done in the 20th century. The KGB Mafia-Army has interfered in all corners of our society, courts, business, sports, democratic institutions, and created a Socialist mentality within the minds of Americans, corrupting and secularizing the society. The Democrat Party was infiltrated, contaminated and converted into America’s Socialist Party by the Russian Intel, a party of Socialist Charlatans. Their modus operandi: deceiving and confusing the opponents by lies, institutionalized fraud, and cheating—propaganda, symbols and slogans, intimidation, manipulation, provocation, and threat.
The Dems have weakened and undermined our political system bit by bit, destroying traditional culture and creating a chaos in America. As a result we have some of the Washington Establishment married to Russian spies. Don’t be surprised by Eric Swalwell, he is just the latest example. Obama’s Ambassador to Russia was sleeping with a KGB Alumni in Moscow (you can see their picture in my column). The KGB’s Mafia-Army has had a free hand to damage us from within in concert with the Dems. It was the KGB that trained the Chinese Intel to do the same. Years ago, I was warning you about the so-called Romeo-Department of the KGB. The tragedy of America is that the Republicans do not have the in-depth knowledge of Russia and her Intel and never fought back the real COLLUSION: Dems/KGB—the criminal cabal that committed TREASON. You witnessed the resignation of two Republican Attorney Generals—both did not know Russia, her Intel, and allowed the Dems-criminals to sell America… Read my books and columns about “the Axis of Evil” under Kremlin’s umbrella.

Putin’s KGB “Operation Disinformation”

Coming to power in the 21st century, Vladimir Putin used this confusion with his usual dirty tricks. Trump was his mortal enemy by declaring America First and Putin’s coup against Trump began on the day Trump announced his candidacy–Trump/Dossier. It took me two seconds to see this KGB production— a Falshivka, a Soviet-style fraud–the “operation disinformation” has started. American politicians called it “Russian Disinformation,” – wrong — we were dealing with a long-term KGB practice “operation disinformation.” Words matter. For four years media pundits and social justice types were discussing Russia, it is a paradox of incompetency—none of these people knew Russia and her Intel and for four years they were wasting our time, energy, and $40 million of taxpayer money.
“The Russian Disinformation,” known for years, has existed as a part of a monumental Russian project, the outline of a long-term design to destroy the American Constitutional Republic—The Operation Disinformation (you should know the Soviet style KGB play-book.) Many Republicans sadly ignored the elephant in the room—Russia, her Intel, and the Chinese Communist advertising propaganda campaign which bribed the American media, sports, and universities. Remember, Russia and China are in tandem, a pair  working against America like hand in glove…To cover-up the crimes of Treason the Dems had committed, the anti-Trump forces had the task of diverting, and dissuading your attention from the DNC, who had been collaborating with Russian Intel for decades.
Hang on to the task of diverting the attention from the crime committed by the KGB—this is the control mechanism used since Stalin’s postulate: Never admit crime committed, instead accuse the opponent in this exact crime. Coming to power in the 21st century, Vladimir Putin has developed further Stalin’s dirty trick. Putin’s dirty trick was supposed to kill three birds in one shot: To cover-up the crime of treason committed by the Dems, to divert attention from China, and to support anti-Trump forces. Maneuvering, Putin’s three-pronged policy were enhancing each other, they were connected, calculated, coordinated and executed by the Dems criminal cabal and Socialist Charlatans.
There has never been a Trump/Russia collusion, in fact, there was a Dems/Russian Intel collusion. The entire ordeal of various witch hunts against Trump for years has been a misdirected fraud to cover-up the crime of Treason, committed by the Dems/Russian collusion and divert attention from China… In persistent unity Pelosi, Swalwell, and other Dems have overplayed Russia, Russia, Russia to dissuade your attention from the Dems and China. The trick was obvious: focus America’s negativity toward Russia so that nobody suspected the Dems of Treason. All three task-tactics exercised by Putin had been swallowed by the Republicans. Once again I’d repeat: Knowledge of Russia and her Intel is a Must!

Russian Carousel (Roundabout) in America

Encouraged by his success, Putin and his criminal cabal began designing the final assault on the political system of the American Constitutional Republic—the 2020 election. To grasp my ideas you have to know the KGB Mafia-Army, Putin’s KGB government, and certain events going on in Russia. In my preceding column. I have tried to show you massive infiltration in the 2020 election by several foreign governments, in particular Putin’s KGB, because I was afraid that Russian hackers would outwit Americans. Maybe the Dominion machines produced fraud, maybe David Sanger NYT is right researching software, I am not an expert in computer and software technology, but an expert in Russia. The events of multiple fraud were not only obvious visually, but they have been very familiar to me, as it happened in Russian election years ago. And I have described them in my books. The Navarro Report is accurate: the stories of the illegitimate ballots in suitcases and ballots driven by truck from New York to Pennsylvania happened exactly the way it occurred in the Russian 2007 election. Please, read a fragment from my book at the time:

“Have you heard the term carousel (roundabout) used in the election to Duma?  Do you know what it means? Hearing this word in Russian, I did not understand its application at first. The events that followed had given me the meaning of the word. The United Russia party together with the Kremlin’s administration had organized the youth movement’s groups providing them with a caravan of buses. The vast majority of youngsters were called NASHISTS. I watched them on Russian TV. Young people, wearing shirts with Putin’s portrait, singing with enthusiasm bordering on euphoria, occupied the buses and moved along the streets to the voting precincts one after another. The voting ballots were waiting for them and they all voted for United Russia. Then they left for other voting places where they voted again and again for the United Russia (Party).
I will give you another example so you can fully comprehend what is going on in Russia. A couple of months before the election, the Kremlin had issued an order to all enterprises and offices throughout eleven time zones. The order requested all the workers of the above mentioned plants and offices, students and teachers to take the absentee ballots from their places of residence and vote in their place of work or study. The heads of all offices were told to watch how people were voting and provide United Russia with the victory. Moreover, the policy of infiltration from the Soviet past became clear in the present Russia.” pp. 191-192, What is Happening to America? The Hidden Truth of Global Destruction, XLIBRIS, 2012.

Socialist Charlatans vs. the Western World

The Republicans still don’t understand that there is no patriotic Democrat Party any longer, a multi-national cabal of Socialist Charlatans are fighting Republicans and our Constitutional Republic. Until Republicans call Socialist Charlatans their real names, Republicans will lose… language matters… Socialist Charlatans have camouflaged themselves by the name Democratic, though nothing democratic is left in the so-called Democrat Party. Biden is using the name of democracy and lying to you by talking about American democracy, because people didn’t grant power to Joe Biden—the KGB did. The Republicans in Georgia’s runoff election need to learn and use an appropriate terminology. Language is a major factor in debates!
Not surprisingly Biden was chosen as a leader of the Dems—he has been working for Putin under the Socialist, Obama, for years. Biden was chosen by Obama to suffocate the young Ukrainian democracy to help Putin to resurrect the Russian Empire again. As a matter of fact, without Ukraine it cannot be Russian Empire again. Do you remember quid-pro-quo and a $billions to fire a prosecutor who investigated Hunter and the Burisma controlled by Russian asset? Biden himself is a part of the fraud within “operation disinformation,” but… hang on…
Today a demented Biden is a vessel to make Kamala the U.S. President. Yes, this is Putin’s agenda to make this close friend of the Soros family, the U.S. President, and to demolish completely the American Constitutional Republic. Kamala is more of a threat to our Republic than anybody else. She is Putin’s asset to make another American Manchurian President…
Though Tony Babulinsky credibly reported Biden’s family monetary ties with China, I’d recommend you to read my book mentioned above to see for yourself the Russia/China ideological bonds against Western civilization. You will also learn why Justice Roberts changed his political affiliation. All of that had started years ago with the infiltration of the KGB onto our soil–a political operation to take over our Constitutional republic, the way the Socialist  Revolution in Russia took over that country a hundred years ago. This operation in America has been done by the KGB in concert with the Dems’ leadership and it is going on today in 2020. Here are two recent examples:
The term “White Supremacist” is not the new one: it is an old one, as the KGB’s major agenda of “divide and conquer” using the race card has never changed. The KGB Chairman Yuri Andropov had designed the term “White Oppression” in the 1960s. The term “White Supremacist” has the same agenda—“divide and conquer,” it is a continuation of 1960th. Read my columns describing Andropov’s Legacy and indoctrination of the Black communities by Andropov’s KGB in the 1960: Chapter 25, Stalinism and Destabilization of America, pp. 135-142, Socialist Lies: From Stalin to the Clintons, Obamas, and Sanders, XLIBRIS, 2016. Keep in mind also that the Dems have their armed forces Antifa and BLM and, (obsessed with Trump) Nancy Pelosi knows it and uses them under Putin’s supervision against the Republicans…
The second example of the KGB infiltration is The Lincoln Project. I have already express my opinion about the Project in my column October 19, 2020 Wake-Up Suburbia! Soviet/Socialist Inspired Insurrection!
“Insurrection is an art, and like all art it has its laws” Leon Trotsky 
 However, focusing your attention on Putin’s old Soviet fraud there, here is also a caveat—the KGB was trying to infiltrate both parties. Yes, Trump is Putin’s mortal enemy and so are all famous American Presidents, including Abraham Lincoln. Knowing the KGB agenda to discredit all of them, I suspect an infiltration of the Project by the KGB to disgrace the name of Lincoln. I won’t be surprised by crime being committed by a member of the Project. I don’t know the name of the individual, but I know well the KGB. Whatever you call the ideology: Marxism, Communism, Socialism, or Soviet Fascism (they all constitute a totalitarian one-party system), the terminology depends on ones’ knowledge of the KGB and Russian/Chinese Intel. Read my column Nationalism, National-Socialism, and Soviet Fascism, November 19, 2020.

A Man-Made Chinese COVID-19

To achieve his monumental agenda, Putin needed Chinese help and got it. The deadly missile of COVID-19 was launched. The Chinese preparation for the deadly virus has been going on since the 20th century. The KGB has a network of secret laboratories dealing with man-made viruses. One of them had invented HIV and spread it throughout the globe in 1970-1980. That entire experience was taught to the Chinese scientific agency within the Ministry of State Security by the Russian Intel. Besides, Chairman Xi learned a lot from Putin. Having his internal problems-millions of the Chinese elderly-a burden to Chinese economy. He needed to get rid of them as I have already reported in my column. And he did. In my opinion “The Maximum Security Biolab in the Wuhan Institute of Virology” had produced man-made COVID-19, like the KGB secret lab had produced HIV in the 1960s.
Chairman Xi has declared his support for Biden whose family had commercial ties with China. Besides, he learned a lot from Putin and like Putin, he, by one shot killed three birds. First: as I prior reported the COVID-19 killed from 21-30 million people in China. Second: Chairman Xi promised to expend Chinese economic power and challenge the U.S. economically and he did—a part of American capitalism, small business, was devastated by COVID-19. Third: COVID-19 helped anti-Trump forces, and many Socialist Charlatans openly admitted it. I also recognized the W.H.O. Director Dr. Tedros, who often visited China as he is a KGB agent. A man-made Chinese COVID-19 promises a lot of negative surprises for the citizens of America and the globe…
Remember: Russian/Chinese Intel is waging a war against Western civilization and American capitalism for global Control and Power.

My conclusion:

The recent Russian cyberattack on six departments of the American government is equal to a declaration of war in the 21st century. The Specter’s criminal ideology is fighting Humanity by all means possible, including the use of cyber and biological weaponry. A global response is required to save the lives of living beings. The criminal ideology must be exposed, intellectually defeated and judged with a world verdict. This global threat needs a vital global response.
To be continued www.simonapipko1.com and at www.drrichswier.com/author/spipko/.
©Simona Pipko. All rights reserved.
RELATED PODCAST: Cyber Red Dawn attack on USA is prelude to TOTAL WAR

Facemasks are the Symbol of Submission to the Brute Force of Big Government Bullies

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“We are fast approaching the stage of the ultimate inversion: the stage where the government is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission; which is the stage of the darkest periods of human history, the stage of rule by brute force.” – Ayn Rand


For the first time in history we are seeing more and more individuals, groups, corporations and religions submit to the brute force of big government bullies.
The facemask is not unlike the Nazi armbands worn in Germany leading up to the take over of the government by Adolph Hitler, or the red star pins worn during the reign of Joseph Stalin and the Mao cap worn even today by Chinese Communists.
We are entering the darkest period in the history of these United States of America.
QUESTION: How did this happen so quickly?
ANSWER: The political weaponizing of a pandemic to give the state the power to do anything it damn well pleases. Covid-19 is the “ultimate inversion.”
CNN reported that Joe Biden, if he becomes president, wants to enforce a “mask mandate” in all 50 states.

The Ultimate Inversion

The state has taken control our our lives, our liberties and our happiness.
Ayn Rand in her 1957 book Atlas Shrugged wrote:

When you see that trading is done, not by consent, but by compulsion–when you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing–when you see that money is flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favors–when you see that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work, and your laws don’t protect you against them, but protect them against you–when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice–you may know that your society is doomed.

Here is a short list of things that big government bullies are forcing upon you and me:

  1. They want to cancel our culture of freedom, liberty, life, prosperity and replace it with big government mandates.
  2. They want to cancel Christmas. By doing so they would deny God and his powers over us.
  3. They want to replace God with government. Government that would control and enslave us for its purpose, not ours.
  4. They want to use this pandemic to expand their control over us.
  5. They DEMAND that we wear a face mask as a symbol of our submission to government power.
  6. They want to replace our pursuit of happiness with government largess thus making us beholding to them, not independent workers.
  7. They want to stop us being with family, friends, co-workers so that we further submit to their bullying.
  8. They want and must control our very lives in order to gain power over us.
  9. They demand we obey by closing our businesses, restricting our ability to travel and living a normal life.
  10. Finally, they must impose upon us more and more mandates, rules, laws and regulations in order to become our new slave masters. They do this in the name of social justice, not equal justice under our laws.

Conclusion

As Ayn Rand said, “Government control of a country’s economy — any kind or degree of such control, by any group, for any purpose whatsoever — rests on the basic principle of statism, the principle that man’s life belongs to the state.”
The “C” in Covid stands for control. Control of our lives, our livelihoods and ultimately our economy. A national mask mandate is the first step to statism.
The goal of the nanny state bullies is to control our nation’s economy and thereby control US. They use fear to control we the people. Covid is 90% political and 10% virus.
Enough is enough. It is past time for patriots to stand up and be counted. Time to fight back against the government bullycrats.
James Grundvig wrote, “As we enter the last month of the year, the geopolitical tectonic plates continue to shift and roll, transforming the world as we once know it. The struggle for freedom to express its voice amid the din of propaganda or share its ideas under blanket censorship becomes increasingly difficult. Now, with the U.S. Presidential Election corrupted and thrown into doubt, who can the people trust? What institutions can they believe in?”
It is time to understand that we must choose to live free. If we don’t then we will surely die under the boot heels of politicians and control by a corrupt bureaucratic system.
The counter revolution is near. Be prepared.
©Dr. Rich Swier. All rights reserved.

VIDEO: DeSantis Defends Restaurants, Bars — ‘Some May Want To Shut You Down. We Want To Pull You Up’

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More outstanding work from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. What a difference from New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who’s shutdowns are destroying New York State’s restaurant industry.


WATCH: DeSantis Defends Restaurants, Bars: ‘Some May Want To Shut You Down. We Want To Pull You Up’

By Daily Wire, December 17, 2020
On Tuesday, speaking at Okeechobee Steakhouse in West Palm Beach, Florida, Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, who has withstood barrages of criticism from the political Left for his refusal to implement harsh lockdowns, like many Democratic governors across the nation, asserted that restaurants will stay open in Florida. “We just want to send a message: Some may want to shut you down; we want to pull you up,” he said. “We’ve got your back.”
DeSantis began, “We’re happy to be here at Okeechobee Steakhouse to really send a message that at a time when folks in our service industries, particularly restaurants, lodging, and hospitality, have kind of taken it on the chin, particularly in other states, where they’ve been completely shut down. We just want to send a message: Some may want to shut you down; we want to pull you up. We’ve got your back.”
“If you’re somebody who’s a waitress or a cook or you’re a family-owned business, you’re an important part of our state,” he continued. “You’re working folks, who are working hard to make a living; you have every right to do that. You can take it to the bank in the state of Florida; you’re going to have that right defended by the governor.”
DeSantis turned to some data: “You know, there’s a lot of talk when it comes to COVID about the kind of infections, and tracing and everything, and at the beginning of this, restaurants in particular were singled out as kind of like, this is a place that’s really problematic. Most of the contact tracing that’s been done has restaurants as very low in terms of where these infections can be traced to. New York just did their big one and put it out I think yesterday or the day before, and they had 1.4% of infections traced to restaurants and bars.”

EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

School Teachers vs. Restaurant Workers

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Two groups that have been spoken about often during the 2020 pandemic have been school teachers and restaurant workers. Though both groups have a large number currently not working, the two groups are dramatically different in how they have been treated by our governments. Let’s take a look at the difference and compare/contrast their realities.

School teachers are largely public employees and they principally belong to public employee unions. It is estimated there are more than four million teachers in our country. They are principally represented by two unions – National Education Association (NEA) with 2.2 million members and American Federation of Teachers (AFT) with 1.7 million members. In the well-known ruling (Janus), the Supreme Court made it illegal for these unions to command membership. The unions (in cahoots with state governments and local school districts) have placed significant obstacles in front of anyone wanting to opt out. Teachers have their money taken out of their paychecks beginning the very first day on the job. Those funds are used to buy political influence at the tune of tens of millions of dollars. Some say the teachers’ unions are the largest contributors to Democrats with only meager amounts going to Republicans.

The teacher’s unions have largely stated their members will not work during the pandemic. Initially the California division of the unions stated not only would they stay home but wanted certain public policies to be changed before returning to the classroom. They demanded single-payer, government-provided healthcare; full funding for housing California’s homeless; a shutdown to publicly funded, privately operated charter schools; and a new set of programs to address systemic racism. To pay for all this, they want a 1% wealth tax, a 3% income surtax on millionaires, and increased property taxes on businesses. They also want $250 million from the federal government unions. At least the people of California voted down the property tax increases.

The remainder of policies are in the hands of their hand-picked California legislature and the federal government. At the federal level they have possibly the biggest political harlot in American history, Speaker Pelosi, on their side. She has told the world that it is dangerous for teachers to return to the classroom. She knows that is a lie, but she stands in front of a mic and states it anyway because she is owned by the national unions.

We now have the science that it is harmful for the kids staying home. They have little chance of exposing their teachers to COVID and their teachers have little chance of getting the disease from the kids. Once again the party of science uses it when it is convenient.

The teachers still refuse to return for a couple reasons. The unions are socialist organizations. They insist on treating every teacher the same in compensation despite the variance in their skills. STEM teachers are paid the same as others despite the higher demand and specialized knowledge. The thing that is honored by the unions is seniority. Thus, they refuse to return to the classroom because the teachers who are over 50 years old have a higher level of risk from the disease even though the risk is still extremely low until you reach the age of 70. There are few, if any, teachers at that age because they have retired to receive their government funded pension and rich health care plans.

The second reason they have not returned to the classrooms is the teachers are receiving full pay, health insurance and pension while on this prolonged self-imposed vacation. Some are trying to teach remotely, but that has proven to be an abject failure. The “mask” of the teachers caring about the students has been fully ripped off for everyone to see. They belong to a union that is racist and cares only about its members.

The Los Angeles School system has now been closed down without any science behind it.

Then there are the restaurant workers. There are an estimated 13.5 million of them. The life of many of these workers since March has been go home, stay home, hope your employer gets a PPP loan, wait for a call back, get a call back, shut down again, wait for a call back, try to look for another job, can’t find another job, get a call back, feel fortunate you are one of the few, have to work outside where the seats are far away from the kitchen, customers complain their food is cold because you had to bring it from the kitchen a long distance away, sweat to death because it is 100 degrees outside and you are walking back and forth, then the weather turns and you are delivering the food in 45 degrees. Then you are shut down again. You ask why. Your employer asks why. You get nothing but orders from the health department. You cannot understand. Your employer and you have taken every precaution, but you are sitting at home again hoping to get unemployment benefits that take forever to arrive. Then you find out your restaurant has closed for good. It could not survive the constant turmoil brought on by government edicts and excessive costs to comply.

Small business in America has extremely high favorability rating ranging to near 90%. Despite that elected officials crap on them all the time. A lot of them mouth platitudes about small business during their campaigns then do everything to stall them, harm them and put them out of business.

Two national health officials validated what we knew already — There is no science that outdoor dining is a risk for COVID contraction. Yet California and officials of other states shut down restaurants and their workers.

There were 660,700 restaurants in America in 2018. The National Restaurant Association has estimated that 110,000 restaurants have closed permanently. It has been estimated that 50% of full service restaurants will permanently close. Drive down the street and see the “for sale” and “for lease” signs on restaurant after restaurant. Another shutdown, with no science behind it, will kill off an even greater number as body blow after body blow cannot be endured. They will cause the permanent loss of millions of jobs and people scrambling to figure out how they will support themselves. The workers will not be receiving paychecks nor will they be receiving health insurance and pension contributions like the public-school teachers.

Though people love small businesses and the workers at their restaurants and similar businesses, they keep electing these politicians who make it challenging on a normal day to start and run their businesses and have done so much during the pandemic to harm them. Hundreds of people can walk around a Costco while restaurants cannot even have 25% capacity with significant safeguards for customers and workers. Why is that? Simply a function of money lining elected officials’ pockets.

Public school teachers’ unions have been a blight upon our society for years. In previous columns, we have delineated how racist these unions have become. The problem is largely generated because parents like their kid’s teacher while not acknowledging they enable these racists unions to exist. The parents think their kid’s teacher cares when it has become quite clear they only care about themselves. If you belong to these despotic unions, you are part of the problem, not part of the solution. Stop coddling them. They are not your friend nor your kid’s friend.

Instead, start giving your local busser, server, cook, chef, restaurant owner the love they deserve and demand that your elected officials do as well. If anything, this pandemic has shown they are the people who are there for you, care about you and take the personal risks to make your life better.

*****

Bruce Bialosky is a nationally  known columnist. He was appointed by President Bush to the U.S. Holocaust Commission and is the Founder of the Republican Jewish Coalition of California. This article first appeared 11/13/20 in Flash Report  and is reproduced herein by the permission of the author. Comments can be directed to Bruce@Bialosky.biz.

COVID Vaccine: A Promising Start, But Freedom Must Be Paramount

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Yesterday, after nine long months of praying for an end to the COVID-19 pandemic, Sarah Lindsey — a critical-care nurse at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Queens — received the first coronavirus vaccination. While the distribution of this vaccine is a sign of hope for many, the hyper-political climate in which it was created has caused moral, ethical, and medical concerns surrounding the vaccine. Chief among these concerns are: was the vaccine ethically created, or was it derived from an abortion-derived cell line? Is the vaccine effective? And finally, will taking the vaccine be mandatory?
The Pfizer vaccine made its mark as the first vaccine distributed in the United States. In phase three testing, Pfizer reported the vaccine demonstrated 95 percent efficacy against COVID-19. While this is promising, as Dr. Michelle Cretella pointed out in her interview on “Washington Watch,” “we do not have any long-term studies” showing the effectiveness of the vaccine or its potential side-effects. Though abortion-derived cell lines were used during some of the animal phase testing of this vaccine, thankfully, there were no abortion-derived cell lines used in its production, leading the Charlotte Lozier Institute to declare the Pfizer vaccine as ethically uncontroversial.
The Moderna vaccine, currently under review by the FDA, has reported a 94.1 percent efficacy rate and could be available for distribution as early as this weekend. Dr. Cretella explained that — similar to the Pfizer vaccine — this vaccine uses new technology to fight the virus: “These vaccines contain a messenger, a genetic messenger within them that will enter our cells and cause our cells to create a particle that resembles the virus. Protein resembles the COVID virus protein. And that is what is going to trigger our immune system to make antibodies.” While the Moderna vaccine also used abortion-derived cell lines in its animal testing phase, abortion-derived cell lines were not used in the creation of the vaccine itself. As such, this vaccine also made Charlotte Lozier’s ethically uncontroversial list.
A third vaccine from AstraZeneca has been touted as a promising vaccine candidate because it is cheaper and easier to store than both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines; however, this vaccine has had much more moderate success than the other two. More distressingly, this vaccine is derived from aborted baby cell-lines, causing serious ethical concerns for pro-lifers across the country.
Though the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are reasons for optimism, hesitancy caused by conscience concerns and the lack of long-term testing cannot be ignored. Over the last nine months, our health care workers and people on the front lines have certainly proven that America is the home of the brave, but many of our government officials seem to have forgotten that this is also the land of the free. Across the country, governors and local governments — often against the urging of the White House — have restricted worship, shut down schools — even religious ones — and even tried to cancel Christmas. Basic freedoms have been limited, and so, many are wondering whether the U.S. government will make the COVID-19 vaccination mandatory.
While the White House and Dr. Anthony Fauci have assured the public that mandatory vaccination of the general population will not happen, Dr. Fauci did not rule out a mandate for health care workers, and private businesses can legally mandate the vaccine. Given the ethical and medical concerns surrounding the vaccine, let’s hope that both government officials and private employers remember that America was founded so Americans could be free — free to practice their religion (especially at Christmas), free to assemble (especially in their own homes), and free to decide whether or not to get a vaccine.
COLUMN BY

Mary Szoch

Director of the Center for Human Dignity
Mary Szoch serves as the Director of the Center for Human Dignity at Family Research Council. In this position, Mary researches, writes, and coordinates collaborative efforts with other pro-life advocates on policies surrounding life and human dignity.
Prior to joining Family Research Council, Mary was the Director of the D.C. Catholic Conference and the Manager of Catholic Policy and Advocacy for the Archdiocese of Washington. In her role, Mary led the Archdiocese’s public policy work in D.C. including the fight against the legalization of prostitution, the complete deregulation of the abortion industry, and limitations on the freedoms of religious organizations. Mary also directed the Department of Life Issues for the Archdiocese where she collaborated with churches and pro-life organizations to educate and raise awareness on the life issues including abortion, assisted suicide, and discrimination against people with disabilities.
Mary received her master’s in education through the University of Notre Dame’s ACE program where she taught history and English to high school students at an under-resourced school. In 2015, while teaching at St. Peter’s on Capitol Hill, Mary founded a non-profit, Teaching Together, that provides meaningful jobs in schools to adults with special needs.
Mary is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame where she majored in political science and philosophy. While at the University of Notre Dame, Mary played basketball for the Fighting Irish and lettered on the 2010-2011 National Championship Runner-Up team. A native of Altoona, Pennsylvania, Mary currently lives in D.C. with her husband, Ben.
EDITORS NOTE: This FRC-Action column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Renowned Epidemiologist Aids St. Michael Academy’s Challenge of Michigan’s Lockdown

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St. Michael Academy, a small private independent Catholic high school located in Petoskey, Michigan has a total of 30 high school students.  St. Michael is challenging Michigan’s current MDHHS order which has shut down in-person instruction at high schools across the state on the bogus claim that it is “following the science.”  Citing to the recent Roman Catholic Diocese opinion by the U.S. Supreme Court that observes, “even in a pandemic the Constitution cannot be put away and forgotten,” the Thomas More Law Center (“TMLC”), a nonprofit public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, filed a lawsuit on behalf of St. Michael late Friday in the federal district court for the Western District of Michigan.
In an astonishing turn of events, St. Michael was able to enlist the support of a world-renowned epidemiologist and expert on the spread of COVID-19, Dr. Jayanta Bhattacharya, a Professor of Medicine at Stanford University. Dr. Bhattacharya is an author of 136 articles in peer-reviewed journals and has provided testimony relating to COVID-19 to both federal and state governmental bodies. He is assisting St. Michael Academy without charge, as is the Law Center.
Dr. Bhattacharya has already filed an affidavit in the case. He points out that MDHHS’s orders shutting down schools to in-person instruction are inconsistent with the best scientific evidence regarding the safety of students and the guidelines provided by the World Health Organization. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases, supports the WHO guidelines.
Moreover, Dr. Bhattacharya, citing to July guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control, warns that prohibiting in-person instruction potentially causes tremendous damage to students, including: severe learning loss, widening disparities in educational outcomes, hampered development of social and emotional skills, potential harm to mental health, exposure to heightened risk of maltreatment and abuse at home, nutritional deprivation of poor children, and a sharp reduction in regular physical activity.
Dr. Richard A. Brake, the Headmaster of St. Michael Academy, is not only in charge of the academic and spiritual development of St. Michael students but also of the development and implementation of the Academy’s plans to keep its students safe from the COVID-19 virus. He and his staff kept up in-person instruction this school year, until the November 15, 2020 shutdown order was issued by the state. Thus far, St. Michael has not experienced any cases of COVID-19 among its students, faculty, or staff.
Dr. Brake believes that banning in-person instruction precludes the Academy from exercising its religious freedom to inculcate in its students the sense of awe and wonder about all of God’s creation, encouraging them to look beyond the temporal and mundane towards the eternal and transcendent. Education and formation at St. Michael Academy involve prayer, worship, devotional practices and the Socratic method. These are not effective when done remotely, with students looking at computer screens.
Richard Thompson, TMLC’s President, observed, “No one denies that slowing the COVID‑19 pandemic is a compelling state interest. But the U.S. Supreme Court’s November 25, 2020 decision in Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn v Cuomo held that, even so, where a state’s COVID-19 mitigation law burdens religious exercise and is not neutral, as in our case, states must narrowly tailor their edicts to meet the state interest in the least restrictive manner. The State of Michigan cannot suspend a fundamental right of the people to the free exercise of religion protected by the First Amendment.”
Thompson added, “And based on the scientific evidence that very few children under the age of 19 suffer or die as a result of COVID-19 infection, and rarely transmit the virus to other children or adults, weighed against all the negative ramifications of keeping children home, the state cannot meet the ‘strict scrutiny’ test which demands that it address its interests by the least restrictive means. Experts like the CDC Director are now saying that one of the safest places for students during this pandemic is in school.”

Click here to read St. Michael’s filed Complaint

Click here to read Dr. Bhattacharya’s 20-page Affidavit
Please support the Thomas More Law Center’s mission by clicking here.
©Thomas More Law Center. All rights reserved.

Planned Parenthood’s Racism Is Showing. It’s Time We Stopped Enabling Them

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The Charlie Kirk Show – The Biblical Defense for the Defenseless

Planned Parenthood, America’s largest abortion provider, likes to bill itself as concerned with racial equality, despite its origins in racist eugenics. But the recent firing of their Pennsylvania Chapter Executive Director over racial discrimination suggests that racism is alive and well within Planned Parenthood.
On a closer look, it becomes clear that despite the image Planned Parenthood strives to project, racism, ethical issues, and downright illegal activities have been endemic in the organization since its founding. More and more disturbing evidence shows how Planned Parenthood has for years covered up the illegal sale of baby parts, facilitated medical fraud, and neglected to report abuse of minors — sometimes multiple instances of abuse which led to underage girls receiving abortion services.
And Planned Parenthood’s recent debacle with racism in the Pennsylvania Chapter is only one in a series of controversies relating to discrimination. In another recent controversy, Lauren McQuade, the head of Planned Parenthood Great Plains — a Planned Parenthood affiliate group — parted ways with the company after she “created a culture of fear and intimidation,” and limited “upward mobility for Black staff”.
But the bottom line is that this racist, unethical, and illegal behavior is easily hushed up by throwing money at the problem. While Planned Parenthood certainly does whatever it can to extort taxpayer funding, much of their $1.5 billion budget comes from corporate donors. It’s unconscionable that companies who claim to work for the public good would pour so much money into an organization which promotes the murder of babies, covers up sex abuse, and has such close ties with racism. If corporations want to keep their reputation untarnished, if they want us to continue giving them our 2ndVote dollars, they must withdraw their funding from Planned Parenthood and give it to organizations which value every life, no matter the stage or skin color.
EDITORS NOTE: This 2ndVote column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

The U.S. Army Adopted the Sig Sauer P320. Can This Gun Protect Your Home?

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The Sig Sauer P320 Compact is a modular-framed, striker-fired pistol designed for versatility and customization. It’s got a lot of interesting features and supports the Sig Sauer reputation for reliable and quality firearms. But is it worth buying? Keep reading to find out.
Accuracy
This gun is very accurate. Right out of the box, the P320 averages 1.5-inch groupings at anywhere from 7 to 25 yards, slow-fire. There is very little recoil, which is surprising considering it can feel a little top-heavy until you get used to it. You may have to allow yourself some time to adjust to the 6’oclock hold as well, especially if you are used to shooting with a more angled grip, like with a Glock. The photoluminescent sights provide an accurate sight picture and allow for precise shooting in low-light situations. The RX model also comes with a great red dot optic, Sig’s Romeo 1. Speaking of romeo, you can upgrade your Ruger 10/22 with this optic.
Reliability
The Sig P320 is amazingly reliable. After over 500 rounds and a wide variety of ammo — including Hornady TAP, Winchester White Box, and Blazer Brass FMJ — there were no misfires or jams. Testing out all the frames with hollow and plink ammo has proven you can count on this gun to fire consistently and without issue.
Handling
I really like how the P320 handles. It’s lightweight, if a little top-heavy, and is easy to maneuver between targets. The RX Carry model is great for concealed carry, and the potential for customization on this pistol means it can be customized for almost every shooter’s needs. The P320 is a technically a chassis gun with a series of interchangeable grip frames or a Sig X-change kit. You can change out the caliber, barrel, grip, and slide for the entire series — excluding the .45 ACP — to fit your needs and specifications. So, if you don’t like the grip, or decide you want a to try out another caliber, the P320 provides an alternative to buying a completely different gun.
Even with all the customizations available, the P320 remains fairly simple in its design. The magazine release is reversible, the slide lock and disassembly lever are easy to use and there isn’t an external safety.
Trigger
The trigger seems to be the only point of contention for the Sig P320. As far as I’m concerned, it’s just going to come down to preference. The trigger on the P320 is a wide, single-action trigger that breaks cleanly at around 5.5 pounds with a smooth reset. There’s no stacking and some overtravel that could affect accuracy, so you may have to make some adjustments if the trigger isn’t a fit for you.
Magazine & Reloading
Sig Sauer packages these guns with two 15-round for the compact model and 17-round mags for the carry. These steel mags are easy to load and smoothly drop free when released. Another great thing about the P320 is that its magazines are exchangeable with the P250.
Length & Weight
The P320 is only 7.2-inches in overall length, 5.3 inches tall, and 28 oz when loaded. It’s small, compact, and has a sleek design. No matter your application, this gun won’t weigh you down.
Recoil Management
The high, vertical grip, high bore axis, and undercut trigger guard all contribute to excellent recoil management in the P320. With the custom grip models available, there’s no reason you should have trouble keeping an accurate sight picture between shots or have the gun jerk out of your grip.
Price
The P320 runs for about $500 retail, depending on the model. The X-Change kits sell from Sig Sauer for around $450 and the grip frames for about $45.
My Verdict?
The Sig Sauer P320 Compact is a great gun for anything from concealed carry to competition shooting. It’s accurate, reliable, and primed for customization. If you are looking for a unique and dependable handgun, you can’t go wrong with the P320.
RELATED VIDEO: The Army’s New Handgun | SIG SAUER P320 | Tactical Rifleman

©Richard Douglas. All rights reserved.

Gallup Poll: Americans’ Mental Health Hits 20-Year Low Ahead of Renewed Lockdowns

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Any retrospective analysis of lockdown policies—the effectiveness which is seriously disputed—must be weighed against the loss of life and human suffering they caused.

In California and other parts of the country, Americans are headed back to lockdown or otherwise facing renewed restrictions on their day-to-day lives amid another spike of COVID-19. Yet a new Gallup poll shows these lockdowns come as people are already struggling with their mental health.
“Americans’ latest assessment of their mental health is worse than it has been at any point in the last two decades,” Gallup reports.


The new polling found that 34 percent of respondents said their mental health was “excellent,” which is 9 points down from 2019. Similarly, 85 percent of Americans had rated their mental health as “good or excellent” in 2019. Just 76 percent did this year. [VIEW CHART HERE]
This poll only further documents an ongoing trend.
As Jon Miltimore previously explained for FEE.org, the Centers for Disease Control found that 1 in 4 young Americans considered suicide this past summer amid life under lockdown and unprecedented levels of social isolation. In one anecdote that painfully demonstrates this broader trend, a California hospital doctor told local news in May that during lockdown he witnessed “a year’s worth of suicide attempts in the last four weeks.”

Much of the decline in mental health over the last 9 months can reasonably be attributed to pandemic lockdowns rather than COVID-19 itself.
Why? Well, consider that for the aforementioned suicidal young adults, the actual mortality risk of COVID-19 is close to zero. It’s the shuttering of their schools, closures of their offices, and isolation from family, friends, and community that has affected them so drastically.
And the negative health effects, both physical and mental, of social isolation are well-documented. Consider this report from the New York Times:

A wave of new research suggests social separation is bad for us. Individuals with less social connection have disrupted sleep patterns, altered immune systems, more inflammation and higher levels of stress hormones. One recent study found that isolation increases the risk of heart disease by 29 percent and stroke by 32 percent.
Another analysis that pooled data from 70 studies and 3.4 million people found that socially isolated individuals had a 30 percent higher risk of dying in the next seven years, and that this effect was largest in middle age.
Loneliness can accelerate cognitive decline in older adults, and isolated individuals are twice as likely to die prematurely as those with more robust social interactions. These effects start early: Socially isolated children have significantly poorer health 20 years later, even after controlling for other factors. All told, loneliness is as important a risk factor for early death as obesity and smoking.

It’s certainly true that we can’t solely attribute the burgeoning mental health crisis to the lockdowns. But there’s no denying the intuitive and demonstrable fact that confining people to their homes and stripping away their livelihoods has driven the spikes in suicide and depression.
How could it not?
Ample research shows how stripping people of their agency and leaving them feeling powerless contributes to mental health decline.
“Having a high sense of control is related to proactive behavior and positive psychological outcomes,” health researchers point out. “Control is linked to an ability to take preventative action and to feel healthy. An impairment of control is associated with depression, stress, and anxiety-related disorders.”
So, such drastic government lockdowns seizing control of the minutiae of American life were always going to have severe mental health consequences. Unintended consequences plague all top-down government efforts to control or manage society.
“Every human action has both intended and unintended consequences,” Antony Davies and James Harrigan explain for FEE. “Human beings react to every rule, regulation, and order governments impose, and their reactions result in outcomes that can be quite different than the outcomes lawmakers intended.”
Replacing individual decision-making of hundreds of millions’ of peoples’ everyday lives with centralized government mandates intended to slow the spread of COVID-19 inevitably causes enormous ripple effects. Our retrospective analysis of lockdown policies—the effectiveness which is seriously disputed—must be weighed against the loss of life and human suffering they caused in their own right.

COLUMN BY

Brad Polumbo

Brad Polumbo (@Brad_Polumbo) is a libertarian-conservative journalist and Opinion Editor at the Foundation for Economic Education.
EDITORS NOTE: This FEE column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

VIDEO: COVID-19 Bounty? Is Pandemic Death Count Skewed by Medicare Reimbursement Bonus?

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Government-mandated pandemic shutdowns may force cash-starved hospitals to attribute patient deaths to COVID-19, even if another comorbidity or accident, caused the death. What role might a Medicare COVID-19 ‘bounty’ play in the growing trends, as cases and deaths from the novel coronavirus spike to new records? And what to make of the stat that 89% of those who die from the pandemic had an advanced directive ‘Do Not Resuscitate’ order (DNR)?

Listen to the Audio Version

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©Bill Whittle. All rights reserved.

Dr. Fauci (Basically) Admits Rand Paul Was Right 6 Months Ago on Schools and COVID-19

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Top White House COVID-19 Advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci recently changed his prior position and recommended that we keep schools open (while also advising the nation to close bars back down).
“Obviously, you don’t have one size fits all, but as I said in the past and as you accurately quoted me, the default position should be to try as best as possible within reason to keep the children in school or to keep them back at school,” Fauci said. “The best way to ensure the safety of our children in school is to get the community level of spread low.”
In the same interview, Fauci noted that the spread of the disease among school children has remained incredibly low throughout the pandemic.
“If you look at the data, the spread among children and from children is not very big at all,” Fauci added. “Not like one would have suspected.”
Fauci is correct. Schools have certainly not proven to be the hotbeds for the virus that many warned of this summer.
Two international studies have found no relationship between in-person K-12 learning and the spread of COVID-19. And another study, this one from the United States, found that childcare workers have experienced no greater risk of infection either.
These data, coupled with anecdotal evidence gathered from more than 2,000 schools across the nation, have led many health experts and pediatricians to warn of the risks of keeping schools closed, expressing concerns that the unintended consequences may be outweighing the threat of the virus.
The American Academy of Pediatrics said in a statement that:

“All policy considerations for the coming school year should start with a goal of having students physically present in school…. Lengthy time away from school and associated interruption of supportive services often results in social isolation, making it difficult for schools to identify and address important learning deficits as well as child and adolescent physical or sexual abuse, substance use, depression, and suicidal ideation.”

When families are able to homeschool their children or choose the private or public school that’s right for them, they thrive. However, when you take those options away and force all families into remote distance learning, the many kids for whom this isn’t the right fit suffer. Since the vast majority of districts have not passed school choice programs, most families have been left in a bind this year—paying for public schools they often cannot use or whose new models do not work for their children. The consequences include the risks of mental health problems, hunger, missing routine exercise, lack of medical care, child abuse in the home, and the loss of education.
Other research shows that kids are indeed beginning to fall significantly behind in math scores and modestly behind in some other proficiencies such as reading. This is especially troubling news as American children already lag in international proficiency scoring.
Additionally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently released a report suggesting that the social isolation caused by COVID-19 and ongoing government lockdowns is taking a toll on children’s mental health.
All of that to say, Fauci’s new recommendations will come as welcomed news to millions of people who have been negatively impacted by private and public school closures, while being left with few or no alternatives.
Parents have been unable to work a regular schedule. Women have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic as a whole, but especially by school shutdowns as the brunt of childcare falls to them. In September alone, 865,000 women dropped out of the workforce, a number four times higher than that of men.
Businesses have struggled to provide flexible work schedules for impacted parents. And childcare providers have been met with uncertainty and a constantly changing landscape of regulations as they work to tailor curriculum to virtual environments, keep children physically distanced, and implement other new policies, like mask-wearing, for their pupils.
But while Fauci is currently correct in his findings and recommendations, he is incorrect when he asserts that this has been his consistent position. In reality, his newfound mentality is at least six months behind the curve, and there were many others who told him as much as far back as this summer. Notably, Senator Rand Paul, a doctor himself, took the correct position many months ago.


Fauci and Paul sparred over the question of whether schools should reopen back in May of this year, leading to countless online attacks against Senator Paul by many prominent progressives.


What did Paul do to deserve such visceral attacks? He merely pointed out the same science Fauci is now hanging his hat on.
“There’s a great deal of evidence that’s actually good—good evidence—that kids aren’t transmitting this—it’s rare—and that kids are staying healthy, and that yes we can open our schools,” Paul stated during a committee hearing.
While Fauci has maintained all along that the goal should be for children to return to schools, he previously issued much more cautious recommendations. He suggested some schools remain closed and pushed for a heavier handed approach from the federal government when it came to deciding protocols for reopening schools. At that time, he also indicated that children could spread the disease as easily as adults.
Fauci’s change in position has led many, including right-wing Twitter commentator Jack Posobiec, to call for apologies to Rand Paul, which wouldn’t be the first time the senator has been owed one by the establishment.


As per usual, Paul is right. Dr. Fauci does owe an apology to the American people. But his mistake is one of arrogance, not malice—and it’s one we see repeated over and over again by the adherents of central planning.
F.A. Hayek once famously said, “The more the state ‘plans’ the more difficult planning becomes for the individual.”
Central planning fails and wreaks havoc on the individuals in a country because of the knowledge problem. The knowledge problem refers to a concept developed by Hayek in his work “The Use of Knowledge in Society.” It’s actually a pretty simple economic concept that holds that central planners cannot possibly possess all of the information they need to successfully direct the lives of others—especially given the need for rapid adaptation in response to changing circumstances.
Such has been the case with Fauci and many others in our government as they seek to combat the coronavirus. They overestimate their abilities, presume they know more than they do, and seek to tell others from afar how to best respond to their rapidly changing environment. It hasn’t worked, and it never will, and the reasons for this trace their way back to the knowledge problem.
Dr. Fauci, and many of our other political leaders, have issued incorrect information, overstepped their constitutional boundaries, and often amplified the negative impacts of the coronavirus. Instead of recognizing their own limitations in the face of a virus, they’ve instead doubled down on their authority and continued to try and control the minute details of people’s lives. This has caused chaos, often needlessly, and it has placed undue hardships on individual Americans who are attempting to do the right things and rebuild their lives.
Fauci’s new recommendations ought to come with a dose of humility and a recognition that the government, and even very smart scientists working within it, cannot centrally plan their way out of an unprecedented pandemic and crisis. Instead, Americans should be given the best, most up-to-date information available and allowed to decide for themselves what the best path forward is for their family and their community.
COLUMN BY

Hannah Cox

Hannah Cox is a libertarian-conservative writer, commentator, and activist. She’s a Newsmax Insider and a Contributor to The Washington Examiner.
EDITORS NOTE: This FEE column is republished with permission. All rights reserved.

The Left’s Gender Theories Are Anti-Scientific Nonsense, but They’re Gaining Ground

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On Nov. 22, 2020, New York Times columnist Charles Blow unleashed one of the most bizarre tweets in recent memory.
“Stop doing gender reveals,” he stated. “They’re not cute; they’re violent. All we know before a child is born is their anatomy. They will reveal their gender. It may match your expectations of that anatomy, and it may not. If you love the child you will be patience, attentive and open.”

 

This is patently insane for a variety of reasons.

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First, the characterization of gender reveal parties—parties during which parents celebrate finding out whether their unborn children are boys or girls—as “violent” is, in and of itself, radically nuts. Parents are excited to learn whether their children will be boys or girls. That is absolutely unobjectionable.
But for an ardent fan of abortion-on-demand such as Blow to characterize a gender reveal party celebrating the sex of an unborn baby as “violent” while characterizing the in utero dismemberment of that same unborn baby as “choice” is so morally benighted as to boggle the mind.
Blow’s tweet goes further. The implication that parents are doing violence against their own children if they connect sex and gender is utterly anti-evidentiary. Sex and gender are interconnected. For nearly every human being born, biological sex will correspond with genital development in the womb.
And gender, contrary to the idiotic, pseudoscientific paganism of the gender theory set, is not some free-floating set of biases we bring to the table. Males and females have different qualities in a variety of functions, attitudes, desires, and capabilities.
In every human culture—indeed, in every mammalian species—meaningful distinctions between male and female remain. To reduce children to genderless unicorns simply awaiting hormonal guidance from within piles absurdity upon absurdity.
And, of course, Blow’s take on “patience” is not limitless. Presumably, should your daughter announce that she is a boy at the tender age of 5, all measures will immediately be taken to ensure that she is treated as a boy by those such as Blow. There will be no call for watchful waiting; to do so would be yet another act of “violence.”
Why does any of this matter? Because Blow’s perspective has become mainstream on the left. In October, Healthline, a supposed medical resource, ran an article reviewed by a licensed marriage and family therapist titled “‘Do Vulva Owners Like Sex?’ Is the Wrong Question—Here’s What You Should Ask Instead.”
Whether “vulva owners” like sex is indeed the wrong question. The right question, to begin, might be what makes “vulva owners” distinct from women; as a follow-up, we might ask how one would go about leasing or renting a vulva if ownership seems like too much of a burden.
But the madness gains ground. CNN reported in July that the American Cancer Society had changed its recommendations on the proper age for cervical cancer screenings for women, only CNN termed women “individuals with a cervix.” Which seems rather degrading to women, come to think of it.
Lest we believe that this is merely some lunatic fringe, it is worth noting that Blow, Healthline, and CNN are merely saying out loud what those who place gender pronouns in their Twitter bios, such as Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, imply: that gender and sex are completely severable, and that biology has nothing to do with the former.
President-elect Joe Biden has openly stated that an 8-year-old can decide on his transgenderism; Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., infamously stated that she would have a 9-year-old transgender child screen her secretary of education nominee. Male and female are arbitrary categories to which anyone can claim membership.
Unless, of course, the left wishes to treat sex as an important characteristic. Then the logic changes. Thus, it is historic that Biden has nominated an all-female communications team, and it is deeply moving that Harris is a woman.
It’s almost as though the definitions of words have no meaning, according to the left. All that matters is fealty to whatever narrative the chosen moral caste dictates on a daily basis. And if you cross it, you’re doing violence.
COMMENTARY BY

Ben Shapiro

Ben Shapiro is host of “The Ben Shapiro Show” and editor-in-chief of DailyWire.com. He is The New York Times best-selling author of “Bullies.” He is a graduate of UCLA and Harvard Law School, and lives with his wife and two children in Los Angeles. Twitter:
RELATED ARTICLE: UK High Court Rules Children Under 16 ‘Unlikely to Be Able to Give Informed Consent’ to Puberty Blockers

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How To Beat Homelessness: Sarasota, Florida vs. Los Angeles, California

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It seems like a strange matchup, a midsize community against one of the world’s great cities — or once great cities. Other than being in the United States and never seeing snow, there are not a lot of similarities between Los Angeles and Sarasota, Florida.
Except about 10 years ago, they both, like most American cities, were facing an increasing homeless problem. The warmth of southern cities, particularly Florida cities, is a major attraction for everyone, and as it turns out there are homeless snowbirds, of a sort.
But Sarasota and L.A. took two opposite paths in dealing with the problem. L.A., like many progressive cities, turned to a mix of homelessness or housing as a human right and pursued a “housing first” concept. Any program that got keys into the hands of the homeless quickly under “rapid housing” was pursued with gushers of taxpayer money — without regard to what had caused people to become homeless in the first place.
At the same time, those progressive cities — San Francisco, Portland and Seattle stand out with L.A. but there are many others — hamstrung attempts by law enforcement and business owners to remove the homeless from badgering patrons and threatening people or just urinating or defecating at their front door. “Homelessness is not a crime!” they cried emotionally. But what they meant was that the homeless committing crimes was not a crime.
We’ve all seen the results of these policies. Massive tent cities in L.A. where the homeless population is estimated to be 80,000 strong and is one of many factors contributing to people fleeing the once City of Angels. They have swelled into the suburbs, too, leaving fewer people feeling safe if they don’t live behind walled mansions with armed guards, such as the Hollywood elite who, bubbled away from impact on themselves, self-righteously push for the destructive progressive policies.
Sarasota took a different approach, one advocated by Robert Marbut, a consultant at the time he was hired by Sarasota in 2013, and who was later tapped by President Donald Trump to be the executive director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness — the homelessness czar.
Sarasota officials — and importantly, private institutions and organizations — followed many, not all, of Marbut’s advice to target the root cause of the homeless, seeing the homelessness as a symptom of a deep underlying problem with the individuals that normally falls into the categories of drug and alcohol addiction and mental health issues. This is undeniably true.
Statistics are notoriously tricky on the homeless for obvious reasons. But numerous studies have found that somewhere between 20 and 40 percent of all homeless people have a severe mental illness, while another 15 to 40 percent suffer from chronic substance abuse. Large percentages also have spent significant time in prison and many have a disability. Despite these ranges, it’s easy to see that the vast majority of homeless people are not those who were “down on their luck” but otherwise fine, they lost their job and were evicted.
That’s why attacking those foundational causes of homeless is the only realistic and compassionate long-term solution.
So the Sarasota community, both the city and county working together, got rid of the homeless camps that had sprouted up, pursued treatment programs and ensured interagency cooperation that is often lacking, making sure the homeless received help with their underlying problems, their root causes, and then got help getting back on their feet with training and housing.
The Gulf Coast Community Foundation and other nonprofits in the Sarasota region work closely with the Sarasota County School District to make sure young people and their families get connected with social services and housed quickly while often requiring treatment of the underlying problems. Marbut calls this work the “most innovative youth programming in America.”
The result is that the Sarasota area’s “unsheltered homeless” population — those who do not have a permanent residence but are in shelters or other facilities — has fallen almost in half in the past four years.
It shows on the streets. Downtown Sarasota, considered one of the most thriving mid-sized downtowns in the country, was dealing with constant homeless problems a decade ago. It was the top story and the biggest issue for downtown business establishments. But it rarely makes any news now.
Like everywhere, Sarasota still has to deal with groups that the media likes to call “homeless advocates,” but which actually end up advocating for people being homeless through their poorly thought-out solutions. But the public sees the results. It is hard to argue with success. Treat the underlying causes of homelessness, not the symptom, through cooperative programs linking public and private agencies, schools and law enforcement. Common sense again offers up the best solution.
“Twice in the last week, when asked where is the best program in the country, I said Sarasota, Florida,” Marbut said recently.
EDITORS NOTE: This Revolutionary Act column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved. Like Rod’s new Youtube channel. Follow Rod on Parler.

Me, Über Alles: The Maddening Reason Politicians Break Their Own Lockdown Rules

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There’s hypocrisy, damned hypocrisy, and the actions of statist politicians.
Most of us have seen the pictures or heard the stories. Governor Gavin Newsom, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Sen. Diane Feinstein and other leftists have been caught blithely breaking the very COVID-1984 restrictions they self-righteously visit on the citizenry. In the case of Denver mayor Michael Hancock, he recently flew to Mississippi not an hour after warning city residents to “avoid travel, if you can.” I guess he couldn’t.
This has left a lot Americans wondering if these posturing pols actually believe their own coronavirus rhetoric. Many no doubt don’t, at least not completely. Also, whatever they believe, they quite surely lack the discipline (not a big word among leftists) to adhere to any program. What would we expect, after all, from people whose only consistent credo is “If it feels good, do it” other than convenience-driven behavior? Yet there’s another, mostly unknown reason for these statists’ hypocrisy.
Studies have shown that leaders, no matter the time or place, tend to be worse than the people they lead. A major reason for this is that politics attracts power-mongers (along with the narcissists and sociopaths).
Power lust is alien to most people. Oh, they can understand lusting after sex or food or money, as virtually all of us have related urges (just hopefully not to a disordered degree). Though it’s a rarer defect, however, people can lust after power in just the way a robber baron may crave money; a nymphomaniac, sex; and a glutton, food. But most people can’t relate to this problem — and generally don’t even consider its existence — because they’re not saddled with it; instinctively projecting one’s own mindset and priorities onto others is a common error.
(If only this weren’t so, people might be more on guard against the power-driven, known as “megalomaniacs.”)
Now, megalomaniacs are overrepresented in politics because, of course, that’s the realm in which you can most directly exercise control and power. These people love it, “need” it and live for it. At risk of seeming frivolous, I think the following nine-second Star Wars clip well epitomizes their mindset.
[Please insert: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sg14jNbBb-8]
(If Gavin Newsom actually had the above ability, he could at least make himself useful and remedy his state’s rolling blackouts.)
So how does this relate to COVID hypocrisy? Well, one way to enhance your sense of power is by flouting rules everyone else must follow.
It’s even more of a rush if you imposed those rules on them in the first place.
It can make you feel special, above it all, like an elite, master of all you survey. Rules are “for the little people,” as the supercilious suppose, so you can feel like a big person if you’re beyond rules, beyond limits, beyond constraints.
These politicians are beyond reason and rectitude, though, tragically. A truly great leader knows he should share the sacrifices he asks of his people, but our power-mongers will have none of that. The point, however, is that they’re not necessarily just weak and willing to violate their own rules. Often, they revel in doing so.
Leaders’ increasing exhibition of blatant hypocrisy is also a sign of a declining republic. In a healthy one, this is less possible because politicians are held accountable. But to whatever degree a pseudo-elite establishment places itself beyond voter discipline (e.g., via rigged elections), it can in the same proportion place itself beyond the voters’ government-imposed burdens.
Megalomaniacs will never stop exercising irrational control over you because control is the goal, an end unto itself. They inflict their torments not just with the approval of their own consciences, but at the urging of their most animalistic desires.
Contact Selwyn Duke, follow him on Gab or Parler (preferably) or Twitter, or log on to SelwynDuke.com.

COVID: How Democrats are Slowly, but Surely, Forcing Americans to ‘Submit’

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“In a country where the sole employer is the State, opposition means death by slow starvation. The old principle: who does not work shall not eat, has been replaced by a new one: who does not obey shall not eat.” ― Leon Trotsky

QUESTION: Are the policies of Democrats slowly starving Americans to death?

This question may seem absurd at first but while I was doing research on how many counties each presidential candidate won in 2016 and 2020 I now believe this is a valid question. The Trump administration is all about creating jobs. But are Democrats all about using Covid to kill jobs? As William Shakespeare wrote,

“To be, or not to be: that is the question

Do Democrats want those who voted for and continue to support President Donald J. Trump to be, or not to be.
Should Americans do what Shakespeare suggested:

Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing end them?

Outrageous Fortune

If you live in a state controlled by Democrats you may be suffering from outrageous fortune. Or even worse, losing your life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.
Here is what I found and it was was both shocking and revealing. During the 2020 election Democrats won the votes in 6.41% (or 477) of the 3,061 counties in America. Donald Trump won the vote in 2,497 counties. But the issue is that 70% of the wealth, and therefore the economic power in America, is concentrated in this 6.41%.
I found a Brookings Institute column by Mark Muro, Eli Byerly Duke, Yang You, and Robert Maxim titled Biden-voting counties equal 70% of America’s economy. What does this mean for the nation’s political-economic divide?
Here’s the Brooking Institute chart contained in the column:
TABLE 1. CANDIDATES’ COUNTIES WON AND SHARE OF GDP IN 2016 AND 2020

Year Candidate Counties won Total votes Aggregate share of US GDP
2016 Hillary Clinton 472 65,853,625 64%
Donald Trump 2,584 62,985,106 36%
2020 Joe Biden 477 75,602,458 70%
Donald Trump 2,497 71,216,709 29%

Note: 2020 figures reflect unofficial results from 96% of counties
As Mark Muro, Eli Byerly Duke, Yang You, and Robert Maxim from the Brookings Institute note:

Biden’s winning base in 477 counties encompasses fully 70% of America’s economic activity, while Trump’s losing base of 2,497 counties represents just 29% of the economy. [See the Brookings chart here]

The State’s Take Over of American Jobs under Democrat Rule

The Democrats have said that their goal is to take over large portions of the American economy. The Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. Obamacare) was an initial effort to control not only the health insurance of millions of Americans, but also designed to take total control of the insurance industry, and thereby control how medicine is practiced by doctors.
Fast forward to today and the real possibility of programs like the Green New Deal would become a reality. In September, 2019 the 98 member Democratic Congressional Progressive Caucus (which includes the four members of The Squad) sent out an email titled, “Read what Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Pramila Jayapal just said.” Here is the content of the email:

Scientists estimate that we only have 12 YEARS until the effects of climate change become IRREVERSIBLE. We have to act, now!
That’s why Progressive Caucus members like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Pramila Jayapal are speaking out:
We must pass bold initiatives, like a Green New Deal, if we want to stop climate change in its tracks.
But we can’t do that unless we elect a wave of pro-environment Progressives who will fight to keep our planet habitable for future generations.

Should the Green New Deal become law then all aspects of the U.S. economy would be controlled by the state.

Why do Democrats support lockdowns?

Today we now understand why Biden and the Democrats are pushing lockdowns, even from people celebrating Thanksgiving. The intent is to punish small business owners and the working class who have supported President Trump. Covid has become the Democrats weapon of choice used to destroy the working class! Lockdowns harm most of all those who work in “traditional” industries like hospitality (hotels, motels) restaurants, SalonSpaBoutiques,  small family owned businesses, construction, services companies (e.g. plumbing HI-VAC, electrical, etc.) and manufacturing and factories.
Who benefits from lockdowns? Who benefits from small businesses shutting down and going bankrupt? Why big corporations and the rich companies like Apple, Amazon, Walmart, Target, Big Tech and, of course, Communist China. When small businesses close and factories move off shore China wins!

Conclusion.

As Leon Trotsky warned when the state becomes the sole employer you must obey. Today, lockdowns are being used across America by Democrat politicians to decide which employees can or can’t work. Working Americans are finding it hard to keep their jobs. Family owned small businesses are struggling to keep their doors open. People are forced into wearing face masks, even though study after study says that face masks do no stop Covid.
Control the jobs and you control the people. Making American people wear face masks even in their own homes, under penalty of law, and you control how they fundamentally live. The Democrats are constantly sending out emails asking if there should be a “national mask mandate.” What they are really asking is you to voluntarily “submit to the state.”
Using their weapon of choice, Covid, the Democrats, in states like New York, Michigan and California, have taken total control of their citizens and their jobs. Trotsky would be proud to see that in certain parts of America there are those who if they do not obey will not eat. And if they do not obey and wear a face mask they will not work. Literally.
SUBMIT! Or else!
Or, should Americans “take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing end them?”
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©Dr. Rich Swier. All rights reserved.

Lockdowns Not Linked With Lower COVID Death Rates, New Study Finds

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Many US states and countries around the world are imposing another round of economic lockdowns in an effort to combat the coronavirus.
The actions are certain to come with a series of devastating unintended consequences—economic destruction, surging poverty, and mental health deterioration among them—but a new study suggests the lockdowns may not do what they are designed to do: save lives.
A new study published by Frontiers in Public Health concluded that neither lockdowns nor lockdown stringency were correlated with lower death rates.
Researchers analyzed data from 160 countries over the first 8 months of the pandemic, testing several factors—including demographics, public health, economy, politics, and environment—to determine how they are correlated with COVID-19 mortality.
“Stringency of the measures settled to fight pandemia, including lockdown, did not appear to be linked with death rate,” the researchers said.
The researchers found that the criteria most associated with a high death rate was life expectancy, though higher COVID death rates were also observed in certain geographic regions.
“Inherent factors have predetermined the COVID mortality: understanding them may improve prevention strategies by increasing population resilience through better physical fitness and immunity,” the authors said.
On one hand, the findings are astonishing. After all, the lockdowns have resulted in mass collateral damage: a global recession, millions of businesses ravaged, tens of millions of jobs lost, widespread mental health deterioration, a resurgence in global poverty, and surges in suicide.
To look at the destruction lockdowns have wrought only to learn they have failed to effectively slow the spread of the virus is maddening and, frankly, nauseating.
On the other hand, the findings shouldn’t be terribly surprising. Months ago researchers had compiled enough empirical evidence to determine how effective lockdowns were in taming COVID-19.
“…there’s little correlation between the severity of a nation’s restrictions and whether it managed to curb excess fatalities — a measure that looks at the overall number of deaths compared with normal trends,” Bloomberg’s data columnist Elaine He noted back in May.
Since then the evidence has only grown stronger. Sweden, for example, which opted to not lockdown in March, has seen its mortality ranking steadily fall throughout 2020.
In September, as it passed the US, Sweden saw its COVID mortality rate fall to 11th highest in the world. Its rate of 577 COVID deaths per million people was far better than many of its European neighbors who implemented strict lockdowns, such as the United Kingdom, Spain, Belgium, and Italy. Since then, Sweden has fallen further down the list, currently standing at 23rd in the world.
While critics of Sweden’s “lighter touch” strategy point out that its mortality rate is well above that of its Nordic counterparts Norway and Finland, many fail to realize that Norway and Finland have had less restrictive government policies than Sweden for the majority of the pandemic.
The reality is that lockdowns come with incredible collateral damage but appear to do little if anything to actually slow down the coronavirus. This is precisely why the World Health Organization reversed course in October and began advising nations to refrain from using them.
“Lockdowns just have one consequence that you must never ever belittle, and that is making poor people an awful lot poorer,” Dr. David Nabarro, the WHO’s Special Envoy on COVID-19, observed.
Dr. Michael Ryan, Director of the WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme, offered a similar sentiment.
“What we want to try to avoid … is these massive lockdowns that are so punishing to communities, to society and to everything else,” Ryan said at a briefing in Geneva in October, adding that sometimes they are “unavoidable.”
Despite mounting evidence that lockdowns don’t work and are incredibly harmful, government officials around the world continue to push them. Why? Because lockdowns are designed to save lives and experts are unwilling to admit they are powerless to control the virus.
In doing so, they’re falling victim to a dangerous deception: the good intentions fallacy.
“One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results,” the famed economist Milton Friedman once warned.
It’s time for the intellectual class to admit a basic reality about lockdowns.
They aren’t just horribly destructive and an affront to liberty. They’re actually failing to save lives.
COLUMN BY

Jon Miltimore

Jonathan Miltimore is the Managing Editor of FEE.org. His writing/reporting has been the subject of articles in TIME magazine, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, Forbes, Fox News, and the Star Tribune. Bylines: Newsweek, The Washington Times, MSN.com, The Washington Examiner, The Daily Caller, The Federalist, the Epoch Times.

5 Charts That Show Sweden’s Strategy Worked. The Lockdowns Failed
WHO Reverses Course, Now Advises Against Use of ‘Punishing’ Lockdowns
4 Life-Threatening Unintended Consequences of the Lockdowns
Lockdown Despotism and the “Control Panel” Delusion
Harvard Researchers: Nearly Half of Young Adults Showing Signs of Depression Amid Pandemic
Why Sweden Succeeded in “Flattening the Curve” and New York Failed
EDITORS NOTE: This FEE column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

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