 |
| See here |
 |
| See here |
«The Spanish government has just “authorized” the military to prepare planes for aerial spraying of disinfectants across major metro areas as confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths continue to rise, reported La Razón News.
The order was first published in the Boletín Oficial del Estado, the country’s official gazette, on Friday, that “authorizes the NBQ (Nuclear, Biological and Chemical) units of the Armed Forces and the UME to use biocides authorized by the Ministry of Health in disinfection efforts to deal with the health crisis caused by the coronavirus.”
According to the order, “the most effective disinfection techniques are the use of aerial means because through them, with nebulization, thermonebulization and micronebulization techniques, all surfaces are reached quickly, avoiding reliance on manual application, which it is slower, and sometimes it does not reach all surfaces because there are obstacles that prevent reaching them.”
The order continues to say “aerial disinfection” missions will be conducted “regularly” as long as the pandemic continues to ravage the country.
On Friday, Spain reported 5,252 new infections, the most significant jump in cases in more than a week, pushing up total cases to 184,948, with 19,478 deaths. The surge in cases could suggest that curve flattening via strict social distancing measures are not working, hence why the government has called up the military to conduct aerial disinfectant spraying missions.
La Razón News said the 43rd Air Force Group would operate Canadair CL-415 aerial firefighting planes that will most likely be outfitted with special sprayers to create an even stream of disinfectants while blanketing a metro area.
Each CL-415 has a range of 1,518 miles with a 1,620-gallon tank that can be mixed with chemicals. The plane is amphibious and can refill on a body of water.
Spain has deployed unmanned aerial systems and ground-based robots to spray disinfectants on the street level. Still, the move by the government to blanket entire towns with disinfectants via airplanes suggests that current efforts are failing to suppress the virus.»
Zero Hedge («SPAIN "AUTHORITIES" MILITARY PLANES TO SPRAY DISINFECTANTS OVER CITIES», in INFOWARS, April 18, 2020).
«A new study conducted by 17 medical professionals, most of whom are connected with Stanford University, concluded that, based upon initial data, the fatality rate of the coronavirus is no worse than the seasonal flu, and likely, once additional tests had been conducted and analyzed, even lower.
The first inkling that concerns over the virus were vastly overblown was an article written by two of the 17 in the Wall Street Journal in late March:
If it’s true that the novel coronavirus would kill millions without shelter-in-place orders and quarantines, then the extraordinary measures being carried out in cities and states around the country are surely justified.
But there’s little evidence to confirm that premise — and projections of the death toll could plausibly be orders of magnitude too high. [One order of magnitude overstates the fatality rate by a factor of 10.]
Fear of Covid-19 is based on its high estimated case fatality rate — 2% to 4% of people with confirmed Covid-19 have died, according to the World Health Organization and others.
So if 100 million Americans ultimately get the disease, two million to four million could die.
We believe that estimate is deeply flawed. The true fatality rate is the portion of those infected who die, not the deaths from identified positive cases.
In other words not everyone who gets infected develops the disease. Not even close. The difference is “between an epidemic that kills 20,000 and one that kills two million” wrote the doctors. “If the number of actual infections is much larger that the number of cases — orders of magnitude larger — then the true mortality rate is much lower as well. That’s not only plausible but likely on what we know so far.”
What they did know was published on April 11. After testing some 3,300 people in Santa Clara County, California, the “number of confirmed positive cases in the county was 956, 50-85-fold lower than the number of infections predicted by this study.”
This translates into an infection death rate of between 0.12 percent and 0.2 percent, far lower than predictions that the death rate of the virus would be between 2.0 and 4.0 percent, with the WHO predicting a death rate of 3.4 percent.
A week later Andrew Bogan, one of the 17, summarized the report’s finding, also in the Journal. The results of the study suggest “that the large majority of people who contract COVID-19 recover without ever knowing they were infected, and that the U.S. infection fatality rate may be more than an order of magnitude lower [less than one-tenth of original predictions] than authorities had assumed.
Those “authorities” also assumed powers never granted, overriding common sense, destroying wealth, and infringing on precious rights, all in the name of fighting a virus that, according to these medical professionals, is now turning out to be no more virulent than the flu.
Bogan asked:
If policy makers were aware from the outset that the COVID-19 death toll would be closer to that of seasonal flu than the millions of American deaths predicted by early models dependent upon inputs that now look inaccurate, would they have risked tens of millions of jobs and livelihoods?
This writer asks a different question:
After the best economy in history, the lowest unemployment in decades, China finally being put in its place on trade, and America and Americans being, for the first time in years, put first, how is it possible that somebody in a small village in China ate a bat and we suddenly have a worldwide pandemic that is destroying our economy, with an election coming up?
If additional studies now underway confirm the study’s conclusions, then it is hoped that the American people will discover that they have not only been lied to, but have also been manipulated in such a way as to give government vastly more control over their lives than few could have imagined. If that hope is fulfilled, then the old saying “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me” will serve as checks against those unconscionable and unconstitutional infringements.»
Bob Adelmann («New Study: Coronavirus Fatality Rate No Worse Than Seasonal Flu», in The New American, 19 April 2020). See here
«The “Global Citizen” Lady Gaga “One World At Home” Concert to support the World Health Organization is the moment when Hollywood draws the line in the sand as blatantly as possible between the American people and Hollywood’s globalist masters.
Thats right. As over 20 million Americans fight to file for unemployment, small businesses that have been around for decades permanently close.
And the measly $1200 check hasn’t reached as many as promised by now. The Satanists in Los Angeles want all eyes on their million dollar quarantines to support the foreign entity lead by the Chinese-installed Director Tedros, who propagandized three cholera outbreaks in Ethiopia and has now directly caused the deaths of thousands of Americans due to touting Chinese propaganda.
Yes, liberal snowflakes, Bad Orange Man isn’t going to send the largest donation per year to the World Health Organization. That can now be the dishonor of the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation.
For anyone even slightly aware of the actual truth behind the Chinese SARS devastation, Hollywood has revealed themselves as they truly are: arrogant misinformed spoiled assholes who would rather support a foreign power that is responsible for sending the United States over a cliff than support the efforts of their own Republic.»
Jon Bowne («HOLLYWOOD CHOOSES PROPAGANDA OVER PATRIOTISM», in INFOWARS, April 19, 2020). See here and here
 |
Lady Gaga's Gestapo Fetiche
|
The petition that began last week, called “We Call For Investigations Into The ‘Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’ For Medical Malpractice & Crimes Against Humanity” reads as follows:
 |
See here
|
As we look at events surrounding the “COVID-19 pandemic,” various questions remain unanswered. On Oct. 18th of 2019, only weeks prior to ground zero being declared in Wuhan, China, two major events took place. One is “Event 201,” the other is the “Military World Games,” held in none other than Wuhan. Since then a worldwide push for vaccines & biometric tracking has been initiated.
At the forefront of this is Bill Gates, who has publicly stated his interest in “reducing population growth” by 10-15%, by means of vaccination. Gates, UNICEF & WHO have already been credibly accused of intentionally sterilizing Kenyan children through the use of a hidden HCG antigen in tetanus vaccines.
Congress & all other governing bodies are derelict in duty until a thorough and public inquiry is complete.
Additionally, a separate petition rejecting the use of Bill Gates’ planned mass vaccinations and microchip ID technology has also accrued over 38,000 signatures in a week.
“ID2020 is a plan put in place by bill gates to impose mass public vaccination and show ‘vaccine status’ through a microchip or ‘ID’ injected under the skin,” the petition reads.
“This is the mark of the beast the bible has warned us about, folks.”
The minimum requirement for an official White House response to “We The People” petitions is 100,000 signatures, meaning the Trump administration must address the public’s concerns about Bill Gates and his connections to the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic.»
Infowars.com («WHITE HOUSE PETITION PASSES 100K SIGNATURE THRESHOLD TO HAVE BILL & MELINDA GATES FOUNDATION INVESTIGATED FOR CONNECTIONS TO WUHAN OUTBREAK», April 19, 2020).
«The CDC estimates that 61,000 Americans died from the flu during the 2017–18 flu season (with a range of 46,000 to 95,000 deaths). Few of us even remember that event. Stores stayed open, folks met and worked, and everyone lived as normal.
Taking sixty-one thousand deaths as our baseline, how deadly does a virus have to be to justify the destruction of our livelihoods and economy in general?
Half as deadly? No that wouldn’t make sense. But neither would “as deadly,” either.
Would twice as deadly cross the panic threshold? But that would be just twice something we didn’t notice while it was happening. So maybe even double is not enough.
No one is ever safe, ever. But we all lived lives in a world of uncertainty. That is, until many panicked and allowed governments to drive us into our own caves, so to speak.
But who incited panic? Media and social media initially sounded the alarm, sparking fear. However, it was government that provided justification for that fear, wrapping dour pronouncements in a veneer of supposed science and truth. Soon the panic threshold was breached. While the various media live off provocative headlines, government lives off fear.
So we end up with this strange symbiotic relationship: with the aid of a friendly media, government justifies the fears it propagandizes; constituents panic and turn to both government for help and the media for information. Certainly, it has to be this way. Why? Because government rules through the consent of the governed.»
Jim Fedako («EXACTLY HOW MANY DEATHS ARE NEEDED TO JUSTIFY GIVING GOVERNMENTS CONTROL OF EVERYTHING?», in INFOWARS, April 20, 2020). See here
«Amidst an investigation into the question of whether Spain’s draconian lockdown laws are constitutional, people are being fined a whopping €2,000 euros for “disrespecting” a police officer.
Unlike other European countries, people in Spain aren’t even allowed to go out to exercise during the coronavirus quarantine.
Citizens are only allowed to visit their nearest grocery store and only one person can be in a vehicle at a time unless the other person is classed as “vulnerable” or there is a medical emergency.
The lockdown is enforced via a network of roadblocks at which drivers are quizzed as to their intentions by aggressive police, some of whom carry guns. A physiotherapist was hit with a €600 euro fine for going to see a client after police stopped him when he was driving home.
The €2,000 euro fine for “disrespecting” a police officer is obviously completely arbitrary and easily open to abuse as a form of revenue generation.
“The guidelines state a standard €601 penalty for unauthorized movement outside the home without good reason that can be increased to up to €2000 if the offender responds with an “inappropriate attitude” to law enforcement officers, reports the Local.
People who cannot provide identification to police are fined €700 euros, while a trip to a second home earns a €1500 euro fine. The biggest fine – a gargantuan €10,400 euros – is reserved for anyone who attempts to “to organize or participate in a gathering, party or celebration.”
According to journalist Jason O’Toole, who is locked down in Madrid, tensions are “running high” and people are now being arrested for going out “too frequently” to the grocery shop.
This has prompted some judges, solicitors, law professors, and NGOs to complain that the onerous fines are “unconstitutional.”
“There’s an investigation now underway by the Defensor del Pueblo (Spanish Ombudsman) to see if the fines are “correct and proportional,” because they want to “protect the rights of the citizens.” It’s a move that has even been welcomed by La Abogacia del Estado,” writes O’Toole.
“The Ministry of Justice is now questioning whether the fines are legally sound and says it’s possible many cases could be thrown out of court on a technicality. They say, for example, those apprehended might get off scot-free if the police didn’t first give them a formal warning – like a yellow card in football.”»
Paul Joseph Watson («SPAIN: £2,000 FINE FOR "DISRESPECTING" A POLICE OFFICER DURING LOCKDOWN», in INFOWARS, April 20, 2020).
«YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki says that any videos that go against the almighty wisdom of the pro-China World Health Organization violate YouTube’s policies and are subject to deletion.
In her first interview since the U.S. coronavirus lockdown began, Wojcicki discussed how the platform has responded to the pandemic by removing thousands of videos and redirecting over 10 billion views to corporate media outlets.
“We really focus on authoritative information for our users, and making sure we can raise that,” Wojcicki said Friday on CNN’s Reliable Sources podcast.
Wojcicki explained how censorship is a core focus of YouTube, describing how the platform removes content it deems “misinformation,” especially if it contradicts the World Health Organization.
“We also talk about removing information that is problematic,” Wojcicki continued. “We’ve had to update our policy numerous times associated with COVID-19.”
“So of course, anything that is medically unsubstantiated, so people saying like, ‘take vitamin C, take turmeric, like those are/or will cure you.’ Those are the examples of things that would be a violation of our policy.”
“Anything that would go against World Health Organization [WHO] recommendations would be a violation of our policy,” Wojcicki added. “And so remove is another really important part of our policy, and making sure we don’t have information that’s false on our platform for our users.”
Remember, this is the same globalist organization that criticized President Trump for rightly banning travel to and from China in January, refused to acknowledge Taiwan’s existence at China’s behest, and actively disseminated Chinese Communist Party propaganda lying about the severity of the coronavirus and calling Trump racist for branding the disease as the “Chinese virus.”
As a result, Trump halted U.S. funding for WHO – between $400-500 million annually – last week over its poor response to the coronavirus pandemic and its new role as China’s de facto public relations arm.»
Jamie White («YOUTUBE CEO: 'ANYTHING THAT GOES AGAINST W.H.O. IS A VIOLATION OF YOUTUBE POLICIES'», in INFOWARS, April 20,2020).
«From California to New Jersey, Americans are protesting in the streets. They are demanding an end to house arrest orders given by government officials over a virus outbreak that even according to the latest US government numbers will claim fewer lives than the seasonal flu outbreak of 2017-2018.
Across the US, millions of businesses have been shut down by “executive order” and the unemployment rate has skyrocketed to levels not seen since the Great Depression. Americans, who have seen their real wages decline thanks to Federal Reserve monetary malpractice, are finding themselves thrust into poverty and standing in breadlines. It is like a horror movie, but it’s real.
Last week the UN Secretary General warned that a global recession resulting from the worldwide coronavirus lockdown could cause “hundreds of thousands of additional child deaths per year.” As of this writing, less than 170,000 have been reported to have died from the coronavirus worldwide.
Many Americans have also died this past month because they were not able to get the medical care they needed. Cancer treatments have been indefinitely postponed. Life-saving surgeries have been put off to make room for coronavirus cases. Meanwhile hospitals are laying off thousands because the expected coronavirus cases have not come and the hospitals are partially empty.
What if the “cure” is worse than the disease?
Countries like Sweden that did not lock down their economy and place the population under house arrest are faring no worse than countries that did. Sweden’s deaths-per-million from coronavirus is lower than in many lockdown countries.
Likewise, US states that did not arrest citizens for merely walking on the beach are not doing worse than those that did. South Dakota governor Kristi Noem said last week, “we’ve been able to keep our businesses open and allow people to take on some personal responsibility.” South Dakota has recorded a total of seven coronavirus deaths.
Kentucky, a strict lockdown state, is five times more populated than South Dakota, yet it has some 20 times more coronavirus deaths. If lockdown and house arrest are the answer, shouldn’t those numbers be reversed, with South Dakota seeing mass death while Kentucky dodges the coronavirus bullet?
When Anthony Fauci first warned that two million would die, there was a race among federal, state, and local officials to see who could rip up the Constitution fastest. Then Fauci told us if we do what he says only a quarter of a million would die. They locked America down even harder. Then, with little more than a shrug of the shoulders, they announced that a maximum of 60,000 would die, but maybe less. That is certainly terrible, but it’s just a high-average flu season.
Imagine if we had used even a fraction of the resources spent to lock down the entire population and focused on providing assistance and protection to the most vulnerable – the elderly and those with serious medical conditions. We could have protected these people and still had an economy to go back to when the virus had run its course. And it wouldn’t have cost us six trillion dollars either.
Governments have no right or authority to tell us what business or other activity is “essential.” Only in totalitarian states does the government claim this authority. We should encourage all those who are standing up peacefully and demanding an accounting from their elected leaders. They should not be able to get away with this.»
Ron Paul («RON PAUL: WHAT IF THE LOCKDOWN WAS ALL A BIG MISTAKE?», in INFOWARS, April 20, 2020).
«A man recently released from jail due to coronavirus concerns was arrested again after allegedly carrying out a carjacking and attacking a separate victim with a hammer in San Jose, according to police.
James Mitchell Correa, 25, was freed from Santa Clara County jail on April 10 while awaiting trial for a prior carjacking and related charges – including violating parole – despite protestations from the district attorney’s office, who cited Correa’s violent history and gang affiliations and said he posed a threat to public safety.
San Jose Police say Correa was wanted in connection with “a pair of attacks Wednesday in San Jose in which he is accused of commandeering someone’s car by saying that he had a gun, and the separate hammer attack,” the Mercury News reports.
Correa was eventually arrested again and is now being held without bail at Santa Clara County jail.
“Once again, a judge has given more rights to the criminal than they’re giving to victims and residents of the city,” said San Jose Police Chief Eddie Garcia. “This judge got lucky by this individual being apprehended. Had he hurt anyone else or caused my officers harm, that would have been a difficult burden to carry.”
“If you let a misdemeanor offender without this history out, I wouldn’t hold you accountable since you can’t predict that person would do something like this, but [Correa] had all the signs of someone who was going to hurt someone.”
Prisoners across the country are being freed under the guise of concerns about ‘overcrowding’ in jails and possible spread of coronavirus among inmates.
Santa Clara County jails have reportedly seen a 26 percent decrease in population since early March.»
Dan Lyman («Criminal With 'Violent History' Freed Due to Coronavirus Arrested in Carjacking, Hammer Attack», in NEWSWARS, April 20, 2020).
 |
| See here |
 |
See here
|
 |
| See here |
 |
| Tiananmen Square. See here |
«A number of police departments around the country are using drones manufactured by a company with ties to the Chinese government in order to enforce COVID-19-related lockdowns, prompting concerns from experts who say the drones may serve as a way for the east Asian communist regime to spy on the United States.
Already, 43 law-enforcement agencies in 22 states are surveilling Americans with the help of drones made by China’s Da Jian Innovations (DJI), ensuring citizens remain in their homes and observe social-distancing rules.
“Should people be concerned? Yes. Everyone should always be concerned,” says Brett Velicovich, former Army intelligence worker and author of the book Drone Warrior.
(…) “It’s about China’s long-term goal, not COVID,” said Barry Bryer, a Virginia resident who flies drones. “People will give away their right to privacy because of the coronavirus, but do they know what they are signing up for?”
Velicovich, meanwhile, urged America to heed the warnings of the intelligence community about Chinese-made drones.
“I can tell you that U.S. intelligence knows the impact of their reports and if they are saying that this is going back to the Chinese, then there is something there,” he said.
The news comes as some state and local governments seek to monitor and control citizens’ activities to keep them in line with social-distancing protocols.
New York Mayor Bill De Blasio is urging the city’s residents to snitch on neighbors who do not obey stay-at-home orders (after he already threatened to shutter churches and synagogues that meet in violation of his ban on gatherings of more than 10 people).
And some state governments, such as New Mexico’s, are hiring companies to use citizens’ cellphone data to track their movements and determine whether they’re really social distancing.
While it’s certainly alarming that American law enforcement is using Chinese technology to spy on fellow Americans — a fact that should be considered in the question of whether China’s dissemination of the virus was deliberate — the bigger problem is that we’re allowing our own government to surveil us in the first place, whether by using Chinese-made or American-made equipment.
Sadly, as history has repeatedly shown, many are all too willing to hand over their rights at the first sign of a crisis.»
Luis Miguel («U.S. Cities Enforce Social Distancing With Drones - Donated by China», in The New American, 20 April 2020).
«Westport, Connecticut police are going to be testing a “pandemic drone” that monitors citizens’ temperatures from almost 200 feet away and detects sneezing and coughing as well as heart and breathing rates.
Produced by the Canadian company Draganfly, the drones will be used by the police department “to enhance town services, advance public safety, promote the efficient use of taxpayer dollars, engage residents, and encourage growth in the local economy.”
Westport police titled the operation the “Flatten the Curve Pilot Program.”
According to a Draganfly press release, “The pandemic drone will be equipped with a specialized sensor and computer vision systems that can display fever/temperature, heart and respiratory rates, as well as detect people sneezing and coughing in crowds, and wherever groups of people may work or congregate. The technology can accurately detect infectious conditions from a distance of 190 feet as well as measure social distancing for proactive public safety practices.”
“One of the major problems for cities and towns like Westport in managing and responding to a pandemic like the COVID-19 virus, is finding out who could be infected and how widespread the disease has spread,” Westport First Selectman Jim Marpe said in a recent statement. “One way to do this is to look for underlying symptoms. By teaming up with Draganfly and the UniSA team led by Defence Chair of Sensor Systems Professor Javaan Chahl, we are able to remotely look at valuable lifesaving data and better manage current and future health emergencies.”
Westport will use the drones to monitor potential at-risk groups like seniors, crowds gathering downtown and at beaches, train stations, parks and recreation areas, shopping centers and basically all areas where people frequently gather.
Police say the technology will not be used to spy on private properties and note that the drones do not use facial recognition technology.
“This program has been tested for approximately the last five days,” Westport Police Lt. Anthony Prezioso told Patch. “It is anticipated that this will continue to be in effect through the summer months of July and August as we anticipate the need to continue to work to reinforce social distancing measures in order to limit and control the spread of the COVID-19 virus.”»
Kelen McBreen («CT POLICE TESTING HIGHLY INVASIVE DRONES TO ENFORCE SOCIAL DISTANCING», in INFOWARS, April 21, 2020).
«Not content merely to issue unconstitutional coronavirus edicts and to hope cops catch people in the act of violating them, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio is now urging people to report violators to the city so police can “immediately” enforce his orders.
De Blasio, who has already threatened to shutter churches and synagogues that meet in violation of his ban on gatherings of more than 10 people, posted a video on Twitter Saturday alternately praising New Yorkers for their submissiveness and chastising those who fail to bow to his dictates.
De Blasio first flatters his audience by telling them how “extraordinary” they “have been at social distancing” despite the difficulties inherent in avoiding others in a city with a population density of over 26,000 people per square mile. “You’ve done an amazing job,” he says, and then thanks those who have heeded his orders.
“But,” he adds, “we still know there’s some people who need to get the message. And that means sometimes making sure the enforcement is there to educate people and make clear we’ve got to have social distancing.” (“Educate,” of course, sounds so much nicer than “threaten,” “fine,” or “arrest.”)
Fortunately, “now it’s easier than ever” to snitch on your neighbors, de Blasio continues. “When you see a crowd, when you see a line that’s not distanced, when you see a supermarket that’s too crowded — anything — you can report it right away so we can get help there to fix the problem.”
How can New Yorkers so easily tattle on each other? “It’s a simple as taking a photo,” explains de Blasio. Add the location and text it or send it through an app to the city, “and we will make sure that enforcement comes right away.”
While some will undoubtedly turn their neighbors in, as has happened all across the country as liberties have been restricted in recent weeks, others saw de Blasio’s video for what it really was and responded accordingly. “I don’t want to say this is the dumbest idea anyone’s ever cooked up,” quipped Molly Jong-Fast, “but this is the dumbest idea anyone’s ever cooked up.”
“War is peace, Big Brother loves you,” tweeted Ned Ryun.
David Burge posted a photo of the former East German Stasi, infamous for its extensive network of citizen-informers, with the caption “Comrade citizen! Report all suspected anti-distancing activities to friendly New York Ministry of Social Cleanliness!”
Others replied to de Blasio’s video with evidence of his own violations of shelter-in-place and social-distancing orders. Jim Rockaway supplied a picture of the mayor’s appearance in a crowded hospital waiting room Friday. More than one person reminded de Blasio of his daily walks, complete with security detail, in a park 12 miles from his home. (De Blasio has defended the practice as necessary for him to continue with his mayoral duties.)
De Blasio, naturally, considers his curtailment of others’ freedom a small price to pay for saving lives. “Sending that photo,” he said in the video, “is going to help make sure that people are kept apart, and that’s going to stop the disease from spreading, and that’s going to save lives.”
But is it? It may stop some people from catching COVID-19, yet only a tiny percentage of those who contract the disease will die from it, and most of them have other life-threatening conditions already. Meanwhile, the government- and media-induced panic over the disease and the economic damage from the lockdowns are already causing an increase in suicides, and people are dying at home from potentially treatable conditions because they are afraid to go to hospitals that they have been led to believe are jam-packed with patients and coronaviruses. The destruction of the social fabric caused by isolation and snitching will undoubtedly have ill effects for years to come, particularly if politicians insist on maintaining these policies in one form or another for months.
None of this seems to matter to de Blasio, who is only concerned with being seen “doing something” to prevent a coronavirus crisis — never mind the Constitution, which probably didn’t cross his mind any more than it did that of New Jersey’s governor. But what else would one expect from a communist-sympathizing mayor?»
Michael Tennant («De Blasio Urges New Yorkers to Snitch on Social-distancing Violators», in The New American, 20 April 2020).
 |
| See here |
 |
| See here |
«(...) There are over 317,000 illegal aliens residing in North Carolina, according the New American Economy.»
Dan Lyman («State Officials Pledge to Share Coronavirus Checks With Illegals», in NEWSWARS, April 21, 2020). See here
«New figures from the UK’s Office of National Statistics show that the number of deaths from flu and pneumonia is three times higher than the total number of coronavirus deaths this year.
The figures show that there were 18,500 total deaths in England and Wales in the week up until April 10, which is around 8,000 above what would be considered “normal” at this time of year. Around a third of those 18,500 are linked to coronavirus.
“But the figures for 2020 also show the impact of flu and pneumonia compared to coronavirus,” reports the BBC. “The number of deaths from flu and pneumonia – at more than 32,000 – is three times higher than the total number of coronavirus deaths this year.”
The report points out that the 18,500 death figure is the highest since January 2000, “when there was a bad flu outbreak.” The number of deaths recorded in the week up until April 10 in 2015, when there was also a particularly deadly flu season, is also relatively close to the number of recorded coronavirus deaths in the same week this year.
Back in February, a leaked government document suggested coronavirus would infect 80 per cent of Brits and killed 500,000. So far, the number of coronavirus deaths recorded by hospitals across the whole of the UK stands at 17,337.
Supporters of the lockdown policies assert that social distancing measures have kept death numbers relatively low based on what was previously predicted.
Others point to the fact that NHS hospitals are four times emptier than normal and overspill hospitals built to prevent existing hospitals from being overwhelmed were never used to claim that the coronavirus threat was exaggerated.
Whatever the case, the British government has not indicated when it will start to lift lockdown measures despite other European countries already beginning to relax them.»
Paul Joseph Watson («UK ONS FIGURES SHOW THREE TIMES MORE DEATHS FROM FLU & PNEUMONIA THAN CORONAVIRUS», in INFOWARS, April 21, 2020).
«Food-security remains a significant problem during coronavirus lockdowns. The next big issue unfolding is the shuttering of the nation’s food plants could drive food inflation sky high.
On Wednesday, Tyson Fresh Meats, the beef and pork subsidiary of Tyson Foods, released a statement that said its plant in Waterloo, Iowa, will suspend operations until further notice.
The company said the Waterloo location is its largest pork plant, has been running at reduced output “due to worker absenteeism.”
Tyson is planning to test all 2,800 workers for COVID-19 at the facility later this week.
“Protecting our team members is our top priority and the reason we’ve implemented numerous safety measures during this challenging and unprecedented time,” said Steve Stouffer, group president of Tyson Fresh Meats.
“Despite our continued efforts to keep our people safe while fulfilling our critical role of feeding American families, the combination of worker absenteeism, COVID-19 cases and community concerns has resulted in our decision to stop production.”
Stouffer warned that the closure of the pork plant could ripple through the production chain and cause significant disruptions to the “nation’s pork supply:”
“The closure has significant ramifications beyond our company, since the plant is part of a larger supply chain that includes hundreds of independent farmers, truckers, distributors and customers, including grocers,” Stouffer said. “It means the loss of a vital market outlet for farmers and further contributes to the disruption of the nation’s pork supply.”
The company said workers would be “compensated while the plant is closed.” There was no firm timeline on when the plant would reopen. However, there were several factors, including the “outcome of team member testing for COVID-19.”
We noted over the weekend that meat prices across the country are surging as food processing plants are closing because of the virus.
The latest plant closure was China-owned Smithfield Food’s factory in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, the largest pork processing plant in the US, due to a coronavirus outbreak, could leave Americans without pork products.
Also, health officials in Illinois closed Hormel’s Rochelle Foods plant last Friday, a move that could trigger a shortage of Spam products.
And it appears food inflation could be imminent as coronavirus is leading to the shutdown of food manufacturing plants across the country.»
Zero Hedge («NATIONS'S LARGEST PORK PLANT CLOSES AMID FOOD SHORTAGE FEARS», in INFOWARS, April 22, 2020).
«Dr. Anders Tegnell, the state epidemiologist of Sweden, recently told the Swedish news agency TT that the Scandinavian country’s more relaxed approach to fighting the coronavirus pandemic is beginning to yield results. Tegnell said the latest figures on infection rates and fatalities indicate the crisis is starting to stabilize.
“We’re on a sort of plateau,” Tegnell told the Swedish news agency TT.
A report in the U.K. newspaper The Sun on April 20 noted that Sweden recorded just 40 coronavirus deaths and 392 cases that day “as the country continues to avoid lockdown restrictions.”
The Sun observed that Sweden is the only country in Europe not to have implemented lockdown measures on the public.
The 392 new confirmed cases is the smallest jump since April 12 and takes Sweden's total confirmed cases to 14,777, observed The Sun.
We compared Sweden’s coronavirus statistics to Portugal’s since both countries have nearly identical populations. (Portugal: 10,252,000; Sweden: 10,236,000) A report from Statistica.com showing the number of COVID-19 cases in Europe by country, as of Apr 21, 2020, revealed that Portugal had 20,863 cases, compared to Sweden’s 14,777. Sweden’s neighbor, Norway, with half Sweden’s population at 5,333,000, also had half the number of cases at 7,113, as might be expected. So even with its more relaxed restrictions. Sweden is faring as well as its neighbor, on a per capita basis.
The Sun reported that government ministers in Sweden have promised a huge increase in COVID-19 testing so that frontline works can be screened for the virus.
The report quoted Swedish Health Minister Lena Hallengren, who said: “We are talking about testing and analysis capacity of 50,000, perhaps as many as 100,000, a week.”
A report in Britain’s Daily Mail on April 20 observed that the Swedish government maintains that its strategy is right because people need to “understand and accept” measures over the long term rather than be forced into obeying them.
“If everyone takes their responsibility, together we will overcome it,” the report quoted Prime Minister Stefan Löfven.
The report cited Swedish officials who say that “people in Sweden have a high level of trust in government agencies,” with the result that advisory measures are widely followed.
Sweden’s pandemic strategy has been described as trusting the public to act responsibly. Rather than imposing wide-ranging bans and restrictions, authorities have advised people to maintain good hand hygiene, work from home, and practice social distancing. In other words, the same as all other countries, only without the heavy hand of the state.
One point that might be worth considering in view of Sweden’s approach to handling the COVID-19 pandemic is — if less draconian measures produce results as effective as shutting down a nation’s economy, then why not take the less-intrusive approach?»
Warren Mass («Sweden's "Quarantine Lite": Even Without a Strict Lockdown, Nation Stabilizes COVID-19 Cases», in The New American, 21 April 2020).
 |
Flag of Sweden
|
 |
| Flag of Portugal |
 |
 |
| Oliveira Salazar: The last Portuguese Statesman |
"Politically, there exists only what the public knows to exist."
Oliveira Salazar
"I was presented to him once… a most amazing man [Salazar]… one of the greatest Historical enigmas…"
 |
25 April 1974: The red revolution in Lisbon which overthrew the "Portuguese Empire"
|
ANTHONY FAUCI ONLY KNOWS HIS NARROW FIELD OF EXPERTISE
As the COVID-19 shutdown across the US continues, one cannot but help see the importance of specialization and the division of labor time and time again, as many Americans deal with true shortages of goods for the first time in their lives.
Specialization has allowed us to enjoy a much more prosperous life than we would were we all to do everything ourselves. However, as with everything in this imperfect world, specialization comes with certain tradeoffs that are important to understand. As the unemployment numbers continue to rise by millions more every week, as meager savings are eliminated, and as our highly organized society slides into chaos it is important to understand the way in which an unbalanced intellectual specialization has contributed to bringing about the current crisis.
In his 1930 book The Revolt of the Masses, Spanish philosopher José Ortega y Gasset addresses what he considers to be a strange byproduct of the prevalence of specialization in everything, specifically the intellectual sphere. “Previously,” he writes, “men could be divided simply into the learned and the ignorant, those more or less the one, and those more or less the other.” Now, however, a new kind of person has emerged, “an extraordinarily strange kind of man,” who cannot be called “learned for he is formally ignorant of all that does not enter into his specialty,” yet at the same time cannot be considered “ignorant because he is ‘a scientist’ who ‘knows’ very well his own tiny portion of the universe.” Thus, Ortega y Gasset says that the only fitting name for such a person is a “learned ignoramus.”
There can be no doubt that numerous learned ignoramuses can be found in all parts of society, but most importantly they are very clearly involved in the response to the COVID-19 virus, as sweeping calls for months of lockdown make clear.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and seen by many as the face of the federal virus response, has perhaps made the most ridiculous assertion, stating at a White House briefing on April 1 that “we could ‘relax social distancing’ once there’s ‘no new cases, no deaths,’ but the real turning point won’t come until there’s a vaccine.” Similarly, Dr. Zeke Emanuel, an architect of Obamacare and current advisor to Joe Biden, declared that it will be impossible to return to “normalcy” for eighteen months and that no matter the economic cost: “The truth is we have no choice….We cannot return to normal until there’s a vaccine.”
Such ideas are frankly madness, and would take an incalculable toll on the health and wealth of all Americans. Tens of millions of Americans find themselves out of work or with reduced hours or pay. The idea that society could continue to exist in such a state betrays a lack of any understanding of the social order.
Smithfield Foods is shutting down a meat processing plant that produces 4 to 5 percent of all the pork in the entire country, and its CEO warned that “the closure of this facility, combined with a growing list of other protein plants that have shuttered across our industry, is pushing our country perilously close to the edge in terms of our meat supply. It is impossible to keep our grocery stores stocked if our plants are not running.”
Mass unemployment will inevitably lead to an increase in suicide and substance abuse and the stay-at-home orders have already led to increased domestic violence. New instances of outrageous police conduct in the name of enforcing lockdowns emerge everyday. It is no exaggeration to say that in eighteen months there would likely not be any society left to “reopen.”
 |
| See here |
Truly, only learned ignoramuses could suggest such an obviously catastrophic course of action. Those plebeians who dare to question “experts” such as Fauci and Emanuel are lectured to listen to their betters, who use “science” to understand the situation and are far more knowledgeable. In other words, “stay in your lane.” Yet such critics miss their glaring contradiction. Public health officials certainly have a role to play, but they themselves are not experts at everything. By definition, they do not fully understand the other consequences and considerations that must be weighed and balanced, and they, of course, are lacking in the local dispersed knowledge needed to make such decisions. Yet that does not stop them from making declarations dripping with arrogance, such as Fauci’s assessment of the implosion of the economy and the resulting unemployment and hardship as being merely “inconvenient from an economic and a personal standpoint.” As Ortega y Gasset pointed out, learned ignoramuses are “ignorant, not in the fashion of the ignorant man, but with all the petulance of one who is learned in his own special line.”
The phenomenon of the learned ignoramus can be seen in every field and at all levels of intellectual life and popular punditry. However, the current crisis reveals the damage such “experts” can wreak upon civilization itself.
Ortega y Gasset fully recognized the important role that specialization has in making modern life possible; however, he calls for a balanced intellectual specialization, in contrast to the unbalanced status quo that he fears threatens the advancement of scientific discovery itself. Two such balanced intellectuals are without a doubt Ludwig von Mises and F.A. Hayek; although economists, they could be more accurately called social thinkers whose work encompassed far more than that of the typical economist today.
Rather than insular, unbalanced specialization, Mises argued that “He who wants to achieve anything in praxeology must be conversant with mathematics, physics, biology, history, and jurisprudence.” Hayek similarly warned that “Unless you really know your economics or whatever your special field is, you will be simply a fraud. But if you know only economics and nothing else, you will be a bane to mankind, good, perhaps, for writing articles for other economists to read, but for nothing else.”
Undoubtedly, the entire situation would look entirely different from the chaotic disruptive mess it is now if our public health officials and social scientists were trained in the mold of Mises and Hayek. Whereas both men stressed the complex and ultimately fragile nature of the social order, and therefore the need for broad understanding of this complexity, the learned ignoramus, in the words of Ortega y Gasset, “believes that civilization is there in just the same way as the earth’s crust and the forest primeval.”
Every time the “experts” demand that life be halted into the indeterminate future, they vindicate Ortega y Gasset’s observation that the learned ignoramuses are ignorant of the very nature of the social order itself and are therefore a menace to its preservation. This crisis demonstrates how prescient Ortega y Gasset’s warning was. Hopefully it is not too late to prevent a true societal catastrophe. (in INFOWARS, April 17, 2020).
 |
| See here |
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário