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Best of the Web: Lockdown lunacy 3.0: It's over

handley covid
If you're hoping the COVID-19 pandemic will go on forever, this post may disappoint you. And, I get it. We have gone frothing-at-the-mouth nuts over a slightly above-normal virulence virus, with a unique and obvious age-distribution pattern that should have made containment easy and panic completely unnecessary. And, if you're living in the United States, like I am, you probably think my declaration that this pandemic is "over" to be somewhere between wishful thinking and incredibly premature, and I hear you, too, although forgive me if I'm not sure you're the one thinking clearly, given some of the things I've recently read. I promise to support my assertion with data, and the wisdom of people far more expert than me who are having a harder time being heard in the present climate of...bats#@t crazy.

Have we lost our collective minds? Yes.

You may not be one of them. In fact, I'm guessing the people who actually take the time to read my blog posts are the few remaining who haven't been subsumed by the panic, but can we agree that most have? Jeffrey A. Tucker of the American Institute for Economic Research put it best in his excellent essay on July 10 titled, When will the Madness End?:
"I'm a practicing psychiatrist who specializes in anxiety disorders, paranoid delusions, and irrational fear. I've been treating this in individuals as a specialist. It's hard enough to contain these problems in normal times. What's happening now is a spread of this serious medical condition to the whole population. It can happen with anything but here we see a primal fear of disease turning into mass panic. It seems almost deliberate. It is tragic. Once this starts, it could take years to repair the psychological damage."

Stop

Best of the Web: Viral video of doctors countering Covid-19 narrative becomes victim of coordinated deletion

America's Frontline Doctors
A group of doctors stood in Washington DC and recorded a video countering the coronavirus narrative. The video received instant attention and garnered many millions of views overnight. Overnight on Facebook it rose up to the #2 most engaged post site wide. The video was live-streamed with 185,000 viewers. It had over 17 million views before it was removed from Facebook. It's also been highly targeted for censorship and been deleted from Twitter, YouTube, and Google.

Facebook's Communication Director, Andy Stone, openly admitted to deleting the video. He says "we removed it for sharing false information about cures and treatments for COVID-19." However Andy Stone does not appear to have any medical credentials and he does not indicate what contrary information he has that proves the video is false information. In this case social media 'experts' outweigh the medical advice of actual doctors.

Comment: Far from being a soundbite moment as portrayed by the mainstream media, the group held a lengthy seminar detailing their research and conclusions. See for yourself:


Still think the government cares about you?


Bulb

Best of the Web: "China is not an enemy": US Cold War policy will isolate the US, not China

Tensions between the United States and China
Tensions between the United States and China are rising as the U.S. election nears, with tit-for-tat consulate closures, new U.S. sanctions and no less than three U.S. aircraft carrier strike groups prowling the seas around China. But it is the United States that has initiated each new escalation in U.S.-China relations. China's responses have been careful and proportionate, with Chinese officials such as Foreign Minister Wang Yi publicly asking the U.S. to step back from its brinkmanship to find common ground for diplomacy.

Most of the U.S. complaints about China are long-standing, from the treatment of the Uighur minority and disputes over islands and maritime borders in the South China Sea to accusations of unfair trade practices and support for protests in Hong Kong. But the answer to the "Why now?" question seems obvious: the approaching U.S. election.

Danny Russel, who was Obama's top East Asia expert in the National Security Council and then at the State Department, told the BBC that the new tensions with China are partly an effort to divert attention from Trump's bungled response to the Covid-19 pandemic and his tanking poll numbers, and that this "has a wag the dog feel to it."

Meanwhile, Democratic Presidential candidate Joe Biden has been going toe-to-toe with Trump and Secretary Pompeo in a potentially dangerous "tough on China" contest, which could prove difficult for the winner to walk back after the election.

Pistol

Best of the Web: Portland grapples with surging homicides following police budget cuts

portland police
Portland is grappling with a surge in violent crime following the Black Lives Matter protests that have rocked the city following the death of George Floyd. There have been more killings in a single month than in the past three decades.
Portland is grappling with a surge in violent crime following the Black Lives Matter protests that have rocked the city following the death of George Floyd. There have been more killings in a single month than in the past three decades. Budget cuts to the police department, at the direction of the City Council, have caused the city's homicide levels to skyrocket.

Portland has seen 63 shootings so far in July — a stark contrast to the 28 in July 2019.

The Oregonian reports that Portland police are now responding to 15 homicides — the most killings in one month than more than three decades. Police figures show an alarming rise in violent crimes including homicides, assaults, and burglaries.

Comment: See also:


Question

Best of the Web: Why are liberal media outlets completely ignoring Epstein revelations involving Bill Clinton?

bill clinton jeffrey epstein
Left-wing media has failed to cover the Jeffrey Epstein court documents, alleging former President Bill Clinton of visiting the deceased child sex trafficker's "pedophile island" with two young girls present.
Left-wing media has failed to cover the Jeffrey Epstein court documents, alleging former President Bill Clinton of visiting the deceased child sex trafficker's "pedophile island" with two young girls present.

Ground News, a bias-checker that tracks partisanship in journalism and compares distribution across the political aisle, found that conservative media mainly reported on the Epstein Files, comprising 78% of the publications cited for their coverage.

Comment: See also:


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Best of the Web: WHO admits: No direct evidence masks prevent viral infection

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus WHO
According to the director general of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, life will not be returning to your old normal anytime soon. What's more, things will only get worse unless the public follow health advice such as wearing masks and social distancing. The somber announcement came during a July 13, 2020, press conference (below).

This, despite the fact that the WHO's June 5, 2020, guidance memo1 on face mask use states there's no direct evidence that universal masking of healthy people is an effective intervention against respiratory illnesses.

What's more, people are being urged to use cloth masks or bandanas (ostensibly to prevent shortages among health care staff), none of which conform to any kind of quality standards, and according to what little scientific evidence is available have been shown to provide only about half of what little protection you may get from a surgical mask.

Comment: Any government that was truly interested in the protection of their citizens would not make the wearing of masks mandatory. There is no evidence to back up their effectiveness and plenty of evidence showing their harm. It needs to be up to the individual to determine for themselves whether virtue signalling and showing compliance to the state is a worthy trade-off with decreasing one's oxygen levels.

See also:


Light Sabers

Best of the Web: Year of Meltdown? Mask fanaticism is causing Kens & Karens everywhere to brawl with others

Mask brawls
© YouTube / Karen Strikes Again
The efficacy of mandatory mask rules is debatable, but a series of viral videos provide ample evidence that the guidelines have helped make 2020 one of the most absurd and painfully idiotic years in recent memory.

Mid-flight fisticuffs over maskless passengers

The latest incident in the saga of mask-related assaults kicked off on a flight from Amsterdam to Ibiza. Two passengers on the KLM flight reportedly became physical after refusing to wear masks during the journey to Spain. Passengers and crew worked together to restrain the two men, who reportedly had been drinking.

Footage of the insane mid-flight fracas shows multiple passengers squeezed into the airplane's aisle as they shout and exchange punches. The two men, who are not believed to be Dutch citizens, were reportedly detained by authorities once the plane landed in Spain.

Comment: Deliberate dumbing-down of the public and sporadic citizen meltdown over trivial issues was on the rise for a few decades. It went to new heights with the liberal meltdown over Trump's election in 2016. But, 2020 proved to be 'year of the meltdown' with Covid hysteria, mask madness and BLM hooliganism in the name of justice and systemic racism.

In another incident, one Toronto man wearing a mask below his chin became hysterical over another mask-less customer getting his pizza in a 'Pizza Pizza' chain restaurant and destroyed their display unit.


Many comments speculated that the violent outburst could be the result of mental health issues.


Toronto requires masks to be worn in all indoor public spaces. Similar policies adopted by the British and German authorities have sparked protests in those countries. In the Netherlands, the government has said it will not advise the public to wear face masks, arguing that there is not enough proof that they are effective at stopping the spread of Covid-19.


Red Pill

Best of the Web: Holland's top scientists: 'No reliable evidence face coverings work' - Warn they could even hinder 'the fight against Covid-19'

amsterdam
While 120 countries in the world ordered citizens to wear masks in public places to prevent the spread of Covid-19, the Dutch are doing things differently. Pictured, people enjoying a drink in Amsterdam
As I walked around the sun-dappled streets of Amsterdam, something felt strange in this world swept by fear and pandemic. There was laughter coming from barges sliding along the famous canals, clusters of cyclists clogged the streets, shoppers dipped into chic boutiques, the barber shops seemed busy and cafes served couples chatting over coffee.

I heard many voices of tourists in bars and restaurants, while even the seedier sides of this celebrated Dutch city had people strolling through them. It took me a moment to realise what was so weird. Then it struck me. It felt like I had stepped back in time, returning to the pre-pandemic normality of a bustling city filled with human beings whose faces were not covered by cloth.

For while 120 countries in the world, including much of Europe, have ordered citizens to wear masks in public places to prevent the spread of Covid-19, the Dutch are doing things differently.

The nation's top scientists, having examined key data and research, have declared there is no firm evidence to back the use of face coverings. Indeed, they argue that wearing the wretched things may actually hamper the fight against disease.

Yellow Vest

Best of the Web: 'Masks are muzzles': Protesters rally outside BBC HQ & march to Downing Street after UK govt widens mask-wearing orders

masks muzzles
Activists took to the streets of London a day after the UK cabinet expanded its guidelines for mandatory face coverings. The demonstration comes amid growing skepticism worldwide over the efficacy of such policies.

A large group of demonstrators assembled in Hyde Park on Saturday, where they listened to speeches denouncing the government's anti-coronavirus measures. Piers Corbyn, brother of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, was among the speakers.

Carrying placards reading "Stop the new normal, save lives,""Freedom over fear," and "Masks are muzzles," the protesters then marched towards Downing Street, stopping outside BBC headquarters along the way.

Footage from RT's Ruptly video agency shows a huge crowd, most without masks, filling the streets of the UK capital as they marched toward Downing Street.

Burka

Best of the Web: BLM is extorting business owners in Kentucky by demanding they 'hire Blacks' and 'buy from Black retailers'


Comment: Now they're demanding 'diversity' and 'reparations' from minority-owned small businesses.

This was never about 'justice for George Floyd'.


louisville BLM cuban restaurant
Members of Louisville's Cuban community plan to gather Sunday in support of a NuLu restaurant owner who says he was threatened by Black Lives Matter protesters during a recent demonstration.

Fernando Martinez, a partner of the Olé Restaurant Group, was one of dozens of business owners in the downtown Louisville district who recently received a letter from protesters laying out demands that aim to improve diversity in the area, which is known for its locally-owned shops and restaurants.

Martinez has publicly denounced the demands on Facebook, calling them "mafia tactics" used to intimidate business owners. And on Thursday, a small group of protesters confronted him outside his newest restaurant, La Bodeguita de Mima, on East Market Street.

"There comes a time in life that you have to make a stand and you have to really prove your convictions and what you believe in," Martinez wrote in his Facebook post. "... All good people need to denounce this. How can you justified (sic) injustice with more injustice?"

Comment: "...so we have decided to force them to serve us. By any means necessary..."

The extent of lawlessness in the US is growing by the day.