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Sheriff

Best of the Web: Cops kill because we gave them the legal framework to do it

Jim Bovard
The American Conservative
Tue, 30 Jun 2020 00:01 UTC
george floyd murder
© TwitterGeorge Floyd moments before his death in Minneapolis on Memorial Day.
The brutal Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd has sparked violent protests, looting, and arson attacks in Minneapolis and St. Paul. A police precinct building was torched and destroyed and the Minnesota National Guard has been called out to restore order. But the killing in Minnesota is the latest reminder that politicians and judges — through federal law and judicial interpretation — have turned police into a privileged class that is most often unaccountable, if not entitled to oppress other Americans.

Almost everyone agrees that Floyd's death was a horrendous injustice. President Trump, who urged police officers in 2017 to not "be too nice" to suspects they arrested, condemned what the police did to Floyd as "a very bad thing." Former Minneapolis police chief Janeé Harteau said that the video of Floyd's killing was "the most horrific thing I've seen in my career and in my lifetime." Washington, D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham declared that the officers' actions were "nothing short of murder." Derick Chauvin, the police officer who killed Floyd was arrested today and charged with murder; he and three other police involved in Floyd's death were fired earlier this week

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Bizarro Earth

Best of the Web: 13,000 unnecessary deaths in UK due to lockdown, 2.4 million UK cancer patients miss out on critical tests and treatment

Sophie Borland
Daily Mail
Sun, 31 May 2020 22:00 UTC
patient hospital
File photo: Almost 2.5million patients have missed out on vital cancer tests and treatment because of the pandemic
Almost 2.5million patients have missed out on vital cancer tests and treatment because of the pandemic.

The NHS faces the shocking backlog of cases as it tries to return to normal - and also cope with new victims of the disease.

Cancer Research UK says 2.1million patients are awaiting crucial screening for breast, cervical and bowel cancer.

Another 290,000 have missed out on urgent referrals to confirm or rule out tumours.

And at least 21,600 patients have had surgery, chemotherapy or radiotherapy postponed in the past nine weeks.
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No Entry

Best of the Web: Why the public should rebel against forced vaccinations

Brandon Smith
Alt-Market.com
Sat, 30 May 2020 09:50 UTC
Vaccine
© RIA Novosti/Vitaly Belousov (file photo)
The debate over the morality and practicality of forced vaccinations has been raging for many years, long before the coronavirus ever hit the US population. With the advent of the pandemic the narrative has shifted to one of "necessity". The media and the majority of governments around the world now act as if mass vaccinations are a given; the "debate is over", as collectivists like to say when they are tired of having to deal with any logical or factual complaints.

In the case of the novel coronavirus there is no vaccine yet; unless of course the virus was engineered or evolved in a lab (as more and more evidence is suggesting), and then perhaps there is one already developed. Typically, vaccines take years to test and produce, and whenever a vaccine is rushed onto the market very bad things tend to happen.

The vaccine debate often revolves around the issue of safety. Is a particular inoculation safe or poisonous? Does it have long term effects that are dangerous? Does it harm children with highly sensitive and underdeveloped body systems? These are valid concerns, but ultimately the fight over vaccines has less to do with medical safety or effectiveness and more to do with individual rights vs government demands.

In other words, the more important questions are: Should social engineering by governments and elites be allowed? Do people have the right to determine how their bodies are medically augmented or manipulated? Does the "security of the majority" take precedence over the civil liberties of the individual? And if so, who gets to determine what freedoms will be taken away?

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Heart - Black

Best of the Web: Next-level racism on CNN: Former Obama advisor Van Jones sez "Even the most well-intentioned white person has a virus in his or her brain"

Adam Ford
disrn.com
Sat, 30 May 2020 21:17 UTC
Van Jones
CNN's Van Jones on Friday accused all white people of being racist, saying, "Even the most liberal, well-intentioned white person has a virus in his or her brain that can be activated at an instant."

Video:

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Attention

Best of the Web: German official leaks report denouncing corona as 'a global false alarm'

Daniele Pozzati
Strategic Culture Foundation
Fri, 29 May 2020 05:35 UTC
drone
© REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke
Germany's federal government and mainstream media are engaged in damage control after a report that challenges the established Corona narrative leaked from the interior ministry.

Some of the report key passages are:
  • The dangerousness of Covid-19 was overestimated: probably at no point did the danger posed by the new virus go beyond the normal level.
  • The people who die from Corona are essentially those who would statistically die this year, because they have reached the end of their lives and their weakened bodies can no longer cope with any random everyday stress (including the approximately 150 viruses currently in circulation).
  • Worldwide, within a quarter of a year, there has been no more than 250,000 deaths from Covid-19, compared to 1.5 million deaths [25,100 in Germany] during the influenza wave 2017/18.
  • The danger is obviously no greater than that of many other viruses. There is no evidence that this was more than a false alarm.
  • A reproach could go along these lines: During the Corona crisis the State has proved itself as one of the biggest producers of Fake News.
So far, so bad. But it gets worse.

The report focuses on the "manifold and heavy consequences of the Corona measures" and warns that these are "grave".

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Document

Best of the Web: The question of evidence when governments push political narratives

Kevin Smith
OneWorld
Sun, 24 May 2020 05:17 UTC
propaganda chain
In the last 30 years, there have been many big events which have been questioned. Iraq is the classic example of where a relative few questioning the pretext of that invasion (Weapons of Mass Destruction - WMDs) were insulted and smeared but later vindicated.

Today, in the background of the risk of world conflict and threat to health and our way of life arising from Covid-19, it's never been more important to be sceptical and understand evidence.

Earlier in my career, I used to adjudicate financial disputes between two parties, weigh up the evidence, and decide the most likely scenario.

So, in terms of what's going on in the world, I'm interested in narratives which are open to challenge and the thinking and motives of those in power, the media, and experts behind them. And particularly how the public watching and listening process these messages.

First, before reading on, watch this clip, which I think is hilarious and vaguely relevant to what I'm going to say.
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Eye 1

Best of the Web: How the UK government terrorizes its citizens with coronavirus propaganda

Dr Piers Robinson
RT
Sat, 30 May 2020 09:44 UTC
lockdown sign window
© AFP / John MACDOUGALL
Have сensorship of scientists, alarmist messaging and conspiracy theory smears all been used to reinforce the 'official' narrative on coronavirus? Can these distortions ever be justified?

One of the problems with researching and writing about propaganda is that so many people believe it is something alien to democratic states.

What Edward Bernays, considered by many to be a key figure in the development of 20th-century propaganda techniques, said was that "the conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society."

Although we usually refer to these techniques by different names today, employing such euphemisms as 'public relations' or 'strategic communication', it is a fact that techniques of manipulation are part and parcel of contemporary liberal democracies.
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Brick Wall

Best of the Web: The big debate: Is lockdown wrong?


The Spectator
Tue, 26 May 2020 04:52 UTC
lockdown cartoon
Is lockdown a gargantuan mistake? That's the view of a growing number of thinkers and critics, including The Spectator's very own Toby Young, who sees the political class's shutting down of entire populations as the most catastrophic policy error in history. Not every free thinker agrees, however. We asked Matt Labash, a contributing editor and a skeptic of lockdown skepticism, to challenge Toby over email.

Matt Labash: Toby, thanks for stepping into the squared circle and joining me for a Pandemania tussle as a gentleman pugilist, sage, and co-equal partner in the search for truth. And also, as a fellow amateur epidemiologist, which there is no longer any shame in saying, since the pros have bunged things up so spectacularly. (Remember when they insisted we shouldn't wear masks, before insisting we do? Makes me want to cough on them.) But I look forward to going old-school in the sort of online dialogue Slate used to do, back when it was still legal to speak to people you disagree with. It beats the hell out of the communication rage of the moment, the inspirational Zoom choir. I solemnly vow that no matter how hairy this gets, I will at no point break into 'We're All In This Together' from High School Musical, featuring special guest-star Ashley Tisdale.

Comment: For all his talk of being libertarian leaning, LeBash comes across as more of a hysterical worry-wart, all too eager to trade his civil liberties for any modicum of supposed safety. It goes to show that the real virus circulating the globe at the moment is fear, along with it's co-symptom lack of clear-thinking. And sadly, it seems LaBash has a full-blown infection.

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Snakes in Suits

Best of the Web: Leaked emails reveal Denmark's PM railroaded country's health authorities and deceived public over coronavirus to justify lockdown


TheLocal.dk
Fri, 29 May 2020 12:00 UTC
Søren Brostrøm
© Ida Guldbæk Arentsen/Ritzau ScanpixThe extent to which Søren Brostrøm, director of the Danish Health Authority, was sidelined over the lockdown, is becoming clearer.
Leaked emails between leading figures in Denmark's health authorities are raising questions over the extent to which Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen steam-rollered her own health experts at the time the country imposed its lockdown in mid-March.

In an email leaked to the Politiken newspaper, Per Okkel, the top civil servant at the health ministry, told Søren Bostrøm, the head of the Danish Health Authority to suspend his sense of professional "proportionality" as a public servant, and instead adopt a "extreme precautionary principle" when giving political advice.

At the same time, emails leaked to the Ekstrabladet newspaper showed how on March 20, new calculations showing that the reproduction number in Denmark was 2.1, considerably lower than the 2.6 previously estimated, were held back because they were "not desired politically".

Comment: If the PM isn't listening to her own advisors, who is she listening to? And to the extent that she was willing to deliberately deceive the public as well as exaggerate the figures?

RT reports that the blatantly unjustified, unscientific lockdown is partly still in force in Denmark:
Denmark will conduct random checks for Covid-19 at borders and holiday sites, PM says

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has said random checks for the Covid-19 virus will be carried out at the country's borders and holiday destinations as it prepares to reopen to visitors from some European countries.

Frederiksen said Friday that Denmark will open its borders to tourists from Norway, Germany and Iceland on June 15. She said tourists who wish to visit must book in advance a hotel outside of Copenhagen for at least six nights.

"Like everyone else, we are opening Denmark again. We are doing it in a controlled and gradual manner," Frederiksen said.


Like everyone else? What about Sweden? Or Iceland?


The country is planning to reopen its borders with the rest of the EU, Schengen countries and the UK after the summer, she said.

Denmark was one of the first countries in Europe to begin the process of reopening in mid-April following a one-month lockdown during the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Due to falling infections, the country was able to accelerate the end of the lockdown and began reopening museums, cinemas, theaters and zoos last week. Experts also recently confirmed that the partial reopening of schools did not lead to increases in infections among young students.

As of May 29, Denmark has recorded around 11,700 cases of Covid-19 and 568 deaths.
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No Entry

Best of the Web: Catherine Austin Fitts: The injection fraud - it's not a vaccine

Catherine Austin Fitts
Solari Report
Thu, 28 May 2020 00:00 UTC
injection fraud
What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." ~ William Shakespeare
I am not a scientist. I am not a doctor. I am not a biotech engineer. I am not an attorney. However, I read, listen, appreciate, and try to understand those who are.

I was an investment banker until politics made it impossible to continue to practice my art. I was trained as a portfolio strategist — so I map my world by watching the financial flows and allocation of resources. I was also trained as a conspiracy generator and foot soldier — conspiracies being the fundamental organizing principle of how things get done in our world. It was not until I left the establishment that I learned that those not in the club had been trained to disparage and avoid conspiracies — a clever trick that sabotages their efforts to gather power.

My response to living at war with agencies of the U.S. government for a time was to answer the questions of people who were sufficiently courageous and curious to solicit my opinion. Over many years, that response transformed into two businesses. One was The Solari Report, which continues to grow as a global intelligence network — we seek to help each other understand and navigate what is happening and contribute to positive outcomes. The other was serving as an investment advisor to individuals and families through Solari Investment Advisory Services. After ten years, I converted that business to doing an ESG screen. What those who use it want — that is not otherwise readily available in the retail market — is a screen that reflects knowledge of financial and political corruption. Tracking the metastasizing corruption is an art, not a science.
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