A common criticism of the ultra-progressive Left is that its culture warriors now resemble the right-wing ideological enforcers of yore, excommunicating those deemed to have sinned or performed heresies. Indeed, anyone older than 30 or so should have at least a dim memory of the social conservatives who wanted every aspect of American society — from universities, to the media, right down to the content of children's television shows — hewing to the same family-values prayer book, and who led campaigns to censor violent video games, rap music, and edgy Hollywood entertainment.

In 1996, Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole called out Time Warner for publishing hip hop music whose lyrics glamorized violence against police officers. ("I would like to ask the executives of Time Warner a question: Is this what you intended to accomplish with your careers? You have sold your souls, but must you debase our nation and threaten our children as well?") A quarter-century later, it's progressives demanding the cancelation of movies and TV shows that present the police in any kind of positive light (and numerous other "problematic" themes). Alyssa Rosenberg of the Washington Post, a former colleague of mine, wants us to "shut down all police movies and TV shows. Now," or at least radically rewrite the scripts to portray police in a more negative light. Networks obliged by canceling shows such as Live PD. After 32 years on the air, the show Cops was axed by Paramount Networks in the wake of the protests that followed the May 25th killing of George Floyd.

It's the same puritanical spirit that prevailed during the heyday of the Moral Majority, except that it's been marshalled in service of a different faith. And you can hardly blame disaffected progressives, such as Rolling Stone's Matt Taibbi, for declaring that the "left is now the right" when it comes to smothering cultural and intellectual pluralism.

Afghan forces said they retook a prison in the country's east on Monday afternoon, following an hours-long battle a day after the facility was targeted by the Islamic State group in an attack that killed 29 people. The prison is believed to be holding hundreds of IS members.

The attack highlighted the challenges ahead for Afghanistan, even as U.S. and NATO forces begin to withdraw following America striking a peace deal with the Taliban.

Defense Ministry spokesman Fawad Aman said the prison was taken back in the afternoon. The fighting also left at least 50 wounded.

U.S. District Judge Esther Salas has made her first public statement since a "monster" gunman killed her 20-year-old son Daniel and left her husband, Mark Anderl, in critical but stable condition.

On Monday, Salas released an emotional video in which she talked about the July 19 violent attack and how the incident has impacted her life.

"Two weeks ago, my life as I knew it changed in an instant, and my family will never be the same. A madman, who I believe was targeting me because of my position as a federal judge, came to my house," she said.

"My family has experienced a pain that no one should ever have to endure. And I am here asking everyone to help me ensure that no one ever has to experience this kind of pain. We may not be able to stop something like this from happening again, but we can make it hard for those who target us to track us down."

This article was first published on 11 June, when advice on wearing masks was restricted to Government Guidance and had no legal force. On 15 June the article was updated in response to The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Wearing of Face Coverings on Public Transport) (England) Regulations 2020, which are analysed in Addendum 1. Today, 24 July, it has been updated again in response to The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Wearing of Face Coverings in a Relevant Place) (England) Regulations 2020, the analysis of which can be found in Addendum 2. This is unlikely to be the last update on Government legislation on the mandatory wearing of masks. The science remains the same.

'The only truly political action is that which severs the nexus between violence and law.'

— Giorgio Agamben, State of Exception

Table of Contents

1. Government Guidance and the Law
2. Benefits and Dangers of Wearing Masks
3. Asymptomatic Transmission of Coronavirus
4. Surveillance and Compliance
5. Civil Disobedience

Appendix: Medical Advice against Wearing Masks
Addendum 1: New Regulations on Wearing Masks on Public Transport
Addendum 2. Further Regulations on Wearing Masks in Shops and Other Places

1. Government Guidance and the Law

On 30 March, former Supreme Court Justice Jonathan Sumption, QC, in a widely-reported condemnation of the abuse of legal regulations by UK police forces in enforcing Government guidance on social distancing, reminded the British people that:

'Policemen are citizens in uniform. They are not members of a disciplined hierarchy operating just at the Government's command. The police have no power to enforce Ministers' preferences, but only legal regulations, which don't go anything like as far as the Government's guidance. This is what a police state is like. It's a state in which the Government can issue orders or express preferences with no legal authority and the police will enforce Ministers' wishes.'

The coronavirus crisis, I fear, is being used as cover for potentially the most dangerous escalation in Big Tech's campaign of censorship yet. Several platforms now seem to have declared themselves above the scientific process itself. They have lost faith in free and open inquiry and appear to be trying to mediate the most pressing (and increasingly contentious) scientific question of our time. This goes way beyond social media's earlier attempts to control what political and social views we can express by suppressing perceived 'hate speech'.

This week, Twitter and YouTube have been systematically eradicating videos promoting the use of the antimalarial drug Hydroxychloroquine to suppress coronavirus. Twitter has even temporarily banned the US president's son, Donald Trump Jr, from tweeting for promoting the drug.

There is, of course, no clear evidence the drug works. But there is no clear evidence that facemasks make a tangible difference in the fight against the pandemic, either. The difference, it seems, is one has establishment and governmental support and the other does not. Establishment experts, including the World Health Organisation, have also variously implied that human-to-human transmission is not a concern and that the death rate from Covid could be as high as five per cent - both of which we know to be wrong.

More and more frequently, videos of whites who have made some sort of racist transgression are being filmed by valiant, brave PoC, and getting cancelled. This isn't necessarily new, but the consequences of these videos have been rapidly escalating to the point in which being filmed alongside a juicy enough narrative can actually get you arrested.

All of these cases have one thing in common - the person being cancelled has been approached by someone with a phone. The Maoists in China didn't have smartphones - ours do. Therefore, it is important to know how to react if approached by a Red Guard that is recording you.

You must understand, immediately, that if someone you don't know approaches you with their phone out, filming you, they are looking to get you cancelled. How do they do this? They get a reaction. It is important to keep in mind, perhaps more, that if a journalist approaches you in this way, you should be attempting to find the nearest place they cannot legally enter, such as a public restroom. With civilians this is a little more complicated.

Cancel culture, until recently, has been an almost exclusively extrajudicial process. Therefore, legal action regarding this scenario won't happen unless A, you physically push, shove, or attack the recorder, or B, they do this to you. Since they have a camera out, they are obviously not looking to harm you physically at that moment. Drawing a weapon is the worst thing you can do. Like we've seen, they'll probably just start arresting you if you do this. Not going to work.

The American Alliance of Museums (AAM) recently published a survey designed to gauge the state of the US museum industry during the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey results were troubling, at least a third of directors of 760 museums reported a "significant risk" of closing permanently within 16 months.

The survey results document extreme financial distress in the museum field. One-third (33%) of respondents were not confident they would be able to survive 16 months without additional financial relief, and 16 percent felt their organization was at significant risk of permanent closure. The vast majority (87%) of museums have only 12 months or less of financial operating reserves remaining, with 56% having less than six months left to cover operations. Forty-four percent had furloughed or laid off some portion of their staff, and 41 percent anticipated reopening with reduced staff. - the survey said

AAM President and CEO Laura Lott told NPR, "there's a large public perception that museums rely on government support when the reality is they get only a quarter of their funding from the government."

International best-selling author, Dr Vernon Coleman, MB ChB DSc FRSA, explains how people around the world are being oppressed and lied to, and discusses yet more evidence about face masks. He accuses the professions of betrayal, and calls for citizens to stand up to tyrannical governments.

Operating in the shadows of the online marketplace, specialized tech companies you've likely never heard of are tapping vast troves of our personal data to generate secret "surveillance scores" - digital mug shots of millions of Americans - that supposedly predict our future behavior.

The firms sell their scoring services to major businesses across the U.S. economy.

People with low scores can suffer harsh consequences.

CoreLogic and TransUnion say that scores they peddle to landlords can predict whether a potential tenant will pay the rent on time, be able to "absorb rent increases," or break a lease. Large employers use HireVue, a firm that generates an "employability" score about candidates by analyzing "tens of thousands of factors," including a person's facial expressions and voice intonations. Other employers use Cornerstone's score, which considers where a job prospect lives and which web browser they use to judge how successful they will be at a job.

Production of Russia's homegrown coronavirus vaccine is due to begin in September, and by the start of 2021, the country could be creating several million doses a month. That's according to Russia's Minister of Trade and Industry.

Denis Manturov told news agency TASS that the vaccine will be produced in three Russian regions - Vladimir, Yaroslavl and Moscow Oblast - with a view to a widespread immunization campaign starting in October.

Moscow's Gamalei Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, which led the research of the domestic drug, has partnered with companies Generium, R-Pharm, and Binnopharm, with a view to starting serial production next month.

"We will be able to ensure the production volume of several hundred thousand doses of vaccine per month, with a subsequent increase to several million by the beginning of next year," Manturov said.

Gamalei is not the only Russian institution to be working on a Covid-19 vaccine, but thus far has been the most successful. In late July, immunized volunteers were released from hospital after receiving the drug and undergoing a month of observation.