Society's ChildS

War Whore

Lockdowns ending but their politics still rule

NYC park lockdown
© REUTERS / EDUARDO MUNOZ
While it looks like the worm is turning against the draconian economic shutdowns decreed by governments, so much damage has already been done it likely won't matter now.

I began the week hopeful that my home state of Florida would lead the way towards challenging the anti-human and thoroughly intolerable lock down mentality imposed on us by officials at the WHO, NAIAD, Johns Hopkins and the IHME.

That hope continued earlier this week while watching Governor Ron DeSantis give a half-hour presentation of why Florida not only outperformed all of the grossly negligent predictive models but nearly every other state in the union in nearly every metric relevant to COVID-19.

It, however, vanished completely when he finally unveiled his new plan, which was to graciously allow the private economy to get back to 25% capacity, following the same tyrannical guidelines of those now discredited members of President Trump's Task Force.

I guess I need to remind myself of why hope is the most negative of all emotions.

Binoculars

How (and when) to prepare for the NEXT lockdown

next lockdown
Back when the New Year rolled around, did you ever expect you'd spend months in lockdown, unable to go eat at a restaurant or visit with friends? 2020 has been full of surprises, but more of the "angry clown with a chainsaw" variety than "here, have some flowers."

As the time for this lockdown to end draws near, spend some time reflecting on what you learned about preparedness and what you need to do before the next lockdown rolls around. (It's almost inevitable there'll be a next lockdown - more on that in a moment.)

There will probably be another wave of COVID-19.

The COVID-19 virus is not just going to vanish magically after we've stayed in our homes for a certain number of days. The virus will still be out there when the lockdown is over and people will still get sick from it.

At some point, the dreaded "second wave" will occur. Some experts think this will occur almost immediately after lockdown ends, while others believe there's a seasonal link and it will strike in the fall. To be perfectly honest, at this point it's too soon to know. There are a few muffled reports out of China about a possible second wave, but accurate information from China has been impossible to get since the very beginning.

Attention

TYRANNY! Oregon Gov. Kate Brown extends lockdown to JULY 6 despite ranking 40th on state coronavirus list with 104 deaths

Gov Kate Brown
Oregon Governor Kate Brown
Several states reopened at least partially on Friday May 1st after the six-week-long Fauci lockdown.

But Democrat-led Oregon is not one of them. Oregon, a state with 4.14 million residents did not reopen on Friday. In fact, the liberal state is not reopening anytime soon.

Far Left Oregon Governor Kate Brown is extending the state's lockdown until JULY 6th! TWO MORE MONTHS!

Arrow Down

Struggling small business owner arrested 10 minutes after reopening

apex tattoo owner arrested
Matthew "Jax" Myers vowed to open his Apex tattoo parlor in defiance of North Carolina's stay-home order, insisting his rights had been trampled and his business ruined.

But 10 minutes after he flicked on the red "open" sign Wednesday afternoon, police led him away in handcuffs, placing him under arrest for violation of an executive order.

Myers, 38, said he knew his act would get him charged, but under Cooper's order, he is losing so much money that he fears he will lose his new house and won't be able to feed his three children as soon as June.

He said neither he nor any other small business owners he knows have received any small business loans or federal Paycheck Protection Program money, and he only got approval for insufficient unemployment payment after 13 attempts to sign up.

House

'Seize empty hotels and motels': Homeless activists are losing patience with Los Angeles amid coronavirus 'pandemic'

Homeless at W. LA hotel
© Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles TimesOmar Spry pushes a cart of bags into a West L.A. hotel that has been turned into housing for homeless people during the pandemic.
Not long after L.A. County reported more than 1,000 new coronavirus cases on Friday, Davon Brown decided he was done putting himself at risk. So he put on a blazer and went to The Ritz-Carlton Los Angeles.

Joined by activists with Street Watch L.A., he told hotel staff that they were interested in renting several rooms but wanted a tour first. The concierge happily obliged, he said, and took the group to room 2221.

Then he revealed his plan: "I'm homeless in Echo Park and I'm not leaving this hotel."

Brown, who was later arrested and released, told The Times that he had planned to stay until government officials had commandeered enough hotel rooms to house every homeless person in Los Angeles.

"If I stayed outside," he said, "I could die."

Arrow Up

Mexican Army kills 7 Los Zetas gunmen in border city shootout

mexican army
Mexican Army soldiers killed seven Los Zetas gunmen who had set up an ambush attack. Two of the gunmen were the personal bodyguards of a regional cartel boss. The shootout is the latest bout of violence in the border city of Nuevo Laredo where the criminal organization has historically set their base of operations.

The shootout took place this week in the Nuevo Laredo when a Mexican Army convoy driving near Cavazos Lerma Boulevard attempted to enforce coronavirus containment measures when they spotted a convoy of cartel gunmen. The gunmen, part of the Cartel Del Noreste faction of Los Zetas, began shooting at the soldiers as they fled and then tried to set up an ambush-style attack at a highway overpass.

Eye 1

Police arrest anti-lockdown protesters in London, UK

lockdown police
Police have arrested a number of anti-lockdown protesters
An activist has been arrested after 5G conspiracy theorists carried out a 'group hug' near the Met Police's headquarters while holding signs with slogans such as 'my body my choice'.

The group were spotted outside New Scotland Yard in Westminster, London, this afternoon, chanting 'hug someone, save lives' in defiance of the government's coronavirus lockdown laws.

Others in the group, including children, were seen holding up signs protesting 5G and vaccines.


Comment: Note the Daily Mail's spin throughout this report: the primary reason for the protest was against the draconian lockdown, some were advocating pro-choice vaccination, and some were also speaking out against 5G.


Meanwhile, video has also emerged of one protester, dressed in a florescent jacket, being arrested as he repeatedly shouts phrases like 'I do not consent' and 'police brutality'.

Comment: And 64% are not in favour of extending the lockdown? One could infer from those statistics that a significant proportion are against the lockdown.

Biased reporting like this Daily Mail article is to be expected because UK newspapers are now admittedly on the government payroll: UK gov to PAY newspapers ยฃ35 million as part of 'coronavirus communications campaign'

Unsurprisingly, protest movements against the draconian lockdown measures are building worldwide: #Resistance: Protesters gather in southern Russia and Germany to demand end to 'pandemic lockdown'



See also: "This is what a police state is like": UK's ex-supreme court judge lambasts policing, 'collective hysteria' and the lockdown


Bad Guys

Colonel Ashutosh Sharma, Major among five security personnel killed in terrorist encounter in Jammu and Kashmir

Colonel Ashutosh Sharma jammu kashmir
Colonel Ashutosh Sharma
An Army Colonel and a Major were among five security personnel killed in an encounter at a village in Handwara in north Kashmir that also saw the elimination of two terrorists, officials said on Sunday. Army officers Col Ashutosh Sharma and Major Anuj, and Jammu and Kashmir Police Sub-Inspector Shakeel Qazi were among the deceased, they said.

Col Sharma was leading a team to rescue civilians who had been taken hostage by the terrorists hiding in a house at the Chanjmullah area of Handwara in frontier Kupwara district of north Kashmir on Saturday, the officials said. As the hostages were being rescued, the team, which also consisted of a Lance Naik and a Rifleman, came under heavy fire which was effectively retaliated by the security personnel in the outer cordon, they said.

Comment: India.com adds:
In 2015, Colonel MN Rai had lost his life in an operation in the Kashmir Valley. In November same year, Colonel Santosh Mahadik had lost his life. Since then, there has been no martyrs in the rank of a colonel of a first commanding officer to have lost their lives in encounters with terrorists. Colonel Ashutosh Sharma's is the first in such rank to have lost his life โ€” in yesterday's operations in Handwara.

Colonel Sharma has been serving in the Guards Regiment for a long time and has been awarded the Sena Medial for gallantry twice, once for his bravery as the commanding officer. In a major feat, he had saved the men of his troops when a terrorist was rushing towards his men with a grenade hidden in his clothes. It was for this achievement, he had won the gallantry award.

Colonel Sharna, a resident of Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh, is survived by his wife and a 12-year-old daughter.
The Northern Command of the Indian Army has identified the jawans killed in the line of duty as Major Anuj Sood, Naik Rajesh, Lance Naik Dinesh and Colonel Ashutosh Sharma. Officers of the Jammu and Kashmir Police have also identified the deceased sipahi as sub-inspector Shakeel Qazi.
Tensions between Pakistan and India over the disputed area have been simmering for decades, but they have escalated since India declared jurisdiction over Jammu and Kashmir:


Stop

Maine restaurant owner reopens despite governor's COVID-19 orders, immediately gets health licenses revoked

Rick Savage
© Robert F. Bukaty / APRick Savage, owner of Sunday River Brewing Company, talks with customers at his restaurant after he defied an executive order that prohibited gatherings of 10 or more people and opened his establishment during the coronavirus pandemic on Friday.
Maine restaurant owner Rick Savage followed through on his vows to reopen for business on Friday, defying a state order that all eateries remain closed until June because of the coronavirus.

But by the end of the day, Savage announced that Sunday River Brewing Co. in Bethel would once again close "until further notice" after the state revoked his health licenses.

More than 150 people had lined up to eat at the restaurant by mid-afternoon Friday as the eatery reopened despite orders from Gov. Janet Mills, according to the Portland Press Herald.


"I can't tell them where to stand and what to do," Savage told the Bangor Daily News of his customers, many of whom were not observing guidelines for social distancing by standing 6 feet apart as they waited to get into the restaurant. "We're America. If they want to isolate, they can isolate."

Savage made an appearance on Fox News's "Tucker Carlson Tonight" the day before, criticizing the governor's response to the COVID-19 pandemic and encouraging other businesses to follow his lead in defying orders to stay closed.

At one point during the interview, Savage offered up what he said was Mill's cellphone number and encouraged viewers to call her directly and dared state officials to take him to court.

Comment:


Savage isn't the only business owner defying the authorities. Some California businesses are doing the same:





Cell Phone

Data privacy advocates alarmed by NHS's new 'contact-tracing' app

COVID-19 app, coronavirus app
As both countries prepare to start unwinding the strict nationwide lockdowns imposed more than 6 weeks ago, the UK and France are collaborating on a new 'voluntary' surveillance app purportedly designed to help with 'contact tracing' for coronavirus patients.

The Evening Standard reports ministers from both countries have been "liaising" on the development of the new technology, which is expected to be ready within two or three weeks.

But why are the two allies collaborating on building their own 'surveillance' app instead of adopting a model proposed by Apple or Google? Well, apparently, British officials felt Apple's treatment of user privacy was "too cautious".

The app will use bluetooth to collect data from the phones of everybody one passes; should one of them test positive, a user will be notified.
A consultant to the French government said: "Apple appeared to be much more cautious about protecting client data and privacy than the French or British authorities."

The smartphone app will track and trace any possibly affected persons near the user. Some have feared its use of Bluetooth could divulge confidential information about people's locations.
To be sure, Matthew Gould, head of the unit at the NHS that's in charge of developing the app, has said the location-tracking feature - pretty much the only reason to use the app - would be "opt-in".