Tag Archives: lockdowns

Public Safety & Constitutional Rights

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Sheriffs: We Took An Oath To The Constitution, Not to Governors & Lockdowns

May 23, 2020

By Spiro Skouras

As the global health emergency of the coronavirus pandemic begins to wane, the fallout from the lockdowns continues to mount. Each day we see more reports of record unemployment, businesses struggling to survive and critical food supply chain infrastructure shutting down.

At the same time, we see business owners and anyone else who violates the lockdown orders being threatened with jail while actual criminals convicted of serious and violent crimes are released back into the communities.

We are beginning to see that the ‘cure’ is not only worse than the disease, it will have longstanding repercussions as the severity of the crisis appears to have been greatly exaggerated.

In this report, Spiro is joined by multiple Sheriffs from across the country who clearly state their position. Public safety and people’s constitutional rights are their number one priority.

These Sheriffs are true patriots who not only serve the people in their communities by upholding their sworn oaths, they serve as a great reminder of how this country and the rule of law is meant to be upheld, as many state Governors blatantly disregard the Constitution and impose broad and wide-ranging authoritarian lockdowns which many would argue are causing far more damage than the virus itself.

Sheriff Mack Calls on Sheriffs: America Has Become A Catastrophe, We Need Action!
https://www.activistpost.com/2020/05/sheriff-mack-calls-on-sheriffs-america-has-become-a-catastrophe-we-need-action.html

from:    https://www.activistpost.com/2020/05/sheriffs-we-took-an-oath-to-the-constitution-not-to-governors-lockdowns.html

Lockdowns Eased/Over – Infection Rates Down

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  • A JP Morgan study suggests lockdown measures have not only resulted in economic devastation but could have also resulted in more COVID-19 deaths
  • Strict stay-at-home orders put in place in most states to stop the spread two months ago has so far seen nearly 39 million American lose their jobs 
  • There are now more than 1.6 million infections in the US and over 95,000 deaths 
  • The JP Morgan report says that restarting the US economy may not lead to a second surge in infections that health experts have feared
  • Report says infection rates have been falling seen since lockdown measures were lifted in parts of the country
  • Alabama, Wisconsin and Colorado are among those that saw lower infection rates (R rates) after lockdown measures were lifted, according to the report
  • The R rate is the average number of people who will become infected by one person with the virus 
  • Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19

By Tim Stickings For Mailonline

Published: | Updated:

Coronavirus lockdowns have ‘destroyed millions of livelihoods’ but failed to alter the course of the pandemic given many US states have seen lower infection rates after easing restrictions, a JP Morgan study has claimed.

The statistical analysis has raised questions about the effectiveness of the lockdowns put in place across much of the United States two months ago to stop the spread of COVID-19.

It suggests that the lockdown measures have not only resulted in economic devastation but could have also resulted in more COVID-19 deaths.

The strict stay-at-home measures put in place by the governors of most states in mid-March has so far seen nearly 39 million American lose their jobs and forced businesses to close.

There are now more than 1.6 million infections in the US and over 95,000 deaths.

‘Unlike rigorous testing of potential new drugs, lockdowns were administered with little consideration that they might not only cause economic devastation but potentially more deaths than COVID-19 itself,’ author Marko Kolanovic, a trained physicist and a strategist for JP Morgan, said.

The JP Morgan report says that restarting the US economy may not lead to a second surge in infections that health experts have feared given the falling infections rates seen since lockdown measures were lifted in parts of the country

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The JP Morgan report says that restarting the US economy may not lead to a second surge in infections that health experts have feared given the falling infections rates seen since lockdown measures were lifted in parts of the country

The report also includes a chart showing that 'the vast majority of countries had decreased infection rates' after lockdowns were lifted. The chart, however, doesn't specify which country is which

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The report also includes a chart showing that ‘the vast majority of countries had decreased infection rates’ after lockdowns were lifted. The chart, however, doesn’t specify which country is which

The JP Morgan report says that restarting the US economy may not lead to a second surge in infections that health experts have feared given the falling infections rates seen since lockdown measures were lifted in parts of the country.

Almost all states have seen lower infection reproduction rates (R rates) after lockdown measures were lifted, according to the report.

Meanwhile, Nevada, Rhode Island, Texas, North Dakota and Pennsylvannia are the states where infection rates increased after lockdowns ended, according to the report.

Infection rates have continued to decline even once a lag period for new infections to become visible is factored in, according to the report.

A chart included in the report shows that many US states have seen a lower rate of transmission (R rate) after full-scale lockdowns were ended.

The R rate is the average number of people who will become infected by one person with the virus. Researchers and health experts have said a rate below 1.0 is a key indicator that the spread of the virus has been maintained.

Reproduction rate data from Rt.live on Friday showed that all but two states had lowered the rate of infection.

According to that data, Minnesota’s R rate was 1.01 and North Dakota’s was at 1.02.

The report also includes a chart showing that ‘the vast majority of countries had decreased infection rates’ after lockdowns were lifted. The chart, however, doesn’t specify which country is which.

Reproduction rate data from Rt.live (pictured above) on Friday showed that all but two states had lowered the rate of infection. According to that data, Minnesota's R rate was 1.01 and North Dakota's was at 1.02

Reproduction rate data from Rt.live (pictured above) on Friday showed that all but two states had lowered the rate of infection. According to that data, Minnesota’s R rate was 1.01 and North Dakota’s was at 1.02

All 50 states have at least partially reopened this week by relaxing restrictions on businesses and social distancing in varying degrees across the country.

Kolanovic said governments had been spooked by ‘flawed scientific papers’ into imposing lockdowns that were ‘inefficient or late’ and had little effect.

‘While we often hear that lockdowns are driven by scientific models, and that there is an exact relationship between the level of economic activity and the spread of [the] virus – this is not supported by the data,’ the report says.

‘Indeed, virtually everywhere infection rates have declined after re-opening even after allowing for an appropriate measurement lag.

‘This means that the pandemic and COVID-19 likely have (their) own dynamics unrelated to often inconsistent lockdown measures that were being implemented.’

Those dynamics may be influenced by increased hand-washing and even weather patterns but seemingly not by full-scale lockdowns, the report suggests.

‘The fact that re-opening did not change the course of the pandemic is consistent with studies showing that initiation of full lockdowns did not alter the course of the pandemic either,’ it says.

The JP Morgan analysis linked the decision to impose lockdowns to ‘flawed scientific papers’ predicting millions of deaths in the West.

‘This on its own was odd, given that in China there were only several thousand deaths, and the mortality rate outside of Wuhan was very low,’ the report says.

‘In the absence of conclusive data, these lockdowns were justified initially. Nonetheless, many of these efforts were inefficient or late.’

All 50 states have at least partially reopened this week by relaxing restrictions on businesses and social distancing in varying degrees across the country

All 50 states have at least partially reopened this week by relaxing restrictions on businesses and social distancing in varying degrees across the country

Kolanovic says that lockdowns had remained in place even as ‘our knowledge of the virus and lack of effectiveness of total lockdowns evolved’.

‘Despite the conditions for re-opening being mostly met across the US, it is not yet happening in the largest economic regions for example California and New York,’ he said.

‘While our knowledge of the virus and lack of effectiveness of total lockdowns evolved, lockdowns remained in place and focus shifted to contact tracing, contemplating second wave of outbreaks and ideas about designing better education, political and economic systems.

‘At the same time, millions of livelihoods were being destroyed by these lockdowns.’

The US and other countries in lockdown are having to blow huge holes in their budgets to counter the economic standstill that is forcing millions of people into unemployment.

The report cites ‘worrying populism’ as an obstacle to re-opening the economy, for example in the US where senators passed an anti-China measure this week.

It warns that economic activity in the US is ‘now largely following partisan lines’ as Republican and Democratic governors adopt different strategies for their states.

As well as casting doubt on the wisdom of imposing lockdowns in the first place, the report suggests that economies could now be re-opened more quickly.

In other parts of the world, Denmark is among the countries that has started re-opening its economy without seeing a new surge in virus cases.

Americans across the country have protested the strict lockdowns. Pictured above are protesters in Lansing, Michigan

Americans across the country have protested the strict lockdowns. Pictured above are protesters in Lansing, Michigan

People walk along a street closed to vehicle traffic as the city expands areas for pedestrians to walk and to keep a recommended safe distance in New York City

People walk along a street closed to vehicle traffic as the city expands areas for pedestrians to walk and to keep a recommended safe distance in New York City

Zoos, museums and cinemas have re-opened early in Denmark with many children now back at school after scientists said the R rate had continued to fall.

Germany has also been confident enough to scale back the lockdown after the R rate mostly stayed below 1.0 following an initial lifting of restrictions.

However, chancellor Angela Merkel has repeatedly urged caution and warned that a second wave of virus cases could leave hospitals overwhelmed.

The UK government has similarly warned that some restrictions could be re-imposed if there is a ‘sudden and concerning’ rise in new cases.

Sweden has never imposed a lockdown, and its per-capita death rate is better than Britain’s – although worse than that of its Scandinavian neighbours.

The World Health Organisation has urged ‘extreme vigilance’ about lifing lockdowns, saying there is ‘always the risk that the virus takes off again’.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that some countries such as Germany and South Korea had systems in place to respond to a new surge.

Tedros said that a ‘comprehensive package of measures’ is needed until a vaccine becomes available, which is likely to be many months away at least.

It is not yet fully clear how many people have been infected or to what extent they are now immune, but most people remain susceptible.

from:    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8347901/US-states-LOWER-infection-rates-lockdowns-end-study-claims.html

Maybe It’s Time to Unmask

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Study Finds That Cloth Masks Can Increase Healthcare Workers Risk of Infection

By.   CE Staff Writer

In Brief

  • The Facts:A study published in 2015 found that cloth masks can increase healthcare workers risk of infection. It also called into question the efficacy of medical masks.
  • Reflect On:If masks may not protect healthcare workers in an acute setting, what are they doing for the public? Are the decisions made by health regulatory agencies always in the best interest of the public?

A lot of places are mandating that people wear a mask. Some grocery stores here in Canada are making it mandatory for people who want to do some shopping, and Los Angeles County recently mandated that all people must wear a mask when going outside. But do these measures really help? We are living in strange times when people like Bill Gates are getting a lot of T.V. time, as he seems to be the world’s leading ‘health’ authority on the new coronavirus, what we should do, and how we’re going to stop it. On the other hand, there are several doctors and leading epidemiologists around the world who have been studying viruses for decades that have been censored from social media platforms for sharing their research and opinions. Their interviews are being taken down, and some have even been flagged as ‘fake.’ Ask yourself, what’s wrong with this picture? Many of them are suggesting that the new coronavirus is not nearly as dangerous as it’s being made out to be. There have been multiple studies that have also suggested this based on the data that researchers have accumulated. Mainstream media is trying really hard to shape our perception with regards to everything that surrounds the new coronavirus, from treatment, lockdowns, to social distancing and much more.

We’ve covered a few examples of these experts giving their opinions with regards to how dangerous this virus actually is, what the solution is, treatments and more. If you’re interested you can refer to the articles linked at the bottom of this one. At the end of the day, a lot of what these doctors, scientists and epidemiologists have been saying since the beginning of this outbreak, up until now, has completely contradicted the narrative of federal health regulatory agencies and the World Health Organization (WHO). In fact, social media and other platforms are banning content that opposes and contradicts the WHO, no matter how much evidence is behind the information, or even if the sources are some of the leading experts in the world.

Should there be a digital authoritarian Orwellian ‘fact checker’ going around the internet telling people what is, and what isn’t? Or should people have the right to examine information, check sources and evidence and ultimately decide for themselves?

So the question is, can we really trust these health authorities to guide us into doing what’s really best for us? Is this really about our health or is something else going on here? Are there powerful people profiting off of this both politically and financially? Was Edward Snowden correct when he said that the new coronavirus fiasco is no different from 9/11, in that it’s simply being used to push more authoritarian measures on the population? Just like they remained after 9/11, will they remain after this coronavirus? Why are there apps tracking people for coronavirus, but not for the pedophiles, murderers and rapists? These are important things to think about.

There is a lot of conflicting information out there and again, if you’re interested in going a little deeper you can refer to the articles listed at the end of this one.

But what about masks? Do they really help? How effective are they? According to Dr. Dan Erickson (former emergency-room physician) and Dr. Artin Massihi (emergency medicine specialist affiliated with multiple hospitals) of Accelerated Urgent Care in California, they’re not helping at all.

When you wear gloves that transfer disease everywhere, those gloves have bacteria all over them. “I’m wearing gloves,” not helping you…Your mask that you’re wearing for days, you touch the outside of it, COVID, and then touch your mouth, this doesn’t make any sense. We wear masks in an acute setting to protect us, we’re not wearing masks (right now). Why is that? Because we understand microbiology, we understand immunology and we want strong immune systems. I don’t want to hide in my home, develop a weak immune system, and then come out and get disease. We’ve both been to the ER through swine flu and through bird flu, did we shut down for those? Were they much less dangerous than COVID? Is the flu less dangerous than COVID? Let’s look at the death rates, no it’s not. They’re similar in prevalence and in death rate. (source)

According to a study published in BMJ Open in 2015,

This study is the first RCT of cloth masks, and the results caution against the use of cloth masks. This is an important finding to inform occupational health and safety. Moisture retention, reuse of cloth masks and poor filtration may result in increased risk of infection. Further research is needed to inform the widespread use of cloth masks globally. However, as a precautionary measure, cloth masks should not be recommended for HCWs, particularly in high-risk situations, and guidelines need to be updated.

We have provided the first clinical efficacy data of cloth masks, which suggest HCWs should not use cloth masks as protection against respiratory infection. Cloth masks resulted in significantly higher rates of infection than medical masks, and also performed worse than the control arm. The controls were HCWs who observed standard practice, which involved mask use in the majority, albeit with lower compliance than in the intervention arms. The control HCWs also used medical masks more often than cloth masks. When we analysed all mask-wearers including controls, the higher risk of cloth masks was seen for laboratory-confirmed respiratory viral infection.

According to the study, it was unclear if they help at all, and that they probably need to be worn at all times in acute/dangerous settings within the hospital to be effective at all.

There are also other potential health consequences of wearing not just a cloth mask, but also medical masks. The physiological effects of breathing elevated inhaled CO2 may include changes in visual performance, modified exercise endurance, headaches and dyspnea. The psychological effects include decreased reasoning and alertness, increased irritability, severe dyspnea, headache, dizziness, perspiration, and short-term memory loss. (source)

This study suggests that masks don’t really help, and depending on the material, they can actually make things worse. That being said, there are studies suggesting that medical masks are indeed effective, but the studies are referring to health care workers in acute settings, not the general public.

Below is a quote from a very interesting paper published in 2016, titled “The Surgical Mask Is A Bad Fit For Risk Reduction.”

 As represented by our cinema and other media, Western society expects too much of masks. In the public’s mind, the still-legitimate use of masks for source control has gone off-label; masks are thought to prevent infection. From here, another problem arises: because surgical masks are thought to protect against infection in the community setting, people wearing masks for legitimate purposes (those who have a cough in a hospital, say) form part of the larger misperception and act to reinforce it. Even this proper use of surgical masks is incorporated into a larger improper use in the era of pandemic fear, especially in Asia, where such fear is high. The widespread misconception about the use of surgical masks — that wearing a mask protects against the transmission of virus — is a problem of the kind theorized by German sociologist Ulrich Beck.

The birth of the mask came from the realization that surgical wounds need protection from the droplets released in the breath of surgeons. The technology was applied outside the operating room in an effort to control the spread of infectious epidemics. In the 1919 influenza pandemic, masks were available and were dispensed to populations, but they had no impact on the epidemic curve. At the time, it was unknown that the influenza organism is nanoscopic and can theoretically penetrate the surgical mask barrier. As recently as 2010, the US National Academy of Sciences declared that, in the community setting, “face masks are not designed or certified to protect the wearer from exposure to respiratory hazards.” A number of studies have shown the inefficacy of the surgical mask in household settings to prevent transmission of the influenza virus…

(Please note, to get the list of additional articles, go to the source listed below.)

from:    https://www.collective-evolution.com/2020/05/15/study-cautions-against-use-of-cloth-masks-because-they-can-increase-your-risk-of-infection/

H2N2, Spanish Flu – Time to Reconsider Now

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Elvis Was King, Ike Was President, and 116,000 Americans Died in a Pandemic

– May 4, 2020

The year was 1957.

Elvis’s new movie “Jailhouse Rock” was packing the theaters. The last episode of “I Love Lucy” aired on television. The show “West Side Story” held tryouts in Washington, D.C., and opened on Broadway in September. Ford’s new car the Edsel rolled off the assembly line. The Cold War with Russia was on and “In God We Trust” appeared on U.S. currency. The first Toys R Us store opened.

Also that year, the so-called Asian Flu killed 116,000 Americans. Here is the full summary from the Centers for Disease Control:

In February 1957, a new influenza A (H2N2) virus emerged in East Asia, triggering a pandemic (“Asian Flu”). This H2N2 virus was comprised of three different genes from an H2N2 virus that originated from an avian influenza A virus, including the H2 hemagglutinin and the N2 neuraminidase genes. It was first reported in Singapore in February 1957, Hong Kong in April 1957, and in coastal cities in the United States in summer 1957. The estimated number of deaths was 1.1 million worldwide and 116,000 in the United States.

Like the current pandemic, there was a demographic pattern to the deaths. It hit the elderly population with heart and lung disease. In a frightening twist, the virus could also be fatal for pregnant women. The infection rate was probably even higher than the Spanish flu of 1918 (675,000 Americans died from this), but this lowered the overall case fatality rate to 0.67%. A vaccine became available in late 1957 but was not widely distributed.

The population of the U.S. at the time was 172 million, which is a little more than half of the current population. Life expectancy was 69 as versus 78 today. It was a much healthier population with negligible obesity. To extrapolate the data to a counterfactual, we can conclude that this virus was more wicked than COVID-19 thus far.

What’s remarkable when we look back at this year, nothing was shut down. Restaurants, schools, theaters, sporting events, travel – everything continued without interruption. Without a 24-hour news cycle with thousands of news agencies and a billion websites hungry for traffic, mostly people paid no attention other than to keep basic hygiene. It was covered in the press as a medical problem. The notion that there was a political solution never occurred to anyone.

Again, this was a very serious flu, and it persisted for 10 years until it mutated to become the Hong Kong flu of 1968.

The New York Times had some but not much coverage. On September 18, 1957, an editorial counseled: “Let us all keep a cool head about Asian influenza as the statistics on the spread and the virulence of the disease begin to accumulate. For one thing, let us be sure that the 1957 type of A influenza virus is innocuous, as early returns show, and that antibiotics can indeed control the complications that may develop.”

The mystery of why today vast numbers of governments around the world (but not all) have crushed economies, locked people under house arrest, wrecked business, spread despair, disregarded basic freedoms and rights will require years if not decades to sort out. Is it the news cycle that is creating mass hysteria? Political ambition and arrogance? A decline in philosophical regard for freedom as the best system for dealing with crises? Most likely, the ultimate answer will look roughly like what historians say about the Great War (WWI): it was a perfect storm that created a calamity that no one intended at the outset.

For staying calm and treating the terrible Asian flu of 1957 as a medical problem to address with medical intelligence, rather than as an excuse to unleash Medieval-style brutality, this first postwar generation deserves our respect and admiration.

Jeffrey A. Tucker

Jeffrey A. Tucker is Editorial Director for the American Institute for Economic Research. He is the author of many thousands of articles in the scholarly and popular press and eight books in 5 languages, most recently The Market Loves You. He is also the editor of The Best of Mises. He speaks widely on topics of economics, technology, social philosophy, and culture. Jeffrey is available for speaking and interviews via his email.

from:    https://www.aier.org/article/elvis-was-king-ike-was-president-and-116000-americans-died-in-a-pandemic/

Summer of Love & A Pandemic

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Woodstock Occurred in the Middle of a Pandemic

– May 1, 2020

Woman running through the mud at the Woodstock Music Festival, New York, US, 17th August 1969. (Photo by Owen Franken/Corbis via Getty Images))

In my lifetime, there was another deadly flu epidemic in the United States. The flu spread from Hong Kong to the United States, arriving December 1968 and peaking a year later. It ultimately killed 100,000 people in the U.S., mostly over the age of 65, and one million worldwide.

Lifespan in the US in those days was 70 whereas it is 78 today. Population was 200 million as compared with 328 million today. It was also a healthier population with low obesity. If it would be possible to extrapolate the death data based on population and demographics, we might be looking at a quarter million deaths today from this virus. So in terms of lethality, it was as deadly and scary as COVID-19 if not more so, though we shall have to wait to see.

“In 1968,” says Nathaniel L. Moir in National Interest, “the H3N2 pandemic killed more individuals in the U.S. than the combined total number of American fatalities during both the Vietnam and Korean Wars.”

And this happened in the lifetimes of every American over 52 years of age.

I was 5 years old and have no memory of this at all. My mother vaguely remembers being careful and washing surfaces, and encouraging her mom and dad to be careful. Otherwise, it’s mostly forgotten today. Why is that?

Nothing closed. Schools stayed open. All businesses did too. You could go to the movies. You could go to bars and restaurants. John Fund has a friend who reports having attended a Grateful Dead concert. In fact, people have no memory or awareness that the famous Woodstock concert of August 1969 – planned in January during the worse period of death – actually occurred during a deadly American flu pandemic that only peaked globally six months later. There was no thought given to the virus which, like ours today, was dangerous mainly for a non-concert-going demographic.

Stock markets didn’t crash. Congress passed no legislation. The Federal Reserve did nothing. Not a single governor acted to enforce social distancing, curve flattening (even though hundreds of thousands of people were hospitalized), or banning of crowds. No mothers were arrested for taking their kids to other homes. No surfers were arrested. No daycares were shut even though there were more infant deaths with this virus than the one we are experiencing now. There were no suicides, no unemployment, no drug overdoses.

Media covered the pandemic but it never became a big issue.

As Bojan Pancevski in the Wall Street Journal points out, “In 1968-70, news outlets devoted cursory attention to the virus while training their lenses on other events such as the moon landing and the Vietnam War, and the cultural upheaval of the civil-rights movements, student protests and the sexual revolution.”

The only actions governments took was to collect data, watch and wait, encourage testing and vaccines, and so on. The medical community took the primary responsibility for disease mitigation, as one might expect. It was widely assumed that diseases require medical not political responses.

It’s not as if we had governments unwilling to intervene in other matters. We had the Vietnam War, social welfare, public housing, urban renewal, and the rise of Medicare and Medicaid. We had a president swearing to cure all poverty, illiteracy, and disease. Government was as intrusive as it had ever been in history. But for some reason, there was no thought given to shutdowns.

Which raises the question: why was this different? We will be trying to figure this one out for decades.

Was the difference that we have mass media invading our lives with endless notifications blowing up in our pockets? Was there some change in philosophy such that we now think politics is responsible for all existing aspects of life? Was there a political element here in that the media blew this wildly out of proportion as revenge against Trump and his deplorables? Or did our excessive adoration of predictive modelling get out of control to the point that we let a physicist with ridiculous models frighten the world’s governments into violating the human rights of billions of people?

Maybe all of these were factors. Or maybe there is something darker and nefarious at work, as the conspiracy theorists would have it.

Regardless, they all have some explaining to do.

By way of personal recollection, my own mother and father were part of a generation that believed they had developed sophisticated views of viruses. They understood that less vulnerable people getting them not only strengthened immune systems but contributed to disease mitigation by reaching “herd immunity.” They had a whole protocol to make a child feel better about being sick. I got a “sick toy,” unlimited ice cream, Vicks rub on my chest, a humidifier in my room, and so on.

They would constantly congratulate me on building immunity. They did their very best to be happy about my viruses, while doing their best to get me through them.

If we used government lockdowns then like we use them now, Woodstock (which changed music forever and still resonates today) would never have occurred. How much prosperity, culture, tech, etc. are losing in this calamity?

What happened between then and now? Was there some kind of lost knowledge, as happened with scurvy, when we once had sophistication and then the knowledge was lost and had to be re-found? For COVID-19, we reverted to medieval-style understandings and policies, even in the 21st century. It’s all very strange.

The contrast between 1968 and 2020 couldn’t be more striking. They were smart. We are idiots. Or at least our governments are.

[Note an earlier version of this article featured a photo not from Woodstock 1969. This photo from the montage at the Atlantic.]

from:    https://www.aier.org/article/woodstock-occurred-in-the-middle-of-a-pandemic/

What’s Going On?

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Expert Says U.S. is on the Brink of “Mass Civil Unrest”

Has friends on Capitol Hill concerned about violence.

An expert with the United States Studies Centre says that America is on the brink of “mass civil unrest” that threatens to emerge out of anti-lockdown protests now taking place nationwide.

Demonstrations against coronavirus stay-at-home measures have exploded across the country over the last week after President Trump encouraged them on social media. The National Guard has been called out in some areas to deal with potential disorder.

Speaking to Sky News Australia, James Brown, a former Australian Army officer who commanded a cavalry troop in southern Iraq, said that the very specific mentality of Americans made them much more likely to rebel against lockdown measures compared to citizens of other countries.

“There is that part of the US political psyche that takes rights to a complete extreme,” said Brown, adding that “mass civil unrest” is an ever present possibility due to Americans sharing a “deep independent streak that believes the government is a nice-to-have not a must-have.”

The host of the show opined that if “anarchy” were to break out across the United States, “the government can’t bring the people to heel” due to the Second Amendment.

Brown said he had friends on Capitol Hill who were very worried about mass social disorder and a “gun battle on the streets.”

Brown said that so long as most people believed that states were making progress on battling coronavirus, they would accept and adhere to lockdown laws for the time being.

“But people will chafe, that idea of individual freedom and liberty is much stronger in the U.S. than it is Australia,” he added.

from:    https://summit.news/2020/04/21/expert-says-u-s-is-on-the-brink-of-mass-civil-unrest/

Got Something to Say? May 1 is the Day

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Protests nationwide scheduled for May 1

by Jon Rappoport

A growing number of groups in US states are preparing protests against the lockdowns on May 1.

I’ve found two sites that are publishing information on the protests.

American Revolution 2.0

Open The States

Check out your state and see what’s upcoming.

As far as I can tell, this is not a top-down single-leader movement. It’s a state by state proposition. That would be a good thing. Groups in each state should run their own operations.

Here is a quote from American Revolution 2.0:

“Governor Executive Orders violate the United States Constitution and negate the responsibility of individual citizens for their ‘Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness’. The precedent set by removing these Constitutional Rights is staggering and to date unheard of.”

Of course, agencies like the CDC and the World Health Organization appoint themselves the “new global governance.” Their job is painting as bleak a picture as possible, making it seem that, without their top-down control, the population of Earth would be decimated.

This is always the way of tyrants. How else can they justify their criminal actions?

The endless invention of enemies is a strategy as old as the hills.

Peace and prosperity are stakes through the hearts of vampires.

For the CDC and WHO and Bill Gates, the idea that someone somewhere might be living free and healthy on his own accord…THAT to them is the virus which must be conquered.

To accomplish this victory, they enlist the help of public and private meddlers and gossipers and snitches and censors, whose only thrill in life is finding “rule-breakers.” Therefore, the more rules the better.

The culture of society is becoming more infantile every day—wash your hands, wash them again, don’t touch your face, stay indoors, wear a mask, wear gloves, stand six feet apart, wait in line, don’t breathe on your neighbor, be polite, watch TV for marching orders—but those people who still understand what freedom means are under no obligation to cater to that “culture.”

Lowest common denominator is not a principle contained in the Constitution. In fact, wherever the principle is found, it’s a cover for dictatorship. For example, the ubiquitous “we’re all in this together” is a massage for the brainless.

Translation: “You’re all one giant cheese glob, and we, the World Health Organization, with Bill Gates money, are pressing the two pieces of toast together and making the sandwich.”

State by state, the protests against unconstitutional insanity are scheduled for May 1.

OPEN THE STATES. GO BACK TO WORK. TURN ON THE ECONOMY.

from:    https://blog.nomorefakenews.com/2020/04/26/protests-nationwide-scheduled-for-may-1/

Isolation, Herd Immunity, and Confusing Numbers

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The data is in — stop the panic and end the total isolation

By Dr. Scott W. Atlas, Opinion Contributor — 04/22/20 12:30 PM EDT 10,923

The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the view of The Hill

The tragedy of the COVID-19 pandemic appears to be entering the containment phase. Tens of thousands of Americans have died, and Americans are now desperate for sensible policymakers who have the courage to ignore the panic and rely on facts. Leaders must examine accumulated data to see what has actually happened, rather than keep emphasizing hypothetical projections; combine that empirical evidence with fundamental principles of biology established for decades; and then thoughtfully restore the country to function.

Five key facts are being ignored by those calling for continuing the near-total lockdown.

Fact 1: The overwhelming majority of people do not have any significant risk of dying from COVID-19.

The recent Stanford University antibody study now estimates that the fatality rate if infected is likely 0.1 to 0.2 percent, a risk far lower than previous World Health Organization estimates that were 20 to 30 times higher and that motivated isolation policies.

In New York City, an epicenter of the pandemic with more than one-third of all U.S. deaths, the rate of death for people 18 to 45 years old is 0.01 percent, or 11 per 100,000 in the population. On the other hand, people aged 75 and over have a death rate 80 times that. For people under 18 years old, the rate of death is zero per 100,000.

Of all fatal cases in New York state, two-thirds were in patients over 70 years of age; more than 95 percent were over 50 years of age; and about 90 percent of all fatal cases had an underlying illness. Of 6,570 confirmed COVID-19 deaths fully investigated for underlying conditions to date, 6,520, or 99.2 percent, had an underlying illness. If you do not already have an underlying chronic condition, your chances of dying are small, regardless of age. And young adults and children in normal health have almost no risk of any serious illness from COVID-19.

Fact 2: Protecting older, at-risk people eliminates hospital overcrowding.

We can learn about hospital utilization from data from New York City, the hotbed of COVID-19 with more than 34,600 hospitalizations to date. For those under 18 years of age, hospitalization from the virus is 0.01 percent per 100,000 people; for those 18 to 44 years old, hospitalization is 0.1 percent per 100,000. Even for people ages 65 to 74, only 1.7 percent were hospitalized. Of 4,103 confirmed COVID-19 patients with symptoms bad enough to seek medical care, Dr. Leora Horwitz of NYU Medical Center concluded “age is far and away the strongest risk factor for hospitalization.” Even early WHO reports noted that 80 percent of all cases were mild, and more recent studies show a far more widespread rate of infection and lower rate of serious illness. Half of all people testing positive for infection have no symptoms at all. The vast majority of younger, otherwise healthy people do not need significant medical care if they catch this infection.

Fact 3: Vital population immunity is prevented by total isolation policies, prolonging the problem.

We know from decades of medical science that infection itself allows people to generate an immune response — antibodies — so that the infection is controlled throughout the population by “herd immunity.” Indeed, that is the main purpose of widespread immunization in other viral diseases — to assist with population immunity. In this virus, we know that medical care is not even necessary for the vast majority of people who are infected. It is so mild that half of infected people are asymptomatic, shown in early data from the Diamond Princess ship, and then in Iceland and Italy. That has been falsely portrayed as a problem requiring mass isolation. In fact, infected people without severe illness are the immediately available vehicle for establishing widespread immunity. By transmitting the virus to others in the low-risk group who then generate antibodies, they block the network of pathways toward the most vulnerable people, ultimately ending the threat. Extending whole-population isolation would directly prevent that widespread immunity from developing.

Fact 4: People are dying because other medical care is not getting done due to hypothetical projections.

Critical health care for millions of Americans is being ignored and people are dying to accommodate “potential” COVID-19 patients and for fear of spreading the disease. Most states and many hospitals abruptly stopped “nonessential” procedures and surgery. That prevented diagnoses of life-threatening diseases, like cancer screening, biopsies of tumors now undiscovered and potentially deadly brain aneurysms. Treatments, including emergency care, for the most serious illnesses were also missed. Cancer patients deferred chemotherapy. An estimated 80 percent of brain surgery cases were skipped. Acute stroke and heart attack patients missed their only chances for treatment, some dying and many now facing permanent disability.

Fact 5: We have a clearly defined population at risk who can be protected with targeted measures.

The overwhelming evidence all over the world consistently shows that a clearly defined group — older people and others with underlying conditions — is more likely to have a serious illness requiring hospitalization and more likely to die from COVID-19. Knowing that, it is a commonsense, achievable goal to target isolation policy to that group, including strictly monitoring those who interact with them. Nursing home residents, the highest risk, should be the most straightforward to systematically protect from infected people, given that they already live in confined places with highly restricted entry.

The appropriate policy, based on fundamental biology and the evidence already in hand, is to institute a more focused strategy like some outlined in the first place: Strictly protect the known vulnerable, self-isolate the mildly sick and open most workplaces and small businesses with some prudent large-group precautions. This would allow the essential socializing to generate immunity among those with minimal risk of serious consequence, while saving lives, preventing overcrowding of hospitals and limiting the enormous harms compounded by continued total isolation. Let’s stop underemphasizing empirical evidence while instead doubling down on hypothetical models. Facts matter.

Scott W. Atlas, MD, is the David and Joan Traitel Senior Fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution and the former chief of neuroradiology at Stanford University Medical Center.

from:    https://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/494034-the-data-are-in-stop-the-panic-and-end-the-total-isolation

No Lockdowns = Quick Herd Immunity – Check Out Sweden

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Weeks Away from Herd Immunity – Epidemiologist Explains Why Sweden Refused a Total Lockdown

April 23, 2020

Phillip Schneider, Staff Writer
Waking Times

Without imposing any lockdowns or draconian restrictions on citizens, Sweden has attained a greater immunity than any other country and is estimated to achieve herd immunity to Covid-19 within three weeks

 

 

Swedish officials have recommended since the outbreak began that residents of the country limit contact with others whenever possible and wash their hands regularly. Since then, the virus has mostly affected nursing homes for the elderly, the population that Swedish officials most want to protect.

“In major parts of Sweden, around Stockholm, we have reached a plateau (in new cases) and we’re already seeing the effect of herd immunity and in a few weeks’ time we’ll see even more of the effects of that. And in the rest of the country, the situation is stable.” – Dr. Anders Tengell, Chief Epidemiologist at Sweden’s Public Health Agency [SOURCE]

Although some restrictions have been placed on Swedish citizens such as a ban on gatherings of more than 50 people, Swedes have mostly relied on the voluntary efforts of others to wash their hands and practice social distancing.

However, death tolls have been higher in Sweden than other nearby countries, such as Finland, Denmark, and Norway. It is unclear if this is because of their loose restrictions, immigration policies, or simply bad luck. Most deaths have occurred in nursing homes and among the recent influx of African and Middle Eastern migrants who in just a few years have become about 25% of the total population.

“The death toll is very closely related to elderly care homes. More than half of the people that have died have lived in elderly care homes… It’s the group we said we needed to protect,” said Tengell.

Professor Johan Giesecke, the senior epidemiologist and advisor to the director general of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Swedish government, who originally hired Anders Tengell, argues that worldwide lockdowns are being implemented without any real evidence that they are effective.

“The Swedish government decided early in January that the measures we take against the pandemic should be evidence-based and when you start looking around for the measures that are being taken now by different countries you find that very few of them have a shred of evidence.” – Johan Giesecke [SOURCE]

Pandemic models for the United States originally predicted as many as several hundred thousand deaths by August, but those numbers have been continuously reduced to only 60,145 as their predicted death counts have not happened.

Because of the harm these failed Center for Disease Control (CDC) and WHO models have done to the US economy, the United States coronavirus task force has recently dropped them in favor of real data and as a result are planning to reopen the country in May and June.

“Models for infectious disease spread are very popular… They are good for teaching, [but] seldom tell you the truth… Which model could have assumed that the outbreak would start in northern Italy? … [Models] are based on assumptions, and those assumptions should by highly criticized.” – Johan Giesecke

The current number of deaths from Covid-19 in Sweden is 1,937, or 192 deaths per million people.

About the Author

Phillip Schneider is a student as well as a staff writer and assistant editor for Waking Times. If you would like to see more of his work, you can visit his website, or follow him on the free speech social network Minds.

This article (Weeks Away from Herd Immunity – Epidemiologist Explains Why Sweden Refused a Total Lockdown) as originally created and published by Waking Times and is published here under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Phillip Schneider and WakingTimes.com. It may be re-posted freely with proper attribution, author bio, and this copyright statement.

from:    https://www.wakingtimes.com/2020/04/23/weeks-away-from-herd-immunity-epidemiologist-explains-why-sweden-refused-a-total-lockdown/

When Will States Reopen?

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Here’s Where All 50 States Stand On Reopening Their Economies

As the debate about when, where and how to reopen the American economy rages on, here’s where all 50 states stand on reopening their economies, now that the White House has released its ‘guidelines’ and delegated ultimate authority to the governors of each state.

Here’s an (alphabetical) roundup of states’ plans:

Alabama

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey’s stay at home order is set to expire on April 30. The state’s Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth is in charge of a task force to decide when to reopen the state’s economy. The task force is expected to deliver a report on its findings later this week.

Ivey said April 14 she intends to work with other states and the Trump administration, but that “what works in Alabama works in Alabama.”

When the economy starts to reopen, Ivey said during a press briefing it will be a slow process over time, “segment by segment or region by region.”

Alaska

Gov. Mike Dunleavy has ordered residents to stay at home until at least April 21. Dunleavy has said that Alaskans will be allowed to schedule elective surgeries on or after May 4; that also applies to doctors visits for non-urgent needs.

Arkansas

Arkansas is one of a handful of states that never faced a stay at home order. Gov. Asa Hutchinson has closed schools for the rest of the academic term, while fitness centers, bars, restaurants and other public spaces have been closed (though the media likes to treat these states as virtually free of any constraints).

Hutchinson told reporters on April 16 that he wants to bring back elective surgeries. “We want to get (hospitals) back to doing the important health-care delivery that is important in our communities,” he said.

California

Gov. Gavin Newsom was the first governor in the nation to issue a stay-at-home order, which he did more than a month ago, on March 19. It had no set expiration date.

Last week, Newsom announced during a joint briefing with Western States that Cali had formed a pact with Oregon Governor Kate Brown and Washington Governor Jay Inslee, promising that “health outcomes and science – not politics – will guide these decisions” to reopen the states.

Moving ahead to this week, Newsom outlined a framework for reopening the economy in California that he said was predicated on the state’s ability to do six things: expand testing to identify and isolate the infected, maintain vigilance to protect seniors and high risk individuals, meet future surges in hospital demand and continuing work on therapies and treatments, redrawing regulations to continue social distancing at businesses and schools and develop new enforcement mechanisms. How long that might take is anybodies’ guess.

Colorado

Gov. Jared Polis extended the state’s stay-at-home order to April 26 (it ends Sunday night).

Polis added on April 15 that the key information state officials needed to determine when parts of the economy can be reopened is likely to come within the next five days.

The governor warned that restrictions won’t all be lifted at the same time, and life will be different for some time. “The virus will be with us,” Polis said. “We have to find a sustainable way that will be adapted in real time to how we live with it.”

Connecticut

During an interview on “Squawk Box” Tuesday morning, Gov. Lamont said that May 20 is a line in the sand: He has promised that schools and businesses likely won’t start to reopen before then. “The presidential guidelines were pretty responsible,” Lamont said, adding that they gave the state “a yellow light” to start opening things up. “My instinct is we’re going to first focus on big manufacturing and outside construction – which Connecticut never closed down by the way – before we move on to retail, and opening them up on a limited basis.”

“The things that come later are the things that Georgia opened up first…those things that have close personal contact…bars, barber shops…there I think we’re going to have to wait until we have a little more testing, and more masks,” he said.

Delaware

Gov. John Carney issued a statewide stay-at-home order that will remain until May 15 or until the “public health threat is eliminated.”
Delaware has joined a coalition of six Northeastern states to coordinate the reopening of the regional economy.

The governor said April 17 that even after the state reopens, social distancing, face coverings in public, washing hands, limited gatherings and vulnerable populations sheltering in place will remain.

Washington DC

Mayor Muriel Bowser has extended the state’s lockdown until May 15.

Florida

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis issued a stay-at-home order for Floridians until April 30 and plans to announce plans for reopening next week. He has already allowed some beaches in the state to reopen, a controversial move that was widely criticized by the NYT and MSNBC, among others.

Southeast Florida, the epicenter of the state’s outbreak, might reopen more slowly than the rest of the state.

Georgia

As we noted last night, Gov. Brian Kemp, who issued a statewide shelter-in-place order until April 30 and set a public emergency for schools in the state until May 13, announced plans for reopening the state by this time next week.

Hawaii

Gov. David Ige issued a stay-at-home order until at least April 30. He said last week that the state isn’t close to meeting the reopening criteria, and it’s not clear when that will happen.

Idaho

Gov. Brad Little amended his order April 15 to allow for some businesses and facilities to reopen for curbside pickup, drive-in and drive-thru service and for mailed or delivery services. It is now effective through the end of the month. As of now, the state’s “order to self-isolate” will expire on April 30, unless extended.

Little says the measures are working and Idaho is “truly seeing a flattening of the curve.”

Illinois

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker issued a stay-at-home order in effect through the end of the month unless extended.

Pritzker said during a media briefing Monday that he believes the current state in Illinois has been enough to slowly start lifting shelter-in-place orders so that some industry workers can go back to work, although he hasn’t laid out a clear timeline.

Indiana

Gov. Eric Holcomb extended his state’s stay-at-home order through May 1 to give it more time to look into what “the best way is to reopen sectors of the economy.”

He said he would work with the state hospital association to see when elective surgeries could resume. The state is also part of that “midwestern coalition” we have mentioned.

Iowa

Gov. Kim Reynolds has not declared a stay-at-home order, though she did issue a  “State of Public Health Disaster Emergency” on March 17, which was tantamount to a closure order, forcing ‘nonessential’ businesses to close until the end of the month. She also formed a task force to look into how to reopen schools and the economy. Reynolds on April 16 announced that residents of the state’s hottest hot spot won’t be allowed to congregate at least until next month.

Kansas

Gov. Laura Kelly has extended the closure order until May 3, with the state’s “peak” expected by the end of April.

Kentucky

Gov. Andy Beshear issued a “Healthy at Home” order March 25 with no end date. Oddly, Kentucky is actually part of the coalition of midwestern states working to reopen their economies together.

Louisiana

Gov. John Bel Edwards extended the state’s stay-at-home order through April 30. Residents will soon be able to start getting non-emergency surgeries.

Maine

Gov. Janet Mills issued a “Stay Healthy at Home” executive order through at least April 30, and has extended a civil state of emergency until May 15.

“We are in the midst of one of the greatest public health crises this world has seen in more than a century,” Mills said in a news release. “This virus will continue to sicken people across our state; our cases will only grow, and more people will die. I say this to be direct, to be as honest with you as I can. Because saving lives will depend on us.”

Maryland

Gov. Larry Hogan issued a statewide stay-at-home order on March 30. There is no current potential end date.
The governor said during his appearance on CNN Newsroom on April 13 that the state is discussing ways to safely reopen the state with health officials.

Massachusetts

Governor Charlie Baker has issued an emergency order requiring all nonessential businesses to remain closed until May 4. Mass is also part of the northeastern coalition.

Michigan

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has said she “hopes” to start reopening May 1 despite her state being one of the hardest hit outside New York.

Minnesota

Gov. Tim Walz extended the state’s stay-at-home order through May 3, while extending a peacetime emergency for an additional 30 days until May 13.

Mississippi

Gov. Tate Reeves has extended a shelter-in-place order to April 27, but said some non-essential businesses could reopen by offering services via drive-thru, delivery or ‘outside’ shopping.

Missouri

Gov. Mike Parson on April 16 extended the stay-at-home order through May 3 and pledged to work with businesses and health-care providers on the reopening plan.

“Our reopening efforts will be careful, deliberate, and done in phases,” he said.

Montana

Bullock’s stay at home order for the state will expire on Friday, and the governor has said that the federal guidelines will allow it to reopen “sooner rather than later.”

Nebraska

Gov. Pete Ricketts issued the “21 Days to Stay Home and Stay Healthy” campaign on April 10, ordering all hair salons, tattoo parlors and strip clubs be closed through April 30. Nebraska is one of the states that has not issued a stay-at-home order.

Nevada

Gov. Steve Sisolak issued a stay-at-home order that expires April 30.

When asked about how he’d make his decision to reopen the economy, Sisolak said “positive testing is important but it’s not my number one parameter,” adding that “basis hospitalizations” are seen as an important metric for him.

New Hampshire

Gov. Chris Sununu issued a stay-at-home order until May 4, and told reporters that he’ll decide whether to extend it before it expires.

New Jersey

Gov. Phil Murphy issued a stay-at-home order on March 21 that has no specific end date. His state is part of the northeastern alliance.

New Mexico

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham extended the state’s emergency order to April 30, and said Thursday that her state is evaluating the federal guidelines but couldn’t risk putting “the cart before the horse” and are still working on developing a plan.

New York

Gov Cuomo’s “PAUSE” order is currently set to keep schools and businesses closed until at least May 15.

North Carolina

Gov. Roy Cooper issued a stay-at-home order for the state effective until April 29.

North Dakota

Gov. Doug Burgum is one of the governors who never issued a stay at home order, and has said he would like to reopen by May 1.

Ohio

Mike DeWine has said he hopes to start reopening on May 1.

Oklahoma

Gov. Kevin Stitt said April 15 that he is working on a plan to reopen the state’s economy, possibly as early as April 30.

Oregon

Gov. Kate Brown issued an executive order directing Oregonians to stay at home that “remains in effect until ended by the governor.”

Pennsylvania

Gov. Tom Wolf issued stay-at-home orders across the state until April 30. It is part of the coalition of northeastern states.

Rhode Island

Gov. Gina Raimondo’s emergency order to keep the state closed is set to expire May 8.

South Carolina

The state’s governor said earlier he would push to start reopening by next Tuesday.

South Dakota

Gov. Kirsti Noem hasn’t issued a stay at home order.

Tennessee

Gov Bill Lee has said he plans to start reopening businesses as soon as Monday.

Texas

Gov. Greg Abbott ordered all Texans to stay home through April 30.

Utah

Gov. Gary Herbert extended the state’s “Stay Safe, Stay Home” directive through May 1. Schools will be closed for the remainder of the year.

Vermont

Gov. Phil Scott issued a “Stay Home, Stay Safe” order that has been extended until May 15.

Scott on April 17 outlined a five-point plan to reopen the state while continuing to fight the spread of the coronavirus during a news conference.

Virginia

Gov. Ralph Northam issued a stay-at-home order effective until June 10.

Washington

Gov. Jay Inslee extended Washignton’s stay-at-home order until May 4, saying “We are yet to see the full toll of this virus in our state and the modeling we’ve seen could be much worse if we don’t continue what we’re doing to slow the spread.”

West Virginia

Gov. Jim Justice issued a stay-at-home order until further notice.

“That curve is the curve we’re looking for to be able to look at the possibility of backing things off and going forward. We’re not there yet,” Justice said on April 13.

Wisconsin

Gov. Tony Evers’ stay at home order will expire May 26, making his one of the latest dates in the country, along with Connecticut and the states that haven’t set a date.

Wyoming

Wyoming doesn’t have a stay at home order, and has been relatively unscathed by the outbreak. It was the last state to receive a federal disaster declaration.

from:    https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/heres-where-all-50-states-stand-reopening-their-economies