Some Early Speculation

On Wednesday, The Hill posted a list of the ten Republicans most likely to run for President in 2024. It’s an interesting list.

Here is the list:

Donald Trump

Ron DeSantis

Mike Pence

Chris Christie

Nikki Haley

Ted Cruz

Mike Pompeo

Kristi Noem

Tom Cotton

Larry Hogan

Please follow the link to read the entire article. Each candidate has his/her own list of strong and weak points. The problem with choosing a candidate (in either party) is trying to sort out who is a member of the Washington swamp and who isn’t. The swamp includes both parties, and we need to nominate and elect someone who will drain the swamp rather than be part of it.

Beware Of The Side Effects

Pfizer and Merck have rushed to produce drugs that will lessen the severity of the coronavirus in people who contract the disease. Unfortunately, as with all medications, these drugs have side effects–some of which are dangerous.

On Sunday Newsmax reported the following:

Experts warn that despite the first antiviral pills for COVID-19 promising protection for those at risk of severe disease, Pfizer’s or Merck’s new medications may not be safe for everyone, NBC News reported over the weekend.

One of the two drugs in Pfizer’s Paxlovid antiviral cocktail could cause severe or life-threatening interactions with commonly used medications, including statins, blood thinners and some antidepressants, and the FDA does not recommend Paxlovid for those with severe kidney or liver disease.

In addition, due to concerns about the potential side effects of Merck’s molnupiravir, the FDA has restricted its use to adults and only in cases in which other treatments are inaccessible or are not ”clinically appropriate.”

Please follow the link above to read the entire article for further details.

Americans with high cholesterol are routinely put on statins; Americans with a-fib or other heart issues are routinely put on blood thinners. Hopefully doctors will take this into consideration before prescribing the antiviral pills. All medications have side effects–medicine is a risk vs. reward profession. I am concerned, however, about the too close relationship between the FDA and the pharmaceutical companies. Many doctors who have been seeing Covid patients for the past two years believe that there are effective, inexpensive ways of dealing with the disease that have been blocked by the FDA in favor of protocols that provide greater profits for the pharmaceutical industry.

The Cost Of Telling The Truth

On Thursday, Jihad Watch posted an article about some recent statements by Samuel Hayek, the chairman the Jewish National Fund (JNF UK).

The article reports:

British Labour MP Alex Sobel has called on Samuel Hayek, the chairman the Jewish National Fund (JNF UK), to resign or be removed from office for offensive anti-Muslim remarks.

Speaking to the Jerusalem Post in early December, Hayek said Jews should start planning to leave Britain because “Jews who are unable to protect their assets, Jews being discriminated against badly is something that could quite easily happen – that is happening.”

Hayek claimed one of the reasons for the rise of anti-Semitism in the UK is shifting demographic patterns and that Muslim immigration threatens the future of Jews in the UK and Europe as whole.

“I am not against any minority or against Muslims in the UK or Europe, but against anyone who spreads hatred that harms Jews,” Hayek said; adding, “That is how I see the near future evolving.”

Anyone who has read the Koran understands the Muslim hatred of Jews.

The Hadith quotes the Prophet Mohammad as saying” The Resurrection of the dead will not come until the Muslims will war with the Jews and the Muslims will kill them…the trees and rocks will say, ‘O Muslim, here is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.'”

History reminds us that when Hitler said that he would exterminate the Jews no one believed him. That reluctance cost millions of lives. Now when a religion openly states its intention to kill Jews, it would serve us all well to pay attention.

The definition of slander in Sharia Law is saying something that the hearer does not like. It does not matter if what is said is true or not. What Samuel Hayek said is true–the increasing Muslim population in Britain will eventually pose a threat to the Jewish population–Jews in France have been under attack by Muslim immigrants for a number of years. The efforts to cancel out what Mr. Hayek is saying are an example of ‘creeping sharia’–cancelling out anyone who says anything negative about Islam.

Who In The World Is Writing These Rules?

On Tuesday, PJ Media reported the following:

As the year comes to a close, it’s once again time to start thinking about taxes. Tax day is still months away, but for many people who aren’t very good at bookkeeping, tax season can be a stressful time of making sure you’ve got all the necessary documentation for the income you’ve earned and deductions you can take.

The tax code is, of course, incredibly complex, and many rely on professionals to prepare their taxes for them. Experts have a much better idea of the things you can claim to reduce your tax burden, and they can alert you to items you must declare as income if you don’t want to risk getting audited.

While you obviously wouldn’t be expected to know everything — or even most — of what the tax code says, there is something the IRS expects people to declare as income that is so absurd, you won’t believe it.

According to the IRS, “If you steal property, you must report its fair market value in your income in the year you steal it unless you return it to its rightful owner in the same year.”

I will admit that I was extremely skeptical of this claim–to the point where I began searching IRS documents to see if it is true. This is what I found on Page 76 of IRS 2021 Publication 17 (link here):

Stolen property. If you steal property, you
must report its fair market value in your income
in the year you steal it unless you return it to its
rightful owner in the same year.

I admire the naivety of the IRS in believing that anyone involved in the ‘smash and grab’ events in our country would report the value of the items they stole as income.

The article at PJ Media concludes:

Does this mean that, if you’re a looter who exploited the riots in Minneapolis last summer or part of the smash-and-grab crime spree in San Francisco right now, the IRS actually expects you to declare those goods you stole as income?

Probably not, but since the IRS is a government agency, who knows? Still, the infamous mob boss Al Capone was ultimately brought to justice over tax evasion — not bootlegging, racketeering, or murder.

If Capone had only declared his illicit income and paid taxes on it, he may have lived his whole life a free man.

Wow.

The Case Against Vaccine Mandates

On Wednesday, The Epoch Times posted an article about a recent statement by Dr. Peter McCullough.

The article reports:

COVID-19 vaccine mandates “have to be repealed” as the vaccines are “still in research” and “people cannot be mandated to participate in research,” says Dr. Peter McCullough.

McCullough, a cardiologist, epidemiologist, and internist who manages COVID-19 patients with heart-related complications and patients who become ill after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine, contends that COVID-19 vaccine mandates violate the Nuremberg Code.

“When it comes to research, research can only be voluntary. And under no circumstances can anyone receiving pressure, coercion, or threat of reprisal cannot violate the cornerstone of ethics unethical, is immoral to do that,” he says.

McCullough notes that the CDC and FDA have yet to publish “their first monthly safety report” on the vaccines, and that as of Dec. 17, the CDC’s VAERS (Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System) has reported 20,622 deaths post-vaccination globally and over 983,000 adverse events.

The article includes a statement about the accuracy of the VAERS data:

…a June 2021 analysis of VAERS COVID-19 vaccine death reports led by the University of London’s Scott Mclachlan. Mclachlan found that “contrary to claims that most of these reports are made by lay-people and are hence clinically unreliable,” health service employees were the reporters at least 67 percent of the time, and “there were only 14 percent of the cases for which a vaccine reaction could be ruled out as a contributing factor in their death.”

The article concludes:

A lawsuit was recently filed against the FDA by a medical transparency group, Public Health and Medical Professionals for Transparency (PHMPT) formed by a group of doctors and scientists, including Harvey Risch, a professor of epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health.

The FDA has asked a judge to grant it 75 years to fully release the documents in its possession tied to the approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.

Aaron Siri, a lawyer working on the case, on Dec. 8 wrote, “If you find what you are reading difficult to believe—that is because it is dystopian for the government to give Pfizer billions, mandate Americans to take its product, prohibit Americans from suing for harms, but yet refuse to let Americans see the data underlying its licensure.”

Since its initial announcement of vaccine mandates in both the federal and private sectors, the Biden administration has emphasized that “vaccines are safe, free, and the most effective way for workers to be protected from COVID-19 transmission at work.”

The Epoch Times reached out to the CDC and the White House for comment.

If someone wants to get the vaccine, let them. However, vaccine mandates are simply not the right thing to do. They are unconstitutional and violate the civil rights of Americans. The government has no right to tell you that you have to take a drug or put something into you body against you will.

 

As The New Year Approaches

As we approach 2022, we can celebrate the end of 2021. This year brought us some serious challenges–vaccine mandates, higher energy prices, inflation, supply chain problems, increasing crime rates in some of our major cities, etc. Unfortunately, some of these challenges will continue into the coming year. As we approach 2022, I would like to tell the story of something that happened in New York City in the early 1930’s.

The historical information in this article comes from Classic New York History.

If you have ever wandered around New York City, you probably noticed the two majestic lions outside of the New York City Public Library’s main branch on Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street. The lions were originally named Jacob Aster and James Lenox, after the founders of the library.

The article at Classic New York History notes:

…Later, folks decided to dress them up in costume and name them Lady Astor and Lord Lenox. No one seemed to mind the renaming, despite the fact that both lions had full male manes. Whether it be top hat and tails or evening gowns and jewels, the lions perched proudly despite the indignity of having to wear such silly outfits. It was all in good fun. Sports fans would decorate Patience and Fortitude (their names were changed–information below) in team gear, including a scarf blazing with one team’s colors, only to have it removed and replaced with another. This became a tradition, particularly around World Series time each year, as New Yorkers have always taken their baseball seriously. Any Red Sox fans who would dare to co-op the lions for their team would be dealt with in New York Style. That usually meant getting much more than a simple Bronx “cheer.” After all, from their beginning, the New York Public Library’s lions have been the city’s unofficial mascots.

Mayor Fiorella LaGuardia, having won the New York mayoral election in 1933 had his hands full with many tasks in his new position. He had to clean up the street crime, deal with the banking industry, and worry about the stock market. It was a political high wire act for a mayor in a society that feared the ever growing juxtaposition between the extravagantly wealthy and those living in crippling poverty.

As Mayor, LaGuardia officially renamed the pair of library lions, Patience and Fortitude, which was just what the city needed, as it was still struggling to recover from the 1929 stock market crash and massive unemployment. One of the major hurdles the mayor had to contend with was the image of Italian immigrants. Depicted in films and literature as notorious gangsters, he set out to show the positive side of Italian-American culture. The fact that he named the two gorgeous stone lions that were crafted by a family of immigrant workers just emphasized his point. Italian-American immigrants were and still are known as excellent stone masons and construction contractors. The Piccirilli family and other such artisans helped make New York what it is today.

It may seem like a small thing to rename the lions, but it reminded everyone of the need for patience and fortitude. We are going to need that same patience and fortitude to get through the coming year.

Sharia Law In America

There are many aspects of Sharia Law that are different from American Constitutional law. One of the more obvious is the conflict between the concept of free speech and the penalty for blasphemy. On Tuesday, The American Thinker posted an article about a bill that was recently passed in the U.S. House of Representatives that will move America in the direction of Sharia Law.

Congress.gov (you have to go to the site and put in the bill number as the specific link expires) describes HR 5665 as follows:

Passed House (12/14/2021)

Combating International Islamophobia Act

This bill establishes within the Department of State the Office to Monitor and Combat Islamophobia and addresses related issues.

The office shall monitor and combat acts of Islamophobia and Islamophobic incitement in foreign countries. The bill establishes the position of Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating Islamophobia, who shall head the office.

The bill also requires certain existing annual reports to Congress about human rights and religious freedom in foreign countries to include information about Islamophobia, such as information about (1) acts of physical violence or harassment of Muslim people, (2) instances of propaganda in government and nongovernment media that attempt to justify or promote hatred or incite violence against Muslim people, and (3) actions taken by a country’s government to respond to such acts. The office shall coordinate and assist in preparing these portions of the reports.

No funds made available pursuant to the bill may be used to promote or endorse a boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement ideology (i.e., economic measures against Israel or Israel-related individuals or organizations) or used to promote or endorse a Muslim ban.

It is no surprise that the bill is sponsored by Ilhan Omar.

The American Thinker reports:

The actual text of the bill not only seeks to eradicate blasphemy against Islam around the world – and solely against Islam at that – but even requires the federal government to reorganize some portions of the State Department along the lines of an Islamic religious institution which will be responsible for interpreting the Quran.  For example, the text of the bill mandates that “[t]he Secretary of State shall establish within the Department of State an Office” and the “purpose” of the office is described as “[m]onitoring and combating acts of Islamophobia and Islamophobic incitement that occur in foreign countries.”  That is, the State Department is required to create an office that is a cross between George Orwell’s Big Brother and the Taliban.

The word ‘combat’ in the text of the law is problematic but fits in perfectly with the concept of waging violent jihad against the countries deemed to have committed blasphemy against Islam.  Almost every dictionary defines the word primarily as an action pertaining to war.  While the internet firm Google’s dictionary defines ‘combat’ as “fighting between armed forces,” Cambridge Dictionary defines the word as “a fight, especially during a war.”  According to Collins Dictionary, “combat is fighting that takes place in a war.”  This is no hyperbole as the State Department has a long history of supporting Islamic terrorists such as Osama bin Laden, the Taliban, Al Qaeda, and ISIS.  Former Assistant Secretary of State, Robin Raphel, ran her office as though it were an outpost of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and she lost her security clearance when she was investigated for counterintelligence activities.  Little wonder then that Newt Gingrich, the former Speaker of the House, used the term “Rogue State Department” and President Donald Trump described the State Department as the “Deep State Department.

This law is not consistent with our Constitution.

What Has Happened To Our Constitution?

On Tuesday, The Conservative Treehouse posted an article about a recent incident in New York City.

The article reports:

New York City was the first large metropolitan area to require vaccination identification cards to enter restaurants, bars, dining establishments and various public and private venues. Now comes the enforcement part.

The New York Police Department (NYPD) has started deploying vaccination police, and making arrests of people who do not present papers to prove their status.

The article includes the video below:

The article includes a warning for all of us:

Many police and law enforcement officers will tell you they will not comply with such orders. However, when those orders actually materialize, the police compartmentalize their behavior and do exactly what they are told.

The local police in your town will do exactly the same if they are ordered to carry out the rules of the city officials in your area. Your local police will do this regardless of what they might say right now.

As we witnessed in Australia, once the police officers start carrying out these types of operations, the only way to make it stop is to make them uncomfortable. That requires mass non-compliance by large numbers of citizens to overcome the mental barrier the police use to justify their conduct.

Then, after the police start getting uncomfortable arresting moms, dads and children, it takes open and vocal public shaming on a large scale toward the officers on a community level to get them to stop.

Remember, when the Chinese government first told the regular army to open fire on the students in Tiananmen Square, the soldiers would not shoot. The Chinese Communist government then brought in the Mongolian divisions who had no connection to the local community. You know what happened next.

This is frightening.

Sad News For Those Of Us Who Grew Up Watching Football

On Tuesday, Just the News reported that Pro-Football Hall of Fame coach John Madden has died. Many of us grew up watching him do play-by-play of football games with a white board and a marker. He made the game interesting and shared a lot of the strategy of the game.

The article notes:

“We all know him as the Hall of Fame coach of the Oakland Raiders and broadcaster who worked for every major network, but more than anything, he was a devoted husband, father and grandfather,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said, adding that he sends his condolences to Madden’s family.

“Nobody loved football more than Coach. He was football. He was an incredible sounding board to me and so many others. There will never be another John Madden, and we will forever be indebted to him for all he did to make football and the NFL what it is today,” Goodell concluded.

“The game of football has lost a legendary figure,” the NFL stated. The league plans to provide more information shortly.

As head coach of the Oakland Raiders, Madden won Super Bowl XI in 1977. He is remembered for lending his name to the popular popular “Madden NFL” video game series.

One of the things I remember about John Madden was the fact that he refused to fly. He traveled in a luxury SUV during the football season. The SUV included a satellite contact which allowed him to stay in constant contact with the outside world while he traveled. He was an amazing man and will be missed.

This Used To Be Illegal–Maybe It Still Is

On Sunday, The Independent Journal Review posted an article about the Mankato School Board in Minnesota. The School Board has voted unanimously to pay non-white teachers “additional stipends” based only on the color of their skin.

The article reports:

Not everyone was happy with the vote. Republican state Rep. Jeremy Munson criticized the policy, saying, “Our largest local school district just voted to pay people differently, not on merit, or by the content of their character, but based solely on the color of their skin.”

“This is allowed and encouraged under a revision to Minnesota state Statute 122A.70,” Munson continued. “Mankato Area Public Schools Policy number 466 provides pay for black and native American school staff above which is paid to white employees.”

The article concludes:

I wonder what Martin Luther King, Jr., the gold standard in race relations and the American Dream, would say. Bearing in mind MLK’s signature quote, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character,” it’s safe to say he would call it what it is: racist.

MLK’s vision of America is one of a work-in-progress. We’re not there yet, but we’re on the way. The radical left seeks to undermine King’s legacy with policies that are anti-American and blatantly racist.

Don’t let them.

This makes no sense. No one has any control over the color of their skin. It is something you are born with. I have no problem paying teachers more for higher degrees, but increased pay based solely on skin color is simply racist. If this were done in the south and white teachers received more money, there would be massive outrage.

 

Your Tax Dollars At Work

Every year Senator Rand Paul releases his annual “Festivus Report” detailing waste in government spending. On Monday, The American Thinker posted an article about the 2021 list.

The article reports:

For instance, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) spent $11.3 million, in part, in an effort aimed at getting Vietnamese citizens to stop burning their trash.  (It might just as well have burned the $11.3 million.)  The federal government spent $25 million to help New York City display art projects around its boroughs.  (Yes, defund the police, but make sure criminals are inspired by art.)

The federal government also reportedly donated $14 million to the Wilson Center, a Washington think-tank known for putting on parties for members of Congress.  Well, Congress controls the purse strings, and what better way to use taxpayers’ money than to throw itself lavish soirées?

One point three million dollars went to a study, funded in part by the National Institute on Aging (NIA), to determine how hearing good or bad news affects peoples’ happiness.  (Guess what!  People are happier upon hearing good news than upon receiving bad news!  I would have told them that for 1.3 million pennies.)

The article also mentions spending for border walls (only not in America):

Incredibly, though the Biden administration halted construction of the wall on the border between the U.S. and Mexico, Paul said the federal government saw fit to give the Department of Defense $250 million to build border walls in the Middle East and North Africa. And why do walls work in places like Hungary, China, Israel, and North Africa…but not here in the States? Why do they work when surrounding the homes of progressive politicians like Barack Obama, but not when utilized to protect their own country’s borders? And why is the Department of Defense helping to defend foreign nations but not its own?

The article concludes:

The U.S. federal government, via its National Institute of Health (NIH), also gave more than $465,000 to Portland, Oregon’s Reed College to fund a study on gambling that taught pigeons to play slot machines.

Sen. Paul released a statement to the Daily Wire in which he noted, “It seems like just yesterday the national debt was $20 trillion, but now the U.S. has managed to breeze past $28 trillion, spending and wasting more than we ever have.”

But remember, Sen. Paul, that people are happier after hearing good news.  So let’s focus on the fact that we now have pigeons capable of playing slot machines.

It’s time to take away the government’s checkbook until they can learn to use it responsibly!

What I Never Thought I Would See

On Monday The Federalist posted a list of thirteen things that have happened that they would not have believed five years ago.

Here is the list. Please follow the link to the article to read the details:

1. Men As Women

2. Blocking Puberty

3. Drafting Women

5. Massive Illegal Immigration

6. Widespread Censorship

7. Parents Labeled Terrorists

8. President’s Mental Abilities Doubted

9. Asking Athletes for Advice

10. Record Debt and Inflation

11. Covid Restrictions Continue and Some Increase

12. Major Scientific Advances Not Celebrated

13. Losing Our Lead

Please follow the link above to read the details. We are obviously not in a good place.

Good News From Haiti

On Friday, The Western Journal reported that the missionaries kidnapped in Haiti on October 16 have escaped and been reunited with their families.

The article reports:

The entire ordeal began when a group with Christian Aid Ministries was returning from a visit to an orphanage. They were intercepted by a well-known gang, 400 Mawozo, and were kidnapped. The gang demanded $1 million apiece for their release.

According to a statement released by CAM, the missionaries were bold witnesses for their faith even as they were captured and kept in captivity. They sang hymns, recited scripture and encouraged one another as well as tried to convince their captors to repent and believe.

In November, the gang released two of the missionaries. In December, they released three more.

But on Dec. 15, after feeling “nudged” to make a break, the remaining 12 missionaries — including children and an infant — solidified a plan.

They walked for miles over the rough terrain, in gang territory, filled with brambles, with nothing to guide them but the light of the moon and their faith. It was enough.

…“After much discussion and prayer, they became solidly united that God seemed to be leading them this way. When they sensed the timing was right, they found a way to open the door that was closed and blocked, filed silently to the path that they had chosen to follow, and quickly left the place that they were held despite the fact that numerous guards were close by.

This is wonderful news.

Actually Following The Science

On December 21st, The New York Post posted an article titled, “Biden needs to tell the FDA to stop blocking lifesaving COVID treatments.”

The article lists a number of treatments for COVID that have been tested scientifically and proven to be effective:

Fluvoxamine, a commonly available medication, reduced COVID deaths by 91 percent in a randomized controlled trial conducted with impeccable methodology and recently published in The Lancet. This study affirms another trial on the drug published last spring in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The drug is safe, has a plausible mechanism of action, costs $10 and has no contrary studies that might challenge the breathtaking results published. Yet I’ve never heard our public-health officials mention fluvoxamine.

…Merck’s lifesaving drug molnupiravir received an up-vote from the FDA’s external experts three weeks ago, yet the agency has not authorized the drug. Pfizer’s Paxlovid drug cut COVID deaths to zero (compared with 10 deaths in the control group), yet in the five weeks the FDA has been sitting on the application the agency has not even scheduled an advisory meeting to review it. Maybe functionaries don’t want to change their holiday plans.

The article also notes that the outbreak of the Omicron variant of COVID may actually contain some good news:

We also need straight talk when it comes to Omicron. Now 73 percent of new US COVID infections are from Omicron, a strain resulting in more mild illness. A University of Hong Kong study found that Omicron is one-tenth as infective in lung cells compared with the Delta variant. That explains why Omicron patients report far fewer cough and fever symptoms and far fewer people develop severe illness. Instead, the vast majority of Omicron-infected people get common-cold symptoms.

The fear headline is that Omicron partially evades antibody immunity. That’s true; so did Delta. But, also like Delta, Omicron does not escape existing T-cell immunity, according to a new Johns Hopkins study, which is consistent with mounting population data. Cases from the epicenter in Gauteng, South Africa, are plunging, down 44 percent Monday from the prior day. According to South African Health Minister Dr. Joe Phaahla, only 1.7 percent of COVID cases were hospitalized the second week of the Omicron-dominant wave, compared with 19 percent the same week of the Delta wave.

We now have laboratory data, epidemiological data and bedside observations to conclude that Omicron is a milder variant. We are witnessing how pandemics end — a virus mutates down and becomes endemic as population immunity increases.

There is a light at the end of this tunnel, but our government bureaucrats keep putting it out.

A Necessary Event That Will Never Happen

Recently The Epoch Times posted an article related to the beating of Victoria White by two D.C. Metropolitan police officers on January 6th. (articles here and here)

The article reports:

An attorney representing a Minnesota woman allegedly beaten by a Metropolitan Police Department supervisor outside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 is calling for a special prosecutor to be appointed after the release of dramatic video footage of the incident on Thursday.

Victoria C. White, 39, of Rochester, Minnesota, had been arrested in April and charged with numerous felonies for her alleged role in violence at the Capitol. New York attorney Joseph McBride, who represents White in her criminal case, said the video shows a very different picture than what federal prosecutors portrayed in White’s charging documents.

The video shows a woman McBride identified as White being repeatedly struck with a collapsible baton by the same police officer in the west terrace tunnel of the Capitol on Jan. 6. McBride identified the policeman as a Metropolitan Police Department supervisor, a lieutenant, because of his white uniform and riot helmet with “MPDC” painted on the back. His name is not yet known.

The video shows White slumping to the ground numerous times over more than five minutes. Mace was sprayed in her face several times. She got up and was struck repeatedly with the baton. White suffered nearly three dozen blows before she was handcuffed and led away, McBride said. The supervisor at times put away the baton and punched White in the face with his bare fist, and grabbed her hair and jerked her head back and forth, McBride said.

“The highest-ranking officer in the tunnel targets her and just absolutely tees off on her and begins to brutally beat her,” McBride told The Epoch Times after releasing the footage.

There is no excuse for any policeman to treat anyone this way. The circumstances surrounding the arrest and detention of the people involved in January 6th is a disgrace. Video shows the police removing the barriers and inviting people into the Capitol building. Why are those policemen not being held accountable? Constitutional rights have been violated, and people have been mistreated. It is time to charge those responsible not only for the beating of January 6th prisoners, but the conditions in which they are being held with violating the civil rights of Americans.

Good News Out Of Africa

On Tuesday, The U.K. Daily Mail posted an article about what is happening in Africa with the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

The article reports:

Daily Covid cases in South Africa have fallen again by 22 per cent compared to last week’s figures, fuelling hopes that the country’s Omicron wave is over. 

South Africa, whose scientists detected the variant, recorded 21,099 new cases in the last 24 hours, down by nearly a quarter on the 26,976 infections confirmed last Wednesday.

A fifth fewer people were tested for the virus in the last 24 hours compared to the same period last week, but test positivity — the proportion of those tested who are infected — has been trending downwards for nine days.    

…The falling case numbers come despite only 25 per cent of South Africans being double-jabbed and boosters not being dished out in the country. 

It raises hopes that the UK’s Omicron wave will also be short-lived, with Britain also having a layer of protection in its booster programme.  

…The data from the country suggests the outbreak is fading around a month after it was first detected, while ministers and scientists in the UK are panicking about the impact the wave will have over the coming weeks.

…The rise of Omicron is out of step with gloomy Government modelling that predicted the mutant super-strain was doubling every two days and could lead to a million infections per day by the end of the year. 

Meanwhile, latest hospital data shows there were 813 admissions across the UK on December 18, marking an increase of just five per cent in a week. Deaths dropped 15 per cent week-on-week to 140. 

Hospital admissions are rising more slowly than in previous waves and a growing body of evidence suggests Omicron is causing milder illness. 

The article concludes:

Professor Paul Hunter, an infectious diseases expert at the University of East Anglia, told MailOnline that Mr Johnson had made the right decision because cases ‘look like they’ve peaked’. 

He said: ‘It’s not all doom and gloom, it does look like Omicron has stopped growing. The numbers over the last few days seem to have plateaued and maybe even be falling.

‘It’s a bit too soon to be absolutely sure about that, but if it is the case Boris Johnson will breathe a sigh of relief. We have to be a little bit careful because it’s only a few days.

‘And because we’re getting closer to Christmas there is nervousness that people may not come forward for testing because they don’t want to test positive and miss out on meeting relatives.

‘Omicron overtook the other variants around December 14 so most of any changes from there on would be down to Omicron. So if it was still doubling every two days that would have shown and we should have been at 200,000 cases yesterday and certainly more than 200,000 cases today.

‘But the fact it has been around 91,000 raises the point that it might actually have peaked. But it will probably take until at least Wednesday to get an idea of a day that is not affected by the weekend. But I am more optimistic than I was a few days ago.’ 

There were 1.49million tests conducted today which is down from 1.56 million last Wednesday, but Professor Hunter said the ‘relatively small drop’ in testing would not hide a virus truly doubling every two days.

Test positivity is slowly increasing though with 13 per cent of samples positive for the virus by December 15, up from around 9 per cent the month before.

Latest hospital figures show there were 847 Covid admissions across the UK on December 17, up only 7 per cent on the previous week. There were a further 172 Covid deaths today, up 14 per cent.

Please follow the link above to read the entire article. It includes a number of graphs illustrating the impact of the coronavirus in Britain.

A Very Good Question

On Wednesday, Breitbart posted an article that asked a very good question.

The article quotes Dr. Fauci:

“Right now … if there’s an unvaccinated person, I would say, ‘I’m very sorry, but not this time, maybe another time when this is all over,’” Fauci answered when asked if unvaccinated family members should be excluded from Christmas gatherings.

“I know some Americans are wondering if you can safely celebrate the holidays with your family and friends,” His Fraudulency said on Wednesday. “The answer is, yes, you can if you and those you celebrate with are vaccinated, particularly if you’ve gotten your booster shot.”

Sorry to interrupt, but I have a question…

Does the vaccine work or not?

Listen, either the vaccine works, or it doesn’t.

And if the vaccine works, there is no rational reason for the vaccinated to fear the unvaccinated.

Not to get too didactic, but the whole point of the vaccine is to protect us from the virus.

The article asks the obvious question:

So if I’m protected from the virus with the vaccine, why should I fear the unvaccinated?

Or does the vaccine not work?

Frankly, I disagree with a lot of what the article says, but I do agree with its conclusion.

The article concludes:

Joe Biden and Anthony Fauci are not only liars; they are monsters desperate to kill and dehumanize us. The good news is that except for your Aunt and Uncle Karen, I don’t think Americans are falling for it.

So merry Christmas to the vaccinated and unvaccinated alike. And shame on those who use anti-science lies to discriminate, segregate, and spread death against those who dare to not vote for them.

The Facts Are Slowing Coming Out

On Thursday, The Patriot Daily Wire reported that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has released more information about the possible side effects of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine.

The article reports:

As the FDA prepares to approve Pfizer’s new pill for treating high-risk patients infected with COVID, more information about dangerous side effects tied to its vaccine are coming to light.

Just yesterday, we reported another death tied to the vaccine in New Zealand. Now, documents released by the FDA reveal that drugmaker Pfizer recorded nearly 160K adverse reactions to its COVID vaccine in the initial months of its rollout.

The data were obtained by a group of doctors, professors, and journalists calling themselves Public Health and Medical Professionals for Transparency. They filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the FDA asking for their release. And the first tranche of documents revealed that, as of February 2021, when Pfizer’s shot was being rolled out worldwide on an emergency basis, the drugmaker had compiled more than 42K case reports detailing nearly 160K individual adverse reactions to the vaccine.

The data show the bulk of the adverse event cases, both serious and non-serious, were classified as “general disorders”.

You shouldn’t have to file a Freedom of Information request to get this data–it should be given to everyone who is considering getting the vaccine.

Please follow the link above to read the entire article. It includes the complete breakdown of data from Public Health and Medical Professionals For Transparency. There has to be a risk/benefit analysis when considering getting the vaccine. There also needs to be a discussion about how effective the vaccine actually is.

A Good News Update

On Monday I posted an article about New York State Assembly Bill A416. That is the bill that would have allowed for the arrest and indefinite imprisonment of anyone deemed to be a risk to public health. Thank God that bill has been withdrawn.

On Tuesday Sharyl Attkisson reported the following:

New York Assembly Member Nick Perry (D-Flatbush 58) says he’s formally withdraw Assembly Bill A416, which would have allowed New York’s Governor to arrest and indefinitely imprison anyone suspected of being a public health risk.

That’s according to the Autism Action Network, which has been fighting the bill since its inception six years ago.

The bill had not received much attention until the coronavirus pandemic heated up in March of 2020. In the pandemic world of lockdowns, public health mandates, and the quarantining of the unvaccinated in certain parts of the world, critics said the serious threat posed by A416 was chilling.

In the beginning of November, the Biden Administration nominated Nick Perry to be the US ambassador to Jamaica. Critics say Perry’s bill would have proven to be a liability at Perry’s impending Senate confirmation hearing.

Perry colleague Patrick Burke (D Orchard Park) also received significant backlash a few weeks ago for his announcement of a bill that would have canceled health insurance coverage for Covid infections of unvaccinated people.

Burke was immediately flooded with calls and emails rebuking the bill and he quickly dropped the bill.

The obvious question is who in the world dreamed up this bill six years ago and why? However, the good news is that the bill is dropped, hopefully permanently. Note also that the lawmakers in New York were also willing to deny health insurance to the unvaccinated–again creating two separate classes of people–the vaccinated and the unvaccinated. We need to be very careful not to let our government divide us along those lines. Once that happens, the vaccinated will become the privileged class and the unvaccinated will have much of their access to society and the marketplace denied. That will be the end of America as we know it.

If You Repeat A Lie Often Enough…

On Tuesday, The New York Post posted an article about something the Biden administration is claiming as a success.

The article reports:

Are you better off than you were one year ago?

That’s the message the White House is trying to convey in a year-end memo to Democratic lawmakers and other supporters, according to a new report from Axios.

The memo — titled “2021: POTUS Delivered for Working Families” — illustrates in words and graphics what the Biden administration describes as a year of accomplishments, according to the outlet.

The two-page document touts the COVID-19 vaccination program, the widespread reopening of schools, and a decline in the unemployment rate and jobless claims. It also hails the passage of two major spending bills this year: the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan in March and the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure framework last month.

“In spite of unprecedented crises and opposition from Congressional Republicans, President Biden, Vice President Harris, and Congressional Democrats got an enormous amount done for the American people in 2021​,” the memo claims.

Well, let’s see. Unprecedented crises and opposition from Congressional Republicans are listed as the obstacles the Biden administration had to overcome. I may have missed something, but did the Republicans try to frame and impeach President Biden? Did the Republicans go behind his back to talk to China? The mess we are currently in has much more to do with the actions of the Biden administration than it does with any Republican opposition. President Biden unilaterally shut down the Keystone XL Pipeline and limited America’s development of its natural resources–ending our energy independence. That in turn caused the price of gasoline at the pump to double in a year, contributing to inflation. The runaway spending (of which the Republicans were a part) also contributed to inflation. The opening of the southern border was also done unilaterally. The crisis there is caused by the Biden administration. No one else is to be blamed.

The article notes:

Absent from the document is any mention of​ inflation, which is at a 39-year high. Nor is there any discussion of an increase in COVID-19 cases across the country as the Omicron variant becomes the dominant strain, the collapse of the multitrillion-dollar Build Back Better plan after Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) pulled his support, or the tragic aftermath of the botched US military withdrawal from Afghanistan.

I am not sure too many Americans are currently convinced that they are better off now than they were a year ago. Their grocery and energy bills are an everyday reminder that making ends meet is becoming more difficult.

Coming To America?

The vaccine hysteria has gotten ridiculous. From the beginning, there has been no talk of the risks associated with the vaccine or the role of natural immunity. There has also been little talk of treatment for Covid. It’s simply been about forcing everyone to be vaccinated. It makes you wonder who owns the stock in the companies making the vaccines.

I have stated before that I hate Nazi Germany comparisons. However, history reports that initially store owners were told not to let Jews in their shops because Jews carried vermin. The Jewish people were hazardous to your health. How they managed to sell that idea I have no idea, but they succeeded in creating two separate classes of people–Jews and non-Jews. From there it was simply a matter of dehumanizing the Jews so that killing them seemed like doing everyone a favor. Listen to some of the statements by people in the Biden administration about the unvaccinated, and you hear something very close to that idea. If you think I need a tinfoil hat at this point, I would like to present the following news story.

On Tuesday, The Conservative Treehouse reported the following:

Starting in February, vaccination in Austria is compulsory for all citizens.  As a result, the Austrian government is now hiring “hunters” to track down the unvaccinated citizens and enforce compliance.  This is not a joke.

This is a screenshot of part of the article:

Please understand that forcing people to take an experimental vaccine has no place is a free society. Encouraging people to take a vaccine is acceptable, but creating two classes of citizens is not. Covid will probably be with us in some form for a long time. There is no guarantee that the current vaccines will protect against future variants. There is no guarantee that the current vaccines will protect against current variants. If you are going to force vaccines on people, you should also force a healthy diet, the end of smoking, and other health measures on people. With a little effort, you could spoil life for everyone.

According to the CDC:

Nothing kills more Americans than heart disease and stroke. More than 868,000 Americans die of heart disease or stroke every year—that’s one-third of all deaths. These diseases take an economic toll, as well, costing our health care system $214 billion per year and causing $138 billion in lost productivity on the job.3

Do you want the government telling you what you can eat and drink in order to cut the costs of healthcare in America? If the answer is no, then don’t support vaccine mandates.

Freedom?

On Monday, The Conservative Review reported that as of January 15th Boston will require proof of vaccination for indoor recreational activities including restaurants, gyms, theaters, sports venues, and many other businesses.

The article reports:

The requirements will take effect on Jan. 15. According to Boston’s public health commission, there are 464,610 fully vaccinated city residents, about 68% of the population. Nearly one-third of all Bostonians will be unable to participate in public indoor activities after the requirements go into effect.

Additionally, city employees will be required to get vaccinated, she said at a press conference where protesters blew whistles, shouted “Shame on Wu,” and sang “The Star-Spangled Banner,” WHDH-TV reported.

The article concludes:

Though some private businesses have imposed their own mask and vaccine requirements, and there were small business owners appearing at the press conference in support of the mayor’s announcement, the Massachusetts chapter of the National Federation of Independent Businesses called the new mandate an additional burden on struggling businesses.

“It is unfortunate that, once again, private businesses are being placed in the unenviable position of having to enforce another government health directive,” Christopher Carlozzi, the organization’s director, said in a statement.

I guess following the science doesn’t work anymore.

As of December 20th, Israel had a covid vaccination rate of 62.8 percent (chart here). Israel is experiencing its fifth wave of the coronavirus (story here). It is obvious that the vaccines are not stopping the coronavirus. Then why is the government pushing them so strongly. Should we be investigating to see who owns stock in the vaccine makers?