Belgian surgeon sentenced to ten months in prison over sexist speech
Belgian surgeon sentenced to ten months in prison over sexist speech
Cosmetic surgeon Jeff Hoeyberghs insisted he was only speaking ‘the truth’ when he called women ‘hysterical, lazy, weak, stupid’
By Justin Stares
January 4, 2022
A cosmetic surgeon from Belgium has been handed a ten-month prison sentence for a lecture in which he complained that women were no longer willing to give sexual favours in exchange for protection and money from men.
Judges in Flanders said the speech by Jeff Hoeyberghs, 60, merited the prison sentence, half of which is suspended, on the grounds that he not only intended to incite discrimination, hatred and violence against women but also refused to apologise.
Hoeyberghs insisted he was only speaking the “truth”, while some politicians claimed his freedom of speech was being curtailed.
In his 2019 speech at Ghent University, Hoeyberghs called women “hysterical, lazy, weak, stupid” and “dirty creatures, who seek money and protection from men to whom they owe sex”.
Women served “to satisfy men sexually and perform household chores”, he said, but “don’t want to open their legs anymore”.
Women could be compared to “animals” with “udders”, the surgeon told his postgraduate audience.
Specific women, including students in the auditorium, a TV broadcaster, and green activist Greta Thunberg, were targeted with insults.
Women were “worthless” in the role of doctors, judges, teachers, scientists, journalists, and business executives, Hoeyberghs said.
‘Stupid and outrageous’
Hoeyberghs, who qualified as a cosmetic surgeon in the UK and is a frequent TV commentator in Belgium, was invited to speak by the university.
The speech, which was filmed by students and broadcast live on Facebook, resulted in more than 1,500 complaints.
In court, Hoeyberghs’ lawyer said none of those personally targeted had sued for defamation.
The accusations, the surgeon claimed, were evidence of a “well-oiled international machine of communist signature and with Western state subversion as the ultimate goal”.
Judges dismissed his arguments, ruling that Hoeyberghs’ “criminal behaviour threatens a peaceful society where there is room for all people, regardless of their gender.
“It creates a hostile atmosphere in society and contributes to even more strife, discord, conflict and violence”.
But Bart De Wever, mayor of Antwerp and leader of the nationalist New Flemish Alliance Party, said: “Hoeyberghs’ statements were stupid and outrageous. But reprehensible is different from punishable. Freedom cannot be protected by restricting it”.
Hoeyberghs has said he will appeal.
In-N-Out Burger tells San Francisco ‘we refuse to become the vaccination police’ after city closes restaurant
https://www.theblaze.com/news/in-n-out-burger-san-francisco-vaccination-police
In-N-Out Burger tells San Francisco ‘we refuse to become the vaccination police’ after city closes restaurant
By Chris Pandolfo
October 19, 2021
In-N-Out Burger blasted the city of San Francisco’s proof of COVID-19 vaccination requirements after the San Francisco Department of Health closed one of the popular California burger joint’s locations for serving customers who were not carrying the proper papers.
“On Thursday, October 14, the San Francisco Department of Public Health closed our restaurant at 333 Jefferson Street because In-N-Out Burger Associates (employees) were not preventing the entry of Customers who were not carrying proper vaccination documentation,” In-N-Out Burger’s chief legal and business officer, Arnie Wensinger, said in a statement.
“Our store properly and clearly posted signage to communicate local vaccination requirements,” Wensinger said. “After closing our restaurant, local regulators informed us that our restaurant Associates must actively intervene by demanding proof of vaccination and photo identification from every Customer, then act as enforcement personnel by barring entry for any Customers without the proper documentation.”
“We refuse to become the vaccination police for any government,” Wensinger declared, slamming the San Francisco Department of Health’s requirements as “unreasonable, invasive, and unsafe” and accusing the city of asking restaurants to “segregate Customers” based on vaccine documentation.
In August, San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced that the city would require businesses in “high-contact indoor sectors,” including bars, restaurants, clubs, and gyms to obtain proof of COVID-19 vaccination from patrons and employees before servicing them. The health order was implemented to “protect against the continued spread of COVID-19, particularly among the unvaccinated,” according to a statement from the mayor’s office.
“Many San Francisco businesses are already leading the way by requiring proof of vaccination for their customers because they care about the health of their employees, their customers, and this City. This order builds on their leadership and will help us weather the challenges ahead and keep our businesses open. Vaccines are our way out of the pandemic, and our way back to a life where we can be together safely,” Breed said at the time.
San Francisco was among the first major U.S. cities to require proof of COVID-19 vaccination to enter indoor restaurants and other businesses. The city also implemented a vaccine mandate for workers at these places of business, which went into effect on Oct. 13.
In his statement, Wensinger accused San Francisco of forcing businesses “to discriminate against customers who choose to patronize their business.”
“This is clear governmental overreach and is intrusive, improper, and offensive.”
The San Francisco Department of Health did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Taliban seizing Afghan-American’s US passports outside Kabul airport
https://nypost.com/2021/08/20/taliban-seizing-afghan-americans-us-passports-outside-airport/
Taliban seizing Afghan-American’s US passports outside Kabul airport
By Hollie McKay
August 20, 2021
KABUL, Afghanistan — Scenes of chaos and calamity continue to unfold in and around Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, as thousands of embattled Afghans purport to push through Taliban barricades and escape the country before the Taliban takes full power.
In the latest blow to those running up against the clock, Afghan-Americans on Thursday said that Taliban fighters are now attempting to take their U.S. passports and identification orders in an attempt to stop them from leaving the country.
“I got to the gates and was about to show my passport, but the Taliban got it, and he said you are not allowed to go through and wouldn’t give it back,” one Afghan-American, who served for several years as an interpreter during the war and has his home in the U.S but requested anonymity for safety reasons, said. “I was lucky a U.S. marine was right there and forced him to give it back.”
According to several others, some have not been so lucky — hamstringing their chance to make it home ahead of the Taliban’s officially assuming of the throne.
“U.S. passports, driver’s licenses — they are confiscating those pieces of documentation from American citizens,” said Ephraim Mattos, a former Navy SEAL and founder of the humanitarian organization, Stronghold Rescue and Relief, which is working around the clock to evacuate Afghans interpreters and helpers. “They lose proof of who they are, and this has happened on multiple occasions in multiple places.”
President Joe Biden on Friday said they “know of no circumstance where American citizens are carrying an American passport” and not able to reach the airport.
“We’ve made an agreement with the Taliban,” Biden said. “So we know of no circumstance where American citizens are carrying an American passport for trying to get through to the airport, but we will do whatever needs to be done to see to get more.”
Other Afghan-Americans describe scenes of crowds getting crushed and even infant babies getting injured, of brutal beatings by some Taliban members to push back the sea of frenzied faces.
Initially, Afghan Special Forces were said to control some of the key roads toward the airport. But soon after darkness fell on Wednesday, the Taliban is said to have taken over. Minute-by-minute, the scene is simply becoming direr as the insurgency cements a more formidable grasp over the city’s checkpoints and routes.
Several U.S. officials also affirmed that the Taliban on Thursday ratcheted up its crackdown encircling the airport.
The group’s leadership has vowed to protect all Afghans and assured no acts of revenge would be tolerated, while at the same time stressing that citizens of the beleaguered country should not leave.
Meanwhile, in Herat, more than a week after the Taliban seized the provincial capital, residents have continued to paint a chilling portrait of intimidation as the waiting game for the U.S. departure draws near.
“Taliban are searching home by home in Herat and asking about me,” one business owner with long-term ties to the United States, who is currently in an undisclosed location outside of Afghanistan, said. “Then others came to the Kabul office and asked about the company and our clients and warned they would search for information.”
It is a jarring fact of simply not knowing what lies ahead, driving much of the desperation forward.“These people are our allies; we fought shoulder-to-shoulder with them. I saw them fight just as bravely as any American soldier, and they deserve our support. What our country is doing to them now is a complete disgrace,” Mattos added. “What is happening is significantly worse than Saigon.”
Taliban in Afghan capital Kabul start collecting weapons from civilians
Taliban in Afghan capital Kabul start collecting weapons from civilians
August 16, 2021
KABUL, Aug 16 (Reuters) – Taliban fighters in the Afghan capital, Kabul, started collecting weapons from civilians on Monday because people no longer need them for personal protection, a Taliban official said.
“We understand people kept weapons for personal safety. They can now feel safe. We are not here to harm innocent civilians,” the official told Reuters.
City resident Saad Mohseni, director of the MOBY group media company, said on Twitter that Taliban soldiers had come to his company compound to enquire about the weapons kept by his security team.
‘No Gestapo Here!’: Polish Pastor Tosses Canadian Police Out of Good Friday Church Service
‘No Gestapo Here!’: Polish Pastor Tosses Canadian Police Out of Good Friday Church Service
By Beth Baumann
April 4, 2021
Calgary police were met with resistance when they attempted to shut down a Good Friday church service for violating COVID restrictions. Artur Pawlowski, the pastor at The Cave of Adullam, told police to leave and not return until they have a search warrant in hand.
“You come back with a warrant,” Pawlowski said. “Out! Out! Out!”
Police were hesitant to leave but the pastor wasn’t backing down. “Out of this property, you Nazis!” Pawlowski shouted. “Gestapo is not allowed here!”
As police left the property, Pawlowski told them “not to come back, you Nazi psychopaths.”
“Unbelievable sick, evil people. Intimidating people in a church during the Passover! You Gestapo, Nazi, communist fascists! Don’t you dare come back here!” he shouted as they walked away.
The pastor turned the camera to face him.
“Can you imagine those psychopaths? Passover, the holiest Christian festival in a year and they’re coming to intimidate Christians during the holiest festival? Unbelievable,” Pawlowski said. “What is wrong with those sick psychopaths? It’s beyond me. Wow. Wow. How dare they?”
“Unbelievable. We’re living in a total takeover of the government with their thugs, goons, the brown shirts, the Gestapo wannabe dictators,” an incredulous Pawlowski said. “Coming to the church armed with guns and tasers and handcuffs to intimidate during Passover celebration? Well, I guess that’s what it is, they want to enslave us all like the Egyptians did. They want to be the Pharaohs of today, that’s what they’re doing. Unbelievable. People, if you don’t stand up, wake up, wow. I don’t know what will happen tomorrow.”
The pastor warned about Germany, where “wannabe Hitlers are already ruling” and fascism is reigning once again. He took particular issue with the country’s lockdown.
He referenced the COVID passports that are being talked about and potentially implemented.
“If you will not be vaccinated like a dog or a cat, you will not be able to buy or sell. You will not be able to go to school or work. Is that the future you want?” Pawlowski asked. “Is that what you want for your children and your grandchildren?”
According to the pastor, the time to stand up and push back against the out-of-control government is now.
Biden Administration Urges Supreme Court To Let Cops Enter Homes And Seize Guns Without A Warrant
Biden Administration Urges Supreme Court To Let Cops Enter Homes And Seize Guns Without A Warrant
By Nick Sibilla
March 23, 2021
The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday will hear oral argument in Caniglia v. Strom, a case that could have sweeping consequences for policing, due process, and mental health, with the Biden Administration and attorneys general from nine states urging the High Court to uphold warrantless gun confiscation. But what would ultimately become a major Fourth Amendment case began with an elderly couple’s spat over a coffee mug. (more…)
Video: Evil, power hungry LA County health inspector does ‘happy dance’ after erroneously shutting down an innocent, law-abiding micro-brewery
LA County health inspector does ‘happy dance’ after erroneously shutting down micro-brewery
Who gets joy out of destroying someone else’s livelihood? Only nihilists and the truly despicable people of the world, of which there are far too many.
By Lorie Wimble
February 15, 2021
We’ve seen videos of health inspectors and law enforcement officers reluctant in fulfilling their duties during the pandemic lockdowns. Many have flat-out refused. But some, including the lady in the video below, seem to relish in the thought that they’re able to harm the livelihoods of others. Instead of being empathetic or even sympathetic, she seemed giddy about destroying lives.
https://twitter.com/stevengregory/status/1361421294508544001
The CCTV footage shows a Los Angeles County health inspector literally dancing moments after she had ordered Bravery Brewery to shut down over Covid-19 violations. She looks around as she starts to clap, then engages in a full-blown “happy dance” in what she thought was the privacy of her own abuse of power. As it turned out, she was wrong to shut them down, but the effects on the business were still felt as it kept them down for the Super Bowl, one of the heaviest alcohol-drinking days of the year.
Chef Andrew Gruel, a fellow local business in the area, noted that city and county officials have been using their new-found power under the coronavirus lockdowns to flex their authoritarian muscles.
“Moments after demanding a microbrewery in Lancaster close, this health inspector did a happy dance,” Gruel Tweeted. “Apparently, she was also wrong to shut them down and they were compliant. These stories about city officials bullying restaurants are getting all too common.”
https://twitter.com/ChefGruel/status/1361417537221660673
While most Americans are suffering under the draconian policies of fearmongering authoritarians, many of the enforcers of these dystopian policies are enjoying every economy-crushing minute of it.
Video: When conservative Ami Horowitz visited Yale University to conduct his latest experiment, 65% of the people that he spoke with signed his petition to get rid of the U.S. Constitution
Conservative Ami Horowitz has a regular habit of visiting different colleges to see what percentage of the people that he talks with will sign his ridiculous petitions. You can see his many different experiments at his YouTube channel at this link: https://www.youtube.com/user/amihorowitz/videos
In Horowitz’s latest experiment, he visited Yale University. 65% of the people that he talked with signed his petition to get rid of the U.S. Constitution.
In my opinion, this proves that this Ivy League University gives students a dumbed down education which supports totalitarianism.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJg_0hiQhxo
If Project Veritas is not a legitimate source of information, then why did PBS just fire its own principal counsel right after Project Veritas released this video of him?
Time and time again, liberals keep saying that Project Veritas is not a legitimate source of information.
So why did PBS just fire its own principal counsel right after Project Veritas released this video of him?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1r2rdmWsPE
Here’s an article about it:
PBS Fires Former Employee Following Project Veritas Video Exposing ‘Hateful Rhetoric’
By Mary Margaret Olohan
January 12, 2020
PBS is distancing itself from a former employee featured in a Project Veritas video who appeared to defend violent attacks on the White House, proposed re-education for the children of President Donald Trump supporters, and praised the COVID-19 deaths of GOP voters.
“This employee no longer works for PBS,” a PBS spokesperson told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “As a mid-level staff attorney, he did not speak on behalf of our organization, nor did he make any editorial decisions.”
“There is no place for hateful rhetoric at PBS, and this individual’s views in no way reflect our values or opinions,” the spokesperson said. “We strongly condemn violence and will continue to do what we have done for 50 years — use our national platform and local presence to strengthen communities and bring people together.”
PBS did not clarify to the DCNF whether the employee was fired as a result of the video. Project Veritas tweeted Tuesday afternoon that former PBS principal counsel Michael Beller had been fired.
Project Veritas published a video Tuesday that allegedly shows Beller saying, “We go for all the Republican voters and Homeland Security will take their children away…we’ll put them into the re-education camps.”
Another clip shows Beller allegedly discussing “enlightenment camps,” saying, “They’re nice, they have Sesame Street characters in the classrooms, and they watch PBS all day.”
“Americans are so f*cking dumb,” Beller allegedly said in the video. “You know, most people are dumb. It’s good to live in a place [Washington, D.C.] where people are educated and know stuff. Could you imagine if you lived in one of these other towns or cities where everybody’s just stupid?”
The video also shows Beller allegedly saying, “What’s great is that COVID is spiking in all the red states right now. So that’s great…a lot of them [red state voters] are sick and dying.”
It’s still unclear if Beller was speaking in his own voice, interpreting how GOP voters feel, or recounting something he’d heard.
Berkeley, California, bans candy, junk food at grocery checkouts
This is a great example of totalitarianism being implemented under the guise of good intentions.
It’s not the job of politicians and government bureaucrats to decide where a storeowner locates their different merchandise. That decision should be up to the store owner.
Berkeley, California, bans candy, junk food at grocery checkouts
By Brent Schrotenboer
September 25, 2020
The city of Berkeley, California is back on the attack against unhealthy habits.
The progressive university town this time has passed an ordinance requiring stores over 2,500 square feet in size to sell more nutritious food and beverage options in their checkout areas.
That means no more candy, soda and salty snacks available for impulsive shoppers waiting in line to pay at the register. The ban is believed to be the first of its kind in the nation.
“This ordinance is another effort to create a healthy food environment that would support families by providing them the ability to avoid high-calorie, low-nutrient food and beverages when they do their grocery and other shopping,” said a city report on the ordinance passed this week by the city council. “Individuals and families who want to purchase sugary drinks, candy, chips, and other sweet and salty snacks will be able to find them in their respective aisles in the center of stores. By changing checkout norms, shoppers and their children face less temptation to consume sugary foods and there is less reinforcement of these unhealthy choices.”
This is not the first time Berkeley has taken sugar seriously with local laws. In November 2014, Berkeley passed a penny-per-ounce tax on sugar-sweetened beverages. It was the nation’s first tax on such beverages and later showed to be effective in its goal of reducing consumption.
According to a study by the University of California Berkeley, residents in “diverse and low-income neighborhoods” three years later reported drinking 52 percent fewer servings of sugary drinks than they did before the tax was passed.
The new so-called Healthy Checkout Ordinance is effective Jan. 1 and affects about 25 stores, including Safeway, CVS, Walgreens and Whole Foods.
It says beverages sold in the checkout area must have no added sugars or artificial sweeteners. For food items, it says they must have no more than five grams of added sugars or 200 milligrams of sodium per labeled serving.
It also says food items must be in the following categories: chewing gum and mints with no added sugars, fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes, yogurt or cheese and whole grains.
Federal judge rules Gov. Wolf’s shutdown orders were unconstitutional
Federal judge rules Gov. Wolf’s shutdown orders were unconstitutional
By Paula Reed Ward
September 14, 2020
A federal judge in Pittsburgh on Monday ruled that orders issued by Gov. Tom Wolf restricting the size of gatherings and closing nonessential businesses to protect against the spread of covid-19 were unconstitutional.
In a statement, Wolf said his office will seek an immediate stay to halt the order and file an appeal.
U.S. District Judge William S. Stickman IV wrote in his 66-page opinion that, even though the actions taken in the spring by Wolf and Health Secretary Rachel Levine were laudable, they violated the First Amendment right to freedom of assembly, and the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the 14th Amendment.
“It’s a complete and total victory for the counties, the businesses and the representatives,” said attorney Thomas W. King III, who represented the plaintiffs in the case. “You can’t order the entire population of Pennsylvania to stay at home.”
President Trump, in a tweet celebrating the ruling, said: “Congratulations Pennsylvania. Now we await the decision on the Rigged Ballot Scam, which is so bad for our Country!” He went on to retweet more than 20 references to the story.
Lyndsay Kensinger, a spokeswoman for the governor, said they are disappointed in the decision.
“The actions taken by the administration were mirrored by governors across the country and saved, and continue to save, lives in the absence of federal action,” she said. “This decision is especially worrying as Pennsylvania and the rest of the country are likely to face a challenging time with the possible resurgence of covid-19 and the flu in the fall and winter.”
She noted Monday’s order does not apply to the mandatory mask order or the mandatory work-from-home order previously implemented and still in effect.
The plaintiffs in the case included seven businesses and their owners, U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Butler, state Reps. Daryl Metcalfe, Marci Mustello and Tim Bonner, as well as Butler, Fayette, Greene and Washington counties. The businesses included three hair salons, an appliance store, a farm and two drive-in theaters.
The complaint was filed May 7, arguing that the governor’s orders — limiting the size of gatherings, the stay-at-home order and the closure of non-life-sustaining businesses — were unconstitutional.
After reviewing the record, Stickman said he “believes that defendants undertook their actions in a well-intentioned effort to protect Pennsylvanians from the virus. However, good intentions toward a laudable end are not alone enough to uphold governmental action against a constitutional challenge.”
Stickman, who was appointed to the bench in 2019, said “even a vigilant public may let down its guard over its constitutional liberties only to find that liberties, once relinquished, are hard to recoup and that restrictions — while expedient in the face of an emergency situation — may persist long after immediate danger has passed.”
King said the judge’s decision finding gathering limits to be unconstitutional now applies to everyone in Pennsylvania.
He said the finding that the stay-at-home order was unconstitutional means it can never be repeated.
As for the closure of nonessential businesses, King believes that will open the door to business owners filing lawsuits against the state seeking relief, or compensation, for their losses during the closure.
“Our goal in bringing this action was that our county commissioners in Butler believed these orders were unconstitutional and unconstitutionally affected residents of their county.”
Thus far, in Pennsylvania, 7,869 people have died from the virus, with 145,063 testing positive. Nationally, there have been nearly 200,000 deaths.
Bruce Antkowiak, a former federal prosecutor who now teaches law at Saint Vincent College, said Stickman’s opinion is not precedent-setting for the other federal courts, but does carry persuasive value and likely will be cited in other jurisdictions where these issues are being argued.
“You could argue to another federal judge this federal judge’s decision is sound and reasonable,” said Antkowiak, who had Stickman as a student at Duquesne University Law School. “It is not a nationwide prohibition.” Stickman graduated from law school in 2005.
Antkowiak called it an unusual decision for a federal judge to make, given that the issue revolves around state regulatory authority.
In testimony for the case, King said, there was no medical evidence presented relative to the spread of covid-19, and Levine did not testify and instead sent a representative to do so.
King said he posed the question — once the stay-at-home order was lifted in early June — what establishments in Allegheny County were responsible for the increased spread of the virus, and no one could answer.
“You can’t just shut down American society,” King said.
In his opinion, Stickman agreed.
“There is no question that this country has faced, and will face, emergencies of every sort,” Stickman wrote. “But the solution to a national crisis can never be permitted to supersede the commitment to individual liberty that stands as the foundation of the American experiment.”
Stickman wrote that the Constitution “sets certain lines that may not be crossed, even in an emergency.”
“The fact is that the lockdowns imposed across the United States in early 2020 in response to the covid-19 pandemic are unprecedented in the history of our commonwealth and our country,” Stickman wrote. “They have never been used in response to any other disease in our history. They were not recommendations made by the CDC.”
Stickman wrote that the defendants never had a set definition for what constituted a “life-sustaining” business, and instead the definition remained in flux.
Stickman wrote that there also was no precedent for the closure of nonessential businesses.
“Never before has the government taken a direct action which shuttered so many businesses and sidelined so many employees and rendered their ability to operate, and to work, solely dependent on government discretion,” he said.
Stickman wrote that the right of citizens to support themselves in their chosen occupation “is deeply rooted in our nation’s legal and cultural history.”
“A total shutdown of a business with no end-date and the specter of additional, future shutdowns can cause critical damage to a business’s ability to survive, to an employee’s ability to support him/herself, and adds a government-induced cloud of uncertainty to the usual unpredictability of nature and life.”
In federal court in Philadelphia, a group of business owners filed a similar lawsuit against the state, also in May.
On Aug. 31, U.S. District Judge R. Barclay Surrick allowed a claim on equal protection — why some businesses were permitted to remain open while others were not — to continue. But he also ruled that the plaintiffs’ due process claim could not stand.
In a 10-page opinion, Surrick wrote that the right to operate a business is not actionable in a substantive due process claim.
“The business closure orders imposed temporary restraints on businesses. They did not deprive any individuals of their right to pursue a particular line of work,” Surrick wrote. “Moreover, even if there were a deprivation of one’s right to work, any deprivation was temporary, and the case law strongly suggests that substantive due process only extends to situations in which there is some degree of permanence to the loss of liberty or property.”
The complaint in that case did not include a First Amendment claim relative to mass gatherings.
Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security who practices in Pittsburgh, said, traditionally, public health interventions are supposed to be the least restrictive and most targeted as possible, based on evidence.
“Some of the blanket orders issued early on were not necessarily targeted,” he said. “They have to be really limited in scope and tied to data that is understandable by everybody.”
The state should have defined the time frame that restrictions would be put in place, explained the metrics that would be used to reevaluate and explained what would trigger reevaluation, Adalja said.
For example, he said, if the shutdown order was temporary so the state could scale up testing and the hiring of contact tracers, while fortifying local health departments and ensuring hospitals were well-prepared, that would have been one thing.
“In Pennsylvania, none of that really happened,” he said. “It was difficult for us to understand what was driving certain restrictions.”
Adalja cited New York state as an example of using data to drive decisions. There, metrics such as ICU capacity and the number of contact tracers in place were used to decide when things would reopen.
It wasn’t a mystery, he said.
Now, with the court’s decision declaring Wolf’s orders to be unconstitutional, Adalja said, even restrictions that were justified in the beginning — like those prohibiting mass gatherings — could be swept up.
“A mass gathering can easily overwhelm contact tracing at the county or state level,” Adalja said.
There is data that shows how the virus can spread in those settings.
“I am worried if you have mass gatherings — and people pack Heinz Field — you will get chains of transmission,” he said. “Mass gatherings are one thing that can spiral things out of control.”
Although Monday’s orders apply to state-level action, Adalja said municipalities and counties still have the ability to intervene for public health reasons — which means they can implement their own restrictions on crowd sizes for gatherings.
Adalja said, in the future, county health departments can no longer be ignored — that they must be fortified with infectious disease doctors, contract tracers, infrastructure and funding.
“Stay-at-home orders were because of a failure to address those things,” he said. “We need to really think about this as we move forward for this pandemic and the next pandemic.”
On Kamala Harris: Joe Biden has named his 2020 running mate: authoritarianism.
https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/on-kamala-harris/
On Kamala Harris
By Kevin D. Williamson
August 11, 2020
Joe Biden has named his 2020 running mate: authoritarianism.
American prosecutors wield awesome and terrible powers that lend themselves easily to abuse, and Senator Kamala Harris, formerly the attorney general of California, is an enthusiastic abuser of them.
Harris was a leader in the junta of Democratic state attorneys general that attempted to criminalize dissent in the matter of global warming, using her office’s investigatory powers to target and harass non-profit policy groups while she and her counterpart in New York attempted to shake down Exxon on phony fraud cases.
Until she was stopped by a federal court, Harris was laying subpoenas on organizations such as the Americans for Prosperity Foundation, a conservative-leaning group that is critical of Democratic global-warming proposals. She demanded private information that the organizations were not legally obliged to disclose, including financial information and donor lists, in order to be able to subject the supporters of right-leaning groups to legal and financial harassment. This was, as a federal judge confirmed, an obvious and unquestionable violation of the First Amendment.
It was also a serious abuse of power. Harris’s actions were coordinated with those of then attorney general Eric Schneiderman in New York, who argued — preposterously — that Exxon’s taking a different view of global warming was a form of securities fraud. This isn’t a conspiracy theory: They held a press conference and organized their effort into a committee, which they called AGs United for Clean Power.
This was not happening in a political vacuum. At approximately the same time, the IRS was being weaponized to harass and disadvantage right-leaning nonprofits and policy organizations, for example, leaking the confidential tax information of the National Organization for Marriage as an act of political retaliation, an offense for which the IRS was obliged to pay a settlement. (The IRS’s other abuses, as in the Lois Lerner matter, remain largely unpunished.) A lawyer with connections to Barack Obama and Andrew Cuomo attempted to extort billions of dollars from Chevron in a mammoth racketeering project that involved falsifying evidence and bribing judges, a project that was cheered on by green activists such as musician Roger Waters and Democratic operatives such as former Cuomo aide Karen Hinton, both of whom had negotiated for themselves a percentage of the settlement. That went on until a federal judge intervened on RICO grounds. Democratic voices in the media were calling for the authorities to — this part is even less subtle —“arrest climate change deniers,” a project to which activists such as Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. lent their voices.
And this was not idle talk: As with Harris’s abusive investigation in California, a legal pretext was offered, albeit a patently ridiculous one.
Harris’s self-serving prosecutorial abuses have been directed at political enemies, but they also put hundreds — maybe thousands — of people in jail or at risk of prosecution on wrongful grounds when it suited her agenda. As Lara Bazelon of the Loyola law school wrote in the New York Times:
Ms. Harris fought tooth and nail to uphold wrongful convictions that had been secured through official misconduct that included evidence tampering, false testimony and the suppression of crucial information by prosecutors.
Consider her record as San Francisco’s district attorney from 2004 to 2011. Ms. Harris was criticized in 2010 for withholding information about a police laboratory technician who had been accused of “intentionally sabotaging” her work and stealing drugs from the lab. After a memo surfaced showing that Ms. Harris’s deputies knew about the technician’s wrongdoing and recent conviction, but failed to alert defense lawyers, a judge condemned Ms. Harris’s indifference to the systemic violation of the defendants’ constitutional rights.
Ms. Harris contested the ruling by arguing that the judge, whose husband was a defense attorney and had spoken publicly about the importance of disclosing evidence, had a conflict of interest. Ms. Harris lost. More than 600 cases handled by the corrupt technician were dismissed.
In the context of Harris’s political vendettas, that eagerness to engage in “systemic violation of the defendants’ constitutional rights” is particularly terrifying.
In choosing this corrupt prosecutor as his vice-presidential candidate, Joe Biden has made a serious error, one that highlights his already substantial deficiencies in judgment.
Video from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina: Police arrest woman for wearing a bikini at the beach
https://www.facebook.com/sam.panda27/videos/10157340101861135
https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/cops-detain-beachgoer-over-her-174129060.html
Cops detain beachgoer over her bikini: ‘Completely ludicrous’
By Katie Mather
August 4, 2020
It was just a regular day at the beach — sun, surf and a woman getting into trouble with police for wearing a bikini … to the beach.
Sam Panda was visiting Myrtle Beach over the weekend when a woman reportedly called the cops on Panda over her bikini.
According to Panda, who posted a video of her being detained by police in the allegedly “offensive” bathing suit on Facebook, the woman who she suspects complained about her was also with a child.
In the video, Panda and two friends, one of whom is filming, ask the police what the exact penal code Panda’s bikini is in a violation of. The video was taken as Panda was being handcuffed on the beach, so it’s unclear what happened in the prior conversation between Panda and the police that led to her being handcuffed.
The cops tell the three friends that they have to come to their car in order for them to explain how Panda’s bikini is “illegal.”
“[It] shall be unlawful for anybody to be in the nude on any public beach, beach access, public waters or any public property in view of the public,” one officer reads from a booklet.
“I’m not nude,” Panda replies in the video.
“You’re in a thong,” the other officer explains.
“You put me in handcuffs for being in a thong?” Panda says.
When Panda and one of her friends asked if they could just go home instead of standing around the cars with Panda in handcuffs, an officer said no because they had already called for backup.
The Myrtle Beach Police Department told TMZ that they were simply responding to a complaint of two women “who were wearing thong bikinis and a see-through top that were dancing and soliciting videos on the beach.”
Eventually, Panda and her friends were released without charges. Panda’s 20-minute Facebook video of the ordeal has over 375,000 views.
“That’s completely ludicrous,” one person commented. “Sorry you have to deal with this.”
“Glad to know we’re still policing women’s bodies in 2020,” another wrote.
In Washington D.C., left wing protestors can burn, vandalize, and loot without getting arrested. Meanwhile, right wing protestors were arrested for writing on a public sidewalk with chalk.
By Daniel Alman (aka Dan from Squirrel Hill)
August 3, 2020
According to this article from the Washington Post, this is what left wing protestors did in Washington D.C. without getting arrested:
Night of destruction across D.C.
June 1, 2020
American flags and parked cars and buildings were lit ablaze — including St. John’s Church, a historic landmark opened in 1816 and attended by every president since James Madison. Firefighters quickly extinguished the basement fire, which police said was intentionally set…
Downtown, baseball bats bashed through windows at coffee shops, banks and one office building after another. Vandals and looters roamed throughout the city, scrawling graffiti and targeting dozens of businesses…
Some hit a liquor store near Foggy Bottom, where young men, both white and black, snatched handles of alcohol and took swigs while others ran off with all they could carry. In Shaw, a Giant grocery store — with employees still inside — was broken into, as was a Sephora in Gallery Place. On H Street NE, looters ransacked a CVS. In Georgetown, the Nike store’s boarded-up doors were broken down and its merchandise plundered. In Friendship Heights and Tenleytown, five miles from the White House, other groups hit a Target and smashed open Rodman’s, a beloved drugstore, specialty grocer and housewares shop — all in one.
Near 15th and H streets, another group set fire to a sandwich shop… The smell of fire hung heavy in the air, and shattered glass speckled the pavement. Gone were the windows of the Lafayette Building, home to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Next door, all the outdoor umbrellas at the Opaline Bar and Brasserie were warped and charred. As police and firefighters showed up to investigate, the destruction continued around them, the looters uncaring.
Meanwhile, according to this other article from the Washington Post, in the same city, right wing protestors were arrested for writing on a public sidewalk with chalk:
Two protesters arrested while chalking ‘Black Pre-Born Lives Matter’ on sidewalk
August 1, 2020
Two protesters outside a Planned Parenthood facility were arrested and charged with defacing public or private property early Saturday, according to D.C. police and video footage.
Erica Caporaletti, a 22-year-old student at Towson University, and Warner DePriest, a 29-year-old D.C. resident, were writing “Black Pre-Born Lives Matter” with chalk on the sidewalk when police arrested them.
Sidewalk chalk does not cause any permanent damage. It easily washes off when it rains. They sell sidewalk chalk at the supermarket where I buy my groceries (the Giant Eagle in Squirrel Hill in Pittsburgh, PA). Children regularly use sidewalk chalk without getting arrested. This incident is the first time that I have ever, ever heard of anyone ever getting arrested for writing on the sidewalk with sidewalk chalk.
The totalitarian government of Minneapolis actually passed a law which forces convenience stores to sell certain foods
By Daniel Alman (aka Dan from Squirrel Hill)
July 22, 2020
John Stossel’s newest column, which is about Minneapolis, states:
“They even tell supermarkets what cereal they must sell”
This was new information to me. I was curious, so I googled, and found out that in 2008, Minneapolis passed a law that forces convenience stores to sell a certain minimum amount of certain healthy foods. However, Stossel was mistaken in his claim that the law affected larger stores such as supermarkets.
In 2018, 10 years after the law passed, an article on it stated:
“… despite the increased availability of healthy foods, shopper surveys and home-food analyses showed no significant increase in people purchasing healthy foods in Minneapolis under the ordinance…”
In other words, the totalitarians who control the government of Minneapolis are forcing convenience stores to sell increased amounts of healthy foods that the stores’ actual customers do not want to buy.
In Walled Lake, Michigan, a high school social studies teacher named Justin Kucera was fired because he truthfully said, “Trump is our president”
By Daniel Alman (aka Dan from Squirrel Hill)
July 21, 2020
Until very recently, Justin Kucera was a social studies teacher and baseball coach at Walled Lake Western High School in Walled Lake, Michigan.
Kucera recently made the following tweet: (original, archive)
The text of Kucera’s tweet states:
I’m done being silent.
@realDonaldTrump is our president
Don’t @ me
For this, Kucera was fired.
Rand Paul: ‘No place’ for feds ’rounding people up at will’ in Portland
Rand Paul: ‘No place’ for feds ’rounding people up at will’ in Portland
By Zack Budryk
July 20, 2020
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Monday spoke out against federal officers “rounding people up at will” in Portland, Ore., saying the handling of unrest there should be left to local law enforcement.
“We cannot give up liberty for security. Local law enforcement can and should be handling these situations in our cities but there is no place for federal troops or unidentified federal agents rounding people up at will,” Paul tweeted Monday.
The senator linked to a post on the conservative blog HotAir about reports of protesters in Portland being detained by officers in unmarked vans. The link criticizes the federal officers’ presence as attempting to convey “to vandals, protesters, whoever, that there’ll be no accountability for anything these guys end up doing to them.”
https://twitter.com/RandPaul/status/1285270380127629315
The Department of Homeland Security has deployed the forces to the city over the objections of local and state officials, with both President Trump and acting Deputy Homeland Security Secretary Ken Cuccinelli saying they could take similar steps in other U.S. cities in coming weeks.
Three House Democratic chairs on Sunday wrote to Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz and Homeland Security Department Inspector General Joseph Cuffari calling for an investigation into the deployment.
“The Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appear to have increasingly abused emergency authorities to justify the use of force against Americans exercising their right to peaceful assembly,” wrote House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and Oversight and Reform Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.).
The Maduro diet: How most Venezuelans lost an average of 43 pounds in two years
By Daniel Alman (aka Dan from Squirrel Hill)
July 15, 2020
In May 2017, the Washington Post reported:
In a recent survey of 6,500 Venezuelan families by the country’s leading universities, three-quarters of adults said they lost weight in 2016 — an average of 19 pounds… a level of hunger almost unheard-of outside war zones or areas ravaged by hurricane, drought or plague.
In February 2018, Reuters reported:
Venezuelans reported losing on average 11 kilograms (24 lbs) in body weight last year… according to a new university study…
That’s 43 pounds in two years.
Before I explain how this came to happen, I want to start out by explaining what did not cause this to happen.
(more…)
CHAZ Thugs Exposed Doing EVERYTHING They Condemn America For
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzeiBeZYVtk
And here is still even more proof that the lockdown is a scam: New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio does not understand math
By Daniel Alman (aka Dan from Squirrel Hill)
May 21, 2020
Here’s another one that I’ll be adding the next time I update my list, which you can read here: Here are 70 reasons why I’m against the COVID-19 lockdowns
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio does not understand math.
According to the CDC, for children who contract COVID-19, the death rate is zero:
https://www.businessinsider.com/most-us-coronavirus-deaths-ages-65-older-cdc-report-2020-3
And here’s a recent news headline:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/risk-coronavirus-spreading-schools-extremely-194143983.html
Risk of coronavirus spreading in schools ‘extremely low’, study finds
Despite those two pieces of information, this is a recent tweet by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio:
https://twitter.com/NYCMayor/status/1262509072051470340
The text of de Blasio’s tweet says: (the bolding is mine)
“Earlier today the NYPD shut down a Yeshiva conducting classes with as many as 70 children. I can’t stress how dangerous this is for our young people. We’re issuing a Cease and Desist Order and will make sure we keep our communities and our kids safe.”
Clearly, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio does not understand math.
Note from Daniel Alman: If you like this blog post that I wrote, you can buy my books from amazon, and/or donate to me via PayPal, using the links below:
Note from Daniel Alman: I’d like to recommend that you visit Whatfinger News. It’s a really awesome website.
Totalitarian Pennsylvania governor Tom Wolf just forced my dental hygienist to cancel my 6 month teeth cleaning!
By Daniel Alman (aka Dan from Squirrel Hill)
May 18, 2020
I’m 49 years old. I’ve lived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, my entire life. I’ve been getting my teeth cleaned at the same dental practice ever since I was a little kid in the 1970s.
My 6 month teeth cleaning had been scheduled for tomorrow.
But they just called to tell me that it has been canceled, because they are “not allowed” to do teeth cleaning at this point in time.
There are really only four people who should have any role in the decision making for this: my dentist, the dental hygienist who cleans my teeth, the receptionist who answers the phone and schedules appointments, and myself.
I don’t even have or want dental insurance. I pay out of my own pocket, and I prefer it that way, because I don’t want an insurance company telling me what I can or can’t do wit my teeth, or deciding which dental practice I can or can’t go to.
This is the United States of America.
This is supposed to be a free country.
The government is not supposed to be deciding when I can or can’t get my teeth cleaned.
It’s my body and my teeth, and getting my teeth cleaned should be my own choice.
I’m a libertarian. I think abortion should be legal. (I know that a lot of my Republican readers will disagree with me on this issue, and that’s fine.)
Although I do think abortion should be legal, I am very, very glad that my own mother did not abort me.
Furthermore, I do not see how a healthy woman aborting a healthy baby constitutes “health care.”
Also, I think it’s extremely hypocritical that when Governor Wolf banned elective medical procedures, he gave an exemption to abortion.
Democrats who always say, “My body, my choice,” only make that claim when it comes to abortion.
Democrats think the rest of a person’s body should be controlled by the government.
These hypocrite Democrats won’t let me get my teeth cleaned.
But they will let me buy lottery tickets (which I never do, because I understand math).
And they will also let me buy cigarettes (which I also never do, because I think it’s gross and disgusting, and also because I don’t want to get lung cancer).
So these hypocrite Democrats will let me get my teeth all dirty and messed up with cigarettes, but they will not let me to go the dentist to have all that dirt and grime and filth removed from my teeth. What kind of logic is this?
Governor Wolf’s original lockdown order was for two weeks.
The alleged purpose of the lockdown was to flatten the curve, so that the hospitals would not be overwhelmed.
The curve has been flattened.
The hospitals have not been overwhelmed.
As of May 6, 2020, only 7% of Pennsylvania’s hospital beds were being used to treat COVID-19 patients.
However, Governor Wolf continues with the lockdown anyway.
This proves that the lockdown is a scam.
This lockdown has exposed who the true fascists are.
Members of Antifa are perfectly willing to prevent innocent, peaceful, law abiding conservatives from speaking on college campuses.
But when the real fascists (such as Governor Wolf, and Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer) come along, the Antifa protesters are nowhere to be found, heard, or seen.
If you want to read more examples of why the lockdown sucks, I encourage you to read this other blog post that I wrote: Here are 65 reasons why I’m against the COVID-19 lockdowns
Note from Daniel Alman: If you like this blog post that I wrote, you can buy my books from amazon, and/or donate to me via PayPal, using the links below:
Note from Daniel Alman: I’d like to recommend that you visit Whatfinger News. It’s a really awesome website.