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A discarded mask lay on a sidewalk in Orange, Calif., on June 19, 2020. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)People who wore protective masks were found to be more likely to contract COVID-19 infections than those who didn't, according to a recent Norwegian study.The peer-reviewed study, published in the journal Epidemiology and Infection on Nov. 13, analyzed mask use among 3,209 individuals from Norway. Researchers followed them for 17 days, and then asked the participants about their use of masks. The team found that there was a higher incidence of testing positive for COVID-19 among people who used masks more frequently.Among individuals...

Zeynep Tufekci and Jeremy Howard played a decisive role in shifting CDC guidance and ushering in mask mandates across America. Zeynep’s role in the COVID story goes far deeper than most realize. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeynep_Tufekci But alas, the pro-mask establishment responded with a trump card of their own: a New York Times op-ed by sociologist Zeynep Tufekci, Here’s Why the Science Is Clear That Masks Work, highlighting a statement of clarification from Cochrane’s editor-in-chief, Karla Soares-Weiser, that the review’s conclusion had been “open to misinterpretation, for which we apologize.” This new trump card was a disaster for mask opponents—the proverbial queen of...

Enforcers of the county’s rules reported the number of cars in the parking lot, whether or not masks were being worn, and even instances of hugging.SAN JOSE, California (LifeSiteNews) — A Christian church in California’s Santa Clara County was hit with hefty fines and its members were surveilled via stakeouts, cell phone monitoring, and other measures “reminiscent of totalitarian regimes” after the church defied the county’s draconian COVID-19 lockdown rules in 2020, according to a March 5 report by independent journalist David Zweig. San Jose’s Calvary Christian Fellowship, headed by pastor Mike McClure, openly defied the Silicon Valley county’s harsh...

“I don’t feel that we should have forced testing, forced masking and forced vaccination” ... Following a 30 second bit on SNL where he branded big pharma as a ‘cartel’ forcing it’s drugs on people with government consent, actor Woody Harrelson has further spoken out against COVID mandates. In an interview with the New York Times, Harrelson warned that America is no longer a free country, branding COVID protocols as “rather absurd.” ... When asked what was “absurd about the COVID protocols,” Harrelson replied, “The fact that they’re still going on!” “I don’t think that anybody should have the right...

While Biden’s speech contained shoutouts to notable State of the Union attendees, it predictably left out several individuals whose circumstances put the administration’s governance to shame. Just when you think Joe Biden couldn’t spew more incoherent nonsense during highly publicized events, he finds a way to do it. During his Tuesday night State of the Union address, the Democrat president told lie after lie about his managing of the country’s affairs. As expected, many of these so-called “accomplishments” were either flat-out untrue or grossly exaggerated. While Biden’s speech also contained several shoutouts to notable State of the Union attendees, such...

Republican Governor Joe Lombardo signed his first two executive orders this afternoon. One order repealed and rescinded the pandemic mandates from the Sisolak administration, and the second addresses state worker shortages as many state employees have not resumed normal, in-person office operations since March 2020 and many employees retired during the pandemic. It has been reported that there is a 24 percent vacancy in state positions. The Governor is calling on state leadership to address these vacancies and return to normal office operations by July 1. Chief of Staff Ben Kieckhefer told the capitol press: “Starting at the next fiscal...

"I was becoming increasingly alarmed listening to my Prime Minister call me a racist and say that I shouldn't be tolerated. I found his rhetoric to be incredibly divisive and I am a believer that if you are a leader of country you have to lead all of your people even if you don't agree with them. And I just saw so much coming across Canada every day I heard stories of at least three people. Three people were planning their suicides till we started the convoy or stories of people that we were too late...

'What has happened to me has only furthered the cause of Christ, and for that I rejoice,' said Pastor Tim Stephens ... Canadian pastor who was arrested twice in 2021 for continuing to congregate with his church in Calgary, Alberta ... The Provincial Court of Alberta tossed out charges against Pastor Tim Stephens alleging he violated provincial public health orders regarding physical distancing .... Stephens was imprisoned twice last year for keeping his Fairview Baptist Church open. .... Stephens' acquittal comes weeks after Danielle Smith, Alberta's new premier, promised a plan to pardon COVID offenders in the province. Her administration...

Conservatives have long been concerned about companies discriminating against their viewpoints and promoting a left-wing agenda, but there have been few conservative-leaning businesses offering viable alternatives. Several new companies have emerged to combat this problem in various fields including financial services, entertainment and consumer goods; conservative entrepreneurs want to influence the culture and offer an alternative to businesses that are hostile to their beliefs. “This movement has to be cultural, it can’t just be about business … It’s about daring people to think this way and showing them it can be done. It transcends a lot of the fake and...

Rates of tickets issued per 100,000 residents show that the city's Hasidic Jewish community faced severe curfew enforcement by Montreal police. For five months during Quebec's COVID curfew, Rebel News was out sounding the alarm about the targeted harassment from Montreal police towards the city's Hasidic Jewish population. Organizations that claim to stick up for Jews were silent. The only time the public heard from these so-called Jewish groups was when they decided to condemn Jews for calling a police officer a Nazi as he was harassing Hasidic Jews at a synagogue, targeting them for observing their religious obligations. Well...

Jason Kenney is stepping down as leader of the United Conservative Party and premier of Alberta. Only 51.4 percent of the more than 34,000 mail-in ballots cast in the leadership review voted to keep Kenney in charge of the United Conservative Party he helped form, party president Cynthia Moore and Chief Returning Officer Rick Orman announced via livestream Wednesday. Kenney said it's clear the party wants a leadership election. "It's clear that the past two years were deeply divisive for our province, our party and our caucus, but it is my fervent hope that in the months to come we...

Doug Mastriano did not mince words when he addressed the gathered crowd at Kirby Park Friday afternoon. "Pennsylvania should be the light of freedom for around the nation and the entire world," he said from under the Martz Pavilion. "So many important things happened in Pennsylvania. I'll say most of the key moments in American history." He queried the audience, "The government derives its consent from whom?" In unison nearly all in attendance responded, "The people." "The consent of the people," Mastriano repeated continuing, "And we clearly did not consent to the overreach over the last few years." He reflected...

A convoy of motorcycle riders is set to arrive in Ottawa this weekend for a rally on Parliament Hill. Dubbed "Rolling Thunder Ottawa" the convoy plans to loop through downtown Friday and Saturday, though their reasons for the rally are unclear. The event is bound to be a reminder of the downtown protests that paralyzed Ottawa for weeks and inspired similar demonstrations across Canada and around the world over COVID-19 mandates. Police already plan to send in officers to enforce the rally and will prevent vehicles from entering the area surrounding Parliament Hill...

Pastor Tracy Fortin and some entrusted congregants testified to screening admission the church's entrance after media reports of the church flaunting COVID rules, and after health officials entered the church without a warrant on two prior occasions. Although COVID restrictions are largely gone, The Church in the Vine as a legal entity and the church's co-lead pastor, Tracy Fortin, are standing trial on charges of obstruction of a public health officer this week in an Edmonton courtroom. Fortin and the church stand accused of preventing a provincial health inspector from barging in to inspect the church as Sunday services were...

If you aren’t a senior, but still experiencing ‘senior moments,’ you are in good company, according to recent Wall Street Journal report. "Our brains are like computers with so many tabs open right now," said Dr. Sara C. Mednick, a neuroscientist and professor of cognitive science at the University of California, Irvine. "This slows down our processing power, and memory is one of the areas that falters." ‘Senior moments,’ otherwise known as fleeting bursts of forgetfulness, are becoming more commonplace, according to memory experts.

In October of 2020, 13 men were charged in connection with a plot to kidnap the Governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer. Six people were charged in federal court and Michigan’s own Dirty Dana Nessel charged another seven in state court. Of the defendants who chose to contest the charges, the government is batting 0-4 so far. Two defendants had a mistrial declared after juries were unable to reach a verdict, and two were found not guilty today. As more information comes out about the plot to kidnap Governor Whitmer, it’s becoming increasingly clear that the FBI played an instrumental role...

A group of anti-mask protesters who gathered outside the Auckland War Memorial Museum on Tuesday forced the facility to close temporarily. The group, led by parents of home schooled children, refused to wear masks, a current requirement of the museum at the Red setting of the traffic light system... Co-Founder of Voices For Freedom, Claire Deeks, who was in attendance, posted the incident to Facebook on Tuesday replying to a comment which explained mask-wearing rules, that masks are mandatory if a person is exempt. Deeks said she was there with her 10-year old son and it wasn't a Voices For...

First lady Jill Biden is reportedly hosting a soiree for congressional spouses at the White House, which you’d imagine would be a non-political social event for lawmaker’s wives and husbands to visit the People’s House and visit with the nation’s highest-serving political spouse. Fun, innocent and professional, right? Not in Joe and Jill Biden’s America, where even traditional, nonpartisan White House functions are grounds for political posturing and pandemic-era shunning. Erika Donalds, wife to freshman Florida Congressman Byron Donalds, a pro-Trump, staunchly conservative Republican, tweeted a screenshot of the first lady’s COVID-19 guidelines for the event, and they’re even more...

Fear of The People's Convoy deepened in the nation's capital today with expanded blockades of Interstate 295, 395 and 695 exits in southeast and southwest Washington DC. For the second day the convoy moved in from the Capital Beltway using the interstate highway network in northern Virginia and the District. This triggered blockage of highways by police with even more exits involved today and a greater gridlock of traffic. Dump Trucks were also used in some cases. "We have to assume it's going to continue at least for the next several days" That's the word from Chris Rodriguez, director of...

Canada’s Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland ... As a member of Klaus Schwab’s World Economic Forum’s board of directors ... Freeland’s maternal grandfather Mykhailo Khomiak was the Nazi regime’s senior editor of the Ukrainian antisemitic daily newspaper Krakivs’ki visti (News of Krakow). ... Her response to the famous trucker convoy in Ottawa, legally and peacefully protesting the government’s punitive COVID-19 mandates, was nothing if not totalitarian in nature. Freeland stated that banks would be able to freeze personal accounts of anyone linked with the protests without any need for a court order. The same would apply to...