Free Republic

Shocking revelations about Gov control, harassment and of religious groups and peoples.Sometimes an article is so well written, so on point - that there is little to be added. Such is the case with “It’s not too late to stop being a tool of oppression,” written by Professor Jem Bendell on November 21, 2022. There is also an audio version available on the link above. So, lets begin this Substack by quoting the opening paragraphs:Death rates are still above normal in many countries of the world. The medical experts don’t know why. It could be from the long-term complications from...

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced Monday he had tested positive for the coronavirus and will quarantine while working remotely from home. “I have tested positive for COVID-19 and am experiencing mild symptoms,” Buttigieg wrote on social media in a statement.

For over two weeks the financial capital of China, Shanghai, has been locked down tight. Some 26 million people languish in their apartments, staring at their now-empty refrigerators, unable to set foot outside to forage for food for fear of arrest and incarceration. Day 16 of our COVID lockdown in Shanghai today and food is the key thing on people’s minds. We aren’t allowed to leave home so delivery is the only way I was up at 6 am yesterday trying to get any kind of delivery but nothing was available all day. So far, same results today The unlucky...

Hannah Arendt’s seminal work The Origins of Totalitarianism (1948) makes for sobering reading in the world we see developing around us in the year 2021. Indeed, we find ourselves in an impasse of epic proportions where the essence of what it means to be human is at stake. The totalitarian attempt at global conquest and total domination has been the destructive way out of all impasses. Its victory may coincide with the destruction of humanity; wherever it has ruled, it has begun to destroy the essence of man.” – Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, first published 1948.. Although it...

An Afghan refugee faced online harassment after tweeting out a photo showing his meager food rations at Fort Bliss in El Paso. Hamed Ahmadi, 28, a Fulbright semi-finalist, tweeted the photo showing some anemic chicken slices and fruit to highlight the unglamorous life he now faced as a refugee. “The point of that tweet was not … to be complaining, to be very critical,” Mr. Ahmadi told The Independent. “I was just describing a situation of Afghan refugees that are in the situation that they never really wanted to be in.” Unfortunately, Twitter isn’t the place for nuance and he...

A school nurse spoke out against masking students at a Prior Lake school board meeting and then quit her job. In a video of the school board meeting, shared by Representative Erik Mortenson, the nurse said that what happened over the last year “goes against my beliefs and morals and against my oath as a mother and a nurse.” The Prior Lake school nurse said that when she brought up her concerns during the 2020 school year, she had been told to “censor” her views on masking because of the “opinions” of others. “This offended me,” she shared, saying that...

A New York state lawmaker has introduced a bill that would allow the government to detain people that they deemed to be a potential public health risk. While the law does not specifically mention coronavirus, it comes amid increasing concerns that the Covid-19 crisis could be used to usher in authoritarianism. RT reports: Authored by a Democratic member of the New York State Assembly N. Nick Perry, Bill A416 calls for the “removal and/or detention” of individuals who are identified as a “case, contact or carrier” of a contagious disease. Such person or group of persons shall be detained in...

Welcome to the new normal. The head of the World Health Organization has suggested that coronavirus restrictions will continue even after a vaccine has been made widely available. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made the comments on Twitter after news broke of several new vaccines said to be effective in fighting COVID-19 coming closer to fruition. “Since the beginning of the #COVID19 pandemic, we knew that a vaccine would be essential for bringing the pandemic under control. But it’s important to emphasise that a vaccine will complement the other tools we have, not replace them,” said Ghebreyesus. He went on to add...

This post is an excerpt, not sure about GreenMed Info's copyright policies: Tried search and could not find this article. This article draws from a Bloomberg article. More than 99% of Italy’s coronavirus fatalities were people who suffered from previous medical conditions, according to a study by the country’s national health authority. After deaths from the virus reached more than 2,500, with a 150% increase in the past week, health authorities have been combing through data to provide clues to help combat the spread of the disease. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte’s government is evaluating whether to extend a nationwide lockdown...

Outbreaks confirmed in new countries as Iran’s deputy health minister says he has tested positive for coronavirus. About 50 pupils and staff at a school in County Antrim have been sent home as a precaution against coronavirus after they went on a ski trip to northern Italy. The Cambridge House grammar school group are showing no symptoms and did not visit any of the affected towns – but they were in the Lombardy region and were sent home as a “precautionary” measure, the principal, Elma Lutton, said. Two schools in Cheshire have also taken precautionary steps after half-term ski trips...

JERUSALEM - Concerns of a widening threat from coronavirus spiked just as millions of Israelis are preparing to gather at polling places for national elections next week, following reports that a group of South Koreans who had visited some of the country’s most popular religious and tourist spots tested positive for the infection. Dozens of school students who may have been in proximity to the South Korean tourists were directed to stay in home-based quarantine for two weeks, as were hotel housekeepers and employees of Masada, Tel Ber Sheeva and other national parks. Officials, who had previously expressed cautious optimism...

California's measles outbreak has climbed to 91 confirmed cases, prompting a vicious attack from USA Today contributor Alex Berezow against "anti-vaxxers." He blames them for the epidemic that CDC officials say was introduced at the Disneyland theme park by a person infected with measles overseas. Berezow's knee-jerk reaction is to declare, "Parents who do not vaccinate their children should go to jail." He erroneously maintains that measles could not spread in a fully vaccinated society and discredits as "ludicrous" concerns regarding the safety and effectiveness of vaccines. Claiming there is a "mountain of data" proving otherwise, his one and only...

You really have to watch the clip of President Obama strutting his self-righteous anger at states that are imposing Ebola quarantines. I, Barack thunders that such quarantines reflect a lack of leadership, and "that's not who I am." Thanks, sir, for letting us know what a strong leader you are. On today's Morning Joe, Joe Scarborough scalded President Obama's self-righteous hypocrisy. Mockingly quoting the President, Scarborough said "'This is America. And we do things differently.' Unless it's Barack Obama's overseeing the military." Where of course a quarantine is being imposed on soldiers returning from Ebola hot zones. In the unkindest...

Potential 2016 presidential hopefuls are facing political peril as they grapple with the spread of Ebola in their backyards.New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) encountered those exposed risks this weekend as he faced fierce criticism from a nurse quarantined in his state after treating Ebola patients in Sierra Leone.  ADVERTISEMENT New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), considered a possible Democratic contender or vice presidential pick, appeared with Christie on Friday to emphasize the risks of the virus. After facing criticism, on Sunday night he walked back a stringent Ebola quarantine protocol and said medical workers with no contact with Ebola...

While the nurse quarantined in New Jersey has been released, the ACLU continues to push back against such measures by the states, and as the disease spreads, these questions will persist. Yesterday I discussed potential due process challenges to Ebola quarantines. Another possible constitutional objection to such measures, as Josh Blackman points out, is preemption because of a conflict with federal policy. The issue is not that state quarantine rules are tougher than the CDC suggests – federal law explicitly allows states to be tougher in this regard. Rather, it is that the quarantine of health care workers returning from...

Kaci Hickox, the nurse forcibly quarantined by New Jersey upon her return from West Africa, is threatening a legal challenge to her confinement. Her lawyers claim she is being deprived of her liberty in violation of the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment. Due process cases are fact specific, and I am not privy to information NJ authorities had before them or their decision-making process. However, it is highly unlikely that she will prevail. While the Supreme Court has long held quarantines to be constitutional, it has not ruled directly on the scope of permissible quarantines. However, in the...

While the debate continues in the US as to how best to protect Americans from a potential spread of Ebola, Australia has made a decision on a comprehensive policy. They will issue no new travel visas for people in Ebola-impacted nations in western Africa, and will require travelers from those countries on permanent visas or Australian passports to undergo a mandatory 21-day quarantine prior to entering the country. That applies to health-care professionals returning to Australia after serving in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone: In the fight against Ebola, Australia has said: No thanks.Immigration Minister Scott Morrison announced “strong...

RUSH: Okay. So let me see if I understand this. The states want to set up their own Ebola quarantines. Why would they want to do that? That's because they don't trust the federal government's quarantine protocols, right? That means they don't trust the CDC. That means they don't trust Obama, the Ebola czar, who has yet to make an appearance. They had a 27-member meeting, though, they had an Ebola meeting with 27 people, problem solved. So one week before the election we have here a bunch of states that are deciding to do their own quarantines, and the...

State governors are enacting quarantines on healthcare professionals returning from Ebola-stricken West Africa because the American public does not trust the Obama administration to handle the growing crisis, California Republican Rep. Darrell Issa said Sunday. "Governors of both parties are reacting to an absence of leadership," Issa, who chairs the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, told CNN "State of the Union" host Candy Crowley. Over the weekend, the states of New York, New Jersey, and Illinois have all imposed mandatory quarantines on people returning from West Africa, particularly healthcare workers, after Doctors Without Borders physician Dr. Craig Spencer was...

With the West African Ebola epidemic still raging out of control, killing 20 people a day in Sierra Leone alone, Americans, confronted with their first few cases, are taking on the tough questions: Can Ebola be transmitted by a bowling ball? What about co-location in a hipster coffee bar near the High Line? And—OMG—what about Uber-based transmission? Right on cue, as if in an attempt to push the discussion ever further toward irrelevancy, the twin towers of presidential posturing, Governors Chris Christie and Andrew Cuomo, agreed to hog the spotlight together in order to get presidentially tough over an issue...