Hundreds of doctors have sent a letter to President Trump warning that the nationwide lockdown is killing thousands of Americans. It may end up more deadly even than the coronavirus it is intended to defeat. Doctors understand that you don't kill the patient to save the patient. Also, homeschool moms in Lake Jackson, TX, defy officials and take their kids to the park. City workers call the cops - but in a twist, the moms know their Constitution and end up schooling both the cops and city officials.
By Chris Rossini
As the heroic Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises once pointed out "Government is essentially the negation of Liberty." America's Founders understood this and tried to "chain down" government with a Constitution. There is little doubt that they anticipated government would eventually break loose of those chains. Well, the chains of the U.S. Constitution were broken, and a good official year to peg it is probably 1913. That was the fateful year when the Federal Reserve and income tax were created. With those two oppressive acts, the U.S. government was ready to abolish liberty rapidly. Its disastrous entry into World War I just a few years later got the ball rolling. Ever since 1913, freedoms in the "land of the free" have been under relentless and persistent attack. New generations are born into lives with less and less liberty, with no idea what it must have been like having a federal government that was a non-issue in everyday life. Instead, every generation lives life with government interference in every single issue. Liberty is often taken away under abstract slogans and simple phrases that the everyday person can easily repeat. By far, the most popular phrase used to take away Liberty have been the words "National Security." Those words have been repeated so often over the last 100 years that politicians probably think they are magical. It's astounding how much freedom has been laid to rest simply by politicians attributing it to "National Security." Another set of words that are often repeated are "Freedom and Democracy." These two words, which mean the opposite of one another, have been twisted into meaning the same thing! You cannot have freedom AND democracy. It is either freedom OR democracy. John Adams wrote: "Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide." With modern-day Americans split into two warring camps that cannot stand even the site of each other, the quote by Adams shows why democracy always exhausts itself. Freedom never exhausts itself......Democracy always does. The next catchphrase that has been used, but that has so far failed is "Climate Change." This fear has had so much propaganda poured into it, yet fortunately, the people never bought it. This shows that while propaganda often works, it doesn't work every time. But while "Climate Change" flopped, the next set of words did not. People should get used to hearing the abstraction that goes by the name of "Public Health." These two words will be repeated over and over, and the target (as always), is freedom and liberty. Americans have been scared beyond belief by extraordinary lies about a virus. Now that the fear has been propagated long enough, and has become almost habitual, government is going to want to get its pound of flesh out of it. Ironically, what the "Climate Change" crowd was always after has been produced by the virus propaganda -- constant fear and government control. While the "Climate Change" crowd wanted a technological gulag in the name of "carbon emissions," we instead see a technological gulag being attempted in the name of a virus. In other words, the technological gulag seems to always have been the destination. It just needed a different road to get there. At some point the American people will have to say that enough is enough. The nature of power is to never quit and to never stop taking liberty. The walls will continue to close in until Americans place a high value on their liberty once again. There is no reason to close our eyes and imagine that it isn't happening. It's best to see clearly those that want your liberty and to face them head-on. Americans are used to tyrannical actions happening "out there, somewhere" and never here. Well, what else do politicians have to do to convince that this is a mistaken view? Power is power. It negates liberty "out there" and here. There are many reasons to be optimistic. First, this pandemic power-grab has produced a lot of discontent. Americans got a real taste of how insignificant their livelihoods and dreams are to people in power. To crush almost 40 million jobs in a matter of months is no small thing. Trying to "blame Capitalism" for this is not going to fly. America also has a mental undercurrent of being a land of liberty. While many Americans have been softened up over the last several decades, this is the land of the rugged and rebellious individual. That which is seen in the mainstream is not that which exists in the heart of this country. Finally, and probably most important, the U.S. federal government and state governments are in horrendous shape financially. They are literally placing all of their chips on The Federal Reserve counterfeiting trillions of dollars at a time. This is a losing strategy. Once Americans see the economic disaster that this counterfeiting produces, which will include rapidly rising prices for everything that is important, the Fed will have a big problem on its hands. Couple that with the fact that governments are out of money, despite all the promises that they've made, and faith in their omnipotence will be shattered. Liberty is not complex. It's live and let live. You don't harm me or my property and I don't harm you or your property. And most importantly, politicians cannot harm anyone's person or property either. Government is the negation of Liberty. It is a problem multiplier and not a problem solver. If we want to live harmoniously, Liberty is non-negotiable.
The media elites and their cheering section in the medical community are apoplectic over President Trump's announcement that he is taking a common anti-malaria drug as a protection against Covid-19. While many doctors have experienced successes in trials with the drug, including guest Dr. Armstrong, President Trump is being raked over the coals for his decision. Are politics taking precedent over "the science" when it comes to this (and other aspects of the "pandemic")?
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By Ron Paul
On April 21st the Washington Post savaged Georgia governor Brian Kemp’s decision to begin opening his state after locking down for weeks. “Georgia leads the race to become America’s No. 1 Death Destination,” sneered the headline. The author, liberal pundit Dana Milbank, actually found the possibility of Georgians dying to be hilarious, suggesting that, “as a promotion, Georgia could offer ventilators to the first 100 hotel guests to register.” Milbank, who is obviously still getting paid while millions are out of work, sees his job as pushing the mainstream narrative that we must remain in fear and never question what “experts” like Dr. Fauci tell us. Well it’s been three weeks since Milbank’s attack on Georgia and its governor, predicting widespread death which he found humorous. His predictions are about as worthless as his character. Not only has Georgia not seen “coronavirus…burn through Georgia like nothing has since William Tecumseh Sherman,” as Milbank laughed, but Covid cases, hospitalizations, and deaths have seen a steep decline since the governor began opening the state. Maybe getting out in the fresh air and sunshine should not have been prohibited in the first place! In fact, as we now have much more data, it is becoming increasingly clear that the US states and the countries that locked down the tightest also suffered the highest death rates. Ultra locked-down Italy suffered 495 Covid deaths per million while relatively non-locked down South Korea suffered only five deaths per million. The same is true in the US, where non lockdown states like South Dakota were relatively untouched by the virus while authoritarian-led Michigan, New York, and California have been hardest hit. In those hardest hit states, we are now seeing that most of the deaths occurred in senior care facilities – after the governors ordered patients sick with Covid to leave the hospitals and return to their facilities. There, they infected their fellow residents who were most likely to have the multiple co-morbidities and advanced age that turned the virus into a death sentence. Will these governors be made to answer for this callous disregard for life? Yesterday, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar admitted the obvious: "We are seeing that in places that are opening, we're not seeing this spike in cases." So why not open everything? Because these petty tyrants cannot stand the idea of losing the ability to push people around. Shutting down the entire United States over a virus that looks to be less deadly than an average flu virus – particularly among those under 80 who are not already sick – has resulted in mass unemployment and economic destruction. More Americans may die from the wrong-headed efforts to fight the virus than from the virus itself. Americans should pause and reflect on the lies they are being sold. Masks are just a form of psychological manipulation. Many reputable physicians and scientists have said they are worthless and potentially harmful. Lockdowns are meant to condition people to obey without question. A nation of people who just do what they are told by the “experts” without question is a nation ripe for a descent into total tyranny. This is no empty warning – it’s backed up by history. Time to stand up to all the petty tyrants from our hometowns to Washington DC. It is time to reclaim our freedom.
Thanks to trillions in "bailout money" passed by Congress, thousands of "contact tracers" will soon descend on the country demanding to test people for the coronavirus, to track down those they've been in contact with, and potentially to impose involuntary quarantine. Are we OK with the government tracking our every movement under the guise of fighting a virus that appears to have nearly run its course in the US? Also - Oregon fights back against dictatorial governor and several US states revise massively inflated Covid death numbers.
With the ominous warnings of a meat shortage as the coronavirus scare destroys supply lines, US Congressman Thomas Massie (R-KY) has a great idea of how we can insure the safety and availability of food sources. Massie also pulls back the screen to reveal how Washington's endless covid bailout bills are working well for the well-connected instead of those really suffering. Don't miss this very special episode!
The biggest bubble ever created, was created by the counterfeiting of The Federal Reserve. As with all financial bubbles, it was destined to burst and inflict the biggest economic bust in history. Did the lying and overreaction of Coronavirus cover-up The Fed's economic destruction and guilt?
Wisconsin's supreme court has ruled that the governor's ordered lockdown of the state is unconstitutional. Bars and restaurants threw their doors open to willing customers and the celebration was like the end of prohibition. The lockdown crowd warns of "chaos" if people are allowed to go about their business of their own free will. Also today: tyrannical Michigan governor strips 77 year old barber of his license and Liberty University resists lockdown with voluntary on-campus offerings.
By Jeff Deist How bad is it? That is the question on everyone's mind as we come to grips with the economic carnage caused by global economic shutdowns, supply chain disruptions, and ongoing quarantines of million of people. Do we face another Great Depression, or simply a deep recession more like 2008? And equally important, are soft Americans prepared for either? Have we started to process all of this psychologically? Have we really come to terms with the enormity of the situation, with the unprecedented risk posed by business shutdowns? Are Americans so accustomed to a certain material standard of living that they do not understand how fragile it is? Here is what we know. Since February, 30 to 40 million of Americans have been thrown out of work. Four or 5 million file new unemployment claims each week. The real unemployment rate is probably over 20 percent, while the labor force participation rate drops like a stone. In states like Hawaii unemployment may approach 35 percent. Deutsche Bank economists predict an absolutely staggering 40 percent reduction in US GDP for the second quarter of 2020. Meanwhile, millions of American households and businesses simply stopped paying rent or mortgages on March 1, and bankruptcies spread across major American retailers like wildfire. Countless small local businesses, many left out of the running for the new SBA (Small Business Administration) loans recently created by Congress, simply will not reopen regardless of what happens over the next few months. So although we have a sense of how deep the economic damage runs, we can only guess how long it may last. Will the virus remain a threat, real or perceived, for months or years? And if so, how long will state governments maintain at least partial business lockdowns? Will the US economy enjoy a vaunted V-shaped bounce-back recovery, as promised by Trump administration cheerleader Larry Kudlow? Will it look more like a U, with months or years of stagnation at the bottom? Or worse still, like an L with no rebound in sight? Looking back at the 2008 crisis provides a sober argument against a quick recovery later this year. Consider this analogy: Most roller coasters feature what is known as a "lift hill," a chain-driven steep ascent at the beginning which takes nervous riders to the top of of a sharp drop-off. Going over this first hill not only creates the most thrilling moments, but also generates energy to propel the coaster cars farther along the path of the ride. How much farther and faster the ride goes depends on the height of the hill and the mass of the coaster train. Bigger and higher make for a more precipitous fall. Absent some kind of additional mechanical intervention, the coaster never again reaches the height of the initial hill due to simple friction. Congress and the Fed are busy attempting to overcome this friction using government stimulus and central bank "liquidity." But per our analogy, the coaster's potential energy is highest during the pregnant pause at the peak of the lift hill; its kinetic energy is highest at the bottom of the first drop. No subsequent hill, twist, or turn quite matches the feeling of that first free fall. Recall, from those terrible days of 2008, how a crash gathers speed. At first a few cars on the coaster crest the hill, well before the rest of the train plummets. In mid-September of that year, Lehman Brothers was the first car in the coaster to go over the hill into the abyss. It took a few weeks, until September 29, for investors to fully grasp what was happening and send the Dow plummeting in the largest single-day loss in history. But the Dow did not reach its ultimate low until March 2009. Nine million lost jobs were not recovered until well into the next decade. And US housing prices didn't bottom out until 2012. Crashes are fast, like that first hill on a coaster. Recoveries are not, for the simple reason that production is more difficult than destruction. Although the Great Recession of 2008 "lasted" eighteen months in official terms, its effects lasted far longer and are still felt today. Its scars remain particularly visible on two bookend generations, Millennials and Baby Boomers. In stark terms, many of the former failed to launch and many of the latter found comfortable retirement out of their grasp. Millions of Millennials sought more education and degrees (with resulting debt) to ride out the soft job market; millions of older workers simply gave up and limped along until they were eligible for Social Security. Now both face another crisis just a decade later. How bad will the Great Crash of 2020 be? Even more unsettling is the question of whether it represents a self-inflicted wound, caused by state-mandated business shutdowns which increasingly appear wildly disproportionate to the actual threat posed by the COVID virus. Economist Daniel Lacalle and I will attempt to answer both during a live webinar later this week, particularly in the context of what governments and central banks have done in recent months. The first step in addressing a crisis is understanding how severe it really is. This article was originally published at The Mises Institute.
Ironically, as coronavirus deaths continue to decline in the US and as more states are "opening up," there appears to be an increase in mask wearing. Are the face masks going to prevent the spread of the virus? Will they protect people from the virus? Or may they actually cause harm to some people? Or...even: are they a new form of "virtue signaling," a show of submission to the "authorities"? Plenty of prominent MDs - including Fauci not long ago - have condemned the mass masking of America. Are they right?
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