emergency measures - New Catallaxy

“A tiny minority with unacceptable views”

There is some resistance growing to the insanities associated with Covid across the world, with the Canadian truck convoys leading the pack. It’s not even that they are anti-vaxxine as such, just anti being forced to take the vaxxines and then each of the mandated “boosters” to participate in normal life, like going to the shops, sitting in a cafe or taking in a movie.

The Great Reset means that the nitwits who we have inadvertently installed as political leaders, or the complete nincompoops who have had one success in setting up Facebook or Twitter are now to be our leaders in perpetuity.

Is there actually anyone in public life stupider than Daniel Andrews? Perhaps the Premier of Queensland. Or the chaps who run WA or the NT.

We are ruining our lives for a mild disease that if you find you have it, the protocol is to stay home for a week.

The tiny minority with unacceptable views was the nonsense statement about the truckers from the Canadian Prime Minister whose greatest previous accomplishment are found listed here.

These are the people who are the tiny minority with unacceptable views.

Leading Silks’ Open letter opposing Andrews pandemic legislation

We are deeply concerned about the Public Health and Wellbeing Amendment (Pandemic Management) Bill 2021 (Bill). The overriding concern is that the Bill, if passed, may allow the Victorian government effectively to rule the State of Victoria by decree for the foreseeable future, without proper Parliamentary oversight or the usual checks and balances on executive power.

A key feature of the Bill is that the Minister of Health will have the power to make “pandemic orders”(s 165AI). This effectively confers an unlimited and Continue reading “Leading Silks’ Open letter opposing Andrews pandemic legislation”

Do the clowns at The Age even know what freedom is?

Here is this story about the totalitarian takeover of Victoria by its utterly mad premier: Victorian Bar slams ‘appalling’ new pandemic laws and there in the middle of the story we find this as an insert in the midst of the story:

Victoria edges closer to freedom

The Victorian government has announced changes to the road map from Friday, October 29, as the state will reach its 80 per cent double dose vaccination target almost a week ahead of schedule. Here’s how some of the restrictions will ease when the 90 per cent double dose vaccination target is reached for people 12 years and over – now predicted to occur around Wednesday, November 24.

Victoria is in no sense whatsoever edging towards anything other than a fascist state. The actual situation is that we are moving very far away from freedom and into government by decree. This is actually where we now find ourselves.

The president of the Victorian Bar has slammed the state’s new pandemic legislation as “appalling” and claims the government “grossly misrepresented” its consultation with the barristers’ peak body.

Christopher Blanden, QC, said the new laws, designed to replace sweeping state of emergency powers, would give the Premier unprecedented power with little to no checks and balances.

“Stasi police would have been more than happy with the range of powers if they were given it,” Mr Blanden told The Age. “It’s extraordinary.”

Meanwhile, the Victorian Opposition has come to life: Victorian parliament descends into chaos ahead of public health laws debate.

Victorian politicians have screamed at each other and yelled insults across the table during a heated discussion over proposed pandemic laws that are set to bring unprecedented powers to the Victorian Premier and Health Minister if passed this week.

Premier Daniel Andrews was labelled a “dictator” during the chaotic screaming match between Labor and Liberal politicians amid a push to delay debate of the new pandemic powers the government is hoping to rush through parliament over three days this week.

The proposed laws, introduced to state parliament on Tuesday, would give the Premier power to declare a pandemic for three months at a time and allow Health Minister Martin Foley to sign off on public health orders without the approval of the chief health officer.

The insanity of it all is that I know far too many on the Labor side of things who do not see any problem whatsoever in anything Andrews has done or is doing. These may be the most politically ignorant people I have ever met and there are plenty of them out there.

And since you won’t find this anywhere else, these are some of the details of the proposed legislation via Opposition Leader Matthew Guy.

Victorians are today witnessing the most extreme, dangerous and excessive laws ever brought before our state.

In one Bill, Daniel Andrews is attempting to sideline the Victorian Chief Health Officer and grant himself unchecked power to declare a State of Emergency and decree health orders based on an individual’s age, gender, sexual orientation and political belief or activity.

This legislation would remove any consideration of the impact of lockdowns, restrictions or penalties on equal opportunity or human rights laws, bypass Cabinet and Parliamentary approvals and place enormous power in the hands of one person.

Under these laws Victorians face a $21,909 fine for failing to wear a face mask and business a $109,044 fine if a customer fails to check-in properly.

These new laws aren’t about streamlining State of Emergency powers but about making it easier for the State Government to control people’s lives.

Daniel Andrews wouldn’t be passing these laws unless he planned on using them. The thought of handing even more power to the person who got us into this mess is simply unacceptable.

This extreme legislation is a threat to every Victorian family, small business and local community. It must be stopped.

The Victorian Liberal Nationals will stand up for Victorians and oppose this dangerous legislation.

Recent reports on serious problems with the vaccines

Here’s some background: Lara Logan drops dynamite Fox News segment on Biden’s sweeping vaccine mandates.

On Thursday, “President” Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr. broke another of his promises by requiring vaccine mandates on most, but not all, American citizens.  The next day, Fox News aired a terrific seven-minute segment by Lara Logan titled “Mandate Nation,” and it’s really worth watching.

Ms. Logan began the show reporting on new directives to OSHA not to report on COVID vaccine side-effects.  She then segued into recent reports from the U.K. and Israel that report on serious problems with the vaccines.

One feature of the segment that conservatives will appreciate is the montages from other channels, like MSNBC and CNN.  Their “commentators” are so crazed that it’s surreal.  These un-American fools actually think Biden “didn’t go far enough.”

The Biden Mandates are a civil rights issue, and they should appall lovers of freedom.

They should also appall anyone who values their own good health, whether in America or here. Watch the Report for yourself.

Danish Health Ministry: COVID ‘no longer a critical threat to society’

In the words of the Danish Health Ministry, COVID in its extant variants is no longer a ‘critical threat to society’, and as such, it will remove all its current COVID restrictions, including any vaccine mandates, by September 10 having fully vaccinated 71% of the population. The only remaining restrictions involve agreements with other countries regarding international travel that should begin to end in October onwards. Keep in mind that this is occurring with a daily case rate of 925 new cases, compared with 976 new cases in Australia (note, Australia has a population almost five times the size of Denmark).

However, here in Australia, our political elite are seeking to impose restrictions on the unvaccinated through vaccine passports once 70% of the population over 16 is vaccinated and to continue doing so for the foreseeable future. Now why would Denmark be removing vaccine passports as it passes 70% coverage as Australia prepares to implement them as it reaches 70%? Why would the Danish Health Ministry deescalate the threat of COVID while Australian federal and State Health departments crank the fear porn to eleventy? What possible rationale is behind the continued house arrest of at least a quarter of the Australian population in Victoria and Greater Sydney? I’m at a loss to understand the justifications for this given the facts on the ground, and given that we are now almost a year and a half into this crisis of policy, I’m well past the limits of charity. There is something both malicious and ostentatious afoot here politically; but at the level of policy and expertise, there is rank stupidity. Frankly, all three are admixed throughout.

The lockdowns will continue until morale improves

We find ourselves again in the grip of another lockdown, the 6th in Victoria, on the heels of 6 locally acquired cases. What this portends in the short term, if unanswered, purportedly justifies the deprivations of liberty entailed by home detention, business closure, remote schooling, and the like. But does it?

The initial claim that was used both here and overseas in order to justify lockdowns was that a short but sharp lockdown for 2-4 weeks was needed to stop the spread and prevent the hospital system from being overwhelmed by hospitalizations leading to operational collapse. This never eventuated even in countries that did not engage in lockdowns as a strategy. That is why the example of Sweden regarding COVID is anathema to proponents of lockdowns.

Sweden’s experience, as one of the few developed countries to eschew lockdowns, in terms of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths since Feb 2020 is well within the range of experience of those that did. And the worst of it can be blamed on the poor management earlier on of COVID in aged care, not on any failure to lockdown its people.

Sweden is the clearest lesson that lockdowns were never a necessary component in fending off national disaster. Public order and safety could be preserved within reason without the onerous and crippling deprivations of liberty imposed on the public. State and society could collaborate in their efforts to stave off ‘the spread’, protect vulnerable groups, and engage voluntarily in social distancing and other measures (remote work, effective hygiene, and the like) in ways that continued to respect the rights of its citizens in their pursuit of everyday goods.

Whereas, where we now find ourselves is in a never ending spiral of pointless goals (0 cases) and edicts. Having failed to achieve the impossible goal during a pandemic of 0 cases, the government, and having grown accustomed to emergency measures where no emergency exists beyond the recollection of its own failures, the government is effortlessly and gradually expanding from recurring temporary lockdowns to compulsorily requiring vaccinations as a prerequisite for returning to normal life; or should we say the ‘new normal’ life. To put it another way, the lockdowns will continue until morale improves.