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Imposing mask mandates on red states under the guise of ‘civil rights’ will only deepen divisions

By Micah Curtis | RT | August 31, 2021

The Biden administration is looking to begin its war against Republican states over mask mandates and is planning to use civil rights legislation to do it. This is needlessly divisive and politically stupid.

Earlier this month, Joe Biden announced he would be targeting Republican-led states over mask mandates. Though different methods had been discussed when considering exactly what legal technicalities it was looking to use to do this, Biden’s administration eventually revealed it would be investigating several states for “civil rights” abuses. The states in question are Utah, Tennessee, Iowa, South Carolina, and Oklahoma. The alleged “goal” of these investigations is to establish whether or not it’s a violation of the civil rights of children with a heightened risk of Covid-19 exposure, because they cannot attend a school without a mask mandate in place.

The logic behind this line of investigation is downright silly. Aside from the simple fact that the lack of a mandate doesn’t mean there are no masks whatsoever, how, pray tell, is this argument going to work in court? How can the administration argue that keeping a child at home because of their heightened possibility of contracting this virus is against their civil rights, while millions of children had to suffer the exact same thing not one year ago? On top of that, are they going to suggest that the rights of parents to make the decision for their children on whether or not to mask up is superseded by a small number of children who might be at a higher risk from the disease?

I am at best skeptical of the modern American justice system, so one can never rule out that a court could make a ridiculous ruling in this regard, should it get that far, but what I do believe is undeniable is that this will spark deep resentment if it does come to pass. My heart goes out to the kids stuck home even when all of their friends are able to go back to school. Being stuck at home (for lack of a better term) sucks, and children need to socialize for their own development. But, at the same time, how can it be fair to place restrictions on all the kids who are likely at next to no risk, according to the CDC data, because just a few children are, unfortunately, more vulnerable?

Of course, this is just another game in Red vs Blue. Biden’s administration has no problem surrendering to the Taliban, but the Republicans? That’s a different story. They’ll fight the Republican Party wherever they can, but it’s a war that they’re very unlikely to win. 2022 midterm polling already isn’t looking good for the Democrats, and Biden is likely to turn into even more of a lame duck than he already is. This kind of vexatious interference from the federal government is simply going to make the divide even deeper. It’s simple logic: the best way to make someone your enemy is to treat them like one, and Biden and his party have done a tremendous job of framing the political right as exactly that.

There’s just one problem. The dumbest thing you can do if you want to win in a democracy is annoy the voters.

August 31, 2021 Posted by | Civil Liberties | , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Man Claims Cops Broke His Prosthetic Arm

By JONNY BONNER | Courthouse News | February 3, 2015

SALT LAKE CITY – Heber City police broke an elderly man’s prosthetic arm during a bogus arrest for driving in Utah with a Colorado license, the man claims in Federal Court.

Danny Baker sued police Officers Michael Stowe and Officer Brunnell on Jan. 30, seeking $1.5 million in damages, plus treble damages.

Baker has a prosthetic arm due to a construction accident in the 1970s. He says he spends a lot of time in Utah for medical reasons, and that he drives slowly there because he likes to keep an eye out for deer and elk.

He was doing that when Officer Stowe stopped him outside of Heber City in August 2013, for a cracked windshield.

Brunnell, whose first name is not listed in the complaint, assisted Stowe.

Baker claims that Stowe ran his license through a computer and then “insisted that Mr. Baker was driving without a valid license because Officer Stowe’s search of his database revealed that Mr. Baker had previously possessed a Utah driver’s license.”

Baker’s Utah license expired in 1988, he says, after he moved to Colorado.

Stowe “persisted,” however, and told him that his Colorado license was invalid because he did not have a Utah license, Baker says.

He says Stowe ordered him out of his car and arrested him for “‘driving on a denied license, fail[ure] to stop, expired license, [and] cracked windshield.'” (Brackets in complaint, which cites a police report of the incident.)
According to Stowe’s police report, Baker replied: “you ain’t touching me with those cuffs till you read me my rights.”

Baker says he “immediately” informed the officers that he had a prosthesis in his arm, and that he could not comply with the order to place his hands behind his back.

“Officer Bunnell responded to this information by grabbing Mr. Baker’s arm. Officer Stowe then grabbed Mr. Baker’s left hand and elbow, and forcibly turned Mr. Baker toward the car, while forcing Mr. Baker’s arms behind his back,” the complaint states.

It continues: “Officer Bunnell exerted such great force upon Mr. Baker’s arm that the prosthesis in Mr. Baker’s arm snapped, breaking Mr. Baker’s arm, destroying the prosthesis, and resulting in severe pain to Mr. Baker.”

The abuse didn’t stop there, Baker says.

“Even during the booking process, despite the open and obvious disfiguration of Mr. Baker’s arm, Officer Stowe did nothing to address Mr. Baker’s broken arm or the severe pain Mr. Baker was experiencing,” the lawsuit states.

Baker says the police denied him medical treatment for hours, until he was released on bail, and his daughter took him to a hospital.”

He says criminal charges against him were dismissed when his attorney showed “evidence and videotapes from the arrest” to a prosecuting attorney.

Baker seeks punitive damages for unreasonable seizure and excessive force, false arrest and malicious prosecution.

He is represented by Justin Heideman of Provo.

February 6, 2015 Posted by | Subjugation - Torture | , | Leave a comment

The Fukushima Health Crisis

By JOSEPH MANGANO and JANETTE SHERMAN | CounterPunch | August 1, 2014

Over 3 years since the Fukushima nuclear disaster, there is virtually no health research being conducted or released on harm to the Japanese. An April report by a UN committee tried to sweep the issue under the rug, predicting any harmful effects of the catastrophe is “unlikely.”

The UN panel made a very broad assumption about the worst nuclear catastrophe in history (or worst since Chernobyl) – and did this BEFORE research is done. However, a local health study raises alarm bells. Fukushima Medical University found 46% of local children have a pre-cancerous nodule or cyst, and 130 have thyroid cancer, vs. 3 expected. Incredibly, the University corrupts science by asserting the meltdown played no role in these high figures.

But Japanese studies must go far beyond childhood thyroid diseases. Japan isn’t the only site to study, as the fallout from the meltdown spread across the northern hemisphere.

In 2011, we estimated 13,983 excess U.S. deaths occurred in the 14 weeks after Fukushima, when fallout levels were highest – roughly the same after Chernobyl in 1986. We used only a sample of deaths available at that time, and cautioned not to conclude that fallout caused all of these deaths.

Final figures became available this week. The 2010-2011 change in deaths in the four months after Fukushima was +2.63%, vs. +1.54% for the rest of the year. This difference translates to 9,158 excess deaths – not an exact match for the 13,983 estimate, but a substantial spike nonetheless.

Again, without concluding that only Fukushima caused these deaths, some interesting patterns emerged. The five Pacific and West Coast states, with the greatest levels of Fukushima fallout in the U.S., had an especially large excess. So did the five neighboring states (Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, and Utah), which received the next highest levels.

Most of the spring 2011 mortality increase were people over 80. Many of these elderly were in frail health; one possibility is that the added exposure to radioactive poison sped the dying process.

Fukushima radiation is the same as fallout from atom bomb explosions, releasing over 100 chemicals not found in nature. The radioactive chemicals enter the body as a result of precipitation that gets into the food chain. Once in the body, these particles harm or kill cells, leading to disease or death.

Once-skeptical health officials now admit even low doses of radiation are harmful. Studies showed X-rays to pregnant women’s abdomens raised the risk of the child dying of cancer, ending the practice. Bomb fallout from Nevada caused up to 212,000 Americans to develop thyroid cancer. Nuclear weapons workers are at high risk for a large number of cancers.

Rather than the UN Committee making assumptions based on no research, medical research on changes in Japanese disease and death rates are needed – now, in all parts of Japan. Similar studies should be done in nations like Korea, China, eastern Russia, and the U.S. Not knowing Fukushima’s health toll only raises the chance that such a disaster will be repeated in the future.

Joseph Mangano is Executive Director of the Radiation and Public Health Project.

Janette D. Sherman MD is an internist and toxicologist, and editor of Chernobyl: Consequences of the Catastrophe for People and the Environment.

August 3, 2014 Posted by | Corruption, Environmentalism, Nuclear Power, Timeless or most popular | , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

US builds world biggest spy center

Press TV – March 19, 2012

The United States National Security Agency (NSA) is building the biggest spy center for intercepting and storing electronic communications collected from all over the world and American citizens.

A new report published by the monthly magazine Wired, said that the centre located in Bluffdale, a remote valley in the state of Utah, can process yottabytes (a million billions of gigabytes) of data.

The facility of USD 2 billion is designed to “intercept, decipher, analyze, and store vast swaths of the world’s communications including the contents of telephone calls, private e-mails, mobile phone text messages and Internet searches.

According to the report, the facility is “the most covert and potentially most intrusive intelligence agency ever,” and it will use 65 megawatts of electricity a year, with an annual bill of USD 40 million.

The spy center intercepts commutation signals as they zap down from satellites and zip through the underground and undersea cables of international, foreign, and domestic networks.

Using what will likely be the world’s fastest super computer, the NSA can gather data through ‘dumb’ home appliances such as refrigerators, ovens and lighting systems which are connected to the Internet.

The facility is to provide technical assistance to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), collect intelligence on cyber threats and carry out cyber-security objectives, reported Reuters.

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March 19, 2012 Posted by | Civil Liberties, Full Spectrum Dominance, Timeless or most popular | , , , , , | Leave a comment