GD's Political Animal

Wednesday, December 23, 2020

Calgary AB youth arrested for playing hockey

Unsettling video shows cops assaulting, pulling taser on young man for playing ice hockey outside | The Blaze - Paul Sacca:

December 19, 2020 - "Disturbing video is coming out of Canada showing police officers assaulting and aiming a taser at a young man for playing ice hockey at an outside rink in Alberta. A viral video shows Calgary police shutting down a pickup ice hockey game at an outside rink. The cops claim that the game was violating public health orders. There were reports of 40 people at the Southwood community rink and skatepark. According to the Alberta government website: 'Outdoor team sports must also be limited to 10 people or fewer and 2 metre distancing must be maintained at all times.'

"Two female officers attempt to apprehend the man, who refuses to abide by the cops' orders to get on the ground. One officer is caught on video kneeing the hockey player, but he continues to stand on the ice. During the tussle, one of the police officers falls to the ground.

"When someone asks why the officer has their hand on a gun, the cop replies, 'It's not a gun, it's a taser, and he's under arrest, and I have the authority to use force to effect an arrest.' While pointing her taser squarely aimed at the man, the cop screams, "Get on the ground! Get on the f***ing ground! Get on the ground before I f***ing taser you!'

"Onlookers urge the man to come off the ice and surrender to the police. One female officer appears to try to put a chokehold on the man, but fails. The police officers attempt to bring the man to the ground, but he continues to stand in one place and asks, 'Why do I have to go to the ground?' One of the officers kicks the man several times in the groin area.

"The officers finally have the man's hands behind his back, and he says, 'I just asked you what you were doing to that little kid.' The 'little kid' could be in reference to ... 12-year-old Rayan Sanoubar, who was instructed by police to stop skateboarding at the same park. 'A peace officer came sat in this car and got out and… told skateboarders we have to go and [were] not allowed to be there and we all refused and he called for backup for other police to come,' Sanoubar told the Global News.

"'They had him on the ground for six minutes, just frozen, cutting his skates off with a knife,' Sanoubar said. 'They arrested him and threatened us saying: "We are going to give you tickets if you don't walk away."'

"Authorities said a 21-year-old was charged with obstructing an officer, resisting arrest, and violating the public health act.... The young man being arrested is allegedly 21-year-old Ocean Wiesblatt, according to Rebel News founder Ezra Levant. Ocean Wiesblatt plays for the Portage Terriers, a Canadian junior "A" ice hockey team. Wiesblatt comes from a family of hockey players; his three brothers, including Orca Wiesblatt, play junior hockey. Another brother, Ozzy Wiesblatt, is an NHL prospect who was drafted in the first round of the 2020 draft by the San Jose Sharks in October. The Wiesblatt brothers and their mother, who is deaf, were featured in a SportsNet video last December, where the family from Calgary talked about how hockey helped them to overcome adversity.

Tuesday, December 22, 2020

2 Libertarians elected to Hanford CA city council

Morrow’s First Action as City Councilwoman is to Make All Businesses in Hanford, California “Essential Businesses” | EIN Presswire (press release):

December 18, 2020 - "This week on Tuesday evening, the City of Hanford, California swore in two newly elected council members. One of them, Libertarian Kalish Morrow, won the November 3rd election with over 42% of the vote in District B, unseating the incumbent, with the promise of making the city business friendly. She and her supporters ran a positive and unique campaign including park clean ups, charity activities including Habitat for Humanity™ and neighborhood by neighborhood canvassing. She was sworn in by another elected Libertarian, Jeff Hewitt, Riverside County Supervisor District 5.

"In her first action as a councilwoman, Morrow moved to agendize naming all businesses of Hanford essential, not just those that state and county governments deem essential. Morrow said, 'As a result of the pandemic the US economy is in a tailspin due to lockdowns. We cannot continue like this. Families need to put food on their tables and heads of households need to be able to provide that food. Stimulus checks are not the solution, they are not substantial and we will pay for them for decades.'

"Mimi Robson, Chair of the Libertarian Party of California stated, 'Since March politicians have decided which businesses were and weren’t essential, without recognizing that every business is essential to those business owners and their customers. A mom and pop store is more likely to put in place protections for their staff and clients than a big box store, but yet the large corporations that line the pockets of the old parties’ elected representatives are the only ones that have been able to continue doing business. Immediately after taking office Kalish has started the process to change that in her home town and recognize that everyone is essential. This is what Libertarians do!'...

"Hanford City Councilman, Francisco Ramirez, was elected Mayor of Hanford that same night.... Ramirez recently changed his party affiliation to Libertarian from Democrat. Ramirez explains, 'Having been both a registered Republican and Democrat in the past, I became disenchanted in how those two parties limit or remove many of our freedoms. I became a Libertarian because it is the only party that truly fights for our freedoms and it fits my own political and social beliefs best.'

Monday, December 21, 2020

Big business got bigger in US during pandemic

America’s biggest companies are flourishing during the pandemic and putting thousands of people out of work | Washington Post - Douglas MacMillan, Peter Whoriskey & Jonathan O'Connell:

December 16, 2020 - "As the coronavirus pandemic devastated small businesses and plunged millions of Americans into poverty this summer and fall, executives at some of the country’s largest corporations sounded surprisingly upbeat.... With few exceptions, big businesses are having a very different year from most of the country. Between April and September, one of the most tumultuous economic stretches in modern history, 45 of the 50 most valuable publicly traded U.S. companies turned a profit, a Washington Post analysis found.

"Despite their success, at least 27 of the 50 largest firms held layoffs this year, collectively cutting more than 100,000 workers, The Post found.... On one side, corporate leaders are touting their success and casting themselves as leaders on the road to economic recovery. On the other, many of their firms have put Americans out of work and used their profits to increase the wealth of shareholders.

"When the coronavirus struck, big companies promised to help battle the crisis. Dozens of prominent chief executives, who last year signed a public pledge to focus less on shareholders and more on the well-being of their employees and broader communities, appeared eager to make good on that promise. Many suspended payments to investors and vowed not to hold layoffs.

"Then, 21 big firms that were profitable during the pandemic laid off workers anyway. Berkshire Hathaway raked in profits of $56 billion during the first six months of the pandemic while one of its subsidiary companies laid off more than 13,000 workers. Salesforce, Cisco Systems and PayPal cut staff even after their chief executives vowed not to do so.... Walmart, whose CEO spent the past year championing the idea that businesses 'should not just serve shareholders,' nonetheless distributed more than $10 billion to its investors during the pandemic while laying off 1,200 corporate office employees....

"The Post contacted all 27 large firms that held layoffs this year. Many said the cuts were not related to the pandemic, but instead a necessary part of broader 'restructuring' plans, where companies shift spending from declining lines of business to growing ones.... Several emphasized that they hired more people this year than they let go.... Others pointed to the work they have done to help ease the pain in their communities, such as expanding health and family benefits to employees and distributing personal protective equipment to front-line workers. Cisco gave $53 million in cash and PPE to vulnerable populations and PayPal pledged $530 million in investments in minority-owned small businesses....

"The majority of the largest American corporations have prospered in the coronavirus economy. Millions of consumers spent more time and money online during government-mandated lockdowns, watching Netflix, viewing ads on Google and Facebook pages, filling Amazon shopping carts and turning the video game business into a bonanza for Nvidia, Microsoft and others. (Amazon founder and chief executive Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.)...

"Shoppers began splurging on cleaning supplies, hobbies, home cooking and home improvements, driving record growth at big-box stores including Home Depot and Walmart. Even in the hardest-hit sectors, such as restaurants, travel and hospitality, the biggest companies were largely insulated from the worst of the virus’s reckoning. While independent restaurants struggled to survive, McDonald’s ramped up its takeout and drive-through operations, rolling out new apps and technology catering to on-the-go orders.... In many industries, the giants devoured market share ceded by small businesses, who lacked the resources to keep stores open during unpredictable swings in customer demand,

"While the 50 largest companies averaged 2 percent revenue growth over the first nine months of 2020, small business revenue shrank 12 percent over the same period, according to data collected by software provider Womply from thousands of small firms."

Sunday, December 20, 2020

ICU MD pleads for review of Covid 'wonder drug'

Doctor pleads for review of data on ivermectin as COVID-19 treatment during Senate hearing | Fox 6 - Kelly Hayes:

December 8, 2020 - "As researchers around the world search to find existing drugs that can be repurposed to treat COVID-19, the potential effectiveness of one drug was highlighted in a Senate hearing on early treatment for the virus. Ivermectin is an approved anti-parasitic drug known to be effective against a variety of viruses like influenza, dengue, and Zika. Dr. Pierre Kory, a pulmonary and critical care specialist, passionately testified Tuesday before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs during a hearing on 'Early Outpatient Treatment: An Essential Part of a COVID-19 Solution.'

"In his testimony, Kory said data shows the ability of ivermectin to prevent COVID-19, as well as its ability to keep those with early symptoms from progressing to the hyper-inflammatory phase of the disease, and to help critically ill patients recover. 'People are dying at unacceptable and untold rates,' Kory told the Senate panel. 'I am a lung and ICU specialist, and all I do right now is take care of COVID-19 patients dying of breathlessness in ICUs. By the time they get to the ICU, it is nearly impossible to save most patients. They simply cannot breathe.'

"Kory is also president of the Frontline COVID-19 Critical Care (FLCCC) Alliance, a nonprofit made up of critical care experts and researchers from around the world. The organization was formed in March at the onset of the pandemic and has been 'working tirelessly reviewing the world’s literature on almost every aspect of this disease,' Kory said. He called upon the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to review the latest medical research on the drug as a COVID-19 treatment....

"The FLCCC Alliance has compiled a manuscript detailing results from more than 20 studies on the subject, with more than 10 of them being randomized controlled trials. One study published on Dec. 2 in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases found that a five-day course of ivermectin was found to be safe and effective in treating mild COVID-19 adult patients. The trial involved 72 hospitalized patients in Bangladesh, and researchers said larger trials are needed to confirm the preliminary findings. Another large study, published in November as a preprint, found the addition of ivermectin to standard care to be a 'very effective drug for treatment of COVID-19 patients with significant reduction in mortality compared to hydroxychloroquine plus standard treatment only.'

"While many medications continue to be studied and tested, the FDA has approved only one antiviral drug called remdesivir to treat COVID-19 in adults and children ages 12 and older."

Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance

Saturday, December 19, 2020

Canada's Liberals double national debt in 5 years

Mind-blowing Liberal spending spree a massive rip-off of future generations | National Post - John Ivison:

December 4, 2020 - "This week’s fiscal update has already passed from the news cycle. The sums we are talking about are so mind-blowing — $621 billion in government spending this year — that shaken citizens have ignored the barking fiscal watchdogs and the caravan has moved on. Maybe we should call it the banality of spending – a minister buying a $16 orange juice induces thrombosis but a government that doubles net federal debt in five years would be re-elected with a majority were an election held tomorrow.

"The Liberals could be excused their mistakes in the early fog of the pandemic. As one veteran policy-maker noted, Ottawa realized it could be fast or accurate, but not both. Benefits were so absurdly generous that household income rose 11 per cent, even as GDP tumbled. Yet given the chance to re-align benefits closer to lost income, the Liberals doubled-down, increasing the money available under the wage subsidy and disbursing an extra $1,200 in Canada Child Benefit to 1.6 million families.

"Mistakes are presented as virtues – a 'pre-loading' of stimulus into bank accounts across the land. That pent-up demand has not removed the need to inject a further $100 billion in stimulus in 'smart, time-limited investments' over the next three fiscal years.

"Stimulus spending, by its very nature, is temporary. Yet elsewhere in the fiscal update, the government committed itself to 'historic investments' in a national daycare system and the implementation of universal pharmacare.... Permanent social programs are not stimulus.

"The undefined temporary spending package envisaged in the fiscal update would see deficits average $115 billion for three fiscal years and the debt to GDP ratio average 57 per cent, BEFORE any additional spending on childcare, pharmacare or health. There is no mention of how any of this spending would be paid for – it would simply be added to a national federal debt that has risen from $615 billion when the Trudeau government took power to $1.2 trillion this year....

"[T]axpayers befuddled by millions, billions and trillions should understand that what is taking place is a massive rip-off of future generations, who will be handed the bill for today’s consumption. The cost of servicing that debt is as low as it has ever been and the government touts a management strategy that locks into low rates by issuing more long-term debt. But that doesn’t mean taxpayers aren’t obliged to pay it off; it just means they will never stop paying it off.

"As Paul Boothe, a former senior public servant at Finance Canada, put it, we need to have a discussion about taxes.... 'Giving away money is the easiest thing to do in government. Collecting it is less easy. And the hardest thing is to deliver services efficiently,' said Boothe. 'With permanent programs, you need to talk about how you are going to fund them. We need to know the costs as well as the benefits.'

"The only tax increases in the fiscal update were applied on corporations – in this case, GST and HST on digital products and goods held in fulfillment warehouses. Inevitably, they will be passed on to consumers but that’s not the government’s concern....

"It will probably be no comfort to be reminded that in times like these, there have always been times like these. They come along when governments forget that budget constraints are a fundamental principle of economics. And they tend not to end well."

Friday, December 18, 2020

Lockdown resistance building in USA

Americans Are in Full Revolt Against Pandemic Lockdowns | Reason - J.D. Tuccille:

December 16, 2020 - "Echoing New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio warned city residents this week to prepare for a 'full shutdown' as part of ongoing efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19. The two elected officials better not hold their breath waiting for compliance. Evidence from around the country shows that many Americans are thoroughly sick of impoverishing, socially isolating lockdown orders, and are revolting against the often-hypocritical politicians who issue them....

"The mayor commented following Cuomo's ban on indoor dining at New York City restaurants. That was issued a week after Staten Island residents cheered bar owner Daniel Presti, who was arrested for defying pandemic restrictions. Days later, Presti ran his car into a sheriff's deputy who sought to rearrest him for continuing to serve patrons. Both of the deputy's legs were broken. While Presti's level of violent resistance against lockdowns is much too extreme, he's not alone in his opposition. From coast to coast, businesses and individuals are ignoring restrictive rules that threaten their livelihoods, stifle social contact, and threaten to strangle the necessary interactions of everyday life.

"'Another shutdown just isn't an option for us,' the Seven Sirens Brewing Company of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, announced last week on its Facebook page. 'We, and thousands of other small businesses throughout the country simply will not survive'... The brewery is only one of many businesses listed by Pennsylvania Opening Businesses/Defying the Governor, which has over 43,000 members on Facebook as I write. The group encourages the public [to] patronize anybody who bucks state rules to continue offering goods and services to willing customers....

"The ReOpen Minnesota Coalition similarly represents hundreds of businesses defying closure orders and raises money for legal defense against state enforcement actions.... It calls for stripping Gov. Tim Walz of his emergency powers and for ignoring restrictions so that people can decide for themselves when and how to interact.

"On the West Coast, many restaurants also open their doors to customers despite state orders to the contrary. 'While some of the larger chains and corporations are following the orders, many of the mom and pop shops say going to takeout only would put them out of business,' ABC News reported last week.

"The city council in Solvang, a tourism-fueled community in Santa Barbara County, recently voted to ignore shutdown orders that threaten locals' livelihoods. Officials 'directed that the City of Solvang will not actively enforce these latest State shutdown orders, and that the City request the County and State regulators to prioritize education and that they also not enforce the orders within the City limits,' according to a letter from Mayor Ryan Toussaint....

"None of this should be a surprise.... Americans 'are far less willing to comply with shelter-in-place advice today than they were in the early weeks of the coronavirus pandemic this spring,' Gallup reported last month. Forty-nine percent 'say they would be very likely to stay home for a month if public health officials recommended it due to a serious outbreak of the virus in their community. This contrasts with solid majorities in the spring who said they were likely to comply with such shelter-in-place advice, including a high of 67% in late March/early April.'

"Politicians actively fanned the flames of resistance with their 'rules are only for the little people' flouting of their own orders. Amidst a flurry of high-profile examples, California Gov. Gavin Newsom's expensive gathering with other officials at The French Laundry stands out for its arrogance. Why should regular people driven to the brink of poverty and despair pay any attention to the dictates of such creatures?

"In distress and after due consideration, many Americans have decided that they shouldn't comply. Individually and in organized groups, often with the support of their communities, people are pushing back against lockdown orders that they find more threatening than COVID-19."

Thursday, December 17, 2020

2nd lockdown in Netherlands, 3rd in Czechia

Netherlands and Czech Republic to enforce strict Christmas lockdowns | The Guardian -

December 14, 2020 - "The Netherlands and the Czech Republic have said they will follow Germany into strict second lockdowns over the holiday period, with Italy weighing similar measures to avoid a fresh surge in coronavirus infections over Christmas and new year.

"In a rare television address, the Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, said non-essential shops and businesses, gyms, museums, cinemas and theatres would close for five weeks.... Bars and restaurants in the Netherlands have been closed since mid-October but the partial lockdown has not slowed the spread of the virus enough, Rutte said, as anti-lockdown protesters booed and whistled outside his office.

"'The Netherlands will close for five weeks,' Rutte said... People were advised to stay at home and could have only a maximum of two guests a day, Rutte said, except for 24-26 December when the limit would be raised to three, excluding children under 13. Schools will close from Wednesday, he added, and the measures would last until 19 January.

"Restaurants, hotels and indoor sports venues in the Czech Republic, which reopened barely a fortnight ago, will also close again from Friday, said the prime minister, Andrej Babiš, as cases began to rise again after dipping earlier this month. Public gatherings will be limited to six people indoors and out, instead of the current 10 and 50, with a nationwide curfew from 11pm until 5am and an early start to Christmas school holidays, although shops will remain open....

"Italian media reported the government was considering placing the whole country under 'red-zone' lockdown from Christmas Eve until at least 2 January amid mounting fears of infections over the festive period. The measures could include extending night curfews, banning non-essential movement, shutting all except for non-essential shops and closing all bars and restaurants on weekends and holidays.... Earlier this month the government banned travel during the holiday period except for work, health or emergency reasons, barring Italians from leaving their home towns on Christmas Day, Boxing Day or New Year’s Day....

"Italy’s expected move follows a similar step by Germany, which on Sunday said it would close all except essential shops such as supermarkets and pharmacies, as well as hair and beauty salons, from Wednesday until at least 10 January as it battles “exponential growth” in infections.... German president] Merkel had hoped a 'lockdown lite' imposed in November would bring infection levels down so Germans could celebrate Christmas and new year almost normally, but the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases reported more than 16,000 new cases on Monday, 4,000 more than seven days ago.

"Britain is expected to maintain its rules around Christmas despite scientists and government advisers urging people to rethink their plans and ignore the easing of Covid rules amid fears over rising cases and hospitalisations in parts of the UK. 'Christmas bubbles' allow three households to mix between 23 and 27 December."

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