US Senate votes to end Covid national emergency

Biden extends the national pandemic emergency first declared in March 2020 | New York Times - Vimal Patel:

February 19, 2022 - "President Biden said on Friday that he would extend the national emergency that was first declared in March 2020 in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The additional authority had been set to expire on March 1. The decision, contained in a letter from Mr. Biden to Congress that the White House made public, comes as a wave of coronavirus cases driven by the highly transmissible Omicron variant recedes in the United States, and many states and localities ease pandemic restrictions....

"A national emergency conveys special powers. It frees the federal government from abiding by some legal constraints, allowing it to spend additional money and more easily take certain actions.... President Donald J. Trump first declared the pandemic a national emergency on March 13, 2020."
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/02/19/world/covid-19-tests-cases-vaccine

Senate passes resolution to end federal COVID state of emergency | Washington Times - Kerry Picket:

March 3, 2022 - "Senate lawmakers passed a resolution Thursday to end the federal COVID state of emergency, voting strictly along party lines 48-47 with Republicans voting in favor of the measure and Democrats against. The resolution was introduced last month by Sen. Roger Marshall, Kansas Republican and co-sponsored by Republican Sens. Mike Braun of Indiana, Mike Lee of Utah, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Ted Cruz of Texas, Rand Paul of Kentucky, Rick Scott of Florida and Steve Daines of Montana.... Under the National Emergencies Act, Congress can discontinue a national state of emergency by voting on a disapproval resolution.

"The national state of emergency, initially signed in March 2020 by former President Trump, was renewed by President Biden last year and scheduled to expire on March 1 of this year. Mr. Biden, however, extended the national emergency declaration indefinitely.

"Mr. Braun, during floor remarks, said the declaration was once necessary but it is now a 'burden'.... 'When this emergency was first declared two years ago this week, it was needed. Things were uncertain. It was gratifying to see that in a bipartisan way in March of 2020, we came together. But we’ve learned so much since then. Now, it is a burden,' he said. Mr. Braun concluded that 'if we are going to live with this virus and move forward as a country, we must end the national emergency, and governors across the country should follow suit.'"
Read more: https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/mar/3/senate-passes-resolution-end-federal-covid-state-e/

Senate votes to end Covid-19 emergency declaration, Biden threatens veto | Politico - Alice Miranda Ollstein:

March 3, 2022 - "A bill by Senate Republicans to terminate the national emergency declaration for the Covid-19 pandemic passed 48 to 47 Thursday on a party-line vote. While the legislation has a slim chance of passing the Democrat-controlled House and President Joe Biden has already threatened to veto the bill, the vote is yet another rebuke of the administration’s pandemic policies at a time it is seeking billions from Congress to keep them going for several more months....

"Democrats blasted the effort as a threat to the country’s ongoing work to contain the pandemic — pointing out that, should the bill become law, it could halt a host of Covid-19-specific policies and protections.... The White House on Thursday pledged to veto the bill if it reached Biden’s desk, calling the GOP attempt to terminate the pandemic emergency declaration 'a reckless and costly mistake.'

"Republicans have recently used a different procedural tactic to pass two bills through the Senate, voting to repeal Biden’s vaccine mandates for large corporations and for health care workers. Neither made it through the Democratic-controlled House. The Supreme Court recently blocked the mandate for businesses but upheld the rule for health workers."
Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2022/03/03/senate-votes-to-end-covid-19-emergency-declaration-biden-threatens-veto-00013946

The dawn of a different libertarian moment

The rise and fall and rise again of the libertarian moment | The Week - Samuel Goldman:

Lockdown protester, Cincinnati, Ohio, April 2020. Source: Vox

February 2, 2022 - "Do you remember the 'libertarian moment'?... For a few years around the end of the Obama administration, ... it looked as if the right just might coalesce around restrained foreign policy, opposition to electronic surveillance and other threats to civil liberties, and enthusiasm for an innovative economy, very much including the tech industry. Beyond policy, the libertarian turn was associated with a hip affect that signaled comfort with pop culture.... The New York Times compared the movement's electoral figureheads, the father-and-son duo Ron and Rand Paul, to grunge bands Nirvana and Pearl Jam. 

"In retrospect, those descriptions seem naive. Less than a year after the Times feature was published, the announcement of Donald Trump's presidential campaign sounded the death knell of the libertarian moment (along with Rand Paul's own bid for the presidency).... While in office, Trump had deployed an apocalyptic idiom that clashed dramatically with the libertarians' characteristic optimism. Although personally indifferent to ideas, Trump also inspired a cohort of intellectuals who denounced libertarians' ostensible indifference to the common good and proposed a more assertive role for government in directing economic and social life. 

"But as the pandemic has continued, opposition to restrictions on personal conduct, suspicion of expert authority, and free speech for controversial opinions have become dominant themes in center-right argument and activism. The symbolic villain of the new libertarian moment is Anthony Fauci. Its heroes include Joe Rogan, whose podcast has been a platform for vaccine skeptics, advocates of ivermectin and other dubious treatments for COVID, and other challenges to the expert consensus.

"Appeals to personal freedom, limited government, and epistemological skepticism against pandemic authorities have some basis in the organized libertarian movement. Early in the pandemic, the American Institute for Economic Research issued the so-called Great Barrington Declaration, which rejected lockdowns and argued (before vaccines became available) that mitigation strategies should be limited to the most vulnerable portion of the population. In the Senate, Paul (Ky.) has been the leading critic of Fauci and the CDC. Long-standing libertarian positions have also been energized by the pandemic. The disruption of public education, for example, has revitalized the school choice movement. But ... [m]ore than any coherent political theory, the libertarian revival draws on inarticulate but powerful currents of anti-authoritarianism in American culture.... 

"Whatever its origins, the new quasi-libertarianism is an obstacle to the managerial tendencies that increasingly define the center-left. More than opposition to the government as such, it revolves around opposition to administrative restrictions imposed for one's own good. If the old libertarianism was obsessed with the risk of ideological totalitarianism, the new version concentrates on the influence of human resources bureaucrats, public health officials, and neighborhood busybodies.That reorientation from philosophical to mundane grievances is key to its demographic appeal.... Rather than a defense of natural rights, it's an instinctive dislike of being bossed around....

"The unimpressive performance of schools, the FDA, and other vehicles of public policy have undermined the ambitious goals Democrats hoped to pursue under the Biden Administration. It's hard to make the case for free college, increased educational spending, or single-payer healthcare with the institutions that would have to deliver these benefits seem unwilling or unable to do their current jobs. Progressives don't want to hear it, but the era of big government is probably over again. 

"In the past, that conclusion might have been celebrated by conservatives. Today, it's more controversial. During Trump's presidency, some theorists entertained hopes that Republicans might become the 'party of the state.' In addition to conventional hopes for restricting pornography and halting or reversing the legalization of drugs, that includes proposals for sweeping industrial policies to promote domestic manufacturing and cash benefits for married parents to promote traditional family patterns. Rejecting libertarian confidence in spontaneous order, these intellectuals argued that both the economy and the culture need to be intentionally guided toward the common good.... But ... their hope that the dour and devout can achieve theoretically rational outcomes by capturing and redirecting some of the same institutions that have been discredited during the pandemic ... now seems utopian.

"Iconoclastic podcasters and the 'Freedom Convoy' of truckers protesting vaccine mandates may not have been what journalists and activists had in mind when they spoke of the libertarian moment five years ago. But they're the vanguard of its sequel today."

Read more: https://theweek.com/feature/1009651/the-strange-return-of-the-libertarian-moment

Surgeon General wants social media users' data

Vivek Murthy's Demand for Data on COVID 'Misinformation' Is Part of a Creepy Crusade to Suppress Dissent | Reason - Jacob Sullum:

March 3, 2022 - "Last July, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued an advisory that called for a 'whole-of-society' effort to combat the 'urgent threat to public health' posed by 'health misinformation.' Today Murthy asked tech companies to do their part by turning over data on 'COVID-19 misinformation,' including its sources and its propagation through search engines, social media platforms, instant messaging services, and e-commerce sites, by May 2. 

"While Murthy himself has no power to compel disclosure of that information, the companies have strong incentives to cooperate, since the Biden administration can make life difficult for them by filing lawsuits, writing regulations, and supporting new legislation. President Joe Biden has endorsed the campaign to suppress 'misinformation,' going so far as to accuse social media platforms of 'killing people' by allowing the spread of anti-vaccine messages. Murthy's advisory, which defines misinformation to include statements that he deems 'misleading' even when they are arguably or verifiably true, says the battle against it might include 'appropriate legal and regulatory measures.'

"All of this is more than a little creepy in a country where people have a constitutional right to express their opinions, even when they are outlandish and ill-founded. It is especially chilling given the administration's highly elastic definition of misinformation, which includes criticism of controversial pronouncements by agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC itself has a long track record of misrepresenting scientific evidence and misleading the public..

"'Defining "misinformation" is a challenging task, and any definition has limitations,' Murthy concedes in his advisory. 'One key issue is whether there can be an objective benchmark for whether something qualifies as misinformation. Some researchers argue that for something to be considered misinformation, it has to go against "scientific consensus." Others consider misinformation to be information that is contrary to the "best available evidence." Both approaches recognize that what counts as misinformation can change over time with new evidence and scientific consensus. This Advisory prefers the "best available evidence" benchmark since claims can be highly misleading and harmful even if the science on an issue isn't yet settled.' 

"What does that mean in practice?... Remember that 'what counts as misinformation can change over time.' So if you questioned the evidence in favor of general masking during the first few months of the pandemic, that was not misinformation, because it was consistent with the CDC's position at the time. It was also consistent with advice from Murthy's predecessor as surgeon general, Jerome Adams, who in February 2020 declared that masks 'are NOT effective in preventing [the] general public from catching' COVID-19. 

"But after the CDC began recommending general masking on April 4, 2020, saying anything like that suddenly became misinformation. That September, then–CDC Director Robert Redfield declared ... that masks were more effective as a safeguard against COVID-19 than vaccines would prove to be. If you doubted Redfield's claims, according to Murthy, you were aggravating an 'urgent threat to public health'.... 

"Last August, in a move that was consistent with Murthy's demands, YouTube suspended Sen. Rand Paul (R–Ky.) for propagating COVID-19 misinformation by saying 'most of the masks that you can get over the counter' have 'no value'. Five months later, the CDC largely agreed with Paul, saying 'properly fitted respirators provide the highest level of protection,' while 'loosely woven cloth products provide the least protection.' By Murthy's reckoning, the CDC's blessing transformed misinformation into scientifically valid advice....

"The notion that dissent from the official line on public health issues should be treated as an 'urgent threat' to be addressed by a 'whole-of-society' crusade, possibly including 'legal and regulatory measures,' is fundamentally illiberal and inconsistent with freedom of speech. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki describes the administration's demands for suppression of 'misinformation' as 'asks.' But that characterization is risible given the power that the executive branch wields over the companies whose 'cooperation' it is seeking. Censorship by proxy is still censorship."

Read more: https://reason.com/2022/03/03/vivek-murthys-demand-for-data-on-covid-misinformation-is-part-of-a-creepy-crusade-to-suppress-dissent/

FBI encouraged, directed Whitmer kidnapping plot

The Gretchen Whitmer Kidnapping Plot Looks an Awful Lot Like Entrapment | Reason - Robby Soave: 

January 26, 2022 - "The militia members who allegedly plotted to kidnap Michigan's Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer because of her COVID-19 lockdown policies will go to trial in just a few weeks. Six were charged in connection with the plot, and one of them has already pleaded guilty and is expected to testify against the rest. State authorities charged eight others with aiding a terrorist plot.

"But the government's case against these 14 alleged extremists relies on work done by at least a dozen government informants and undercover FBI agents whose extensive involvement in the plot calls into question whether it would have moved forward at all without the government's prodding. Some of these government actors took lead roles in organizing the supposed plot — one of the informants was even paid $54,000 by the FBI. Taken together, these and other details raise the strong possibility that the militia members were victims of entrapment....

"The FBI Investigation Into The Alleged Plot To Kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer Has Gotten Very Complicated," conceded BuzzFeed News in an in-depth examination of the available evidence published last month. And earlier this week, The New York Times acknowledged that the involvement of informants and agents had 'muddled' the case:

On a rainy night in northern Michigan in September 2020, a group of armed men divided among three cars surveyed the landscape around the vacation cottage of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, considering how to kidnap her as payback for her Covid-19 lockdown measures.... 
Later, after team members returned to the rural camp where they had already conducted military-style training exercises, a man identified as "Big Dan" in government documents asked the assembled group, "Everybody down with what's going on?" Another man responded, "If you are not down with the thought of kidnapping, don't sit here."
Of the dozen men on that nighttime surveillance mission, four of them including "Big Dan" were either government informants or undercover F.B.I. agents, according to court documents.

"'Big Dan' was no passive spectator: After initially alerting the authorities that he was involved in a Facebook group for militia members in which violence against police officers had been discussed, he agreed to become an informant. The government paid him $54,000 for six months' work. When the militia group surveilled Whitmer's vacation home, it was Big Dan leading the charge. According to the group's defense attorneys, Big Dan — an Iraq War veteran — took charge of training the other men in military tactics....

"Big Dan's FBI handler, Jayson Chambers, ... was attempting to build a security consulting business in the midst of the investigation.... BuzzFeed obtained a resume that Chambers had shared with prospective clients, and in that document, he took credit for using 'online undercover techniques' to investigate terrorist groups. According to BuzzFeed, Chambers has a long history of participating in FBI investigations of Muslim youths who were enticed by law enforcement to become involved in wholly theoretical violent plots, according to their defense attorneys. Chambers is no longer slated to participate in the trial. Another government asset, Stephen Robeson, worked as an informant during the investigation, but is no longer involved after pleading guilty to various felonies. And the government's star witness, FBI Agent Robert Trask, was fired by the agency after beating his wife.... 

"The court may determine that none of this matters.... Historically, victims of entrapment have had a tough time prevailing, no matter how duplicitously the FBI behaved. But in any case, it is now clear that Whitmer was in no real danger. At all stages of the alleged plot, the FBI was aware of every facet: Their agents and informants were intimately involved — not just surveilling the militia members, but actively offering guidance on how to pull off the kidnapping.... 

"Many conservatives have become committed to the idea that the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol was not the work of Trump supporters, but rather, elements of the so-called Deep State.... The Whitmer kidnapping plot ... was extensively directed and encouraged by agents of the government. It's a much, much, much, much more persuasive case of Deep State nefariousness."

Read more: https://reason.com/2022/01/26/gretchen-whitmer-kidnapping-plot-entrapment-fbi-trial/

Ottawa protesters made rape threats says minister

Mendicino says truckers in Ottawa were rapists | Western Standard - Reid Small:

February 28, 2022 - "While testifying at the Commons public safety committee, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said the Freedom Convoy truckers were rapists, suggesting 'threats of rape' justified implementing the Emergencies Act, said Blacklock’s Reporter. 'There were Ottawans who were subjected to intimidation, harassment, threats of rape,' said Mendicino. 

"No Freedom Convoy member was charged with sexual assault. Former Crown prosecutor and Conservative MP of Brantford-Brant, Ont. Larry Brock questioned Mendicino’s claim, highlighting that cabinet never once mentioned sexual assault over the three days of Commons debate on the Emergencies Act.

“The most disturbing aspect of what I hear is this rape allegation, a very heinous crime. We debated this particular issue for over 40 hours. Not once did the prime minister, did you or any other senior member of cabinet or any member of your backbench raise a rape allegation,” said Brock. 'My question to you is very pointed: If that allegation did not result in a criminal charge will you undertake to provide this committee with proof of the allegation?' Mendicino replied: '… the absence of criminal charges doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen.'

"Conservative MP representing Kildonan-St. Paul, Man. Raquel Dancho asked why cabinet allowed MPs, senators, reporters, political aides, and the general public to walk past the convoy for over 24 days if protesters were known to be violent criminals.... Mendicino, at 'the risk of generalizing,' as he put it, said for every one example of safe passage there are probably 'thousands who did not feel any public safety.'

"Timmins-James Bay, Ont., NDP MP Charlie Angus was the first to raise concerns of sexual assault in the Commons on February 3. 'I have received three messages from young women around Gloucester and Metcalfe streets talking about the threats of rape they are facing because of the lawlessness and lack of police to protect residents in Centretown in Ottawa from this protest,' said Angus.

"Street crime in the neighbourhood declined during the blockade according to preliminary police data, said Blacklock’s.

"Cabinet invoked the Emergencies Act on February 14, making the claim that Canada was facing a national security threat as a result of the protesters."

Read more: https://westernstandardonline.com/2022/02/mendicino-says-truckers-in-ottawa-were-rapists/

Covid, lockdown plans cause chaos in Hong Kong

Hong Kong Braces for Lockdown as Daily Cases Breach 55,000 | Bloomberg - Annie Lee and Michelle Fay Cortez:

March 1, 2022 - "Hong Kong reported a record of more than 55,000 daily new infections on Wednesday as the city’s spiraling outbreak sees thousands of residents flee while those remaining strip shelves of food and medicine. The figure is up from 32,597 a day earlier. Health authorities also announced 117 deaths, mostly people from care facilities, and said there are 64 patients in critical condition in hospital.

"The continued spike in cases comes amid growing chaos and confusion around the city’s plan to test the whole population of 7.4 million three times in March, with dueling local media reports about the length and strictness of the lockdown to occur while testing is conducted.  

On Wednesday afternoon, after over a week out of the public eye, Chief Executive Carrie Lam sought to reassure residents.... China will ensure Hong Kong has enough food and other supplies during the Covid outbreak, said Lam, urging residents to stop their panicked purchasing. There will also be unlimited supplies of medical equipment available, she said. Lam acknowledged that there won’t be enough beds to isolate everyone found to be infected with the virus during the city-wide testing program.... People will be able to get their needs met even during the mass testing effort, she said, ruling out a 'wholesale' city lockdown, though she did not clarify how the mass testing would be conducted and when....

"The uncertainty about how residents will be treated, and rising case and death rates, led U.S. authorities to warn against travel to the city. The U.S. State Department raised its travel advisory to a Level 4 - Do Not Travel - because of Covid and related restrictions, while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention bumped its travel alert two places to 'high.' The zero-tolerance approach to Covid-19 by Hong Kong and China 'severely impacts travel and access to public services,' the U.S. Consulate General Hong Kong and Macau said in an email. 'We especially want to note for families considering traveling to or residing in Hong Kong that in some cases, children in Hong Kong who test positive have been separated from their parents and kept in isolation until they meet local hospital discharge requirements'.... 

"Local media reports have differed on the details of the upcoming lockdown, sowing confusion. HK01 reported Wednesday that there would be a four-day limited lockdown at the end of March, and Cable TV said the city will set a time limit for residents to buy groceries. Stories from Sing Tao Daily and the South China Morning Post a day earlier triggered panic-buying with details of a strict nine-day lockdown planned for the middle of March.

"Many among the anxious population, which just two months ago were living in largely virus-free conditions, have had enough. There were 43,689 net departures from the city in the past two weeks, the most since the start of the pandemic, according to government data. In a bear case -- where the Covid outbreak peaks late in the second quarter -- Bank of America Corp. analysts estimate 2% to 3% of Hong Kong’s population could depart every month."

Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-01/hong-kong-plans-four-day-lockdown-amid-mass-testing-hk01-says

Scotland's Covid pass broke data protection law

Scottish ministers reprimanded after Covid passport scheme broke data law | HeraldScotland - Tom Gordon:

February 25, 2022 - "The UK information watchdog has reprimanded the Scottish Government for launching its Covid vaccine passport despite being warned the app broke data protection law. Ministers also struck an 'unlawful' deal with the firm behind the app to let it use people’s passport pictures to improve its own algorithm despite this being of no benefit to the public. The UK Information Commissioner (ICO) said it was publicising its reprimand of the Government and an NHS quango because of the significant issues involved. The ICO said it now expected the Government and NHS National Services Scotland to fix 'ongoing' problems with the Covid status app or face 'further regulatory action'. 

"Launched last autumn, the app let people prove their vaccination status for mandatory Covid checks for large events and nightclubs. The mandatory scheme is now due to end this Monday, but Nicola Sturgeon said this week that the app will remain operational if any venues still wish to check people. The ICO asked both the Government and its quango to provide adequate privacy information within the app when it launched to explain how people’s information was being used. It said there has also been an ongoing failure to provide concise privacy information so that the average person could realistically understand how the app used their information.

"The ICO said it had ... received the full details of how the Scottish app would work only three days before the scheme was due to go live on September 30 and found 'a number of concerns'.... Its summary of the case said: 'The ICO provided comprehensive feedback on the [app] on 29 September 2021, and advised Scottish Government and NHS NSS to delay the app launch until our most serious concerns were addressed in full. This included revoking permission for the third party’s retention and re-processing of data to train their algorithms. It is important to note that the App would not have been the only way to obtain proof of COVID vaccination.... Delaying the launch of the app would therefore not have prevented the implementation of the Scottish Government’s policy on mandatory COVID certification'....

"On September 30, the Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham met Deputy First Minister John Swinney and stressed the need for the app to meet data protection law. However the app was launched that evening regardless. Although the planned sharing of data, including passport images, with the software firm was suspended prior to launch, other aspects of the app remained 'non-compliant' with the law. That prompted Ms Denham to meet Mr Swinney again and tell him that the ICO had launched a 'formal investigation' into the app’s compliance.

"ICO deputy commissioner Steve Wood said: 'People need to be able to share their data and go about their lives with confidence that their privacy rights will be respected. The law enables responsible data sharing to protect public health. But public trust is key to making that work. When governments brought in Covid status schemes across the UK last year, it was vital that they were upfront with people about how their information was being used. The Scottish Government and NHS National Services Scotland have failed to do this with the NHS Scotland Covid Status app'....

"After the app launched, the ICO raised concerns about the lack of a privacy notice telling users how their data would be used. This led to a link being added to the NHS Inform website, but it was 'not easily accessible' and ... also complex, 'unneccessarily long and difficult to navigate'. Despite being updated several times, the ICO said this privacy notice remained defective. It has therefore ruled that the app is still failing to comply with the transparency principle set out in UK data protection law.... The Government and NHS NSS must now rectify the privacy notice within 30 days or face enforcement action."

Read more: https://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/19951936.scottish-ministers-reprimanded-covid-passport-scheme-broke-data-law/