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De Omnibus Dubitandum - Lux Veritas

Monday, May 31, 2021

P&D Today

By Rich Kozlovich

Political Cartoons by AF Branco


  • Princeton Removes Greek, Latin Requirement for Classics Majors to Combat ‘Systemic Racism’
  • Education Insanity: Top 10 Stories Of The Week (Vol. 17)
  • Migrant Who Raped Minor Avoids Deportation By Refusing Coronavirus Test
  • The Left’s Anti-Semitism Problem: A History
  • Biden Frees Al Qaeda Ally Who Plotted to Smuggle Nukes Into US
  • A Conversation on Scientific Censorship in Canada
  • Princeton Removes Greek, Latin Requirement for Classics Majors to Combat ‘Systemic Racism’

    By

    Classics majors at Princeton University will no longer be required to learn Greek or Latin in a push to create a more inclusive and equitable program, an effort that was given “new urgency” by the “events around race that occurred last summer,” according to faculty.

    Last month, faculty members approved changes to the Classics department, including eliminating the “classics” track, which required an intermediate proficiency in Greek or Latin to enter the concentration, according to Princeton Alumni Weekly. The requirement for students to take Greek or Latin was also removed.

    Josh Billings, director of undergraduate studies and professor of classics, said the shift will give students more opportunities to major in classics.  

    Billings said the changes had been floated before university president Christopher Eisgruber called for addressing systemic racism at the university, but the curriculum shift resurfaced as a priority after the president’s call to action and the “events around race that occurred last summer.”..........To Read More.....

    Education Insanity: Top 10 Stories Of The Week (Vol. 17)

    By  Chrissy Clark May 29, 2021   DailyWire.com

    Welcome back to Education Insanity, a weekly column updating you on the most insane events taking place in our nation’s schools. Here, we’ll delve into the growing presence of critical race theory, the ideology that claims that America is irredeemably rooted in racism, and “woke” culture.

    Let’s get started.

    • 10. University of Central Florida Creates ‘Social Justice’ Graduate Certificate – The Daily Wire...........
    • 9. University Of Illinois Drops Late Chief Justice John Marshall From Its Law School – The College Fix..............
    • 7. Internal Emails Show AZ Principal Calls Anti-CRT Parents ‘Whackos’ – Young America’s Foundation.................
    • 6. University Of Arkansas Spends $10,000 In Students Fees On Zoom Drag Show – Campus Reform
    • 5. ‘All White People Are Racist … I Hate Whiteness’: University Official, Who Is White, Goes On ‘Anti-Racist’ Tirade – The Daily Wire...........
    • 4. Maine School Board Bars Anti-CRT Parent From Attending Daughter’s Graduation – The Daily Wire...........
    • 3. Biden Admin Funds Antiracist Therapy For ‘White Educators’ – City Journal............
    • 2. WATCH: Oregon School Board May Require Classrooms To Fly BLM, Pride Flags – The Daily Wire..........
    • 1. Children Assigned To Write Love Poems To Coronavirus Vaccine As Teachers Union Pushes For Continued Restrictions – The Daily Wire............

    Got tips? Email me here: cclark@dailywire.com

    RELATED: Education Insanity: Top 10 Stories Of The Week (Vol. 16)

     

    Migrant Who Raped Minor Avoids Deportation By Refusing Coronavirus Test

    Chris Tomlinson

    A 21-year-old Afghan asylum seeker found guilty of raping a 14-year-old girl has avoided deportation from Sweden by refusing to take a test for the Wuhan virus.  The Afghan was convicted of raping a 14-year-old girl in September of 2019 when he, and another young Afghan male, had taken the girl to an apartment after she ran away from a Swedish youth home.

    The girl was given alcohol and fell asleep. When she woke up one of the men was in the process of raping her and the other Afghan later raped her as well, the Daily Mail reports.

    Both of the migrants, due to their ages, were sentenced to just one and a half years for the rape. One of the migrants was allowed to remain in the country as he had already spent an extended period in Sweden, but the 21-year-old was set for deportation.

    He has managed to avoid being deported because he refuses to take a coronavirus test and also refuses to be vaccinated against the virus............To Read More.... 

    My Take - The Swedes leaders have lost their minds and are turning wolves loose on the innocent in their society.  I've written about this in the past, and you may wish to view my file, and my commentaries in particular:  

    The Left’s Anti-Semitism Problem: A History

    The more naïve supporters of tomorrow’s Women’s March on Washington were apparently surprised by the anti-Semitism of its main organizers. They shouldn’t have been; this has been a story for nearly the entire existence of the movement that was born during Donald Trump’s inauguration. Tamika Mallory, a fan of Fidel Castro, has been “thank[ing] God” for hardcore anti-Semite Louis Farrakhan for a while now. Leah McSweeney and Jacob Siegel of Tabletmag reported last month that, according to several people present at an organizational meeting with Mallory and co-organizer Carmen Perez, the two expressed the view “that Jewish people bore a special collective responsibility as exploiters of black and brown people” and “claimed that Jews were proven to have been leaders of the American slave trade.” The Palestinian American activist (and co-chair of the original march) Linda Sarsour is famous for her 2012 tweet that “nothing is creepier than Zionism.”.............To Read More....

     

    Biden Frees Al Qaeda Ally Who Plotted to Smuggle Nukes Into US

    May 30, 2021 

    With inflation rising almost as fast as gas prices and the cost of a home, Joe Biden ain’t doing much for most Americans. But if you’re an Al Qaeda terrorist, he’s got your back.

    Just ask three of Gitmo’s finest who are benefiting from Biden’s generosity.

    Saifullah Paracha was a Pakistani businessman and New York travel agent with some big plans. The Gitmo inmate now being set loose by Biden wanted to “do something big against the US.”

    9/11 was in Al Qaeda's rearview mirror and its mastermind, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, was plotting a sequel. The Gitmo dossier for Paracha first details a plan to use his “textile business to smuggle explosives into the US” and these "ready-made explosives, specifically C4" would go into shipping containers full of "women and children's clothing".

    Shipping Al Qaeda’s C4 to America would be more lucrative than dumping sweatshop labor sweatpants because “if al-Qaida used detainee’s textile company for shipping explosives to the US, he would likely be paid additional money beyond the standard shipping fees”. No word on whether there would have been a bonus for every American blown up.

    And then things escalated from there with testimony that Paracha allegedly claimed that he, “believed he could obtain unspecified chemicals from Chinese sources”. The fellow he was talking to about the unspecified chemicals, Ammar al-Baluchi, one of the few Gitmo Jihadis whom neither Obama nor Biden had managed to release yet, had helped out the 9/11 hijackers with flight simulators, and manuals, and allegedly chatted with Mohammed Atta.

    After 9/11, Al-Baluchi was looking at all sorts of plans for crashing planes into things, like the American consulate in Karachi or London’s Heathrow airport, but there were other options on the table. The nature of the chemicals out of China was never specified, but the KSM lieutenant believed they were” chemical or biological agents” that could be used “as a weapon”.

    Paracha reportedly advised Al Qaeda that “one should look for a similar looking chemical and put it in between the good chemicals and it would be very easy to get [through] customs.” With his business experience, he could offer Al Qaeda tips on smuggling such as warning them about the “radiological sensors at ports or places of entry into the US” that would make it difficult to smuggle radioactive materials into the country”.

    But Biden’s newest charity case wanted something bigger. The dossier describes the 9/11 mastermind's associate and Paracha chatting about Al Qaeda getting some "radiological or nuclear items several times" because Paracha wanted "to help al-Qaida 'do something big against the US.'”

    Paracha "also discussed nuclear attacks and attacks against nuclear power plants" and had an idea for “al-Qaida to attack a nuclear power plant”.

    So you can see why Joe Biden is letting him go.

    Why settle for helping Iran nuke America, when you can also help Al Qaeda nuke America?

    The Pakistani graduate of the New York Institute of Technology “expressed strong anti-US sentiment” and allegedly “stated that nuclear weapons should be used against US troops, as thousands of the troops would be killed at once”.

    The pro-terror lobby has spent all these years claiming that Paracha was an innocent victim of American imperialism who was never charged with anything and was smeared with confessions obtained by acts of horrifying torture like Barney songs played on a non-stop loop.

    Curiously the dossier mentions that Paracha's diary had "references to military chemical warfare agents, and their effects on humans" including Sarin nerve gas.

    But what New York travel agent hasn't filled his diary with entries about the effects of nerve gas on humans along with the contact information for an alleged Al Qaeda anthrax operative?

    You’d have to be an Islamophobe to find anything suspicious about that.

    Sadly, none of these plans worked out. Instead the agents of the Great Satan told Palacha that they wanted him to come to Thailand to discuss a deal with Kmart. When Palacha showed up to pitch Kmart reps on a blue light special that might or might not glow in the dark, they weren’t there to get a deal on some Pakistani underwear, but offering a place off Cuba with a view.

    Even Obama didn’t set Paracha loose, but Biden is determined to out-Obama him.

    The media understandably doesn’t want to trouble Americans with any uncomfortable mentions of nuclear weapons and Chinese chemicals when explaining Biden’s latest gift to Al Qaeda.

    The New York Times only mentions that Paracha is "a former businessman and longtime legal resident of New York" and that he has "heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure".

    Also some years ago a spiritual leader with a Buddhist symbol made famous by an Austrian house painter carved into his forehead died of colon cancer while one of California's oldest inmates. It’s almost as awful as when that elderly former house painter commited suicide after a long struggle with syphillis along with his new bride in a bunker that Biden would have envied.

    The Hill plaintively whines that, “Paracha was the oldest and reportedly among the sickest detainees held at Guantánamo Bay. He suffered from heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure.” Since Paracha is still alive and the description is in the past tense, we can only assume that being freed by Biden is a cure for heart disease, diabetes, and blood pressure.

    If Biden really wants to cure cancer, he can drop all of that moonshot nonsense, all he needs to do is give all of Al Qaeda cancer, and then release them. If it doesn’t cure them, it’ll kill them.

    Releasing Paracha might also be a concern for the Brits as the dossier also states that he had discussed with Al-Baluchi “how to smuggle explosives and chemicals into England”.

    When Paracha wasn't exploring the exciting possibilities of nuclear weapons, he met Osama bin Laden on a trip to Afghanistan and "offered to let UBL and al-Qaida use his media broadcasting business to film and distribute propaganda and training films'' that would include "depicting UBL quoting Koranic verses". While a lot of Paracha's other plots were theoretical, the dossier indicates that Al Qaeda used Paracha's "video broadcasting facility" to make a movie featuring "a senior Saudi al-Qaida facilitator associated with a cell targeting Americans in Saudi Arabia."

    But no doubt after all that time having to listen to Barney sing, “I Love You, You Love Me” on repeat at Gitmo, with nothing to read except the Koran and Harry Potter novels, Paracha has come around and now loves America. And from now on will commit to only shipping women’s and children’s clothing to Kmart without C4, Chinese chemicals, or nukes.

    The other beneficiaries of Biden’s generosity are Uthman Abdul Rahim Mohammed Uthman, an alleged bodyguard for Osama bin Laden, and Abdul Rabbani, allegedly a member of an Al Qaeda cell plotting car bomb attacks against Americans.

    Biden intends to continue Obama’s work of freeing all the Islamic terrorists of Gitmo.

    Paracha had apparently told American investigators that "he did not think meeting with al-Qaida was a crime, just business".

    Biden clearly doesn’t think aiding Islamic terrorists is a crime either. That’s why he’s doing it.

    Daniel Greenfield is a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center. This article previously appeared at the Center's Front Page Magazine.

    Click here to subscribe to my articles. 

    Thank you for reading.

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    About Daniel Greenfield
    Daniel Greenfield is a journalist investigating Islamic terrorism and the Left. He is a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center

     

    A Conversation on Scientific Censorship in Canada

    Ethan Yang Ethan Yang  – May 30, 2021 @ American Institute for Economic Research

    The AIER Authors Corner Podcast has seen many exciting guests since its first episode back in September of 2020. Without exaggeration, some of the most profound intellectuals on the planet have spoken on the show, from the great economist Deirdre McCloskey to the legal giant Richard Epstein. The following episode is one that does not bring me feelings of excitement and honor, but tragedy and concern. 

    This episode should serve as real-time news of the horrific situation unfolding in Canada. Dr. Patrick Phillips joins us as the spokesperson for the group behind the Declaration of Canadian Physicians for Science and Truth, a petition signed by thousands of practicing medical professionals and concerned citizens in Canada. The petition itself is in opposition to what is now the outright censorship of licensed physicians that speak contrary to the Canadian government’s policies and positions. The breath of censorship is vast, covering everything from fringe conspiracy theories to genuine arguments that contradict the state’s narrative on masks, vaccines, and lockdowns. 

    AIER has covered this story recently in an article here. In summary, the Declaration was drafted in response to a statement given by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario threatening punishment for any medical professional under its jurisdiction that spoke contrary to the approved viewpoints. The statement reads as follows,

    The College is aware and concerned about the increase of misinformation circulating on social media and other platforms regarding physicians who are publicly contradicting public health orders and recommendations. Physicians hold a unique position of trust with the public and have a professional responsibility to not communicate anti-vaccine, anti-masking, anti-distancing and anti-lockdown statements and/or promoting unsupported, unproven treatments for COVID-19.

    Physicians must not make comments or provide advice that encourages the public to act contrary to public health orders and recommendations. Physicians who put the public at risk may face an investigation by the CPSO and disciplinary action, when warranted. When offering opinions, physicians must be guided by the law, regulatory standards, and the code of ethics and professional conduct. The information shared must not be misleading or deceptive and must be supported by available evidence and science.

    This is nothing short of an attack on the very notion of scientific inquiry and a blatant rejection of the principles of the scientific method. It is shocking and horrifying to see such a policy of outright censorship on what are controversial and novel issues being carried out in a country like Canada. 

    The actions taken by Dr. Phillips and his colleagues to not only speak truth to the government’s lockdown narrative under the threat of sanction but ultimately serve the best interest of their patients are nothing short of heroic. 

    During the interview, Dr. Phillips spoke on the sequence of events unfolding on the ground in Canada and his commitment to staying true to his oath as a physician to support sound public health. That included talking about the damages and shortcomings of many of the government’s pandemic policies. He spoke out about how as a practicing physician, it was his duty to tell the truth to his patients on whether or not he thought certain government policies were good for their health. In the unprecedented age of lockdowns, he and his colleagues understandably had to disagree with much of what the government was doing, but now they are being coerced into keeping quiet. Such a development signals an ominous shift against the very notion of a free society, modernity, truth, and transparency. 

    By appearing on the Authors Corner, Dr. Phillips is potentially putting his medical career on the line by doing everything the government says he can’t so that he can get his group’s message out to the world. We should be honored that he has entrusted us with that privilege. 

    Perhaps one of the most striking things for me when it came to Dr. Phillips was not his bravery and his insight, to which he certainly has much of, but the reality of his situation. Dr. Phillips, at least to my knowledge, did not strike me as a loudmouth pundit craving publicity, podcast appearances or as a seasoned political agent. Unlike the great scholars that routinely appear on this show, his profession is real work, working with real people, solving real problems, not just talking about them. It seemed to me like the practice of medicine was his passion and his priority. 

    I’m sure that he never would have imagined that in his lifetime he would be appearing on media outlets representing an organization that is fighting back against government-enforced censorship. But that is what lockdowns have done. It is at least reassuring to know that in times of crisis, there are people like Dr. Phillips who are willing to step up when duty calls to make sure that if society is going by the wayside, it won’t happen without a fight.

    Ethan Yang

    Ethan Yang

    Ethan Yang is an Adjunct Research Fellow at AIER as well as the host of the AIER Authors Corner Podcast.

    He holds a BA in Political Science with a concentration in International Relations with minors in legal studies and formal organizations from Trinity College in Hartford Connecticut. He is currently pursuing a JD from the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University.

    Ethan also serves as the director of the Mark Twain Center for the Study of Human Freedom at Trinity College and is also involved with Students for Liberty. He has also held research positions at the Cato Institute, the Connecticut State Senate, Cause of Action Institute and other organizations.

    Ethan is currently based in Washington D.C and is a recipient of the 13th Annual International Vernon Smith Prize from the European Center of Austrian Economics Foundation. His work has been featured and cited in a variety of outlets from online media to radio broadcast.

    Get notified of new articles from Ethan Yang and AIER.

    Sunday, May 30, 2021

    P&D Today

    By Rich Kozlovich

    Political Cartoons by Margolis & Cox


    EXCLUSIVE: COVID-19 'has NO credible natural ancestor' and WAS created by Chinese scientists who then tried to cover their tracks with 'retro-engineering' to make it seem like it naturally arose from bats, explosive new study claims

    By Josh Boswell For Dailymail.com, 8 May 2021

    • An explosive new study claims researchers found 'unique fingerprints' in COVID-19 samples that they say could only have arisen from manipulation in a laboratory
    • DailyMail.com exclusively obtained the new 22-page paper authored by British Professor Angus Dalgleish and Norwegian scientist Dr. Birger Sørensen set to be published in the Quarterly Review of Biophysics Discovery
    • The study showed there's evidence to suggest Chinese scientists created the virus while working on a Gain of Function project in a Wuhan lab 
    • Gain of Function research, which was temporarily outlawed in the US, involves altering naturally-occurring viruses to make them more infectious in order to study their potential effects on humans 
    • According to the paper, Chinese scientists took a natural coronavirus 'backbone' found in Chinese cave bats and spliced onto it a new 'spike', turning it into the deadly and highly transmissible COVID-19
    • The researchers, who concluded that COVID-19 'has no credible natural ancestor', also believe scientists reverse-engineered versions of the virus to cover up their tracks
    • 'We think that there have been retro-engineered viruses created,' Dalgleish told DailyMail.com. 'They've changed the virus, then tried to make out it was in a sequence years ago.'
    • The study also points to 'deliberate destruction, concealment or contamination of data' in Chinese labs and notes that 'scientists who wished to share their findings haven't been able to do so or have disappeared' 
    • Until recently, most experts had staunchly denied the origins of the virus were anything other than a natural infection leaping from animals to humans
    • Earlier this week, Dr. Anthony Fauci defended US funding of the Wuhan Institute of Virology, saying the $600,000 grant was not approved for Gain of Function research ...........Continue Reading

    Cold-More To Come?

    The last grand minimum event produced the mini-ice age in the mid-17th century. Known as the Maunder Minimum

    By ——--May 28, 2021 

    Cover Story | 7 Comments | Reader Friendly | Subscribe | Email Us

    Solar physicists at the ultra-warmist Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact are warning that Europe may be facing a ‘mini ice age’ due to a possible protracted solar minimum. For an institute that over the past 20 years has steadfastly insisted that man has been almost the sole factor in climate change over the past century and that the sun no longer plays a role, this is quite remarkable reports Pierre Gosselin.

    Little noticed by the mainstream media in their obsession with global warming is an exceptionally chilly 2020-2021 winter in the Northern Hemisphere and an unusually early start to the Southern Hemisphere winter. Low temperature and snowfall records are tumbling all over the globe. 

    Presently, snow records have continued to be broken around the world

    Whether the present frigid and snowy conditions in much of the world are merely a result of La Nina, or the start of a longer cooling trend, we won’t know for several years. Climate, after all, is a long term average of the weather over an extended period of time, up to decades.

    Nonetheless, there’s ample evidence that the current cold snap is not about to let up.........To Read More....

     My Take - I would like to point out I've been publishing information about this for years, so it's nothing new, except now the warmists are saying it.  You may wish to view my file.  You may also want to ask if the "bugman" knew this how could the "experts" not know it?


    Millions of face masks officially declared dangerous

    By ——--May 28, 2021

    Cover Story | 3 Comments | Reader Friendly | Subscribe | Email Us

    This is not an article about whether face masks work.  As my readers know, for the past year I’ve been demonstrating that the SARS-CoV-2 virus has never been proven to exist. Therefore, face masks are nothing more (or less) than a mind-control ritual.  However, much has been written about the harm the masks cause. 

    “Is graphene safe?”

    And now we have an official declaration. On April 2, 2021, Health Canada issued an advisory, warning people not to “use face masks labelled to contain graphene or biomass graphene.”

    Andrew Maynard covers this issue in a medium[dot]com article, “Manufacturers have been using nanotechnology-derived graphene in face masks—-now there are safety concerns.”

    Those concerns? Masks could create lung problems.

    Of course, since COVID-19 is claimed to be a lung disease, you can see where that leads: the remedy turns out to cause what it’s supposed to prevent. I could write a book detailing how many times this “coincidence” pops up in the field of medicine...........To Read More....

    COVID-19: The Immune Systems Of The Overwhelming Majority Do Quite Well

    By The Conversation | December 1st 2020

    Early in the pandemic, many researchers feared people who contracted COVID could be reinfected very quickly. This was because several early studies showed antibodies seemed to wane after the first few months post-infection. It was also partly because normal human coronaviruses, which are one cause of common colds and are cousins of SARS-CoV-2, do not generate long-lasting immunity, so we can get reinfected with them after 12 months.  But new preliminary research suggests key parts of the immune system can remember SARS-CoV-2 for at least eight or nine months, and possibly for years........To Read More.....


    The Origin Of SARS-CoV-2 And More

    May 31, 2021 By Michael D. Shaw @ Health News Digest

    More than a year ago, a theory was being proffered that the virus that causes COVID-19 was developed in a lab in Wuhan, China, as part of so-called gain-of-function research. It was even suggested that our very own NIH was funding such work in China. Naturally, since then-President Trump was sympathetic to this point of view, it was roundly dismissed by the liberal media and many academics as a conspiracy theory. The most common argument against the lab theory noted that there was no proof of that allegation.

    Of course, this response is completely disingenuous, since the Chinese authorities have hardly been forthcoming with the necessary details. And, for that matter, where was the media’s proof that the vaccine had a natural origin? Even the Chinese are opening up to the lab origin being a possibility. No less than Hu Xijin, editor-in-chief of the Chinese Communist Party-run media outlet Global Times asserted that it’s “reasonable to maintain suspicions” about the role of the Wuhan Institute of Virology in spawning COVID-19.

    More than that, as Jordan Schachtel relates, China is now reacting to the sudden international pressure thrust upon them regarding the lab origin…

    “The best defense is a good offense, and that’s exactly how China is strategically reacting to continuing pressure building on Beijing officials to come clean about a possible viral lab leak at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in mid to late 2019. The stakes are high, as acknowledging the lab leak thesis would implicate the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in one of the greatest scandals in modern history. So instead of discussing the lab leak thesis, China is attempting to redirect blame at the United States, claiming that America is the true culprit for the spread of COVID-19.”

    These accusations center around the Fort Detrick, MD facility, which was temporarily shut down in August, 2019 after failed safety inspections. The lab contained pathogens including Ebola and the bacteria which cause plague and tularemia. Since no outbreaks have ever been linked to this lab, and unlike the Chinese labs, such information is public knowledge, these charges are nothing more than desperate speculations.

    Besides, the ploy of “The Americans did it” contradicts with the initial WHO-endorsed narrative that

    • Direct zoonotic spillover is considered to be a possible-to-likely pathway
    • Introduction through an intermediate host is considered to be a likely to very likely pathway
    • Introduction through cold/ food chain products is considered a possible pathway
    • Introduction through a laboratory incident was considered to be an extremely unlikely pathway

    Despite WHO’s shady reputation, infamously informing us–for the longest time–that the SARS-CoV-2 virus could not be spread by airborne transmission, as well as it being in the pocket of China, anti-Trump forces and virologists, who should surely know better said nothing. And, if they said anything, it was to criticize the doubters. Fear of offending the establishment and thus threatening their grants, was a key factor. Bear in mind that the academic establishment is heavily funded by China.

    A chronology, [You may have to register for free to read it] paying all due deference to the establishment media, outlines how the former conspiracy theory of lab origin has now become an acceptable position. Important is this letter. Also of interest, was a piece from the Wall Street Journal, which came out after the chronology’s final entry.

    Despite all the foregoing, though, you can still sense the hesitancy of the scientific establishment in this sycophantic article appearing in the once-great Nature. You see, it’s all about maintaining a dialog, because what would we do without help from the Chinese during the next pandemic? 

    Yeah, I know. Try not to laugh.


    The Twilight Zone, Hogan’s Heroes, and the Emotional Support Mask

     

    “Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I’m not sure about the former.”-Albert Einstein

    Two of our favorite TV shows are The Twilight Zone and Hogan’s Heroes. These shows provide lessons as we tentatively emerge from the herd stupidity (see Einstein’s quote) that led to the establishment of our state-run Covid religion in March 2020. An episode of The Twilight Zone comes to mind when contemplating the Covidians who cling to their emotional support masks and other revolting, pseudo-scientific “nonpharmaceutical interventions,” supported by the public health police state and the coronavirus lockdown chorus in the media.

    In The Twilight Zone episode titled “Eye of the Beholder,” Janet Tyler undergoes plastic surgery to correct her “deformity.” The plot centers on Janet waiting in the hospital to see if her plastic surgery is “successful.” This is her 11th trip to the hospital for treatment and she is desperate to look like everyone else. 

    During the entire episode, Janet’s face is not shown, but we are constantly told how hideously ugly she is. The nurses, doctor, and other people who attend to her in the hospital also have their faces shielded. When the bandages are finally removed from Janet’s face, we see that, in fact, Janet is beautiful, while the self-declared “normal” doctors and nurses are mutilated, deformed monstrosities. 

    The lesson to be learned from this episode is that those of us who choose to be maskless are normal, while those who make our children wear masks for seven hours a day and keep them from playing with their friends are grotesque and deformed, both mentally and physically. Infectious disease experts, working with teachers’ union bosses and supine politicians, continue to maim and deform parents and children in the name of protecting public health. We must be saved by these enlightened priests, rather than relying on our own sound judgment.

    Several days ago, one the country’s most prominent Covidians, Mayor Bill de Blasio, announced that New York City public schools will “fully reopen” for in-person learning in September. Of course, he also stated that students and teachers will still be required to wear masks, even though almost all teachers and many students will be vaccinated by that date. Of course, anti-social distancing will also apply, along with other Covid mitigation policies to prevent normal childhood development. It seems that the unethical and deviant child experiment must continue for the indefinite future. 

    The second lesson from TV history comes from Hogan’s Heroes. You may recall that a key character in this show was Colonel Wilhelm Klink, the bungling, vain, cowardly, and self-serving Commandant of Stalag 13. In every episode, Colonel Klink proudly states that “no one has ever escaped from Stalag 13.” Klink’s maniacal and myopic focus on this one statistic makes him oblivious to the fact that Colonel Robert Hogan of the U.S. Air Force and his fellow prisoners of war are engaging in major sabotage and rescue operations against the Third Reich. Klink is even considered a “success” by his superiors in Berlin, even though he is clearly an abject failure. 

    Klink’s obsession with a single statistic brings to mind another source of government failure in the “war” on the coronavirus: policy myopia, exhibited by our new bureaucratic masters, infectious disease experts, and their staunch supporters, politicians, who enthusiastically implement their “recommendations” and “guidelines.” Infectious disease experts have fully captured government in a clever coup d’etat, armed with faulty epidemiological models that have repeatedly shown themselves to be wildly inaccurate and “scientifically” designed lockdowns and “reopening” strategies that always “succeed.” They work well with virtue-signaling politicians, who look for short-term fixes with instant and visible results to “solve” problems. Like Colonel Klink, the infectious disease experts have a maniacal obsession with “cases,” while simultaneously ignoring all the collateral damage – the death and destruction created by the quarantines, lockdowns, and reopenings themselves. 

    The end result is that infectious disease experts and the politicians who implemented their draconian policies have succeeded in doing more damage to our economy and society, and yes, even to public health, than all the recent enemies of Western civilization combined. These officials also seem to have a single goal in mind, reducing the number of individuals who contract the virus. Such a single-minded approach is not consistent with an appropriate cost/benefit analysis of the consequences of their proposed actions.

    Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, a professor of medicine at Stanford University, who is also a health economist and therefore familiar with the concept of trade-offs in decision-making (unlike infectious disease experts), notes that studies repeatedly show that children who wear masks completely undermine the very limited benefit masks provide by touching them and repeatedly taking them on and off. Moreover, there are serious repercussions to child social development when children are masked that go beyond “simple” physical irritation and difficulty breathing. Bhattacharya emphasizes that the development needs of young children require them to see other people’s faces. For example, learning to speak requires seeing a person’s lips move. Older children also need to see the face to learn body language and how to appropriately interact socially.

    Despite the strong scientific evidence on the ineffectiveness of masks for adults, and the harms inflicted by masking children, it’s a puzzle as to why so many individuals continue to insist on their usefulness. Perhaps masks simply provide an emotional support mechanism for people who have been unfortunately frightened out of their wits by the pseudo-scientists and the profit-maximizing media. It’s time to ditch the emotional support mask and those who advocate its use.

    Donald Siegel

    Donald Siegel

    Dr. Donald Siegel is Foundation Professor of Public Policy and Management and Director of the School of Public Affairs (SPA) at Arizona State University.

    He received his bachelor’s degree in economics and his master’s and doctoral degrees in business economics from Columbia University. He then served as a Sloan Foundation post-doctoral fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research.

    Get notified of new articles from Donald Siegel and AIER.

    Robert M. Sauer

    Robert M. Sauer

    Robert Sauer is Professor of Economics at the University of London, Royal Holloway College, and Editor-in-Chief of the European Economic Review, the European Economic Review Plus and the Journal of Economics, Management and Religion.

    Robert’s research focuses on labour force dynamics, volunteerism and entrepreneurship. He has published papers in Econometrica, the Journal of Political Economy, the Review of Economic Studies, the International Economic Review and the Journal of Labor Economics.

    Get notified of new articles from Robert M. Sauer and AIER.