Author: HP McLovincraft

Seeker of rabbit holes. Pessimist. Libertine. Contrarian. Your huckleberry. Possibly true tales of sanity-blasting horror also known as abject reality. Prepare yourself. Veteran of a thousand psychic wars. I have seen the fnords. Deplatformed on Tumblr and Twitter.

Ticketmaster Reportedly Planning Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccine, Testing Policy For Concert Attendance

Earlier this week reports emerged detailing Pfizer and BioNTech‘s ongoing efforts to create a legitimate COVID-19 vaccine in record time, and the two drug developers have even seen 90% effectiveness in some cases following initial testing on humans.

While it’s not yet clear when the vaccine would be ready to be used on the global population en masse – or how various governments will even be able to distribute the vaccine to every man, woman, and child – leading concert promoters in the live events industry are preparing realistic policies for how they can responsibly begin to welcome fans back inside venues without fear of viral spread or legal consequences.

A report shared by Billboard on Wednesday details that Ticketmaster (the ticketing arm of concert production giant Live Nation) is working to develop multi-step guidelines for how fans can purchase tickets when concerts and festivals return, possibly as soon as summer and fall 2021.

The current plan – which the report details is still in a development phase and not yet an official company policy – would be comprised of three stages. First, any fan who purchases a ticket to an event would have to prove they have received the COVID-19 vaccine or show a negative test. Depending on the COVID-19 health regulations and testing capabilities in their specific region or state, fans would likely be able to get tested the day prior, or even the day of the event at a sanctioned lab or health clinic.

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Arizona Secretary of State Rejects ‘Independent Analysis’ of Voting Data, Says It Would Amplify Baseless Theories

Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs (D) rejected a request for an “independent analysis” of voting data in the state, concluding that it would simply amplify the voices of people who seek to “undermine our democratic process for political gain.”

“It is patently unreasonable to suggest that, despite there being zero credible evidence of any impropriety or widespread irregularities, election officials nonetheless have a responsibility to prove a negative,” Hobbs wrote in response to Arizona Senate President Karen Fann (R), who requested an “independent analysis” of voting data to restore confidence and credibility among residents.

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Spreading anti-vaxx conspiracy theories should be a CRIME, top scientists say amid fears bogus claims will damage uptake of coronavirus jab

Spreading anti-vaccine conspiracy theories online should be a crime, according to some of Britain’s top scientists.

The Royal Society and British Academy institutions have together called for laws to be drawn up about spreading bogus claims about vaccination on the internet.

A huge leap forward in the fight against coronavirus was announced yesterday when it emerged that a Covid-19 jab being developed by Pfizer and BioNTech appears to be 90 per cent effective and could be given to members of the public next month.

But experts fear lies about the vaccine spreading online will put people off getting the jab, and surveys have found that more than a third of Brits already say they are unlikely to have it.

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Deutsche Bank Proposes A 5% “Work From Home” Tax

At a time when the Fed is already monetizing the entire US budget deficit thanks to helicopter money, sparking conversations about the utility of taxation, and when a Biden administration is set to at least try and roll back most of the Trump tax cuts, the last thing the population wants to hear about is even more taxes.

Yet in a “modest proposal” from Deutsche Bank, the bank argues that in a time of pervasive covid shutdowns, “those who can work from home (WFH) receive direct and indirect financial benefits and they should be taxed in order to smooth the transition process for those who have been suddenly displaced.”

In other words, the argument goes that working from an office is somehow punitive, and since WFH during the pandemic leads to “many benefits” as a resulting “disconnecting themselves from face-to-face society” a 5% tax for each WFH day “would leave the average person no worse off than if they worked in the office.” The bank calculates that such a tax could raise $49bn per year in the US, €20bn in Germany, and £7bn in the UK. “That can fund subsidies for the lowest-paid workers who usually cannot work from home.”

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