Blog

Why Elite Libertarians Failed so Miserably on COVID

A priest friend of mine has been writing for three years against his fellow clerics who went along with the COVID regime, shut their churches, masked their parishioners, and then pushed shots on those who didn’t need them. He said that they forgot the first principle: be not afraid. And the second principle too: put not your faith in princes.

An academic friend of mine has been blasting his colleagues for just as long. He is even the author of a book “Treason of the Experts.”

Many conservatives who had sound opinions on lockdowns and vaccine mandates have gone after National Review and the Trump administration for their apostasies that gave us the biggest expansion of government power probably in world history.

Naomi Wolf has been relentless in calling out the left for their attacks on free association and free speech, in addition to their acquiescence to Big Pharma.

Each of these people say that they have a moral obligation to call out their own tribe.

Now to my own tribe: the libertarians.

For three years, I’ve been reluctant to say anything about the elephant in the room, the near-complete failure of libertarians to stand up to the lockdown and mandate regime. It was a moment in history that was tailor-made for them. Everything in their training taught them to be suspicious of government power and relentless in the defense of liberty.

Instead they mostly went silent. Worse, they became the Praetorian Guard of the lockdown Caesars, giving them cover when they deserved it least. The “radical” libertarians defaulted to a completely conventional careerism, even to the point of manufacturing rationales for terrible attacks on the most vulnerable.

Most organizations associated with the Atlas Network said nothing at all and still have said anything. The Mont Pelerin Society couldn’t muster the words either. Plenty of Twitter libertarians (and Reason Magazine) cheered masking as privacy-protecting disease-spread inhibitors while blasting me for criticizing them. Not even the Libertarian Party spoke out in 2020, a failure which led to a total upheaval in the party last year. Now, the anti-lockdowners are running the show.

Many if not most of the top intellectuals in the libertarian space were completely wrong and totally flopped when it mattered most. A book could be written on all the ridiculous excuses they marshaled to defend the worst attack on liberty in our lifetimes. Yes, many came around later and today pretend like that were right all along but the receipts are everywhere on what they said and did when it actually mattered.

Why haven’t I called them out? I convinced myself that they don’t really matter, so such a focus on internal strife achieves nothing. Maybe that’s right. It seems more true now than ever since they simply made themselves irrelevant by staying silent when voices of liberty were most needed. Now no one seems to care about them even as donor dollars are rightly drying up. My perception was that they (once we) mattered once upon a time, in any case.

In addition, my level of fury about the situation has been so intense that I did not think I could even pen a calm and persuasive article (even if I’ve attacked experts in general).

Keep reading

Open Experiment to Manifest UFO Mothership Planned for Mother’s Day

An experiment to manifest a UFO mothership over Phoenix, Arizona, is planned for this Sunday, May 14th.

The idea for the experiment came from poster u/subatmoiclogicgate in the r/UFOs subreddit on social media site Reddit, who asked that people “simply focus their thoughts and attention on a UFO mothership appearing over a specific location” at a set day and time.

Details for the experiment include:

Aim: Try and manifest a UFO mothership over Phoenix, AZ, USA.
Date: 14th of May i.e., Mother’s Day in the U.S
Time: 4:00 pm [MST] Phoenix, AZ, USA. Please use google and figure out whatever time this falls within your time zone. You don’t have to be exact, just do the experiment, and don’t get too tedious about the exact timing.
Method: This is not CE5, and you can try and manifest this UFO mothership in any way, shape and form that you like. You may meditate, go outside and look into the sky, look at photos of Phoenix, AZ, USA on Google maps, draw, listen to music, watch your favourite UFO documentary, talk to a family member or friend, workout, keep doing your job, have a drink, etc. Whatever tickles your fancy really, but just for a few seconds or minutes, try and have some conscious thoughts in whatever you’re doing about a UFO mothership showing up in Phoenix, AZ, USA.
Recording data: If you’re in Phoenix, AZ, USA, simply keep an eye out over the afternoon and evening, and have your camera nearby just in case. If anyone has access to live webcam streams in the area then perhaps link them in the comments as well.
Measure of success: We’re aiming big, even though the expectations are low to non-existent. A repeat of what happened in Phoenix, AZ, USA March 13, 1997 would be ideal. If this craziness somehow works, then it won’t be because we caught a small flash of something, it will be because UFO Mothership shows up in clear view, and basically astonishes all of humanity.
Disclaimer: This is a thought experiment, so please don’t be stupid and try and do some raid area 51 type of shit.

CE5 refers to a process to contact UFOs and their occupants which was invented by Dr. Stephen Greer.

Keep reading

The Four Pillars of Medical Ethics Were Destroyed in the Covid Response

Much like a Bill of Rights, a principal function of any Code of Ethics is to set limits, to check the inevitable lust for power, the libido dominandi, that human beings tend to demonstrate when they obtain authority and status over others, regardless of the context.

Though it may be difficult to believe in the aftermath of COVID, the medical profession does possess a Code of Ethics. The four fundamental concepts of Medical Ethics – its 4 Pillars – are Autonomy, Beneficence, Non-maleficence, and Justice.

Autonomy, Beneficence, Non-maleficence, and Justice

These ethical concepts are thoroughly established in the profession of medicine. I learned them as a medical student, much as a young Catholic learns the Apostle’s Creed. As a medical professor, I taught them to my students, and I made sure my students knew them. I believed then (and still do) that physicians must know the ethical tenets of their profession, because if they do not know them, they cannot follow them.

These ethical concepts are indeed well-established, but they are more than that. They are also valid, legitimate, and sound. They are based on historical lessons, learned the hard way from past abuses foisted upon unsuspecting and defenseless patients by governments, health care systems, corporations, and doctors. Those painful, shameful lessons arose not only from the actions of rogue states like Nazi Germany, but also from our own United States: witness Project MK-Ultra and the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment.

The 4 Pillars of Medical Ethics protect patients from abuse. They also allow physicians the moral framework to follow their consciences and exercise their individual judgment – provided, of course, that physicians possess the character to do so. However, like human decency itself, the 4 Pillars were completely disregarded by those in authority during COVID.

The demolition of these core principles was deliberate. It originated at the highest levels of COVID policymaking, which itself had been effectively converted from a public health initiative to a national security/military operation in the United States in March 2020, producing the concomitant shift in ethical standards one would expect from such a change. As we examine the machinations leading to the demise of each of the 4 Pillars of Medical Ethics during COVID, we will define each of these four fundamental tenets, and then discuss how each was abused.

Keep reading

Alleged ‘Serial Killer’ Caught In California Is Illegal Alien Who Came Into U.S. Under Obama

A man arrested in California late last week — who allegedly carried out a string of murders — is an illegal alien who came into the U.S. as an unaccompanied minor during the Obama administration.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement has lodged a detainer request against 21-year-old Carlos Dominguez, who illegally came into the U.S. in April 2009 from El Salvador, according to ABC 10. The report identified Dominguez as “an alleged serial killer.”

Dominguez, who attended UC Davis, is accused of stabbing two people to death and attempting to stab another person to death in the area. The three stabbings, all separate incidents, happened between April 27 and May 1. He was arrested by the Yolo County Sheriff’s Office and is now in the Yolo County jail.

The school said in a press release that Dominguez was a third-year student until April 25, “when he was separated for academic reasons.”

Keep reading

No drugs, no arrest – but bounty of cash for Mobile County Sheriff’s Office

You don’t have to be convicted of a crime for law enforcement to take your money or property. You don’t even need to be charged with one.

The procedure is known as civil asset forfeiture, which allows authorities to take cash and property that they can demonstrate was used in criminal activity or was illicit profits. The latest example in Mobile County occurred April 26 on Interstate 10 in Grand Bay when deputies pulled over an 18-wheeler and seized hundreds of thousands of dollars – despite making no arrests.

The practice has drawn fierce criticism in Alabama and across the country, which some going as far as labeling it “legalized theft.”

Mobile County Sheriff Paul Burch said his agency does not seize property without substantial evidence that it is connected to criminal enterprises.

“We don’t do so lightly,” he told FOX10 News. “And we work within the laws that are provided.”

During the stop last month, Burch said the deputy – assigned to a special operations unit and specially trained to spot possible drug couriers – noticed a discrepancy in the vehicle’s Department of Transportation number.

A search did not turn up any drugs, but a K-9 dog did alert on cash inside the truck – $323,000. The Sheriff’s Office seized it as suspected drug money. Now, it is on the driver to make a claim to try to get the money back.

“He has a right to do so,” Burch said. “And there’s a process for it. But we typically don’t make those type of seizures unless, you know, there’s a strong basis to do so.”

Burch said most people do not try to get it back because if it was ill-gotten, they do not want to draw attention from law enforcement. He would not go into all of the evidence in this case but said there a joint investigation with the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Border Patrol into drug smuggling.

Both federal and state law enforcement agencies routinely seize money and cash unconnected to criminal charges. FOX10 News recently highlighted a case in which Mobile police seized a vehicle – and already had sold it by the time a judge dismissed criminal charges against the driver. The civil case is set for a hearing soon in Mobile County Circuit Court.

Keep reading

Strange sounds recorded high in Earth’s atmosphere have scientists baffled

Scientists have detected sounds high in Earth’s atmosphere that can’t be identified.

A solar-powered balloon mission launched by researchers from Sandia National Laboratories carried a microphone to a region of Earth’s atmosphere found around 31 miles (50 km) above the planet called the stratosphere. This region is relatively calm and free of storms, turbulence and commercial air traffic, meaning microphones in this layer of the atmosphere can eavesdrop on the sounds of our planet, both natural and human-made.

However, the microphone in this particular study also heard strange sounds that repeat a few times per hour. Their source has yet to be identified. The sounds were recorded in the infrasound range, meaning they were at frequencies of 20 hertz (Hz) and lower, well below the range of the human ear. “There are mysterious infrasound signals that occur a few times per hour on some flights, but the source of these is completely unknown,” Daniel Bowman of Sandia National Laboratories said in a statement.

Keep reading

Arizona funds research into ‘magic mushrooms’ to treat PTSD and depression

Arizona is headed toward funding the first controlled clinical trials for whole mushroom psilocybin, or “magic mushrooms,” to treat an array of health issues, including post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression. 

The state’s nearly $18 billion 2024 budget contains a provision providing $5 million for whole mushroom psilocybin trials. The money is the culmination of the efforts of Dr. Sue Sisely, an internal medicine physician and principal investigator at Scottsdale Research Institute, which conducts nonprofit drug development research on psychedelics, along with a bipartisan group of state legislators. 

“We’re thrilled that the research on natural mushrooms will finally be able to move forward, so this is a big achievement that finally we’re going to get objective data,” Sisely told the Arizona Mirror. “This will give us reliable insight into how these mushrooms might help or harm people. We need to learn more about how this works.”

Keep reading

50 Chilling Unsolved Mysteries Of The 1970s 

The 1970s were full of glorious parties at Studio 54 and post Vietnam celebrations, but it was also a decade full of chilling crimes that remain unsolved to this day. From gruesome murders to raucous heists and supernatural sightings, the mysteries chronicled here will leave you scratching your head and wondering exactly what happened in each of these stories.

Many of these stories are too upsetting for younger readers, so keep younger eyes shielded from the gruesome stuff. Keep in mind that many of these unsolved mysteries are cases that remain open, if you or someone you know can shine a light on these eerie crimes from the ’70s don’t be afraid to reach out… you could change everything.

Keep reading

Eight-Year-Old Norwegian Girl Discovers Neolithic Dagger at School Playground

For Elise, a student at Our Children’s School in Osøyro, Norway, a recent trip to the playground brought a special surprise—and international attention.

The 8-year-old girl was outside with her classmates when she bent down to pick up a stray shard of glass. Instead, she says in a statement, what appeared to be a small rock caught her eye. Realizing the item’s potential significance, Elise’s teacher, Karen Drange, notified the Vestland County Council of the discovery.

The almost five-inch-long object turned out to be a flint dagger dated to the Neolithic era, which began in the region around 2400 B.C.E., when humans started shifting from hunting and gathering to farming, according to the educational website Talk Norway. Live Science’s Laura Geggel notes that this specific type of dagger “is often found with sacrificial finds.”

Because flint isn’t a resource native to Norway, researchers suspect the roughly 3,700-year-old dagger originated elsewhere, perhaps in Denmark. An excavation of the school’s grounds following Elise’s discovery unearthed no related artifacts, strengthening the theory that the tool was brought to Norway after its creation.

In the statement, Louise Bjerre Petersen, an archaeologist who assessed the tool, calls it a beautiful, incredibly rare find. The dagger is now in the possession of experts at the University Museum of Bergen, who will study it for clues on life in Neolithic Norway.

Elise is far from the only schoolchild to happen upon an astonishing ancient artifact in the past few years. In July 2018, another 8-year-old girl, Saga Vanecek, uncovered an Iron Age sword in a Swedish lake, leading locals and news outlets alike to dub her the “Queen of Sweden” in reference to the Arthurian legend of the Sword in the Stone.

“I held it up in the air and I said, ‘Daddy, I found a sword!’” Vanecek told the Local’s Catherine Edwards. “When he saw that it bent and was rusty, he came running up and took it.”

Keep reading