Tag: conspiracy theorists

Victorian Government Pushes New Bill to Detain ‘Conspiracy Theorists,’ Anti-Lockdown Protesters, and Families

The Victorian government will debate a new bill in the State Parliament this week which would hand authorities the power to forcibly detain “conspiracy theorists” and people suspected to likely spread coronavirus, such as anti-lockdown protesters and their close contacts.

If passed, the Omnibus (Emergency Measures) Bill will allow the state to detain anyone they suspect of being “high risk” or likely to negligently spread COVID-19, either if they have the virus or have been in contact with an infected person.

According to The Age, a state government spokesman said the rule could be applied to “conspiracy theorists who refuse to self-isolate or severely drug-affected or mentally impaired people who do not have the capacity to quarantine.”

Those detained could then be placed in quarantine facilities, such as hotels, where they can be monitored by authorities.

On Sunday police fined 200 people and made 74 arrests during an anti-lockdown protest in Melbourne. Could this bill lead to the mass-forced quarantining of similar anti-lockdown protesters?

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Conspiracy Theorist Decries Dinosaur Statue Outside McDonald’s in Arizona

A McDonald’s restaurant in Arizona found itself the target of an agitated conspiracy theorist who took issue with them having a massive dinosaur statue in front of the building because, he contends, such creatures never existed! The bizarre dispute reportedly began last month when a man named Josh Brown took to the Facebook group Christians Against Dinosaurs to express his concern about the huge Tyrannosaurus Rex which sits outside the establishment in Tuscon. “Please help! This McDonald’s has this dinosaur and refuses to remove it,” he declared, urging group members to “call the manager and demand the removal of this blasphemy!”

Brown, it would appear, is a believer in the fairly obscure, but still very real conspiracy theory that dinosaurs did not exist and that the creatures are actually a creation of nefarious forces intent on misleading the public about the ‘true’ history of the planet. While some suspected that the Facebook post was some kind of clever satirical message, it turns out that was not the case as a local media outlet tracked down the man behind the post and he confirmed that it was genuine.

“It seems to me that every dinosaur story and display or dinosaur-themed event is furthering the myth that the Earth is much older than the Bible says it is,” he explained, “the dinosaur should go unless they’re willing to compromise with a plaque of some kind stating that it’s a fictional character.” For their part, the McDonald’s at the center of the ‘controversy’ say that, despite Brown’s best efforts, they have yet to receive any complaints about the dinosaur statue other than his Facebook post and have no plans to remove it.

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