Tag: police state

Pursuing ‘COVID Zero’ Has Turned Australia Into An Authoritarian State

In a tweet that has gone viral, someone asked what the world’s largest prison looks like from space. The answer was a map of Australia. It seems a farfetched claim at first. But seeing the draconian restrictions the Australian government has put in place due to COVID-19, the tweet makes perfect sense.

Before March 2020, Australia was often celebrated as a role model of liberal democracy, with free elections, a free press, an independent judiciary, a functioning political system, and a market-based economy. Its citizens enjoyed a wide range of political rights, including freedom of speech and assembly.

Australia also stood out for having one of the most open immigration policies globally. As a result, 30 percent of its population was born outside of Australia.

Then COVID-19 swept through the world like wildfire. To contain the infection, the Australian federal and state governments have imposed tyrannical restrictions on their citizens.

Australia’s borders have been closed since March 2020. Australian citizens inside the country are not allowed to leave. Most of those stranded abroad and foreign visitors are not permitted to come back (unless with government approval). The once free and open Australian continent has effectively become a giant prison for its 26 million residents.

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Australians shocked after NSW health officer says post-lockdown Sydney will be a ‘new world order’

Dr. Kerry Chant, the Chief Health Officer of New South Wales, sent social media into a frenzy on Thursday, after she referred to a post-lockdown “new world order” during a Covid-19 press conference.

After State Premier Gladys Berejiklian had unveiled her administration’s plan for Greater Sydney’s path to freedom out of lockdown, Dr. Chant revealed the new vaccine requirements for workers and customers when the city reopens.

Both parties at reopened businesses would have to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19, Dr. Chant announced, and workplaces would “have some system of checking that.” But it was her next comment that really stirred up a storm.

We will be looking at what contact tracing looks like in the new world order.

Though the term “new world order” has been used by politicians including former US president George H. W. Bush, former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger, and former UK prime minister Tony Blair, for decades, it has also been the subject of a major conspiracy theory that there is a secret, behind-the-scenes plot to form an oppressive world government that would limit citizens’ liberty.

Following Dr. Chant’s remark, “new world order” began to trend on Twitter in both Australia and the United Kingdom.

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NSW Health limits residents of locked-down tower block to six beers per day

Residents in apartment blocks locked-down by NSW Health are having their alcohol deliveries policed as part of a policy to limit the number of drinks being consumed each day.

NSW Health has imposed rules limiting people in “NSW Health controlled buildings” to a certain amount of alcohol each day in a bid to “ensure the safety of health staff and residents”.

Mission Australia’s Common Ground building in Camperdown is the latest building where occupants are subjected to the harsh rules.

Residents of the social housing estate have complained that care packages sent by friends and relatives have been searched before they are delivered.

“They are searching all bags and things coming into the building … They confiscated a series of gifts. So things like bottles of spirits, we weren’t allowed to have those and we still (aren’t),” Common Ground resident Robin Elhaj said.

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“You Have Been Warned!”: Unvaccinated Australians Told They’ll Remain Under Lockdown

Australians who have not received a COVID-19 vaccine will remain under lockdown indefinitely while those who have been jabbed will see some of their freedoms return, as Premier Gladys Berejiklian told unjabbed Aussies, “You have been warned!”

The announcement was made during the same press conference in which Dr. Kerry Chant revealed that COVID contact tracing was part of the “New World Order”.

New South Wales officials unveiled a plan to slowly exit the region’s brutal lockdown, calling it a “roadmap to freedom,” although people who don’t take the vaccine won’t be included.

Once 70 per cent of Australian adults have been vaccinated, people will be allowed to host up to 5 people in their home if all are fully vaccinated (wow).

Up to 20 people will be able to gather outdoors and some domestic travel will be allowed.

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20 Years of Government-Sponsored Tyranny: The Rise of the Security-Industrial Complex from 9/11 to COVID-19

“I tell you, freedom and human rights in America are doomed. The U.S. government will lead the American people in — and the West in general — into an unbearable hell and a choking life.”—Osama bin Laden (October 2001), as reported by CNN

What a strange and harrowing road we’ve walked since September 11, 2001, littered with the debris of our once-vaunted liberties. We have gone from a nation that took great pride in being a model of a representative democracy to being a model of how to persuade a freedom-loving people to march in lockstep with a police state.

Our losses are mounting with every passing day.

What began with the post-9/11 passage of the USA Patriot Act  has snowballed into the eradication of every vital safeguard against government overreach, corruption and abuse.

The citizenry’s unquestioning acquiescence to anything the government wants to do in exchange for the phantom promise of safety and security has resulted in a society where the nation has been locked down into a militarized, mechanized, hypersensitive, legalistic, self-righteous, goose-stepping antithesis of every principle upon which this nation was founded.

Set against a backdrop of government surveillance, militarized police, SWAT team raids, asset forfeiture, eminent domain, overcriminalization, armed surveillance drones, whole body scanners, stop and frisk searches, police violence and the like—all of which have been sanctioned by Congress, the White House and the courts—our constitutional freedoms have been steadily chipped away at, undermined, eroded, whittled down, and generally discarded.

The rights embodied in the Constitution, if not already eviscerated, are on life support.

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Vietnamese man gets 5 years in jail for spreading Covid

A man in Vietnam has received a 5 year jail sentence for breaking home quarantine rules and spreading Covid. 28 year old Le Van Tri has been convicted of “spreading dangerous infectious diseases to other people” after he went to his home province in Ca Mau from Ho Chi Minh City in July, says the Vietnam News Agency.

Le Van had been accused of breaking a 21 day home quarantine when he travelled to Ca Mau. He tested positive for Covid on July 7. The 28 year old’s decision to leave quarantine had dangerous consequences for his fellow citizens.

“Tri’s breach of the home medical quarantine regulation led to many people becoming infected with Covid-19 and one person died on 7 August 2021,” says the court report.

In contrast to the court report, Vietnam’s state media says 8 people died from the man’s negligence. Throughout the last year, Covid numbers remained low in Vietnam. Now, Vietnam is facing their worst Covid outbreak since the pandemic started. They have reported almost 540,000 infections and over 13,000 deaths. Most of the infections and deaths have come since the end of April. Both Vietnam’s capital Hanoi, and Ho Chi Minh City have been under a tight lockdown for the last couple of months.

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“Nothing To Hide” – A Poor Excuse To Justify Surveillance

Many people claim they have nothing to hide and use that as the reason they don’t object to the expanding web of surveillance being weaved over them. These people ignore the fact we are surrendering our right to freedom when we as a society go down this path. The reality is that when someone knows all about you and your deepest thought they gain tremendous power over you. This is directly linked to the ability to control you.

This weekend on a short trip I came across a couple of annoying examples of the government dirtying the waters and making our lives more difficult and less free. These include turning parts of the interstate system into a toll road then not taking cash as payment and so-called “photo enforcement” of traffic laws. While many states have gone to using cameras to some extent for enforcing traffic laws, the practice remains highly controversial. Whether it is incorporated in the notion of reducing labor, streamlining the system, or ending counterfeiting or money laundering, the above can complicate our life. Tech is not the gift of freedom many people think. It could be said we are being boxed in and many of our options are not being preserved.

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U.S. Capitol Police Tell Federal Court January 6 Disturbance Videos Are Not Public Records

Judicial Watch announced today the U.S. Capitol Police seeks to shut down a public records lawsuit for January 6 disturbance video and emails by arguing to a federal court that the requested are “not public records.”

Judicial Watch filed the lawsuit in February 2021 under the common law right of access to public records after the Capitol Police refused to provide any records in response to a January 21, 2021, request for:

  • Email communications between the U.S. Capitol Police Executive Team and the Capitol Police Board concerning the security of the Capitol on January 6, 2021. The timeframe of this request is from January 1, 2021 through January 10, 2021.
  • Email communications of the Capitol Police Board with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security concerning the security of the Capitol on January 6, 2021. The timeframe of this request is from January 1, 2021 through January 10, 2021.
  • All video footage from within the Capitol between 12 pm and 9 pm on January 6, 2021.

Regarding withholding the videos, the Capitol Police told the court:

The USCP’s camera security system, including footage recorded by it within the Capitol and sought by [Judicial Watch], is solely for national security and law enforcement purposes.

Access to video footage from the USCP’s camera security system is limited to narrow circumstances and strictly controlled by USCP policy.

The USCP has not made any public disclosures of video footage from January 6 from its camera security system.

There are currently pending criminal investigations and prosecutions of individuals involved in the events at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.

There are currently pending congressional investigations into the events at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.

In its motion, the Capitol Police also argues the case should be closed because, among other assertions, even if the records Judicial Watch asks for are “public records,” the USCP’s interests in confidentiality “outweigh any public interest in those materials.”

It also claims not to have access to many of the emails sought by Judicial Watch.

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Victoria, Australia will ‘LOCK OUT’ unvaccinated people from its economy

The Australian state of Victoria will “lock out” unvaccinated people from participating in the economy, Premier Dan Andrews has announced.

Victoria is currently under draconian lockdown restrictions, with residents of Melbourne – who make up the vast majority of the state’s population – living under a 9pm to 5am curfew, forbidden from leaving their homes except to work, buy groceries, or get a Covid-19 vaccination. When the lockdown is lifted, Premier Dan Andrews said on Sunday, future restrictions will apply only to those who are unvaccinated.

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Gov’t Threatens Kodak Black with Cease and Desist Over Donating AC Units to Housing Projects

In July of this year, as residents of the Golden Acres Projects sweltered in their homes during an oppresive Florida heatwave, rapper Kodak Black decided to step in and help them out. On the 4th of July, Black arrived in the neighborhood with a truck full of 100 AC units to hand out. He went door to door himself to hand out the units.

“We out here passing out AC units, helping install them,” Kodak said in a video posted to social media. “We do it for the projects, we do it for the projects. The people relying on just enough cash to survive. We’ll get you all ACs man, we out here.”

Many of the residents were brought to tears by the kind act which may have quite literally saved some of their lives.

“A lot of times people get it twisted. They be like, ‘Man, Kodak sleep, Kodak this, Kodak that.’ Well check this out. Kodak back in his hood, man, giving back. It’s nothing new. You just happen to be a part of it today, that’s it.”

While the community celebrated their new AC units and the fact that they could now cool their homes, the government was working behind the scenes to do what government does.

Fast forward to this month and the Housing Authority of Pompano Beach made sure that no good deed goes unpunished. TMZ reports the Housing Authority of Pompano Beach issued a cease and desist letter to Kodak, claiming that he caused “disturbances” when delivering air-conditioning units to a housing project in July.

“Your actions have adversely impacted the Property’s residents’ right to peacefully enjoy the property,” the letter reads, according to TMZ.

The authority also claimed that the rapper’s subsequent music video, which was shot in the same location, also caused a “disturbance.”

Others disagree, however, and Black’s attorney, Bradford Cohen, responded with a letter of his own reprimanding the housing authority for their “wish to stop the assistance to the elderly and underprivileged during a heat wave and 2 year pandemic.”

The Libertarian Party VP candidate for 2020, Spike Cohen, also shared some harsh words about the government’s response to a rapper donating AC units to those in need.

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