They had all the prior knowledge and advice about how to handle it that they needed way back in January. And did nothing.
And here Scott Sumner has a great summary of the government’s failings in this crisis.
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This is Your Security Force
From the Free Thought Project: WATCH: Cops Violate Social Distancing to Arrest Innocent Dad for Playing in a Park with 6yo Daughter
Brighton, CO — Over the weekend, Matt Mooney, his wife, and their 6-year-old daughter were playing t-ball at an empty park when a half dozen cops showed up and kidnapped Mooney. The family was not in violation of any law, were obeying social distancing mandates, and had harmed absolutely no one.
Mooney tells TFTP that the city issued an order that all parks were closed during the COVID-19 shutdown. However, the open spaces at the parks were still accessible as long as certain rules were followed. In fact, the sign at the park at which Mooney and his family were playing read as follows: “Closed” but just below that part, the sign reads, “in groups of no more than 4 persons, parks remain open for walking, hiking, biking, running and similar activities.”
Mooney was in a group of three and violated none of the park’s or city’s rules. The only people violating the social distancing guidelines were the cops who showed up to arrest him.
Read the rest and watch the video here.
Year Zero 108: Listener Questions
Last week a listener had some questions and I figured if everyone else can make an episode out of listener questions I can too.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Plasma From Coronavirus Survivors Helps Severely Ill Patients
“Doctors have found tentative evidence that seriously ill coronavirus patients can benefit from infusions of blood plasma collected from people who have recovered from the disease.”
A Dog that Didn’t Bark
Not so long ago we might have been seeing public-service announcements like this:
For the duration of the pandemic, please use the internet and your cell phone for essential purposes only. It is imperative that we keep the bandwidth open for emergency use. Thank you for your cooperation.
Israel Health Minister Who Claimed Coronavirus Was ‘Divine Punishment’ Against Gays Has It
Laughing Gas Vs. Coronavirus?
Netanyahu and Gantz Agree On West Bank Annexation Plan
From Haaretz
Netanyahu and Gantz have agreed on a plan to annex the West Bank. All that’s left is to negotiate the details and pass the plan in the Knesset.
“Once approved by the cabinet, a proposal to apply Israeli sovereignty over parts of the West Bank would also require approval by the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, and then the full Knesset.”
Right-wing settler parties have expressed concern that language in the proposal requires American approval first:
“Gantz and Netanyahu, until recently political rivals who faced off in Israel’s March 2 election, agreed that Netanyahu would be able to bring a proposal for annexing parts of the West Bank to a cabinet vote this summer, but only if the United States backs the move and if it is done in coordination with other international players.”
“Yamina also alleged that the wording in the proposed coalition agreement on applying sovereignty to parts of the West Bank is “vague” and “doesn’t say anything, and even worse, it postpones sovereignty until too close to the U.S. elections, which casts a heavy shadow over the possibility of getting American consent for the move.”
I doubt Netanyahu is too concerned about the Trump administration. Trump needs his base of Evangelical Christians and the AIPAC crowd to turn out in big numbers for the election; he is not going to stand in the way of this. Israel will annex the West Bank and the Palestinians living in the west Bank will not be given Israeli citizenship. They will be treated as a conquered people – subjugated to the nation of Israel with no voice.
As Professor Yuval Shaney at Lawfare blog writes:
“the annexation plans will perpetuate Israel’s control over large parts of the West Bank, effectively subjecting the Palestinian residents living next to the annexed areas to its authority on a day-to-day and permanent basis. These residents will be dependent on Israel regarding their movement and in connection to their basic rights to health, work, family life and more. Involuntarily subjecting a large local population to the power and authority of a foreign state—without providing that population with the right to naturalize and to partake in the design of government policies that affect daily life—raises significant questions of democratic legitimacy.”
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