Wednesday Morning Breakfast For the Brain

Good morning Deplorables, the lockdown is spreading.

Draconian Lockdown Powers: It’s a Slippery Slope from Handwashing to House Arrest

By John W. Whitehead

“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms — to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”—Viktor Frankl

We still have choices.

Just because we’re fighting an unseen enemy in the form of a virus doesn’t mean we have to relinquish every shred of our humanity, our common sense, or our freedoms to a nanny state that thinks it can do a better job of keeping us safe.

Whatever we give up willingly now—whether it’s basic human decency, the ability to manage our private affairs, the right to have a say in how the government navigates this crisis, or the few rights still left to us that haven’t been disemboweled in recent years by a power-hungry police state—we won’t get back so easily once this crisis is past.

The government never cedes power willingly.

Neither should we.

Every day brings a drastic new set of restrictions by government bodies (most have been delivered by way of executive orders) at the local, state and federal level that are eager to flex their muscles for the so-called “good” of the populace.

This is where we run the risk of this whole fly-by-night operation going completely off the rails.

It’s one thing to attempt an experiment in social distancing in order to flatten the curve of this virus because we can’t afford to risk overwhelming the hospitals and exposing the most vulnerable in the nation to unavoidable loss of life scenarios. However, there’s a fine line between strongly worded suggestions for citizens to voluntarily stay at home and strong-armed house arrest orders with penalties in place for non-compliance.

More than three-quarters of all Americans have now been ordered to stay at home and that number is growing as more states fall in line.

Schools have cancelled physical classes, many for the remainder of the academic year.

Many of the states have banned gatherings of more than 10 people.

At least three states (Nevada, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania) have ordered non-essential businesses to close.

In Washington, DC, residents face 90 days in jail and a $5,000 fine if they leave their homes during the coronavirus outbreak. Residents of Maryland, Hawaii and Washington State also risk severe penalties of up to a year in prison and a $5,000 fine for violating the stay-at-home orders. Violators in Alaska could face jail time and up to $25,000 in fines.

Kentucky residents are prohibited from traveling outside the state, with a few exceptions.

New York City, the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in the U.S., is offering its Rikers Island prisoners $6 an hour to help dig mass graves.

In San Francisco, cannabis dispensaries were included among the essential businesses allowed to keep operating during the city-wide lockdown.

New Jersey’s governor canceled gatherings of any number, including parties, weddings and religious ceremonies, and warned the restrictions could continue for weeks or months. One city actually threatened to prosecute residents who spread false information about the virus.

Oregon banned all nonessential social and recreational gatherings, regardless of size.

Rhode Island has given police the go-ahead to pull over anyone with New York license plates to record their contact information and order them to self-quarantine for 14 days.

South Carolina’s police have been empowered to break up any public gatherings of more than three people.

Of course, there are exceptions to all of these stay-at-home orders (in more than 30 states and counting), the longest of which runs until June 10. Essential workers (doctors, firefighters, police and grocery store workers) can go to work. Everyone else will have to fit themselves into a variety of exceptions in order to leave their homes: for grocery runs, doctor visits, to get exercise, to visit a family member, etc.

Throughout the country, more than 14,000 “Citizen-Soldiers” of the National Guard have been mobilized to support the states and the federal government in their fight against the coronavirus. While the Guard officials insist they have not been tasked with martial law, they are coordinating with the Pentagon, FEMA and the states/territories on COVID-19 response missions.

Read the entire article HERE.

Did COVID-19 Originate in a Chinese Lab? And Why Is It Crazy to Ask?

Via PJ Media

First things first: I’m not a scientist. I’m just a guy who reads a lot and has a keyboard and an Internet connection. Most likely the same as you, Dear Reader.

Although it might go without saying, nothing about the current global pandemic feels right. We’ve seen viral outbreaks before, SARS and H1N1 and the like, but nothing like this. The whole world didn’t grind to a halt over SARS. The last time a pandemic hit the world this hard was over a century ago, and it’s a very different world than it was in 1918. The average American has access to a lot more information. We also have a lot more access to misinformation, if not outright disinformation. So it can be difficult to separate fact from fiction.

And speaking of fiction, last weekend CNN’s Reliable Sources interviewed novelist Stephen King for his take on the coronavirus outbreak. King’s 1978 novel The Stand depicted a world in which a deadly supervirus escaped from a government lab and ravaged the entire globe. If Stephen King is a “reliable source,” if Brian Stelter thought he was important enough to bring on the air in the middle of this disaster, then should we really close our minds to the possibility, however remote, that this real-life virus might be manmade?

That’s what Tucker Carlson asked on his show yesterday:

Read the entire article HERE.

Seattle Police Chief Tells People To Call 911 If They Hear ‘Racist Name-Calling’

Via Reason

Don’t the authorities have better things to do with their time right now?

Seattle’s top cop may want to get her priorities straightened out. In the midst of the global COVID-19 pandemic, Police Chief Carmen Best used her most recent “chief’s brief” update on the coronavirus crisis to urge residents to dial 911 if they are the victims of racist name-calling.

It’s a time-wasting imperative—and one that’s at odds with the First Amendment.

In her briefing, Best called upon the expertise of a former local news anchor, Lori Matsukawa.

“Hate crimes have no place in our community,” said Matsukawa. “We are all trying to deal with the COVID-19 public health crisis together. If you are a victim of a hate crime or hate-based harassment, please call 911.”

“We will document and investigate every reported hate crime,” Best continued. “Even racist name-calling should be reported to police. If you aren’t sure if a hate crime occurred, call 911. We are here to help.”

Telling people to report racist name-calling to the police is thus bad advice. At best, it’s wasting police officers’ time. But it can actually lead to far worse consequences: Inviting the police to intervene in speech-based disputes between people is a recipe for disaster. Teachers, counselors, and parents, for instance, could reasonably interpret Best’s remarks as an obligation for them to call the cops on kids who use derogatory language. Over-criminalization of teenage misbehavior in schools is one result of the mindset that people—even kids—causing each other offense ought to be a matter for the police to handle.

Read the entire article HERE.

Idaho first state to ban sex change on birth records, males in women’s sports

Via The Christian Post

Becoming the first state in the nation to do so, Idaho has adopted legislation banning transgender-identifying individuals from altering their sex marker on their birth certificates and another preserving women’s athletics as female-only.

Late Monday, Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed two bills into law amid growing resistance to transgender ideology in politically conservative state legislatures. The bills are called the “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act” and the “Vital Statistics Act.”

The sports bill would require high school-aged girls to prove their sex through a physical exam, DNA test or testosterone levels test in order to participate in high school sports. The statistics bill requires birth records and other relevant official documents to note the biological sex of a person, rejecting a previous federal court ruling which held that banning birth certificate alterations is unconstitutional.

“I applaud Governor Little for setting a precedent and standing up for females by signing the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act. We should not force females to compete against males, it’s that simple,” said Beth Stelzer, founder of the nonpartisan Save Women’s Sports, in an email to The Christian Post on Tuesday.

“Women and girls deserve sex-segregated sports teams and locker rooms. I believe this is the start of our government turning in favor of the truth; there are two sexes, they are immutable, and biological sex cannot be conflated with ‘gender identity.'”

The American Civil Liberties Union promised to fight the new laws.

Read the entire article HERE.

Kennedy Center Furloughs Employees After Accepting $25 Million In Federal Relief

Via The Federalist

After Pelosi fought tooth and nail to allocate $25 million in relief funding to the Kennedy Center, they axed the National Symphony Orchestra from payroll.

A new report from RealClearPolitics finds the Kennedy Center intends to furlough 60 percent of their full-time employees after already furloughing approximately 725 part-time staff members. Staff changes come after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi fought tooth and nail to allocate $25 million in relief funding to the Kennedy Center in the “CARES Act” coronavirus bailout bill.

According to the law’s text, the funds provided by the CARES Act should be used to cover operating expenses required to ensure the continuity of the Kennedy Center and its affiliates, including for employee compensation and benefits, grants, contracts, payments for rent or utilities, fees for artists or performers, information technology, and other administrative expenses.

Despite measures in the CARES Act to prevent unemployement, the performing arts center axed the National Symphony Orchestra from payroll beginning April 3. According to emails obtained by the Washington Free Beacon, nearly 100 musicians will no longer receive a paycheck despite the $25 million taxpayer bailout.

“Everyone should proceed as if their last paycheck will be April 3. We understand this will come [as a] shock to all of you, as it did to us,” the email reads.

On March 31, the Kennedy Center also laid off approximately 20 administrative staffers who worked with the National Symphony Orchestra.

Read the entire article HERE.

Teachers Urge Government To Reopen Schools Before Students Learn To Think For Themselves

Via The Babylon Bee (Satire)

U.S.—Teachers at government schools have raised their concerns that the recent closure of their institutions will have a damaging effect on students. In particular, the nation’s educators are worried that the longer the schools are closed, the more likely it is that students will begin thinking for themselves, learn life skills away from the government school system, and realize how much more they learn at home.

“We must reopen as soon as possible — before they regain their ability to have independent thoughts,” said New York 4th-grade teacher Ms. Jenny Mudd. “This is an urgent crisis. We realize we have to do our part to prevent the spread of the virus, but we must also prevent the spread of unapproved ideas. There’s a balance there.”

“Reopen the schools before it is too late.”

Sure enough, studies have already shown a strong correlation between everyone being homeschooled and a concerning spike in independent thought. Students who have been away from the government school system for even a week stop feeling depressed and anxious all the time and even show a shocking increase in the ability to form thoughts and ideas not approved by the government.

Teachers have further pointed out that parents aren’t properly equipped to indoctrinate their children with government propaganda. “I went to school for eight years to be able to do this,” said Portland kindergarten teacher Ms. Pinkerton. “Parents just don’t have the experience of stuffing kids’ heads full of a statist worldview seven hours a day like I do.”

Check out all of the Bee’s takes on politics and society HERE.

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