wnd--2020-04-27--Ché would be proud: Authoritarianism has weakened the People

Note : Dr. Singleton is a member of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons , AAPS .
It seems like some folks have used the ghost of Ernesto `` Ché '' Guevara as their guide through the COVID-19 epidemic in the United States .
Said Ché : `` To send men to the firing squad [ job loss , suicide , substance abuse ] , judicial [ scientific ] proof is unnecessary .
… This is a revolution !
And a revolutionary must become a cold killing machine motivated by pure hate [ of President Trump ] . ''
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Forty-three percent of U.S. adults and 52 percent of low-income adults say they or someone in their household has lost a job or taken a pay cut due to the outbreak .
How can any American stuck at home not be disgusted by politicians who are still collecting their full paychecks while the middle class and working poor descend into an abyss ?
To be fair , Michigan 's governor announced that she would take a 10 percent pay cut in solidarity with the people who had a 100 percent pay cut @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the government 's oft times contradictory mandates .
A Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that despite the disruption of their lives , 80 percent of Americans say strict shelter-in-place measures are worth it to protect people .
This blind acquiescence is evidenced by unthinking people wearing masks while driving alone in their cars with closed windows .
And perversely , designer face masks are proliferating .
Wearing a mask is a sometimes necessary , serious , unpleasant thing to do .
It is not fun .
It is not cute .
It is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ caused panic about the coronavirus in the U.S. via text messages falsely saying President Trump was imminently going to lock down the entire country .
The media are complicit in the hysteria .
Again , Ché Guevara had it right : `` Foreign reporters – preferably American – were much more valuable to us at that time than any military victory .
Much more valuable than recruits for our guerrilla force , were American media recruits to export our propaganda . ''
Media hacks are collecting their paychecks to scare our bodily fluids @ @ @ @ @ @ @ day out , COVID , COVID , COVID .
We 're all going to die !
( Of course , they do n't discuss the 1,300 people a day who die of complications of high blood pressure . )
COVID-19 's angel of death spares most people : 80 percent of COVID-19 deaths occurred among persons aged 60 years and over ; about 25 percent of all deaths were sick and elderly residents of long-term care facilities ; nearly 90 percent of persons hospitalized have one or more underlying medical conditions .
Oddly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ death toll by including not only people who died due to COVID-19 but those who died of other causes and had the virus that causes COVID-19 in their system .
Antibody testing studies in Santa Clara and Los Angeles ( California ) and Miami Dade ( Florida ) counties revealed that infection with the virus that causes COVID-19 is more widespread than indicated by the number of confirmed cases .
The mortality is likely 0.1 percent ( like the seasonal flu ) .
Many researchers concluded that the data indicated that the virus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ infected but likely not die , and the population may develop immunity .
The tyrants-in-waiting use the data to mandate lockdowns until every last vestige of COVID-19 has disappeared from the face of the earth or a vaccine materializes – which may be never .
Americans have been terrified into accepting tyranny and poverty , softened with assurances that the current state of affairs is `` normal . ''
The airwaves ' constant blare of `` we 're all in this together '' does not make it so .
Some people remain more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Pelosi with her $ 24,000 refrigerator filled with $ 13 a pint ice cream that she `` gets by '' on .
Or professional athletes who received their elective surgeries while the rest of the peasants were denied their cancer treatment or the treatment of a painful joint .
Or the TV star who complained about being `` in jail '' in her $ 45 million home .
Meanwhile , liquor sales are up 55 percent ; calls to suicide hotlines and suicides have dramatically increased ; domestic violence is rising ; and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ since the virus consumed our lives .
We are on the path to becoming fat , depressed , drunken wife-beaters .
We are told to ignore statistics because every death is tragic .
If the lockdowns persist , every life is a tragedy in the making .
This epidemic has become the opportunity to change the U.S. from a free , energetic , resourceful individualistic society to an authoritarian , collectivist society of broken souls addicted to government largesse .
To wit , a Los Angeles version of wealth redistribution : People ca @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their rent .
The mom and pop landlords ca n't pay their property taxes .
The city then buys the `` distressed '' properties from desperate landlords at cut-rate prices and turns them over to the homeless .

Note: Dr. Singleton is a member of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, AAPS.
It seems like some folks have used the ghost of Ernesto "Ché" Guevara as their guide through the COVID-19 epidemic in the United States. Said Ché: "To send men to the firing squad [job loss, suicide, substance abuse], judicial [scientific] proof is unnecessary. … This is a revolution! And a revolutionary must become a cold killing machine motivated by pure hate [of President Trump]."
Apparently, Ché was on to something. Forty-three percent of U.S. adults and 52 percent of low-income adults say they or someone in their household has lost a job or taken a pay cut due to the outbreak. How can any American stuck at home not be disgusted by politicians who are still collecting their full paychecks while the middle class and working poor descend into an abyss? To be fair, Michigan's governor announced that she would take a 10 percent pay cut in solidarity with the people who had a 100 percent pay cut. Nonetheless, many have unquestionably accepted the government's oft times contradictory mandates.
A Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that despite the disruption of their lives, 80 percent of Americans say strict shelter-in-place measures are worth it to protect people. This blind acquiescence is evidenced by unthinking people wearing masks while driving alone in their cars with closed windows. And perversely, designer face masks are proliferating. Wearing a mask is a sometimes necessary, serious, unpleasant thing to do. It is not fun. It is not cute.
It is not only the evil Chinese Communists that caused panic about the coronavirus in the U.S. via text messages falsely saying President Trump was imminently going to lock down the entire country. The media are complicit in the hysteria. Again, Ché Guevara had it right: "Foreign reporters – preferably American – were much more valuable to us at that time than any military victory. Much more valuable than recruits for our guerrilla force, were American media recruits to export our propaganda."
TRENDING: Is this the 'Final Battle'?
Media hacks are collecting their paychecks to scare our bodily fluids out of us with day in, day out, COVID, COVID, COVID. We're all going to die! (Of course, they don't discuss the 1,300 people a day who die of complications of high blood pressure.)
COVID-19's angel of death spares most people: 80 percent of COVID-19 deaths occurred among persons aged 60 years and over; about 25 percent of all deaths were sick and elderly residents of long-term care facilities; nearly 90 percent of persons hospitalized have one or more underlying medical conditions. Oddly, the CDC is boosting the official death toll by including not only people who died due to COVID-19 but those who died of other causes and had the virus that causes COVID-19 in their system.
Antibody testing studies in Santa Clara and Los Angeles (California) and Miami Dade (Florida) counties revealed that infection with the virus that causes COVID-19 is more widespread than indicated by the number of confirmed cases. The mortality is likely 0.1 percent (like the seasonal flu). Many researchers concluded that the data indicated that the virus is widely circulating, we will get infected but likely not die, and the population may develop immunity. The tyrants-in-waiting use the data to mandate lockdowns until every last vestige of COVID-19 has disappeared from the face of the earth or a vaccine materializes – which may be never.
Americans have been terrified into accepting tyranny and poverty, softened with assurances that the current state of affairs is "normal." The airwaves' constant blare of "we're all in this together" does not make it so. Some people remain more equal than others. Just ask Nancy Pelosi with her $24,000 refrigerator filled with $13 a pint ice cream that she "gets by" on. Or professional athletes who received their elective surgeries while the rest of the peasants were denied their cancer treatment or the treatment of a painful joint. Or the TV star who complained about being "in jail" in her $45 million home.
Meanwhile, liquor sales are up 55 percent; calls to suicide hotlines and suicides have dramatically increased; domestic violence is rising; and anti-anxiety medication prescriptions are up 34 percent since the virus consumed our lives. We are on the path to becoming fat, depressed, drunken wife-beaters. We are told to ignore statistics because every death is tragic. If the lockdowns persist, every life is a tragedy in the making.
This epidemic has become the opportunity to change the U.S. from a free, energetic, resourceful individualistic society to an authoritarian, collectivist society of broken souls addicted to government largesse. To wit, a Los Angeles version of wealth redistribution: People can't work so they can't pay their rent. The mom and pop landlords can't pay their property taxes. The city then buys the "distressed" properties from desperate landlords at cut-rate prices and turns them over to the homeless.
Ché would be proud.


wnd--2020-04-27--On forming an underground church

On forming an underground church

My recent WND column `` It 's not to early to preparing for the underground church '' generated a lot of response from readers wanting to know where to find such a church near them , or how to start one .
This article will address both questions .
To reiterate , we 're not yet at the stage where going underground is necessary , so we have the luxury of doing our planning and organizing out in the open , but the cultural trajectory we 're on as a nation suggests our window of freedom may be closing , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
1 .
Any Christian believer has the authority to start a `` church , '' which is more precisely a congregation , since the true church is the universal ( small `` c '' catholic ) body of believers everywhere .
If we have accepted Christ , the Holy Spirit dwells within us as a constantly accessible guide to all truth , backed by the Bible , His Living Word .
The Bible prescribes who should lead a congregation ( essentially men of good character ) , but anyone can start one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` church '' in this sense .
2 .
Nearly everything we think of as `` church life , '' from dress codes , to orders of service , to systems of administration , to the design of church buildings , is human invention , not biblically mandated .
The real `` church '' of God is simply the gathering or two or more people in His name , to do the things He does mandate , which are detailed in the four Gospels and the Epistles , grounded in the Old Testament @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of those things as a fellowship , rather than alone , was the essence of church life in the earliest days of Christianity .
3 .
The best model we have for the underground church is the house church , and there are already tens if not hundreds of thousands of house churches in America , reflecting a great diversity of styles and doctrinal emphases .
Ask around to find house churches near you and visit a few before you start your own , or you might decide just to join an existing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a church as `` underground . ''
4 .
The primary difference of an underground church is secrecy , not by preference but necessity .
The church only goes underground to avoid the persecution it would otherwise face if it gathered openly .
This approach runs counter to today 's church emphasis on advertising one 's growth as a measure of success , but will be necessary in a time of severe persecution .
5 .
The method for operating with minimum risk to members is the secret cell group .
Each small @ @ @ @ @ @ @ membership of the cell is not disclosed .
Cell group leaders can interact to share information and maintain the broader network of believers , but individual members of one cell do n't know the identity of the members of other cells , and they are thus safer from a predatory government .
Large pre-COVID-19 congregations can reconfigure themselves as a collection of such cells and retain some measure of cohesiveness and pastoral supervision .
6 .
Church growth is not measured by numbers gathered together in one location , but by the increase @ @ @ @ @ @ @ approach occurs when individual members of a cell group go off to create their own new cells – often continuing to gather with their original group as well .
This creates a fabric of personal interconnections across the body of believers .
7 .
What binds all of the cells together is the Bible itself .
Importantly , the underground church hides and protects caches of Bibles , knowing that destruction of Bibles is often a priority of anti-Christian governments .
Biblical literacy and Scripture memorization should be highly valued in the underground @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be available .
8 .
The means of avoiding government scrutiny is going low or no tech .
This concept is especially foreign in our present social media era , but if ( or when ) the crackdown comes , the only truly secure communications will be live person to person conversations and hand-written notes and letters passed between trusted friends .
And , knowing whether people can be trusted will come down to spiritual discernment – helped by the biblical litmus test for sincerity : asserting `` Jesus is Lord ! ''
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ every encounter among those purporting to be Christians in the underground church era , and we should all start using it now to identify fellow Remnant believers .
Instead of a handshake , point up , and say `` Jesus is Lord ! ''
9 .
The underground church will be the survival network for its members and converts .
If `` buying and selling '' becomes impossible without , for example , an identity card saying you 've been `` vaccinated , '' noncompliance may depend on having an alternate `` black @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a barter system .
Stockpiling of basic necessities and tradable commodities should begin now .
10 .
Some suffering is inevitable if things get so bad that the church must go underground , but the blessings of family and Christian fellowship are the best remedy for whatever may come , especially when believers are constantly reminding each other of the true purpose and meaning of that season : the birth pangs are temporary and the Lord is coming soon .
My First Century Bible Church will be developing resources for those interested in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and politically `` woke '' pastors and other Christian leaders in our Revolutionary Remnant Regiment .
To get on my list for either purpose , just send me an email at [ email protected ] saying `` Jesus is Lord ! ''

My recent WND column "It's not to early to preparing for the underground church" generated a lot of response from readers wanting to know where to find such a church near them, or how to start one. This article will address both questions. To reiterate, we're not yet at the stage where going underground is necessary, so we have the luxury of doing our planning and organizing out in the open, but the cultural trajectory we're on as a nation suggests our window of freedom may be closing, so prudence dictates we should act now.
First, a few general observations.
1. Any Christian believer has the authority to start a "church," which is more precisely a congregation, since the true church is the universal (small "c" catholic) body of believers everywhere. If we have accepted Christ, the Holy Spirit dwells within us as a constantly accessible guide to all truth, backed by the Bible, His Living Word. The Bible prescribes who should lead a congregation (essentially men of good character), but anyone can start one. Even a Bible study is a "church" in this sense.
2. Nearly everything we think of as "church life," from dress codes, to orders of service, to systems of administration, to the design of church buildings, is human invention, not biblically mandated. The real "church" of God is simply the gathering or two or more people in His name, to do the things He does mandate, which are detailed in the four Gospels and the Epistles, grounded in the Old Testament. Gathering together to pursue greater understanding of those things as a fellowship, rather than alone, was the essence of church life in the earliest days of Christianity.
3. The best model we have for the underground church is the house church, and there are already tens if not hundreds of thousands of house churches in America, reflecting a great diversity of styles and doctrinal emphases. Ask around to find house churches near you and visit a few before you start your own, or you might decide just to join an existing one.
TRENDING: Is this the 'Final Battle'?
Now some things that define a church as "underground."
4. The primary difference of an underground church is secrecy, not by preference but necessity. The church only goes underground to avoid the persecution it would otherwise face if it gathered openly. This approach runs counter to today's church emphasis on advertising one's growth as a measure of success, but will be necessary in a time of severe persecution.
5. The method for operating with minimum risk to members is the secret cell group. Each small congregation is a cell, and the membership of the cell is not disclosed. Cell group leaders can interact to share information and maintain the broader network of believers, but individual members of one cell don't know the identity of the members of other cells, and they are thus safer from a predatory government. Large pre-COVID-19 congregations can reconfigure themselves as a collection of such cells and retain some measure of cohesiveness and pastoral supervision.
6. Church growth is not measured by numbers gathered together in one location, but by the increase of cell groups. This organic church approach occurs when individual members of a cell group go off to create their own new cells – often continuing to gather with their original group as well. This creates a fabric of personal interconnections across the body of believers.
7. What binds all of the cells together is the Bible itself. Importantly, the underground church hides and protects caches of Bibles, knowing that destruction of Bibles is often a priority of anti-Christian governments. Biblical literacy and Scripture memorization should be highly valued in the underground church for times when no Bible may be available.
8. The means of avoiding government scrutiny is going low or no tech. This concept is especially foreign in our present social media era, but if (or when) the crackdown comes, the only truly secure communications will be live person to person conversations and hand-written notes and letters passed between trusted friends. And, knowing whether people can be trusted will come down to spiritual discernment – helped by the biblical litmus test for sincerity: asserting "Jesus is Lord!" This should be the formal greeting at every encounter among those purporting to be Christians in the underground church era, and we should all start using it now to identify fellow Remnant believers. Instead of a handshake, point up, and say "Jesus is Lord!"
9. The underground church will be the survival network for its members and converts. If "buying and selling" becomes impossible without, for example, an identity card saying you've been "vaccinated," noncompliance may depend on having an alternate "black market" to rely on, including a barter system. Stockpiling of basic necessities and tradable commodities should begin now.
10. Some suffering is inevitable if things get so bad that the church must go underground, but the blessings of family and Christian fellowship are the best remedy for whatever may come, especially when believers are constantly reminding each other of the true purpose and meaning of that season: the birth pangs are temporary and the Lord is coming soon.
My First Century Bible Church will be developing resources for those interested in the underground church network and organizing prophetically and politically "woke" pastors and other Christian leaders in our Revolutionary Remnant Regiment.
To get on my list for either purpose, just send me an email at [email protected] saying "Jesus is Lord!"


wnd--2020-04-27--Not just Kanye: Another rapper goes for God, leads Bible study on Instagram Live

Rapper DMX hosted a Bible study on Instagram Live in which he invited people to receive Jesus Christ as their Savior .
The Daily Wire reported it may be an indication that `` the spiritual revolution that Kanye West promised among his fellow musicians '' is coming to `` fruition . ''
Last Friday , the “ Ruff Ryders ” singer led more than 14,000 viewers in a study of the well-known passage from Ecclesiastes chapter three in which Solomon says there is a season for everything .
`` The Word says my people perish for lack of knowledge .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s being lost , not being found , not being able to be found , '' he said .
`` God is giving you the time , he ’ s giving you the time , to get closer to Him , to become familiar with Him , '' the rapper said .
Of the coronavirus pandemic , he said : `` At the end of the day , at the beginning of the day , it ’ s going to be God ’ s will .
If you try to understand why @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ re just going to end up with a headache .
Just do the right thing . ''
The passage from Ecclesiastes says : There is an appointed time for everything .
And there is a time for every event under heaven— A time to give birth and a time to die ; A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted .
A time to kill and a time to heal ; A time to tear down and a time to build up .
A time to weep and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to mourn and a time to dance .
A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones ; A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing .
A time to search and a time to give up as lost ; A time to keep and a time to throw away .
A time to tear apart and a time to sew together ; A time to be silent and a time to speak .
A time to love and a time to hate ; A time for war and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Wire reported DMX has been open about his Christianity for several years .
On social media , one user said : `` More people would rather listen to a celebrity preach the word than their local church pastor .
Thank you DMX for being this kind of influence . ''
Another said : `` God bless u my brother .
John 3:16 . ''

Rapper DMX hosted a Bible study on Instagram Live in which he invited people to receive Jesus Christ as their Savior.
The Daily Wire reported it may be an indication that "the spiritual revolution that Kanye West promised among his fellow musicians" is coming to "fruition."
Last Friday, the “Ruff Ryders” singer led more than 14,000 viewers in a study of the well-known passage from Ecclesiastes chapter three in which Solomon says there is a season for everything.
"The Word says my people perish for lack of knowledge. Perish is not always dying. It’s being lost, not being found, not being able to be found," he said.
TRENDING: Is this the 'Final Battle'?
"God is giving you the time, he’s giving you the time, to get closer to Him, to become familiar with Him," the rapper said.
Of the coronavirus pandemic, he said: "At the end of the day, at the beginning of the day, it’s going to be God’s will. If you try to understand why He does what He does, you’re just going to end up with a headache. Just do the right thing."
See the video:
The passage from Ecclesiastes says:
There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven—
A time to give birth and a time to die;
A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.
A time to kill and a time to heal;
A time to tear down and a time to build up.
A time to weep and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn and a time to dance.
A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing.
A time to search and a time to give up as lost;
A time to keep and a time to throw away.
A time to tear apart and a time to sew together;
A time to be silent and a time to speak.
A time to love and a time to hate;
A time for war and a time for peace.
The Daily Wire reported DMX has been open about his Christianity for several years.
On social media, one user said: "More people would rather listen to a celebrity preach the word than their local church pastor. Thank you DMX for being this kind of influence."
Another said: "God bless u my brother. John 3:16."


wnd--2020-04-28--Our dress rehearsal for a police state

Our dress rehearsal for a police state

All my life , I have dismissed paranoids on the right ( `` America is headed to communism '' ) and the left ( `` It can happen here '' – referring to fascism ) .
It 's not that I 've ever believed liberty was guaranteed .
Being familiar with history and a pessimist regarding the human condition , I never believed that .
But the ease with which police state tactics have been employed and the equal ease with which most Americans have accepted them have been breathtaking .
People will argue that a temporary police state has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ threat to life posed by the new coronavirus .
I do not believe the data will bear that out .
Regardless , let us at least agree that we are closer to a police state than ever in American history .
`` Police state '' does not mean totalitarian state .
America is not a totalitarian state ; we still have many freedoms .
In a totalitarian state , this article could not be legally published , and if it were illegally published , I would be imprisoned and/or executed .
But we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the key hallmarks of a police state : The federal , state , county and city governments are now restricting almost every freedom except those of travel and speech .
Americans have been banned from going to work ( and thereby earning a living ) , meeting in groups ( both indoors and outdoors ) , meeting in their cars in church parking lots to pray and entering state-owned properties such as beaches and parks – among many other prohibitions .
No .
2 : A mass media supportive of the state 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ New York Times , CNN and every other mainstream mass medium – except Fox News , The Wall Street Journal ( editorial and opinion pages only ) and talk radio – have served the cause of state control over individual Americans ' lives just as Pravda served the Soviet government .
In fact , there is almost no more dissent in The New York Times than there was in Pravda .
And the Big Tech platforms are removing posts about the virus and potential treatments they deem `` misinformation . ''
No .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ departments throughout America have agreed to enforce these laws and edicts with what can only be described as frightening alacrity .
After hearing me describe police giving summonses to , or even arresting , people for playing baseball with their children on a beach , jogging alone without a mask , or worshiping on Easter while sitting isolated in their cars in a church parking lot , a police officer called my show .
He explained that the police have no choice .
They must respond to every dispatch they receive .
`` @ @ @ @ @ @ @ person jogging on a beach or sitting alone in a park ? ''
I asked .
Because the department was informed about these lawbreakers .
`` And who told the police about these lawbreakers ? ''
I asked .
His answer brings us to the fourth characteristic of a police state : How do the police dispatchers learn of lawbreakers such as families playing softball in a public park , lone joggers without face masks , etc.
?
From their fellow citizens snitching on them .
The mayor of New York City , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` snitch line , '' whereby New Yorkers were told to send authorities photos of fellow New Yorkers violating any of the quarantine laws .
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti similarly encouraged snitching , unabashedly using the term .
It is said that about 1 in every 100 East German citizens were informers for the Stasi , the East German secret police , as superbly portrayed in the film `` The Lives of Others . ''
It would be interesting , and , I think , important , to know what percentage of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Now , again , you may think such a comparison is not morally valid , that de Blasio 's call to New Yorkers to serve a Stasi-like role was morally justified given the coronavirus pandemic .
But you can not deny it is Stasi-like or that , other than identifying spies during World War II , this is unprecedented in American history at anywhere near this level .
This past Friday night , I gathered with six others for a Shabbat dinner with friends in Santa Monica , California .
On my @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would be doing that , and if I was arrested , it would be worth it .
In my most pessimistic dreams , I never imagined that in America , having dinner at a friend 's house would be an act of civil disobedience , perhaps even a criminal act .
But that is precisely what happens in a police state .
The reason I believe this is a dress rehearsal is that too many Americans appear untroubled by it ; the dominant force in America , the left , supports it , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ parties has been taken over by the left .
Democrats and their supporters have , in effect , announced they will use state power to enforce any law they can to combat the even greater `` existential '' crisis of global warming .
On the CNN website this weekend , in one of the most frightening and fanatical articles in an era of fanaticism , Bill Weir , CNN chief climate correspondent , wrote an open letter to his newborn son .
In it , he wrote of his idealized future for America @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , food , construction , transportation , economics and politics . ''
You can not get there without a police state .
If you love liberty , you must see that it is jeopardized more than at any time since America 's founding .
And that means , among other things , that at this time , a vote for any Democrat is a vote to end liberty .

All my life, I have dismissed paranoids on the right ("America is headed to communism") and the left ("It can happen here" – referring to fascism). It's not that I've ever believed liberty was guaranteed. Being familiar with history and a pessimist regarding the human condition, I never believed that.
But the ease with which police state tactics have been employed and the equal ease with which most Americans have accepted them have been breathtaking.
People will argue that a temporary police state has been justified because of the allegedly unique threat to life posed by the new coronavirus. I do not believe the data will bear that out. Regardless, let us at least agree that we are closer to a police state than ever in American history.
"Police state" does not mean totalitarian state. America is not a totalitarian state; we still have many freedoms. In a totalitarian state, this article could not be legally published, and if it were illegally published, I would be imprisoned and/or executed. But we are presently living with all four of the key hallmarks of a police state:
No. 1: Draconian laws depriving citizens of elementary civil rights.
TRENDING: Is this the 'Final Battle'?
The federal, state, county and city governments are now restricting almost every freedom except those of travel and speech. Americans have been banned from going to work (and thereby earning a living), meeting in groups (both indoors and outdoors), meeting in their cars in church parking lots to pray and entering state-owned properties such as beaches and parks – among many other prohibitions.
No. 2: A mass media supportive of the state's messaging and deprivation of rights.
The New York Times, CNN and every other mainstream mass medium – except Fox News, The Wall Street Journal (editorial and opinion pages only) and talk radio – have served the cause of state control over individual Americans' lives just as Pravda served the Soviet government. In fact, there is almost no more dissent in The New York Times than there was in Pravda. And the Big Tech platforms are removing posts about the virus and potential treatments they deem "misinformation."
No. 3: Use of police.
Police departments throughout America have agreed to enforce these laws and edicts with what can only be described as frightening alacrity. After hearing me describe police giving summonses to, or even arresting, people for playing baseball with their children on a beach, jogging alone without a mask, or worshiping on Easter while sitting isolated in their cars in a church parking lot, a police officer called my show. He explained that the police have no choice. They must respond to every dispatch they receive.
"And why are they dispatched to a person jogging on a beach or sitting alone in a park?" I asked.
Because the department was informed about these lawbreakers.
"And who told the police about these lawbreakers?" I asked.
His answer brings us to the fourth characteristic of a police state:
No. 4: Snitches.
How do the police dispatchers learn of lawbreakers such as families playing softball in a public park, lone joggers without face masks, etc.? From their fellow citizens snitching on them. The mayor of New York City, Bill de Blasio, set up a "snitch line," whereby New Yorkers were told to send authorities photos of fellow New Yorkers violating any of the quarantine laws. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti similarly encouraged snitching, unabashedly using the term.
It is said that about 1 in every 100 East German citizens were informers for the Stasi, the East German secret police, as superbly portrayed in the film "The Lives of Others." It would be interesting, and, I think, important, to know what percentage of New Yorkers informed on their fellow citizens. Now, again, you may think such a comparison is not morally valid, that de Blasio's call to New Yorkers to serve a Stasi-like role was morally justified given the coronavirus pandemic. But you cannot deny it is Stasi-like or that, other than identifying spies during World War II, this is unprecedented in American history at anywhere near this level.
This past Friday night, I gathered with six others for a Shabbat dinner with friends in Santa Monica, California. On my Friday radio show, I announced I would be doing that, and if I was arrested, it would be worth it. In my most pessimistic dreams, I never imagined that in America, having dinner at a friend's house would be an act of civil disobedience, perhaps even a criminal act. But that is precisely what happens in a police state.
The reason I believe this is a dress rehearsal is that too many Americans appear untroubled by it; the dominant force in America, the left, supports it, and one of the two major political parties has been taken over by the left. Democrats and their supporters have, in effect, announced they will use state power to enforce any law they can to combat the even greater "existential" crisis of global warming.
On the CNN website this weekend, in one of the most frightening and fanatical articles in an era of fanaticism, Bill Weir, CNN chief climate correspondent, wrote an open letter to his newborn son. In it, he wrote of his idealized future for America: "completely new forms of power, food, construction, transportation, economics and politics."
You cannot get there without a police state.
If you love liberty, you must see that it is jeopardized more than at any time since America's founding. And that means, among other things, that at this time, a vote for any Democrat is a vote to end liberty.


wnd--2020-04-28--Masks, temperature checks mark 'new normal' at restaurants

( AP ) -- SAVANNAH , Ga. — With staff wearing masks , checking customers ’ temperatures and using disposable @ @ @ @ @ of the nation ’ s restaurants reopened for dine-in service Monday as states loosened more @ @ @ @ @ eateries remained closed amid safety concerns and community backlash .
Restaurants in Georgia and Tennessee @ @ @ @ @ welcomed diners back , albeit for a different dine-in experience than before the pandemic forced @ @ @ @ @ their services to take-out and delivery .
In Louisiana , the governor said restaurants will @ @ @ @ @ outside starting Friday , though without wait service at the tables .
In Georgia , @ @ @ @ @ were allowed to resume a few days after some other businesses , including barbershops , @ @ @ @ @ nail salons , began seeing customers Friday .

(AP) -- SAVANNAH, Ga. — With staff wearing masks, checking customers’ temperatures and using disposable paper place mats, some of the nation’s restaurants reopened for dine-in service Monday as states loosened more coronavirus restrictions. But many eateries remained closed amid safety concerns and community backlash.
Restaurants in Georgia and Tennessee and Anchorage, Alaska, welcomed diners back, albeit for a different dine-in experience than before the pandemic forced restaurants to close or limit their services to take-out and delivery. In Louisiana, the governor said restaurants will be allowed to seat people outside starting Friday, though without wait service at the tables.
In Georgia, dine-in service and movie screenings were allowed to resume a few days after some other businesses, including barbershops, gyms, tattoo shops and nail salons, began seeing customers Friday.
Read the full story ›


wnd--2020-04-28--'World should have listened to WHO,' says WHO chief

( SUMMIT NEWS ) -- Despite its complicity in helping China cover-up the severity of the coronavirus pandemic , the @ @ @ @ @ Organization today claimed “ the world should have listened ” to the WHO .
Tedros @ @ @ @ @ press briefing that the WHO told the world the COVID-19 outbreak constituted a “ Public @ @ @ @ @ ” on January 30 , when there were only 82 cases registered outside China “ @ @ @ @ @ to WHO then carefully , ” Ghebreyesus asserted .

(SUMMIT NEWS) -- Despite its complicity in helping China cover-up the severity of the coronavirus pandemic, the head of the World Health Organization today claimed “the world should have listened” to the WHO.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual press briefing that the WHO told the world the COVID-19 outbreak constituted a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern” on January 30, when there were only 82 cases registered outside China
“The world should have listened to WHO then carefully,” Ghebreyesus asserted.
Read the full story ›


wnd--2020-04-28--NFL draft pick accused of being a 'white supremacist' for retweeting Trump, liking conservative comm

NFL draft pick accused of being a 'white supremacist' for retweeting Trump, liking conservative commentators

A dream come true for one non-Power Five college football player -- getting drafted by a perennial NFL winner -- is devolving into a nightmare after leftists on social media have accused him of being a `` white supremacist . ''
Marshall kicker Justin Rohrwasser was selected in the fifth round of the NFL draft , 159th overall , by the New England Patriots on Saturday .
His celebration did n't last long .
Rohrwasser was soon hit with accusations that he is a racist connected to an `` alt-right '' militia group .
Rohrwasser , who is from Troy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of tattoos on his body , many of them with patriotic themes : One depicts an American flag , another reads “ Don ’ t Tread on Me ” and a third simply states “ Liberty or Death.
” But it is a tattoo on his left outer forearm , a Roman numeral III , that some on the left have seized upon as proof that the kicker is a racist extremist .
The III is a symbol of the Three Percenters , a pro-Second Amendment organization that has been labeled an anti-government @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ We are NOT a militia .
... We are NOT anti-government .
In fact , we are very pro-government , so long as the government abides by the Constitution , does n't overstep its bounds , and remains ‘ for the people and by the people . '
Our goal is to utilize the failsafes put in place by our founders to rein in an overreaching government and push back against tyranny , ” the group says on its website .
The website explains the origin of Three Percenters ' name @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that only 3 % of the colonists were actively fighting in the field against British forces at any given time .
Today we recognize with this 3 % in being that we will be the last defense to protect the citizens of the United States if there ever comes a day when our government takes up arms against the American people . ''
After the backlash , Rohrwasser said he will cover up the tattoo , according to Fox News .
“ I got that tattoo when I was a teenager and I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ military .
I thought it stood for a military-support symbol at the time , ” he said .
“ Obviously , it 's evolved into something that I do not want to represent .
When I look back on it , I should have done way more research before I put any mark or symbol like that on my body , and it 's not something I ever want to represent .
It will be covered . ''
If the far left can ’ t connect Rohrwasser to alleged white supremacy through his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ so through his social media accounts .
A Twitter account calling itself Resist Programming combed through the 23-year-old ’ s past posts and shared several screen shots , which largely seem to prove the kicker is guilty of being a conservative .
The Marshall alum , who also played at Rhode Island before transferring , has liked and retweeted comments by President Donald Trump and a number of conservative media personalities , and praised another NFL draftee for standing during the national anthem .
The account responded to criticism of the thread by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` SportsCenter '' host Jemele Hill retweeted the Resist Programming thread Sunday and declared the Pats ’ new kicker is “ a white supremacist '' before adding , `` My bad , he tends to like white supremacist things . ''
Hill , who has also called Trump `` a white supremacist who has largely surrounded himself w/ other white supremacists , '' also complained that Rohrwasser has an NFL job while former San Francisco 49ers quarterback and national anthem protester Colin Kaepernick remains unsigned .
The kicker 's explanation for the tattoo @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` I don ’ t know who needs to hear this but covering up your white supremacist tattoos doesn ’ t really matter if you still think like a white supremacist , '' she tweeted .
Rohrwasser , the first kicker taken in this year ’ s draft , has since protected his Twitter account .
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal .

A dream come true for one non-Power Five college football player -- getting drafted by a perennial NFL winner -- is devolving into a nightmare after leftists on social media have accused him of being a "white supremacist."
Marshall kicker Justin Rohrwasser was selected in the fifth round of the NFL draft, 159th overall, by the New England Patriots on Saturday.
His celebration didn't last long. Rohrwasser was soon hit with accusations that he is a racist connected to an "alt-right" militia group.
Patriots didn't draft a qb, but at least they drafted an alt-right kicker (this is a joke, don't draft nazi's) — 10 TEs arent enough (@JoshuFried) April 25, 2020
TRENDING: Is this the 'Final Battle'?
Rohrwasser, who is from Troy, New York, has a number of tattoos on his body, many of them with patriotic themes: One depicts an American flag, another reads “Don’t Tread on Me” and a third simply states “Liberty or Death.”
But it is a tattoo on his left outer forearm, a Roman numeral III, that some on the left have seized upon as proof that the kicker is a racist extremist.
Patriots kicker Justin Rohrwasser says he has had his white supremacist 3 percenter tattoo since he was a teen. At some point he claims he figured out what it stood for & did nothing about it, but now has decided to cover it after being drafted https://t.co/VelDOQV8kT — Robert Littal (@BSO) April 25, 2020
The III is a symbol of the Three Percenters, a pro-Second Amendment organization that has been labeled an anti-government militia by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
“We are NOT a militia. ... We are NOT anti-government. In fact, we are very pro-government, so long as the government abides by the Constitution, doesn't overstep its bounds, and remains ‘for the people and by the people.' Our goal is to utilize the failsafes put in place by our founders to rein in an overreaching government and push back against tyranny,” the group says on its website.
The website explains the origin of Three Percenters' name:
"It is a rough estimate that only 3% of the colonists were actively fighting in the field against British forces at any given time. Today we recognize with this 3% in being that we will be the last defense to protect the citizens of the United States if there ever comes a day when our government takes up arms against the American people."
After the backlash, Rohrwasser said he will cover up the tattoo, according to Fox News.
“I got that tattoo when I was a teenager and I have a lot of family in the military. I thought it stood for a military-support symbol at the time,” he said.
“Obviously, it's evolved into something that I do not want to represent. When I look back on it, I should have done way more research before I put any mark or symbol like that on my body, and it's not something I ever want to represent. It will be covered."
If the far left can’t connect Rohrwasser to alleged white supremacy through his tattoos, it will try to do so through his social media accounts.
A Twitter account calling itself Resist Programming combed through the 23-year-old’s past posts and shared several screen shots, which largely seem to prove the kicker is guilty of being a conservative.
The Marshall alum, who also played at Rhode Island before transferring, has liked and retweeted comments by President Donald Trump and a number of conservative media personalities, and praised another NFL draftee for standing during the national anthem.
On Twitter, Justin Rohrwasser recently liked a tweet praising Joe Burrow for standing during the national anthem. #NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/90tprdweRx — Resist Programming 🛰 (@RzstProgramming) April 26, 2020
Justin Rohrwasser has liked and retweeted Trump. #NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/hSXRfrJnX2 — Resist Programming 🛰 (@RzstProgramming) April 26, 2020
Justin Rohrwasser liked when Trump was acquitted of impeachment articles and liked criticism of Nancy Pelosi ripping up Trump’s speech. #NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/ubCHmGxldy — Resist Programming 🛰 (@RzstProgramming) April 26, 2020
Another Justin Rohrwasser liked tweet: “Trump is still your president. Shut up lol.” #NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/usl8Es32LF — Resist Programming 🛰 (@RzstProgramming) April 26, 2020
Justin Rohrwasser has liked Tweets from a variety of right wing, Trump defending personalities including Charlie Kirk, Dinesh D’Souza, Terrance K. Williams, and Steven Crowder. pic.twitter.com/SrhT24t8IZ — Resist Programming 🛰 (@RzstProgramming) April 26, 2020
Justin Rohrwasser has liked Candace Owens’ tweets including this one saying #BLEXIT is helping “Black people” to “wake up.” #NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/s5jpbHDLCZ — Resist Programming 🛰 (@RzstProgramming) April 26, 2020
The account responded to criticism of the thread by attacking the Founding Fathers.
Some people above are trying to defend the Three Percenters as not racist. Pro Tip: appealing to the “founding fathers” doesn’t help your case because they were all slave owners. Jefferson Owens 600+ slaves. pic.twitter.com/7KSMZbceDo — Resist Programming 🛰 (@RzstProgramming) April 27, 2020
Former ESPN "SportsCenter" host Jemele Hill retweeted the Resist Programming thread Sunday and declared the Pats’ new kicker is “a white supremacist" before adding, "My bad, he tends to like white supremacist things."
Patriots kicker is a white supremacist. My bad, he tends to like white supremacist things. Carry on, nothing to see here. https://t.co/CQE0S7LKO8 — Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) April 26, 2020
Hill, who has also called Trump "a white supremacist who has largely surrounded himself w/ other white supremacists," also complained that Rohrwasser has an NFL job while former San Francisco 49ers quarterback and national anthem protester Colin Kaepernick remains unsigned.
For those scoring at home, a white supremacist found a job in the NFL, but Colin Kaepernick isn’t welcome. — Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) April 26, 2020
The kicker's explanation for the tattoo wasn't good enough for Hill.
"I don’t know who needs to hear this but covering up your white supremacist tattoos doesn’t really matter if you still think like a white supremacist," she tweeted.
I don’t know who needs to hear this but covering up your white supremacist tattoos doesn’t really matter if you still think like a white supremacist — Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) April 26, 2020
Rohrwasser, the first kicker taken in this year’s draft, has since protected his Twitter account.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.


wnd--2020-04-29--Man gives himself a tattoo a day in lockdown, but he's running out of skin

( NEW YORK POST ) -- This self-illustrated man is facing a unique problem : He ’ s running out @ @ @ @ @ of his body .
London resident and tattoo artist Chris Woodhead has regularly been getting @ @ @ @ @ , but the dad-to-be took his skin-deep love to the next level when he was @ @ @ @ @ the coronavirus .
We ’ re not talking sleeves here — we ’ re talking @ @ @ @ @ started tattooing myself every day to create some kind of structure to our now seemingly @ @ @ @ @ 33-year-old fan of US punk rock tats tells The Post .
“ It feels special @ @ @ @ @ so much through the process .
I will continue until I run out of space @ @ @

(NEW YORK POST) -- This self-illustrated man is facing a unique problem: He’s running out of room on the canvas of his body.
London resident and tattoo artist Chris Woodhead has regularly been getting inked since he turned 18, but the dad-to-be took his skin-deep love to the next level when he was forced into lockdown due to the coronavirus. We’re not talking sleeves here — we’re talking head-to-toe designs.
“I started tattooing myself every day to create some kind of structure to our now seemingly aimless days,” the 33-year-old fan of US punk rock tats tells The Post. “It feels special that my body is evolving so much through the process. I will continue until I run out of space completely.”
Read the full story ›


wnd--2020-04-29--Triumph of the woke oligarchs

Triumph of the woke oligarchs

Like the rest of the country , although far less than New York , California is suffering through the Covid-19 crisis .
But in California , the pandemic seems likely to give the state ’ s political and corporate elites a new license to increase their dominion while continuing to keep the middle and working classes down .
Perhaps nothing spells the triumph of California ’ s progressive oligarchy more than Governor Gavin Newsom ’ s decision to off-load the state ’ s recovery strategy to a task force co-chaired by hedge-fund billionaire Tom Steyer .
A recently failed presidential @ @ @ @ @ @ @ funder .
He is as zealous as he is rich .
Steyer sometimes even found the policies adopted by climate-obsessed former governor Jerry Brown not extreme enough for his tastes .
Some conservatives wistfully hope that the pandemic will push the climate crusaders to the side .
In California , at least , the corporate aristocrats , the governmental apparat , and the progressive nonprofits have the momentum to impose their ultra-green vision on the state ’ s residents .
Steyer may have made much of his fortune on fossil fuels , including @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as “ a reverent Christian , ” the Bay Area mogul seems to be eager to repent , both through his political largesse and as operator of a fulsomely organic ranch down the coast from his San Francisco manse .
What Kind of Recovery Will the Oligarchy Allow ?
Steyer ’ s failed , self-funded presidential run was full of extreme notions , such as imposing a “ state of emergency ” to address climate issues , essentially shutting down fossil fuels ; and , as a kind of bonus for those who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ $ 22 an hour minimum wage while offering alms for the soon-to-be-eliminated legions of miners and energy workers .
If this is what he wants for the recovery , Steyer will simply accelerate the state ’ s already poor performance in creating higher-wage middle- and working-class jobs outside those created or subsidized by government .
Over the past decade , according to Chapman University ’ s Marshall Toplansky , the vast majority of jobs being produced in California pay under the median wage , and 40 % pay under $ 40,000 a year @ @ @ @ @ @ @ created five times as many low-wage jobs as high-wage jobs .
California ’ s climate regulatory regime , notes relocation expert Joe Vranich , has been particularly hard on manufacturing .
Over the past decade , according to BLS data , California has fallen into the bottom half of states in manufacturing-sector employment growth , ranking 44th last year ; its industrial new job creation has been negative , compared with gains from competitors such as Nevada , Kentucky , Michigan , and Florida .
Even without adjusting for costs , no California @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in terms of well-paying blue-collar jobs ; but four metro areas—Ventura , Los Angeles , San Jose , and San Diego—sit among the bottom ten .
Perhaps nowhere will the pain be worse than in Bakersfield , capital of California ’ s once-vibrant oil industry .
That industry is now slated for extinction by policymakers , even as the state has emerged as the largest US importer of energy and oil , much of it from Saudi Arabia .
This ultimate effort at “ virtue signaling ” will cost California as many as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ held by minorities , and will particularly devastate the San Joaquin Valley , where 40,000 jobs depend on the industry .
“ Imagine that the state dictated that the entertainment industry be eliminated from Los Angeles , or the tech industry be eliminated from Silicon Valley .
That is what removing the oil and agriculture industries from Bakersfield is like .
“ It is an existential threat to the entire area , ” says Rob Ball of the Kern County Council of Governments .
In California today , anyone who dissents—even a scientist @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is dismissed as a heretic who is not worth listening to .
This treatment is facilitated by a media that tends to embrace the most apocalyptic projections of , for example , coastal erosion , with little attempt to ascertain the facts or look at alternative analyses .
The predictably pious Steyer and his fellow commissioners will no doubt claim devotion to the interests of average citizen .
But , as a new lawsuit filed by some 300 civil rights leaders asserts , the policies being backed by Steyer and his fellow commissioners @ @ @ @ @ @ @ millions of Californians .
The real collective badge of shame is not California ’ s GHG emissions but the prevalence of poverty amid enormous affluence .
Critically , economic growth , at least outside asset- and iPhone-price inflation , is itself considered a threat to the planet within the environmental community , which largely hails the Covid lockdowns as a “ fire drill ” for future actions to promote “ de-growth.
” The open hope , as a Psychology Today writer puts it , would be to tame “ the human beast ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , including in developing countries .
Such policies might not affect the prospects for social media , search , or import-dependent firms like Apple , but they have already been beastly for millions of Californians .
Even before the lockdowns , which could last until summer , California ’ s cost-adjusted poverty level was among the highest of any state and remained higher in 2019 than in 2007 .
Nearly one in five Californians—many who are working—lives in poverty ( using a cost-of-living adjusted poverty rate ) , the highest rate of any @ @ @ @ @ @ @ California estimates that another 20 % live in near-poverty—roughly 15 million people in total .
The lack of upwardly mobile jobs has created poverty rates for California ’ s Latinos and African Americans , most of them working , and has made them poorer than their counterparts elsewhere , including in Texas , California ’ s primary competitor for talent , jobs and company locations and a state with a similarly diverse population .
More than half of all California Latino households , now a plurality in the state , can barely pay @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Way study .
“ For Latinos , ” notes longtime political consultant Mike Madrid , “ the California Dream is becoming an unattainable fantasy.
” The loss of jobs , particularly in hospitality and retail , from the coronavirus crisis could further exacerbate this situation further .
The most extreme and , most obvious expression of pervasive inequality and economic dysfunction lies is evident on our streets .
Indeed , even as homelessness has been reduced in much of the country , it has continued to swell in California .
Roughly half the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Golden State , many concentrated in disease- and crime-ridden tent cities in either its largest urban region , greater Los Angeles , ( its largest urban region ) or in iconic San Francisco .
And for Our Next Act : Making the State More Vulnerable to the Next Pandemic When Steyer and other members of the task force—one can ’ t help but compare them to the crime commission run in New York City by Charles “ Lucky ” Luciano—decide to open the economy , they will no doubt claim , as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are acting purely on the basis of “ science ” —as long as it agrees with their conclusions .
Logic is not a strong point here , since the green lobbies and their developer allies keep pushing density and getting people out of the relative safety of their cars and into mass transit , which , along with entrenched poverty , has done much to deepen the crisis in New York , as the Manhattan Institute ’ s Howard Husock observes .
As of April 26 , Los Angeles County , with almost @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s five boroughs , had suffered 913 Covid deaths , compared to 12,067 in New York City .
The Big Apple accounts for over two-fifths of all US transit ridership , and its subways have repeatedly been singled out , including in a recent MIT report , as incubators of the pandemic .
The key here may be what demographer Wendell Cox has described as “ exposure density.
” Compared with Angelenos , Cox suggests , New Yorkers tend to work in large , crowded workplaces and are far more mass-transit-dependent .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ 5 million people jostle onto the city ’ s subway trains—nearly 40 times as many as ride LA ’ s subway lines and 15 times as many when the lower-capacity light rail lines are added in .
The rates of infection and death are far lower in the surrounding areas—even in more dispersed , car-dependent Orange , Riverside , and San Bernardino Counties .
Even San Francisco , the nation ’ s second-densest municipality , with more than 500,000 residents , has been far more successful in controlling the virus ’ s spread @ @ @ @ @ @ @ than greater Los Angeles ; and the Bay Area transit commuting rate is about 60 percent lower than that of New York ( combined statistical areas , or CSA ) .
San Francisco has a vehicle ownership rate at least 85 % higher than in the four most dense New York boroughs ( Manhattan , Brooklyn , the Bronx , and Queens ) and is a much smaller city ; San Franciscans are far more able to cab , Uber , or drive their own vehicles , avoiding crowded public transit .
Clearly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as well as GHG emissions , would embrace telecommuting , which had been expanding and seems certain to grow in the future .
But California , unlike other states , has no interest in adopting telecommuting as a key strategy ; instead , it seems eager to embrace the viral formula of New York , which is driving a new exodus from the country ’ s premier urban center .
They continue to push their transit and density strategy despite concerns about social distancing and a profound resistance from hoi polloi .
As @ @ @ @ @ @ @ no real interest in actual data : despite state climate policies designed to push people onto buses and trains , transit ridership has lagged—in Los Angeles , it is lower than in 1985—and virtually all population growth has taken place on the periphery of large metropolitan agglomerations .
California ’ s problems won ’ t end with this pandemic .
Under the leadership of politicians like Newsom and Steyer , however promising the future is for the tech oligarchs and green energy speculators , the Golden State seems determined to offer ever less @ @ @ @ @ @ @ struggling middle- and working-class families—except , perhaps , to get sicker when the next pandemic comes along .
Joel Kotkin is a Presidential Fellow in Urban Futures at Chapman University in Orange , CA and executive director of the Urban Reform Institute in Houston , TX .
His next book , The Coming of Neo-Feudalism , will be published by Encounter in May .
[ Editor 's note : This story originally was published by Real Clear Energy . ]

By Joel Kotkin
Real Clear Energy
Like the rest of the country, although far less than New York, California is suffering through the Covid-19 crisis. But in California, the pandemic seems likely to give the state’s political and corporate elites a new license to increase their dominion while continuing to keep the middle and working classes down.
Perhaps nothing spells the triumph of California’s progressive oligarchy more than Governor Gavin Newsom’s decision to off-load the state’s recovery strategy to a task force co-chaired by hedge-fund billionaire Tom Steyer. A recently failed presidential candidate, Steyer stands as a progressive funder. He is as zealous as he is rich. Steyer sometimes even found the policies adopted by climate-obsessed former governor Jerry Brown not extreme enough for his tastes.
Some conservatives wistfully hope that the pandemic will push the climate crusaders to the side. In California, at least, the corporate aristocrats, the governmental apparat, and the progressive nonprofits have the momentum to impose their ultra-green vision on the state’s residents. Steyer may have made much of his fortune on fossil fuels, including coal, but now, approvingly described as “a reverent Christian,” the Bay Area mogul seems to be eager to repent, both through his political largesse and as operator of a fulsomely organic ranch down the coast from his San Francisco manse.
TRENDING: Is this the 'Final Battle'?
What Kind of Recovery Will the Oligarchy Allow?
Steyer’s failed, self-funded presidential run was full of extreme notions, such as imposing a “state of emergency” to address climate issues, essentially shutting down fossil fuels; and, as a kind of bonus for those who still can find work, promoting a $22 an hour minimum wage while offering alms for the soon-to-be-eliminated legions of miners and energy workers.
If this is what he wants for the recovery, Steyer will simply accelerate the state’s already poor performance in creating higher-wage middle- and working-class jobs outside those created or subsidized by government. Over the past decade, according to Chapman University’s Marshall Toplansky, the vast majority of jobs being produced in California pay under the median wage, and 40% pay under $40,000 a year. Since 2008, the state has created five times as many low-wage jobs as high-wage jobs.
California’s climate regulatory regime, notes relocation expert Joe Vranich, has been particularly hard on manufacturing. Over the past decade, according to BLS data, California has fallen into the bottom half of states in manufacturing-sector employment growth, ranking 44th last year; its industrial new job creation has been negative, compared with gains from competitors such as Nevada, Kentucky, Michigan, and Florida. Even without adjusting for costs, no California metro ranks in the US top ten in terms of well-paying blue-collar jobs; but four metro areas—Ventura, Los Angeles, San Jose, and San Diego—sit among the bottom ten.
Perhaps nowhere will the pain be worse than in Bakersfield, capital of California’s once-vibrant oil industry. That industry is now slated for extinction by policymakers, even as the state has emerged as the largest US importer of energy and oil, much of it from Saudi Arabia. This ultimate effort at “virtue signaling” will cost California as many as 300,000 generally high-paying jobs, roughly half held by minorities, and will particularly devastate the San Joaquin Valley, where 40,000 jobs depend on the industry. “Imagine that the state dictated that the entertainment industry be eliminated from Los Angeles, or the tech industry be eliminated from Silicon Valley. That is what removing the oil and agriculture industries from Bakersfield is like. “It is an existential threat to the entire area,” says Rob Ball of the Kern County Council of Governments.
Poverty and Denial
In California today, anyone who dissents—even a scientist or respected economist—with the green party line is dismissed as a heretic who is not worth listening to. This treatment is facilitated by a media that tends to embrace the most apocalyptic projections of, for example, coastal erosion, with little attempt to ascertain the facts or look at alternative analyses.
The predictably pious Steyer and his fellow commissioners will no doubt claim devotion to the interests of average citizen. But, as a new lawsuit filed by some 300 civil rights leaders asserts, the policies being backed by Steyer and his fellow commissioners have already had produced disastrous results for millions of Californians. The real collective badge of shame is not California’s GHG emissions but the prevalence of poverty amid enormous affluence.
Critically, economic growth, at least outside asset- and iPhone-price inflation, is itself considered a threat to the planet within the environmental community, which largely hails the Covid lockdowns as a “fire drill” for future actions to promote “de-growth.” The open hope, as a Psychology Today writer puts it, would be to tame “the human beast” by imposing low-consumption lifestyles on hoi polloi, including in developing countries. Such policies might not affect the prospects for social media, search, or import-dependent firms like Apple, but they have already been beastly for millions of Californians.
Even before the lockdowns, which could last until summer, California’s cost-adjusted poverty level was among the highest of any state and remained higher in 2019 than in 2007. Nearly one in five Californians—many who are working—lives in poverty (using a cost-of-living adjusted poverty rate), the highest rate of any state; the Public Policy Institute of California estimates that another 20% live in near-poverty—roughly 15 million people in total.
The lack of upwardly mobile jobs has created poverty rates for California’s Latinos and African Americans, most of them working, and has made them poorer than their counterparts elsewhere, including in Texas, California’s primary competitor for talent, jobs and company locations and a state with a similarly diverse population. More than half of all California Latino households, now a plurality in the state, can barely pay their bills, according to a United Way study. “For Latinos,” notes longtime political consultant Mike Madrid, “the California Dream is becoming an unattainable fantasy.”
The loss of jobs, particularly in hospitality and retail, from the coronavirus crisis could further exacerbate this situation further. The most extreme and, most obvious expression of pervasive inequality and economic dysfunction lies is evident on our streets. Indeed, even as homelessness has been reduced in much of the country, it has continued to swell in California. Roughly half the nation’s homeless population lives in the Golden State, many concentrated in disease- and crime-ridden tent cities in either its largest urban region, greater Los Angeles, (its largest urban region) or in iconic San Francisco.
And for Our Next Act: Making the State More Vulnerable to the Next Pandemic
When Steyer and other members of the task force—one can’t help but compare them to the crime commission run in New York City by Charles “Lucky” Luciano—decide to open the economy, they will no doubt claim, as with their climate pieties, that they are acting purely on the basis of “science”—as long as it agrees with their conclusions.
Logic is not a strong point here, since the green lobbies and their developer allies keep pushing density and getting people out of the relative safety of their cars and into mass transit, which, along with entrenched poverty, has done much to deepen the crisis in New York, as the Manhattan Institute’s Howard Husock observes.
As of April 26, Los Angeles County, with almost 2 million more residents than New York’s five boroughs, had suffered 913 Covid deaths, compared to 12,067 in New York City. The Big Apple accounts for over two-fifths of all US transit ridership, and its subways have repeatedly been singled out, including in a recent MIT report, as incubators of the pandemic.
The key here may be what demographer Wendell Cox has described as “exposure density.” Compared with Angelenos, Cox suggests, New Yorkers tend to work in large, crowded workplaces and are far more mass-transit-dependent. On an average workday, more than 5 million people jostle onto the city’s subway trains—nearly 40 times as many as ride LA’s subway lines and 15 times as many when the lower-capacity light rail lines are added in. The rates of infection and death are far lower in the surrounding areas—even in more dispersed, car-dependent Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino Counties.
Even San Francisco, the nation’s second-densest municipality, with more than 500,000 residents, has been far more successful in controlling the virus’s spread. The city is somewhat less car-centric than greater Los Angeles; and the Bay Area transit commuting rate is about 60 percent lower than that of New York (combined statistical areas, or CSA). San Francisco has a vehicle ownership rate at least 85% higher than in the four most dense New York boroughs (Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Queens) and is a much smaller city; San Franciscans are far more able to cab, Uber, or drive their own vehicles, avoiding crowded public transit.
Clearly, some ways to reduce exposure, as well as GHG emissions, would embrace telecommuting, which had been expanding and seems certain to grow in the future. But California, unlike other states, has no interest in adopting telecommuting as a key strategy; instead, it seems eager to embrace the viral formula of New York, which is driving a new exodus from the country’s premier urban center.
They continue to push their transit and density strategy despite concerns about social distancing and a profound resistance from hoi polloi. As in many areas, the greens have no real interest in actual data: despite state climate policies designed to push people onto buses and trains, transit ridership has lagged—in Los Angeles, it is lower than in 1985—and virtually all population growth has taken place on the periphery of large metropolitan agglomerations.
California’s problems won’t end with this pandemic. Under the leadership of politicians like Newsom and Steyer, however promising the future is for the tech oligarchs and green energy speculators, the Golden State seems determined to offer ever less opportunity for the state’s already struggling middle- and working-class families—except, perhaps, to get sicker when the next pandemic comes along.
Joel Kotkin is a Presidential Fellow in Urban Futures at Chapman University in Orange, CA and executive director of the Urban Reform Institute in Houston, TX. His next book, The Coming of Neo-Feudalism, will be published by Encounter in May.
[Editor's note: This story originally was published by Real Clear Energy.]


wnd--2020-04-29--House leaders reverse course, won't return to Washington next week

House leaders abruptly reversed course Tuesday and said that the House of Representatives will not be returning to Washington next week .
The announcement comes a day after House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that the House would return on Monday , May 4 , Politico reported .
`` We made a judgement that we will not come back next week but that we hope to come back very soon , '' Hoyer said Tuesday .
Hoyer and Pelosi had consulted Monday with Congress ' attending physician , Dr. Brian Monahan , who said that lawmakers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rising number of coronavirus cases in the Washington , D.C. area .
`` The House physician 's view was that there was a risk to members that was one he would not recommend taking , '' Hoyer said .
`` The House doctor , when I talked to him yesterday , was concerned because the numbers in the District of Columbia are going up , '' he added , according to ABC News .
“ They ’ re not flat and they ’ re not going down.
” House leaders will be called @ @ @ @ @ @ @ relief legislation is ready to be voted on , Hoyer said , The Hill reported .
Hoyer and Pelosi 's initial announcement that the body would be reconvening in Washington on May 4 caught both Democrats and Republicans off guard , with some lawmakers saying House leadership did not consult with them before making the call .
`` We have a bipartisan committee of six meeting on it and they decided without talking to us , '' one senior Republican lawmaker told Politico .
A task force comprised of lawmakers from both parties @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Hoyer , has been discussing safe ways for lawmakers to conduct votes and committee business virtually , according to The Hill .
`` We are going to be working in the interim on trying to facilitate committees meeting in a real way , but virtually , and provisions for the House of the Representatives to meet if in fact members can not come back because of the virus , '' Hoyer said .
One idea supported by House Democratic leaders is proxy voting , where an absent member of the House could @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their vote for them .
The rule change was set to be voted on last week , but the vote was called off after the idea was met with disapproval from Republicans .
The Senate still intends to follow through on plans to return on May 4 .
`` We 're going to take whatever safeguards the Capitol physician recommends that we engage in and we believe we can do that safely , '' Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told Politico on Monday .
`` Look , it does n't make sense for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ while a lot of other people are going to work every day and trying to get us through this . ''
Washington , D.C. 's stay-at-home order is in effect until at least May 15 .
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal .

House leaders abruptly reversed course Tuesday and said that the House of Representatives will not be returning to Washington next week.
The announcement comes a day after House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that the House would return on Monday, May 4, Politico reported.
"We made a judgement that we will not come back next week but that we hope to come back very soon," Hoyer said Tuesday.
Hoyer and Pelosi had consulted Monday with Congress' attending physician, Dr. Brian Monahan, who said that lawmakers could be at risk because of the rising number of coronavirus cases in the Washington, D.C. area.
"The House physician's view was that there was a risk to members that was one he would not recommend taking," Hoyer said.
TRENDING: Is this the 'Final Battle'?
"The House doctor, when I talked to him yesterday, was concerned because the numbers in the District of Columbia are going up," he added, according to ABC News. “They’re not flat and they’re not going down.”
House leaders will be called back when the next round of coronavirus relief legislation is ready to be voted on, Hoyer said, The Hill reported.
Hoyer and Pelosi's initial announcement that the body would be reconvening in Washington on May 4 caught both Democrats and Republicans off guard, with some lawmakers saying House leadership did not consult with them before making the call.
"We have a bipartisan committee of six meeting on it and they decided without talking to us," one senior Republican lawmaker told Politico.
A task force comprised of lawmakers from both parties, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Hoyer, has been discussing safe ways for lawmakers to conduct votes and committee business virtually, according to The Hill.
"We are going to be working in the interim on trying to facilitate committees meeting in a real way, but virtually, and provisions for the House of the Representatives to meet if in fact members cannot come back because of the virus," Hoyer said.
One idea supported by House Democratic leaders is proxy voting, where an absent member of the House could authorize someone else physically present to cast their vote for them.
The rule change was set to be voted on last week, but the vote was called off after the idea was met with disapproval from Republicans.
The Senate still intends to follow through on plans to return on May 4.
"We're going to take whatever safeguards the Capitol physician recommends that we engage in and we believe we can do that safely," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told Politico on Monday.
"Look, it doesn't make sense for the Senate to sit on the sidelines while a lot of other people are going to work every day and trying to get us through this."
Washington, D.C.'s stay-at-home order is in effect until at least May 15.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.


wnd--2020-04-29--China's religious persecution in the era of COVID-19

It ’ s a portrait of contrasts in the age of pandemic .
In the United States , small but passionate protests have broken out in recent weeks as some workers and worshipers chafe at being quarantined -- even as most federal and state governments caution against full and abrupt re-openings .
Meanwhile , in the People ’ s Republic of China , where the coronavirus originated , citizens live in abject fear over voicing the mildest of criticism about their government ’ s response to the outbreak and aftermath , including government actions designed to place ethnic and religious @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Among the abuses : Chinese authorities are continuing to operate some factories by forcing Uyghurs , Muslims from a Central Asian ethnic group , to fill in for workers sidelined by COVID-19 .
To groups monitoring religious freedom , this was merely the latest example of official persecution of the Uyghurs , predominantly Turkic-speaking Sunni Muslims who number more than 10 million and live in the northwest area of the country known as Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous region .
Uyghurs consider Beijing as a colonizing power and have pushed for a separate homeland or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their region .
In recent years , China has tightened its grip on the region , forcing at least 1 million Uyghurs into 85 identified detention camps .
The pandemic has also increased levels of mistreatment against other groups .
African residents of Guangzhou , a manufacturing hub , have been force-tested for the virus , evicted from their homes and hotels , and corralled into quarantined areas with few resources .
Images on social media have showed groups of black residents sleeping on a sidewalk , visibly shaking from the cold and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Several African ambassadors wrote a letter to China ’ s foreign minister earlier this month complaining that these people were being mistreated and falsely blamed for the spread of the virus to China .
“ The Group of African Ambassadors in Beijing immediately demands the cessation of forceful testing , quarantine and other inhuman treatments meted out to Africans , ” they wrote .
Beijing has also used the pandemic as an excuse to crack down on churches that aren ’ t officially sanctioned by the government .
In some regions , officials @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the pretext that religious symbols can not be “ higher ” than the national flag .
In December , as China ’ s began dealing with the coronavirus outbreak , church leaders reported that government officials told them the crosses were “ too eye-catching ” and would attract groups of people to gather , undermining the strict lockdowns in place .
Pastor Jian Zhu , who was raised in China and now serves as the director of the China Institute at Lincoln Christian University in Illinois , said persecution against unsanctioned Christian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ worst ” he has seen since the late 1970s .
The systematic harassment , according to Zhu , has included asking neighbors to spy on one another as well as pressuring schoolteachers , professors and students to sign a statement denouncing their faith .
“ They are trying to eliminate Christianity from public life , ” he told The Christian Post in mid-April .
“ Cameras are all over to watch church and Christians go to Sunday services .
Families are threatened not to go to church or they will be punished or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Since the reports about forcing Uyghurs into factories began leaking two months ago , China ’ s systematic efforts to cover up the origins of the coronavirus and sow disinformation about it have sparked international outrage .
But neither that indignation , nor the stepped-up persecution of religious and ethnic minorities , stopped the United Nations ’ Asia-Pacific group from selecting China to represent the region on the United Nations Human Rights Council Consultative Group .
The consultative body consists of five member states tasked with screening applicants to become independent U.N. human @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on April 1 drew immediate condemnation from U.S. human rights advocates .
“ The Chinese government is one of the worst abusers of religious freedom and other human rights , ” said Gary Bauer of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom , a bipartisan federal government entity that monitors international threats to religious freedom .
In its 2019 annual report , USCIRF called on the Trump administration to impose targeted sanctions on Chinese officials responsible for severe religious freedom violations , especially Chen Quanguo , the current Communist Party secretary of Xinjiang @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pandemic as a warning against the natural tendency by those with autocratic impulses to impose top-down , heavy-handed controls .
Police in places as disparate as Kenya and India have beaten citizens avoiding curfew ; nations such as Iran and North Korea are believed by health experts to have followed China ’ s example in vastly underreporting COVID-19 cases ; and Philippines strongman Rodrigo Duterte has used the crisis to threaten declaring martial law .
But the United States has not been immune from these impulses .
Michigan Gov .
Gretchen Whitmer was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that precluded residents from driving from one house to another and for closing off entire sections of large stores that sell gardening supplies , include plant seeds .
And when President Trump said he had “ absolute power ” over states to determine how and when to re-open their governments , the backslash from both conservatives and liberals was fast and furious .
The president quickly backtracked and has allowed governors to make their own decisions , even as Trump has publicly second-guessed Georgia Gov .
Brian Kemp ’ s statewide re-opening of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in early April warned that autocracies will use the crisis “ to become more aggressive , deny people their rights , ” and “ lie more.
” He said that “ in the end , they do enormous harm to the people of their nation and put the rest of the world at risk as well.
” In Washington , most of the fury at China so far has focused on the government ’ s delay and dissembling over the source and extent of the epidemic and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Organization , which initially minimized the effects the outbreak .
Former U.S .
Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley , through her advocacy group Stand for America , last week launched a petition to Congress urging lawmakers to investigate Beijing for its role in the coronavirus crisis and pass measures to halt China ’ s influence in the U.S. and around the world .
But China ’ s religious persecution amid the pandemic is also spurring congressional scrutiny .
Sen. Ted Cruz , who has sought to shed a light on the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and political dissidents throughout his career , said he planned to amplify the need for several bills he has written aimed at punishing China for the forced Uyghur labor , along with other measures addressing Beijing ’ s ongoing suppression of medical experts , journalists and political dissidents .
“ Those atrocities must be confronted , not just for their own sake but because , as we have now seen through the global spread of COVID-19 , they are a direct threat to America ’ s national security and global public health , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ Once we defeat this pandemic , Sen. Cruz will continue fighting to hold China accountable for its religious persecution of minorities and its broader repression on free expression and medical information.
” Rep. Michael McCaul , the ranking GOP member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee , said China ’ s and the WHO ’ s handling of the coronavirus crisis enabled a regional epidemic to become a global pandemic resulting in innumerous deaths in China and around the world .
McCaul , along with 16 other House Republicans , sent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ week asking the president to condition future funding of the WHO on Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus ’ resignation .
“ This malfeasance is another example of the CCP ’ s treatment of their own people and reminds us this is the same regime who puts millions of their own citizens in ‘ concentration camps ’ and uses them for forced labor , ” he said .
“ The international community can not let these appalling abuses go unpunished , ” he told RCP .
“ We must work together to hold the CCP @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , especially amid this public health emergency that they exacerbated.
” This is not solely a Republican concern .
Rep. James McGovern , who chairs the bipartisan Congressional-Executive Commission on China , is calling on the international community to investigate Beijing ’ s efforts to repress religious and ethnic minorities in the midst of a pandemic .
McGovern in March sponsored a bill that would bar the U.S. from importing any goods made in the Xinjiang factories and has urged all American companies , including Amazon , Nike , Apple and Calvin Klein @ @ @ @ @ @ @ China and cease operation if they can not definitively rule out the use of forced labor .
Republican Sen. Marco Rubio wrote a similar Senate bill .
“ Forcing Uyghurs and others to work in factories while the risk of infection is high , tearing down Christian symbols and crosses , or condoning discrimination against African migrants is completely unacceptable an should be roundly condemned by the administration and investigated by the international community , ” the Massachusetts Democrat said in a statement to RCP .
“ The virus exposed what we already @ @ @ @ @ @ @ too willing to violate the human rights of the Chinese people , and its policies pose a real risk to the world ’ s health as well , ” McGovern added .
[ Editor 's note : This story originally was published by Real Clear Politics . ]

By Susan Crabtree
Real Clear Politics
It’s a portrait of contrasts in the age of pandemic. In the United States, small but passionate protests have broken out in recent weeks as some workers and worshipers chafe at being quarantined -- even as most federal and state governments caution against full and abrupt re-openings.
Meanwhile, in the People’s Republic of China, where the coronavirus originated, citizens live in abject fear over voicing the mildest of criticism about their government’s response to the outbreak and aftermath, including government actions designed to place ethnic and religious minorities in harm’s way.
Among the abuses: Chinese authorities are continuing to operate some factories by forcing Uyghurs, Muslims from a Central Asian ethnic group, to fill in for workers sidelined by COVID-19. To groups monitoring religious freedom, this was merely the latest example of official persecution of the Uyghurs, predominantly Turkic-speaking Sunni Muslims who number more than 10 million and live in the northwest area of the country known as Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous region. Uyghurs consider Beijing as a colonizing power and have pushed for a separate homeland or, at least, greater autonomy for their region. In recent years, China has tightened its grip on the region, forcing at least 1 million Uyghurs into 85 identified detention camps.
TRENDING: Is this the 'Final Battle'?
The pandemic has also increased levels of mistreatment against other groups. African residents of Guangzhou, a manufacturing hub, have been force-tested for the virus, evicted from their homes and hotels, and corralled into quarantined areas with few resources. Images on social media have showed groups of black residents sleeping on a sidewalk, visibly shaking from the cold and wearing surgical masks to protect themselves. Several African ambassadors wrote a letter to China’s foreign minister earlier this month complaining that these people were being mistreated and falsely blamed for the spread of the virus to China.
“The Group of African Ambassadors in Beijing immediately demands the cessation of forceful testing, quarantine and other inhuman treatments meted out to Africans,” they wrote.
Beijing has also used the pandemic as an excuse to crack down on churches that aren’t officially sanctioned by the government. In some regions, officials have removed crosses from Christian church rooftops on the pretext that religious symbols cannot be “higher” than the national flag. In December, as China’s began dealing with the coronavirus outbreak, church leaders reported that government officials told them the crosses were “too eye-catching” and would attract groups of people to gather, undermining the strict lockdowns in place.
Pastor Jian Zhu, who was raised in China and now serves as the director of the China Institute at Lincoln Christian University in Illinois, said persecution against unsanctioned Christian churches in China is “now the worst” he has seen since the late 1970s. The systematic harassment, according to Zhu, has included asking neighbors to spy on one another as well as pressuring schoolteachers, professors and students to sign a statement denouncing their faith.
“They are trying to eliminate Christianity from public life,” he told The Christian Post in mid-April. “Cameras are all over to watch church and Christians go to Sunday services. Families are threatened not to go to church or they will be punished or their relatives could be in trouble.”
Since the reports about forcing Uyghurs into factories began leaking two months ago, China’s systematic efforts to cover up the origins of the coronavirus and sow disinformation about it have sparked international outrage. But neither that indignation, nor the stepped-up persecution of religious and ethnic minorities, stopped the United Nations’ Asia-Pacific group from selecting China to represent the region on the United Nations Human Rights Council Consultative Group. The consultative body consists of five member states tasked with screening applicants to become independent U.N. human rights experts.
China’s selection on April 1 drew immediate condemnation from U.S. human rights advocates.
“The Chinese government is one of the worst abusers of religious freedom and other human rights,” said Gary Bauer of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, a bipartisan federal government entity that monitors international threats to religious freedom. In its 2019 annual report, USCIRF called on the Trump administration to impose targeted sanctions on Chinese officials responsible for severe religious freedom violations, especially Chen Quanguo, the current Communist Party secretary of Xinjiang region.
Other Washington officials see the pandemic as a warning against the natural tendency by those with autocratic impulses to impose top-down, heavy-handed controls.
Police in places as disparate as Kenya and India have beaten citizens avoiding curfew; nations such as Iran and North Korea are believed by health experts to have followed China’s example in vastly underreporting COVID-19 cases; and Philippines strongman Rodrigo Duterte has used the crisis to threaten declaring martial law.
But the United States has not been immune from these impulses. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was widely criticized for a sweeping stay-at-home order that precluded residents from driving from one house to another and for closing off entire sections of large stores that sell gardening supplies, include plant seeds. And when President Trump said he had “absolute power” over states to determine how and when to re-open their governments, the backslash from both conservatives and liberals was fast and furious. The president quickly backtracked and has allowed governors to make their own decisions, even as Trump has publicly second-guessed Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp’s statewide re-opening of salons, gyms, and bowling alleys.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in early April warned that autocracies will use the crisis “to become more aggressive, deny people their rights,” and “lie more.” He said that “in the end, they do enormous harm to the people of their nation and put the rest of the world at risk as well.”
In Washington, most of the fury at China so far has focused on the government’s delay and dissembling over the source and extent of the epidemic and its unseemly sway over the World Health Organization, which initially minimized the effects the outbreak. Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, through her advocacy group Stand for America, last week launched a petition to Congress urging lawmakers to investigate Beijing for its role in the coronavirus crisis and pass measures to halt China’s influence in the U.S. and around the world.
But China’s religious persecution amid the pandemic is also spurring congressional scrutiny.
Sen. Ted Cruz, who has sought to shed a light on the China’s oppression of religious minorities and political dissidents throughout his career, said he planned to amplify the need for several bills he has written aimed at punishing China for the forced Uyghur labor, along with other measures addressing Beijing’s ongoing suppression of medical experts, journalists and political dissidents.
“Those atrocities must be confronted, not just for their own sake but because, as we have now seen through the global spread of COVID-19, they are a direct threat to America’s national security and global public health,” Cruz spokeswoman Jessica Skaggs told RealClearPolitics. “Once we defeat this pandemic, Sen. Cruz will continue fighting to hold China accountable for its religious persecution of minorities and its broader repression on free expression and medical information.”
Rep. Michael McCaul, the ranking GOP member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said China’s and the WHO’s handling of the coronavirus crisis enabled a regional epidemic to become a global pandemic resulting in innumerous deaths in China and around the world. McCaul, along with 16 other House Republicans, sent a letter to the White House last week asking the president to condition future funding of the WHO on Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus’ resignation.
“This malfeasance is another example of the CCP’s treatment of their own people and reminds us this is the same regime who puts millions of their own citizens in ‘concentration camps’ and uses them for forced labor,” he said.
“The international community cannot let these appalling abuses go unpunished,” he told RCP. “We must work together to hold the CCP accountable for these egregious human rights violations, especially amid this public health emergency that they exacerbated.”
This is not solely a Republican concern. Rep. James McGovern, who chairs the bipartisan Congressional-Executive Commission on China, is calling on the international community to investigate Beijing’s efforts to repress religious and ethnic minorities in the midst of a pandemic. McGovern in March sponsored a bill that would bar the U.S. from importing any goods made in the Xinjiang factories and has urged all American companies, including Amazon, Nike, Apple and Calvin Klein, to investigate their supply chains in China and cease operation if they cannot definitively rule out the use of forced labor. Republican Sen. Marco Rubio wrote a similar Senate bill.
“Forcing Uyghurs and others to work in factories while the risk of infection is high, tearing down Christian symbols and crosses, or condoning discrimination against African migrants is completely unacceptable an should be roundly condemned by the administration and investigated by the international community,” the Massachusetts Democrat said in a statement to RCP.
“The virus exposed what we already knew: The Chinese government is all too willing to violate the human rights of the Chinese people, and its policies pose a real risk to the world’s health as well,” McGovern added.
Susan Crabtree is RealClearPolitics' White House/national political correspondent.
[Editor's note: This story originally was published by Real Clear Politics.]