The alliteration of the title does not denote a jovial overtone for the following article. Let’s be blunt: the COVID-19 pandemic policies and zeitgeist have seriously messed with kids.
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The alliteration of the title does not denote a jovial overtone for the following article. Let’s be blunt: the COVID-19 pandemic policies and zeitgeist have seriously messed with kids.
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Six months ago, Dr. Robert Malone was one of a group, on behalf of 17,000 doctors and medical scientists worldwide, who held a press conference to call for a halt to covid “vaccines.”
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(Natural News) Dr. Yusuf Saleeby has practiced medicine for more than 30 years. He serves patients in South Carolina and until recently had never faced an investigation from his state medical board.
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Via Mercola Story at-a-glance Mounting evidence shows the COVID shots are destroying people’s immune systems and are triggering turbo-charged cancers Myocarditis as a cause of death is now registering across all age ranges but only for the vaccinated.
The U.S. public school system lost 1.4 million students from the fall of 2019 to the fall of 2020 and failed to return to pre-pandemic enrollment levels in 2021, according to Department of Education (DOE) data analyzed by The Wall Street Journal.
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Imagine if a vaccine was administered to a large number of people in every age group. Then just a few months later there were millions of excess deaths.
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According to Alena Buyx, Chair of the German Ethics Council, anyone who advocates a fundamental review of covid policy, who demands personal and, if necessary, legal consequences, is an enemy of democracy. The need for an investigation “is understandable, but it’s incredibly toxic.
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One of the Senate's leading critics of the federal government pandemic response is slamming the "complete state of denial" in official Washington over the growing evidence of widespread COVID-19 vaccine injuries.
Wonder why kids — yours, ours, everyone’s — often seem easily flummoxed, discouraged, and young for their age? Or passive? Or just plain anxious? This blockbuster report by Holly Korbey on the KQED website is a grand tour of modern childhood and what needs to be fixed.
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For most of my lifetime, I have watched people be seriously injured by pharmaceuticals and have their plight be ignored either because: •The injuries were subtle enough they could not be recognized unless someone was trained to identify them (which most doctors are not).
Joe Biden, the first Catholic president in six decades who proclaims himself to be a “devout” follower of the church’s teachings, has been snubbed by the late Pope Benedict XVI and told not to attend [...]
Guest Post by Steve Kirsch Based on talking to a number of medical experts, the very sad news is that it is likely that Damar Hamlin died on the field. The COVID vaccine should be investigated as contributing to his death.
“We need to call out the despicable response to Damar Hamlin’s injury,” yelped Noah Berkeley of the Independent (which is about as “independent” as Bill Gates’ Guardian, or the New York Times). Here is an example of what Berkeley et al. find “despicable”:
ORIGINAL LINK California Bill To Punish Doctors For 'False' Covid-19 Information Goes Into Effect
A bill which allows the state of California to punish doctors over 'false information about Covid-19 vaccinations and treatments' went into effect on January 1st.
Under the new law (AB 2098) which took effect Jan.1, the state's Medical Board would categorize dispensing information - such as the effectiveness of Ivermectin, or the Covid-19 vaccine's rapidly waning efficacy, as unprofessional conduct.
A few days ago, Gavin Newsom signed Bill AB2098 into California law. That means doctors can lose their medical licenses for disagreeing with whatever the state determines as a consensus opinion on a particular topic. pic.twitter.com/2XHWWX4Msa
The law was challenged in court by two California doctors, who said that it would restrict their free speech in violation of the first amendment, and that it was "vague" under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution.
However on December 28th, Biden Nominee Judge Fred Slaughter refused to halt the law, ruling that the law trumps free speech claims, and that it falls "within the longstanding tradition of regulations on the practice of medical treatments."
Another lawsuit, brought by Physicians for Informed Consent, was filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of California in early December. The plaintiffs, physician LeTrinh Hoang and Children's Health Defense, are being represented by Rick Jaffe, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Mary Holland, and argues that the state of California has weaponized the vague phrase "misinformation," and thereby has illegally targeted physicians who disagree with the government's public stance on Covid-19.
Expert cardiologist and PIC member Sanjay Verma, M.D., has been tracking and cataloging CDC errors in real time. For the case, he has provided what he calls "a detailed declaration exposing the government's scientific errors and the constitutional dangers of censoring dissent":
"To demonstrate these points of vagueness and the general unsuitability of using 'contemporary scientific consensus' as a disciplinary criterion, I have prepared a detailed overview of public health response to the pandemic broken down into categories such as Masks and Vaccines (transmission, safety, efficacy of natural immunity). I have also included evidence of what [I testify] would be considered misinformation promulgated by the CDC as well as its withholding of information which led to the then 'contemporary scientific consensus' eventually being proven wrong." -KRON4
AB-2098, the “physician misinformation bill” goes into effect as law in California.
Physicians can no longer communicate nuanced risk about mRNA COVID vaccines to their patients without potentially having their licenses revoked.https://t.co/VHbHlKpgarpic.twitter.com/hlMxYJth2H
Vaccine so bad the state of California will revoke medical licenses from any doctor speaking out about side effects and what they’ve witnessed first hand. This isn’t science and doesn’t follow the Hippocratic Oath. $pfe#pfizerhttps://t.co/KksrLzgOY2
By now, just about everyone has heard about the massive campaign of lies Republican George Santos fabricated that just got him elected to a congressional seat from New York.
In his various appearances and interviews to explain himself, the lack of shame he seems to feel is almost as uncanny as the lies themselves.
Sadly, Santos is a child and product of the troubling and, yes, dangerous state of affairs in our nation today.
A friend sent me a short cartoon version of Hans Christian Andersen's tale, "The Emperor's New Clothes."
The shyster weavers convince the vain emperor that there really are clothes when in fact there is nothing. They convince him that only fools and those unqualified in their work can't see the fabric.
The only thing on anyone's mind is what others think of them. There is no truth, only appearances.
Until one naive and unindoctrinated child steps forward and tells the truth that the emperor is naked.
It's what happens when people become unmoored and lose a sense that there is something called reality, something bigger than themselves, of which they are a part.
A vital part of a child's development is learning they are not the center of the world. That there are others, and they must be aware of the line where they end and others and the world outside begin.
In traditional cultures, there are rites of passage where children formally become adults and assume the responsibilities of adults.
But today, in our nation, where a sense of objective right and wrong has widely disappeared, there are no rites of passage, and many remain perpetually children. They insist the world is the way they want it to be rather than appreciating that there is a greater reality to which all must submit.
We see it culturally, economically and fiscally.
I write all the time about the mind-boggling debt being accumulated on the backs of American citizens. Fiscal responsibility is realism. It means the numbers must add up and debts are not incurred without clear ways to pay for them.
One analyst from the Institute for Policy Innovation calculates our national debt amounts to almost $600,000 per every American man, woman and child. This includes not just federal obligations on the order of some $30 trillion, but also debts built into Social Security and Medicare from an insufficient tax base to meet the obligations that must be met in upcoming years.
Yet what did this Congress do before ending its term? Pass another $1.7 trillion in spending.
The piper will be paid, and this is called reality.
On the cultural front, the U.S. Supreme Court, and now the U.S. Congress, has, based on politics and whim, redefined the eternal institution called marriage.
Is it any surprise, shortly after deciding you don't need a man and a woman to constitute marriage, that now even who is a man and who is a woman is matter of personal whim?
So, George Santos is the man of our time. Why should he feel the need to submit to any "reality" more than what is happening in our culture at large?
What did Santos fabricate any more than the "1619 Project" fabricated about what American history is about?
Santos shows little shame because shame comes with appreciation that there are truths – right and wrong.
There is no shame in a culture where we make everything up.
Fortunately, there are many Americans who have not become detached from reality and see what is happening. But, still, many are afraid to say the emperor is naked.
But how long can widespread detachment from reality continue?
Meanwhile, an unrepentant liar, George Santos, a child of woke America, will be sworn into the sacred duty as a member of the U.S. Congress.
Nancy Pelosi, Liz Cheney and Democrats locked up important videos and documents the January 6 Committee collected from the American public for 30 to 50 years after they shut down their sham investigation.
They have to hide their lies from the American public in order to save face.
The FBI, DOJ, Capitol Police, and other federal agencies had DOZENS of operatives working the crowd on January 6th.
The police launched an attack on the Trump supporters who had gathered at the US Capitol. Police killed four Trump supporters that day and nearly killed several more.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) already named the House Committee on House Administration the custodian of the records. Under current House rules, the committee is obligated to hand over the official records to the House clerk, who transmits them to the National Archives. The rules also prevent the National Archives from releasing committee records for at least 30 years. Sensitive records, such as those from a major investigation, can be held up to 50 years before being made public.
Although the House committee investigating the insurrection has released a trove of transcripts and underlying information backing up its report, the vast majority of raw information the panel collected is slated to be sent to the National Archives, where it could be locked away for up to 50 years.
But the proposed rules package the new Congress will vote on Tuesday orders that any record created by the panel must instead be sent to the House Committee on House Administration by Jan. 17 and orders the National Archives to return any material it has already received.
After two years of completely controlling the Covid “vaccine” narrative and gaslighting the people into thinking they were “safe and effective,” an avalanche of news has been coming out lately that is prompting more people to ask questions. While most “normies” are still in the dark because they’re getting their news from corporate media, a small but growing number of them are waking up to the fact that they’ve been conned.
While there’s still a huge leap to be made between getting people to ask questions and making them believe this is a worldwide depopulation and control agenda, the interim goal of getting them to stop getting more jabs is a worthy accomplishment. This is why we post articles and do videos on a constant basis to give people the ammunition they need to stir more of the masses to enlightenment. We need to hand out as many “vaccine red pills” as we can.
Unfortunately, the powers-that-be are aware they’re losing bits of control over the narrative so we fully expect them to fight back tooth-and-nail in 2023. They will continue to use propaganda and censorship through corporate media and Big Tech, but they realize even in those controlled venues they have challenges. Therefore, they are in the process of engaging in three variations of their current strategy to keep the con going as long as possible.
It’s important to note that they KNOW they will eventually be caught. That’s not a concern for them because their goal of getting as many men, women, and children jabbed as many times as possible cannot be reversed by the truth coming out. Just because someone becomes aware that the jabs are harming them doesn’t mean they can go get themselves unjabbed. The powers-that-be know they cannot hide the truth forever, so they are working to subvert the truth and distort it in ways that will continue to serve their goals even after the masses finally wake up.
The first step is already happening. Rather than deny that people’s immune systems are weakening and many are dying suddenly with no viable explanation, they’re acknowledging the deaths but offering alternative reasons.. For example, the American Heart Association released a “study” last August that claimed increased cases of Myocarditis in children is due to Covid-19 itself, not the vaccines. It’s an extremely dishonest report from the AHA for multiple reasons, not the least of which is that if someone is jabbed AND had Covid, those Myocarditis cases are counted as caused by Covid. Then, there’s the fact that they do not count Myocarditis cases that were discovered more than 28-days after getting jabbed. So if someone gets jabbed and gets Myocarditis but did not get diagnosed until a month or more later, they aren’t attributed to the jabs. That’s just one of many examples of how they’re trying to muddy the factual waters to make the jabs seem not as bad as they really are.
The second step is rolling out now. Unlike the pre-jab days when everything was attributed to Covid (remember the flu allegedly disappearing?), they’re now throwing out all sorts of diseases to keep the people off-balance. One might argue that this would hurt their cause because it’s a clear indicator that the immune systems of tens of millions of Americans have been weakened, but the powers-that-be are counting on the people not putting two and two together. This will be aided by corporate media who will continue to intentionally ignore the root causes and keep everyone focused on the spikes in cases of RSV, Strep Throat, Measles, Flu, and new variants of Covid-19.
The last step, when all other measures start to break down and the people start demanding answers to why the vaccines seem to be killing people, is to blame Donald Trump and operation Warp Speed. The groundwork for this phase of the plan has already been laid with news reports circulating for weeks that any shortcomings of the vaccines were due to being rushed to get them out before the 2020 election. At this point, Trump supporters will rush to the comments to defend him as if I’m attacking him, but I’m just the messenger. The powers-that-be are the ones committing to their plans.
The article below by Mac Slavo over at SHTF Plan details what we’re seeing happening today. This is the type of information we need to get to our “normie” friends as quickly as possible before the get the next booster.
Confidential Pfizer and Government Docs Confirm ADE, VAED, and AIDS From Covid Shots
Documents that the ruling class tried to keep confidential are confirming that ADE (Antibody-dependent enhancement), VAED (Vaccine-Associated Enhanced Disease), and AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome) are common outcomes after COVID-19 injections. These diseases come on often months after taking the shots.
AIDS is particularly alarming, as it is appearing in a disturbing number of recipients just five months after their initial injections.
Antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE) and Vaccine-Associated Enhanced Disease (VAED). are serious adverse events that can occur after vaccination. ADE and VAED can occur when an individual is exposed to a pathogen, such as the alleged Covid-19 virus, after receiving a vaccine that does not provide full immunity.
One example of a bacterial infection that could potentially be worsened by ADE or VAE is streptococcus A (strep A) infection. Strep A is a type of bacteria that can cause a wide range of illnesses, including sore throat, pneumonia, and sepsis. You will have most likely seen in the mainstream news that Strep A infection is killing children all over this winter.
Government documents show that the most likely cause of all of these diseases is the COVID-19 injection.
One of the documents contained in the latest data dump is ‘reissue_5.3.6 postmarketing experience.pdf’. Table 5, found on page 11 of the document shows an ‘Important Potential Risk’, and that risk is listed as ‘Vaccine-Associated Enhanced Disease (VAED), including Vaccine-Associated Enhanced Reporatory Disease (VAERD)’.
This evidence was published by The Daily Expose and is rather damning, and horrifying for those who have taken these shots or given them to their own children. These documents could help explain the instances of SADS or sudden adult death syndrome, as well as all of those who have “died suddenly” in the past year since these shots have been rolled out with force.
Have you ever played poker with a novice? I am talking about the person who does not understand the concept of a poker face. The rookie is dealt a hand of five card stud and breaks into a wide grin accompanied by a face flushed red as he or she gazes on at a full house. Only one teeny problem — the poker master on the other side of the table is holding four aces.
That is what happened today as Ukraine and the West reacted to news, confirmed by Russia’s own Ministry of Defense, that a U.S. Himars hit an improvised barracks of Russian soldiers and killed at least 63. Why the big deal? We have been told repeatedly over the last 8 months that Russia is suffering catastrophic casualties. What makes this so special and deserving of so much attention?
The answer is simple — this is the first time since the war started in February 2022 that Russia has suffered more than 50 casualties in one engagement in one day. How do I know? Because the Russian telegram channels lit up immediately when this happened. This is the first time I have seen that kind of reaction from the Russian side in the last 10 months.
The reaction to this missile attack highlights the stark contrast between Russia and Ukraine. The spokesman for the Russian MOD freely and frankly admitted to the “success” of the Ukrainian strike while the Ukrainian military — which is losing at least 200 men every day — covers up their losses and insists they are beating the hell out of Russia. The Ukrainians have told so many lies over the course of the last 10 months — e.g. the Ghost of Kiev, capturing a Russian border outpost, shooting down all Russian cruise missiles, driving the Russians out of Kherson, etc. — that this successful missile strike finally gave them something real they could celebrate.
But this attack is a lie. It was not carried out by highly trained Ukrainian troops sitting on an ample supply of Himars. This was done with Western supplied intelligence that identified the troop concentration and provided the coordinates for launching a precision strike. Moreover, it is highly likely that NATO troops were helping operate the Himar system. This attack actually is a sign of Ukrainian and Western desperation. It changes nothing in terms of the strategic picture.
Still, NATO does not act just to show that it can act. There is a real, military, purpose behind these strikes. And it is not “just” to provoke Russia into some kind of response (not with tens and even hundreds of Russian missile strikes every day already taking place). . . .
Why would NATO want the Russian offensive sooner rather than later? In all its other actions, the AngloZionists have tried to draw out this war for as long as possible, so why would they want to make the Russians attack sooner rather than later?
Because the Russian General Staff is waiting for all the “ducks to be lined” up before attacking. Thus by trying to force the Russians into a premature attack date, NATO is, very logically, trying to prevent all the said “ducks” to be “lined up”. In other words, NATO is trying to force the hand of the Russian General Staff by increasing the pressure on the Kremlin to “finally take action”.
I make a point of watching how the media played this story today. I watched Sky News, Fox News and Al-Jazeera. All portrayed this as another major setback for the Russians and one more piece of evidence that the Ukrainian counter-offensive is achieving great success. It is mass delusion.
That said, it looks like the Brits are having a tougher time hanging on to that delusion. The top story on Sky News during the day was the escalating crisis of the U.K.’s National Health Service. Strikes by ambulance drivers and nurses are killing people and the grieving relatives are furious. Their focus is on the failure of the Tory Government to keep their loved ones alive. I did not see Brits clamoring to send more aid to Ukraine.
I think that January will be a turning point in the war in terms of Western support for Ukraine if there is harsh winter weather and worsening economic conditions, which will increase domestic political pressure on the NATO countries to take care of business at home. What do you think?
Former Arkansas governor and Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee published a piece recently calling attention to the case Brunson v. Adams set to be heard before the U.S. Supreme Court this week.
What the plaintiff/appellant, Raland Brunson of Ogden, Utah, and his three brothers seek is nothing less than the removal of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris from office, arguing members of Congress failed to fulfill their constitutional duty on Jan. 6, 2021 by not reviewing allegations of fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
"Sit down; I guarantee this Supreme Court story is real," Huckabee wrote.
"The Supreme Court has agreed to a hearing for a case that could conceivably -- PLEASE consider this the longest of long shots -- overturn the election of 2020, throw out all the legislators who voted to certify the results and leave them ineligible to run for office ever again, even for town dogcatcher," he explained.
The case is set for oral argument on Friday, Jan. 6, the second anniversary of the Capitol incursion.
The argument the Brunson brothers make in their lawsuit is that 388 lawmakers named in their court filing took an oath to support and defend the U.S. Constitution "against all enemies, foreign and domestic."
Yet, they "purposely thwarted all efforts to investigate [allegations of fraud in the 2020 election], whereupon this enemy was not checked or investigated, therefore the Respondents adhered to this enemy."
The Brunsons recounted in their petition to the Supreme Court, "On January 6, 2021, the 117th Congress held a proceeding and debate in Washington DC (“Proceeding”). This Proceeding was for the purpose of counting votes under the 2020 Presidential election for the President and Vice President of the United States under Amendment XII."
"During this Proceeding over 100 members of U.S. Congress claimed factual evidence that the said election was rigged. The refusal of the Respondents to investigate this congressional claim (the enemy) is an act of treason and fraud by Respondents," the brothers continued.
"A successfully rigged election has the same end result as an act of war; to place into power whom the victor wants, which in this case is Biden, who, if not stopped immediately, will continue to destroy the fundamental freedoms of Brunson and all U.S. Citizens and courts of law."
So the Brunsons are targeting the process itself that took place during the certifying of the election on Jan. 6, 2021, not trying to prove the election was rigged or stolen.
Huckabee noted: "The argument in this case is that by not looking into serious allegations of election fraud, those who voted to confirm the results of the 2020 election broke their oath of office and are ineligible to run for any elected office again. To give you an idea of the scope of the potential fallout, Kamala Harris is in that group, and so is Mike Pence."
In a commentary piece last month, Tim Canova -- a constitutional law scholar and professor at Nova Southeastern University’s Shepard Broad College of Law in Florida -- offered his assessment as to why the Supreme Court took up the case, which had been dismissed at the federal district court level in February without going to trial.
"It seems astounding that the Court would wade into such waters two years to the day after the Congressional vote to install Joe Biden as President. But these are not normal times," Canova wrote.
He pointed to the criminal referral by the Jan. 6 committee for President Donald Trump and the FBI's collusion with Twitter and Facebook to suppress the Hunter Biden laptop story during the 2020 election, in violation of the First Amendment, as examples of the unusual season the country is passing through.
"Supreme Court Justices may well see these approaching storm clouds and conclude that the Court’s intervention is necessary to prevent larger civil unrest resulting from constitutional violations that are undermining public trust and confidence in the outcomes of both the 2020 and 2022 elections," Canova contended.
Huckabee tempered expectations about what the Supreme Court might actually rule in the case, questioning if they would truly overturn the 2020 election.
"Even if a majority of the Justices found merit in this case, would they be willing to do something this huge?"
Huckabee concluded, "But you know the saying, if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is."
In 2002, with a little help from National Defence, we brought to McGill the (then) president of the Club of Rome, Prince Hassan, who made a contribution to the Pluralism, Religion, and Public Policy conference I was co-chairing and to the book that came out of it, Recognizing Religion is a Secular S
One of the most common tactics the medical industry uses to defend against the scrutiny of bad medical practices is to accuse those who question those practices (and thus make the public reluctant to receive them) of “killing their patients!” (under the logic that the treatment is so safe and ef
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Cultures periodically find themselves in collective psychoses. Some like Tulip mania (where tulip flowers became the most valuable commodity in existence) in retrospect are rather comical, while others like the medieval witch hunts and Salem witch trials are quite horrifying.
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The U.S. housing market is experiencing its second-biggest home price correction of the post-World War II era. Macro Trends Advisors founding partner Mitch Roschelle attributed the massive correction to Americans' uncertainty for the markets and their "uneasiness" regarding the economy.
Audio playback is not supported on your browser. Please upgrade.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has come out with a guide for how we are all to speak and write. This can be found on the website titled, “Preferred Terms for Select Population Groups & Communities.
Can we have a tally of how many ‘conspiracy theories’ actually become ‘true’ within a number of months? The latest one appears in the WSJ - ‘Are Vaccines Fueling New Covid Variants? The virus appears to be evolving in ways that evade immunity.’
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Former NBA player John Stockton claimed he knows “hundreds” if not “thousands” of professional athletes that have died as a result of taking the experimental COVID-19 injection.
Stockton, former point guard for the Utah Jazz, joined the “Sideline Sanity” podcast for an interview last month to revise an earlier claim he made that over a hundred professional athletes had “dropped dead” due to the vaccine.
“I think it’s pretty much on record, there’s 150, I think it’s now over 100 professional athletes dead. Professional athletes, in the prime of their life, dropping dead vaccinated, right on the field of play, right on the field, right on the court,” Stockton had said last year.
Now, Stockton doubled down on his claim and even expanded it, claiming he now believes “thousands” of athletes have been killed by the jab.
“I went back and looked; I have names, pictures, faces, where they played,” Stockton told host Michele Tafoya. “I had over 300 at the time, so I felt pretty confident with my 150, and again people had to come out and discuss it. I had the proof in my hands: a piece of paper with the names on it.”
“Now it’s a lot more than that,” he continued. “I think it’s thousands now, but don’t quote me. I’m not saying it’s 1,000 or more, but it might be. It’s a big number.”
Stockton had previously criticized the vaccine manufacturers for their history of covering up their medical “fraud.”
“It’s amazing the protection they have, and even with that, they are serial felons,” Stockton said of the pharmaceutical companies in 2021. “Almost each one across the board, they’ve been convicted and paid astronomical sums for the frauds they’ve committed and yet it doesn’t seem like it’s known.”
The 60-year-old had also thrown his support behind Brooklyn Nets player Kyrie Irving after he refused to adhere to the NBA’s vaccine mandate.
“You have a lot of supporters, Kyrie,” Stockton told fellow vaccine skeptic podcast hosts Chad Fisher and Tony Farmer. “Not all them of can get to you, and you can’t get to all of them, but there’s every bit a majority out there that’s sitting there pulling for you. They’re just not quite as bold as he is. I’m proud of him as an individual to take that kind of individual risk and be that bold for what you feel is right.”
Since the COVID vaccine rollout in 2021, many athletes, pilots, and members of the military who were all subjected to vaccine mandates have been revealing the extent of the adverse reactions they suffered after taking the shot.
The Orange County Register, which happens to be my local paper, published an excellent article yesterday by Susan Shelley, which includes a discussion of government-sponsored social media censorship and a discussion of our MO v. Biden lawsuit. The article opens…
Southwest Airlines, which has canceled or delayed tens of thousands of flights this holiday season, has received massive amounts in federal subsidies in the last several years, records show.
Southwest has canceled over 15,700 flights since winter weather began to affect air travel on Dec. 22, far more than any other commercial United States airline, according to records compiled by FlightAware. However, since 2020, the U.S. government has handed Southwest over $7.2 billion in taxpayer funds for payroll and operations, filings show, calling into question whether the airline has managed its resources correctly.
“Airlines continue to take our tax dollars, yet they never seem to make long-term changes that will improve the experience for customers,” Adam Andrzejewski, CEO of the financial watchdog OpenTheBooks, told the Washington Examiner. “As soon as demand recovered, there was industrywide disruption.”
“These major carriers should use profits to improve systems and position themselves to handle economic headwinds,” he added. “Until then, Congress and airlines will be addicted to subsidies.”
The federal government has long given subsidies to airlines for maintenance and upkeep. As part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, a $2.2 trillion stimulus bill signed by former President Donald Trump in March 2020 and meant to help people amid the spread of COVID-19, Southwest pulled in more than $3.3 billion for payroll support in September 2020.
In addition, the Treasury Department agreed to purchase over 1 million shares of Southwest stock as part of that aid. The stock has tumbled by over 24% in the last year and almost 50% in the last five years.
Then, in April 2021, Southwest received over $3.8 billion in subsidies and American Rescue Plan Act funding, records show. The $1.9 trillion COVID-19 stimulus bill was signed by President Joe Biden in March 2021 and, like the CARES Act, helped airlines avoid bankruptcy.
“Southwest had $116 million in 2021 profits to upgrade all of its information technology systems,” said Andrzejewski. “It was the first airline to declare profits after receiving massive $7.2 billion taxpayer subsidies during the pandemic. Unfortunately, Southwest had other priorities.”
On Monday, the Department of Transportation said it would investigate Southwest’s customer service policies that led to a “disproportionate and unacceptable rate” of flight cancellations and delays. Biden said in a Tuesday tweet that his administration “is working to ensure airlines are held accountable” and linked to a government webpage tracking examples of what airlines say customers could be compensated for.
Southwest has claimed that its holiday season failures are due to issues with “scheduling tools.” Capt. Mike Santoro, vice president of the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, a union organization, said on Tuesday that the winter storm was a “catalyst” for Southwest’s problems and that the airline’s scheduling software is “outdated.”
“We were fully staffed and prepared for the approaching holiday weekend when the severe weather swept across the continent, where Southwest is the largest carrier in 23 of the top 25 travel markets in the U.S.,” a spokeswoman for Southwest told the Washington Examiner. “These operational conditions forced daily changes of an unprecedented volume and magnitude to our flight schedule and the tools our teams use to recover the airline remain at capacity.”
“The Southwest Team is working to accommodate Customers on available flights as soon as possible, and we apologize for the inconvenience to our Customers,” the spokeswoman added.
A portion of the COVID-19 relief that Southwest has received, $976 million, is a low-interest loan that the airline has 10 years to pay back. Southwest turned a profit of $116 million in 2021 — becoming the first airline since the start of the pandemic to become profitable.
The chaos in connection to Southwest this holiday season comes as other airlines, which also took massive amounts in COVID-19 relief, fare better in getting customers from one place to the other. Southwest’s over 2,500 canceled flights on Wednesday account for 62% of such cases in the industry, according to FlightAware.
However, Spirit Airlines only canceled 31 flights on Wednesday, according to FlightAware. JetBlue canceled 28 flights on Wednesday, Delta Air Lines canceled 12 flights, United Airlines canceled nine flights, and American Airlines canceled 23 flights.
