YouTube censors DeSantis COVID-19 roundtable challenging lockdown consensus

The Blaze Media     CHRIS PANDOLFO April 8, 2021 

YouTube has removed a video of a public health roundtable hosted by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) with a panel of scientists and researchers who challenged the effectiveness of COVID-19 lockdowns and masks, claiming the discussion violated its Community Guidelines.

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The roundtable, which took place at the state Capitol on March 18 and was streamed and posted to YouTube by WTSP-TV, featured former Trump White House coronavirus adviser Dr. Scott Atlas, epidemiologist Professor Sunetra Gupta, and researchers Dr. Jay Bhattacharya and Dr. Martin Kulldorff.

The scientists and researchers discussed how public policy measures adopted during the pandemic to mitigate spread of the virus, including quarantining healthy people, shutting businesses down, and mandating mask-wearing, were inspired in part by fear rather than by scientific evidence.

Dr. Bhattacharya called lockdowns "the single biggest public health mistake in history" and argued they failed to protect vulnerable populations like senior citizens from contracting COVID-19. The panel discussed evidence that contradicted some studies that suggest lockdowns may have saved millions of lives globally.

The experts also disputed the effectiveness of mask-wearing, offering various opinions that differed from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations for preventing spread of COVID-19.

Jeffrey A. Tucker, writing for the American Institute for Economic Research, was the first to notice that YouTube had removed the video.

"With no warning, no announcement, and no explanation, YouTube on April 7, 2021, suddenly deleted the entire video from its platform," Tucker wrote Wednesday. "Once hosted by WTSP Tampa Bay, an NBC affiliate, it originally appeared as embedded in a story on WTSP.com."

"AIER embedded that same video on our story about the event, along with the first and still the only full transcript of the event. In the late afternoon, the video appeared completely blanked out," he reported.

Tucker harshly criticized YouTube's actions.

"When the CDC and WHO began to contradict themselves on many issues, among which included immunities and their source, YouTube took a different direction, curating the 'science' themselves and deleting any video that its employees didn't like," he wrote.

"This policy has now run afoul of the basic needs of public health messaging, science, and sound policy decision making, even to the point of removing a serious forum of a popular government along with his scientific advisors from Harvard, Stanford, and Oxford universities."

YouTube's Community Guidelines state the platform "doesn't allow content about COVID-19 that poses a serious risk of egregious harm."

The website bans "content that spreads medical misinformation that contradicts local health authorities' or the World Health Organization's (WHO) medical information about COVID-19." Such content may be related to treatment, prevention, diagnosis, transmission, social distancing and quarantine guidelines, or the existence of COVID-19.

Reached for comment, YouTube spokesperson Elena Hernandez said the video was removed "because it included content that contradicts the consensus of local and global health authorities regarding the efficacy of masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19."

"We allow videos that otherwise violate our policies to remain on the platform if they contain sufficient educational, documentary, scientific, or artistic context. Our policies apply to everyone, and focus on content regardless of the speaker or channel," Hernandez added.

YouTube cited examples from the video that violated its Community Guidelines, including comments from Drs. Kulldorff, Bhattacharya, and Atlas about how children do not need to wear masks in school.

"I think it is developmentally inappropriate and it just doesn't help on the disease spread," said Dr. Bhattacharya. "I think it's absolutely not the right thing to do ... I think is a little bit clearer because we've had a year of experience. If we went back a year, a lot of the experts would say that wearing masks for the general public is not evidence-based."

Dr. Atlas added later, "There's no scientific rationale or logic to have children wear masks in schools."

The YouTube spokesperson did not clarify if other videos of the March 18 roundtable, such as this one posted by NBC 6 South Florida, will also be removed.

TheBlaze also reached out to WTSP-TV and Governor Ron DeSantis' office with requests for comment.

Editor's Note: This article was updated at 3:15 p.m. ET on 4/8/2021 to include comments from YouTube. 

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JP Morgan CEO acknowledges “something has gone terribly wrong” in America

 

April 7, 2021 Cancun, Mexico Last week I wrote to you about billionaire hedge fund manager Ray Dalio’s most recent advice for people to diversify their investments OUT of the US dollar. Dalio didn’t pull any punches when he laid out his analysis for America’s economic future. He warned readers of the very real risk of stagflation (starting “late this year”) and tax increases that could be even “more shocking than expected”. He also advised people to anticipate the possibility of capital controls and prohibitions against assets like gold and cyptocurrency. All of this, he wrote, means that “the United States could be perceived as a place that is inhospitable to capitalism and capitalists,” and he advised readers to think about “currency diversification, country diversification, and asset class diversification.” That specific concept of diversification has been one of the dominant themes here at Sovereign Man over the past decade. And the fact that someone as prominent as Dalio is echoing the same sentiment suggests that we may be much closer to a reckoning than most people realize. Yesterday, another prominent leader in the financial sector published his own thoughts on the matter. Jamie Dimon, CEO of banking giant JP Morgan, published his annual shareholder letter, and it contained an incredibly candid appraisal of the numerous challenges facing the United States, including China: “China’s leaders believe America is in decline...The Chinese see an America that is losing ground in technology, infrastructure and education – a nation torn and crippled...and a country unable to coordinate government policies (fiscal, monetary, industrial, regulatory) in any coherent way to accomplish national goals.” “Unfortunately,” Dimon writes, “there is a lot of truth to this.” He then goes on to provide a wide-ranging laundry list of problems that have been building for years in the United States-- “I’ll give some examples, but if I tried to address them all this letter would become a book.” Dimon cites “a litigation and regulatory system that is costly, crippling small businesses with red tape and bureaucracy”. “terrible infrastructure planning and investment” “huge waste and inefficiency at both the federal and state levels” a lack of “effective immigration policies” “we fail to properly fund pension obligations” “income equality has gotten worse” “social safety nets [are] poorly designed” “30% of Americans don’t have enough savings to deal with unexpected expenses that total as little as $400” “Veterans [hospitals] . . . are broken” “Almost all institutions – governments, schools, media and businesses – have lost credibility in the eyes of the public. And perhaps for good reason: Many of our problems have been around for a long time and are not aging well.” “Politics is increasingly divisive, and government is increasingly dysfunctional” He also rails against the education and healthcare systems, saying: “Our education and health issues come together in this alarming statistic: Seventy percent of today’s youth (ages 17-24) are not eligible for military service, essentially due to a lack of proper education (basic reading and writing skills) or health issues (commonly obesity or diabetes).” Dimon goes on to explain that all of these problems “may explain why, over the last 10 years, the U.S. economy has grown cumulatively only about 18%.” “Some think that this sounds satisfactory, but it must be put into context: In prior sharp downturns (1974, 1982 and 1990), economic growth was 40% over the ensuing 10 years.” So US economic performance over the past decade has been less than HALF as strong as in the decade following previous downturns. Dimon acknowledges that “something has gone terribly wrong...and people are right to feel angry and let down.” He puts on a brave face and tells readers that the problems are fixable. And certainly, in theory, some of them should be. For example, in theory it should be easy to eliminate corruption and incompetence in government: stop electing corrupt and incompetent people. Yet year after year, corrupt and incompetent politicians are re-elected to powerful offices. Dimon also suggests that the US “would do well to study the successes of the rest of the world.” To learn how to build top-quality infrastructure again, for example, learn from Hong Kong. Or he suggests the US can learn from Singapore how to build an effective healthcare system. Yet instead the US seems to be learning from bad examples, places like Argentina and Venezuela-- “all countries with tremendous natural resources that allowed, in the name of their people, their economies to be destroyed.” Dimon writes correctly that the US has faced tough times before-- “the Civil War, World War I, the U.S. stock market crash of 1929 and the Great Depression that followed, and World War II, among others. . . . But in each case, America’s might and resiliency strengthened our position in the world, particularly in relation to our major international competitors.” Yet even Dimon acknowledges-- “This time may be different” i.e. perhaps this time the US doesn’t emerge stronger. This certainly echoes what Ray Dalio published last week. Now, Jamie Dimon may be right. Perhaps elected leaders in the United States, and across the West, suddenly grow brains, consciences, and backbones. Perhaps people on social media set aside their differences and find common ground. Perhaps the media starts presenting unbiased truth. And perhaps, altogether, these problems are solved once and for all, ushering in an era of peace and prosperity never before seen. [Dennis Edwards: The time of peace and prosperity will not come until the Prince of Peace returns. The Prince of Peace will not return until the world goes through the worst period of its history called in the New Testament - The Great Tribulation. Troublesome times are on the horizon because man has forgotten God. All that will happen will stem from the simple fact that men have forgotten their maker, they have forgotten God. They have taken God our of their laws. They have taken God out of their institutions. They have taken God out of their culture.  God is dead and we have killed Him and His blood is on our hands. We will not escape. The day of justice will come. The dreadful day of the Lord will come.  Don't believe in the peace prophets who tell you "peace and safety." Peace and safety will not come until the Son of Righteousness comes with healing in His wings. But before He comes, there shall come that "wicked one," the "lawless one," the "beast," or "son of perdition." He will come and all fury will be let loose. He, the Antichrist, will persecute and kill God's people who refuse to come under the neck of His One World Government and accept his mark in their right hand or forehead, the mark of the beast. Slowly, but surely, we move forward towards those days.  The coming financial collapse could catapult us into his arms as we seek for a return to a time of financial security. But the security he offers will come at a price: our soul. He will demand complete loyalty to his system, to his beliefs, and to himself. Don't be fooled. Rebuke him in the name of Jesus and fight for your faith. Not with arms of this world, but with the spiritual truths of the next one. The greatest truth is Jesus. He is the way, the truth, and the life. Come to Him for the strength you need for the days ahead. Call upon Him. He is not far from any of us.] That’s certainly a nice thought. But just in case it doesn’t pan out that way, you might want to think about having a Plan B. To your freedom,

Simon Black, Founder, SovereignMan.com

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Vaccine Passports - Not Just Yet!

 WHO Rejects Vaccine Passports ‘At This Stage’

BY JACK PHILLIPS

 

April 6, 2021 Updated: April 6, 2021 From THE EPOCH TIMES @ theepochtimes.com

biggersmaller 

The World Health Organization (WHO) said it rejects using CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus vaccine passports “at this stage” for travel because health authorities are not sure whether the vaccine is effective.

“We as WHO are saying at this stage we would not like to see the vaccination passport as a requirement for entry or exit because we are not certain at this stage that the vaccine prevents transmission,” WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris told a news conference in Geneva, Switzerland, on Tuesday.

Another big issue is concerns about equity, or equal access to vaccines across different groups in society. Pregnant women, for instance, largely are advised not to get a vaccine at this time.

“But this is an evolving situation. And ultimate, of course, when we know more about whether or not it prevents transmission and when there’s greater equity, this is something that may well be important in the future,” Harris added later.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) made a similar argument for barring the usage of a vaccine passport system, citing privacy concerns and whether or not such a system would be kept in a centralized database. Some, like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, have said that it would create a class system of vaccinated and non-vaccinated people.

Previously, WHO officials have rejected passports when asked about them.

“Vaccination is just not available enough around the world and is not available certainly on an equitable basis,” Dr. Michael Ryan, the head of the WHO Health Emergencies Program, told reporters March 8.

On Monday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, became the second U.S. governor after DeSantis to issue an executive order barring vaccine passports. DeSantis, also a Republican, became the first governor to do so last week.

“Today I issued an executive order prohibiting the use of so-called COVID-19 vaccine passports,” DeSantis wrote Twitter April 2. “The Legislature is working on making permanent these protections for Floridians and I look forward to signing them into law soon.”

“No COVID-19 vaccine is required by law,” the governor’s order stated, adding that “vaccination records are private health information” that shouldn’t be shared by a mandate. The passports, he said, would harm individual freedom and harm patient privacy.

“A requirement to show a passport to take part in everyday life such as a sporting event, going to a restaurant or going to a movie theater would ‘create two classes of citizens,’” DeSantis stated.

His order forbids local governments and businesses from implementing the system.

Some firms—such as airlines and cruise companies—have floated the idea to entice people into using their services. New York state, meanwhile, has set up its own “Excelsior Pass” that would be used in large-scale events such as Madison Square Garden and sporting events.

Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.

Dennis  Edwards: For the moment the powers that be are not mandating the use of "Vaccine Passports." They know that the push back would be great. They are still testing the watres to implement their control over the nations. But it will come. We will have a one world government and it very well may demand such measures as vaccine passports or digital tattoos as a means of travel or something similar. We know the famous "mark of the beast" is coming. How it will be implemented is still a mystery. Make sure your name is written in heaven by calling on the name of the one and only Messiah, Jesus, who is the Christ. Then you don't have to fear the mark or the vaccine because your name will be set in the book of life. Then you can acknowledge that this world is not your home. You are headed for another place, that is heavenly. You can start living for that heavenly place by loving others and sharing with them the good news, the Gospel, that Jesus has risen from the dead and is offering eternal life to all those who will believe. Once you have Him in your life by receiving Him by faith, He will transform you into your full potential, the loving parent, friend, or mate that he wants you to be. Call upon Him today. He's just a prayer away!

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Dead for 20 Minutes

 

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We Are Change!

 

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Russell Brand Continues to Analyze the Great Reset Garble

 Dennis Edwards: The George Orwell - Aldous Huxley dystopis is coming our way.  We will have One World Government whether we like it or not. It will lead to the worse persecution of Christians and those who refuse to submit to its "soft" authoritarian dictates. Eventually, we will have an obligatory "mark of the beast" which will be necessary to buy and sell. It looks like it will be some type of demonic technology necessary to participate in the antichrist system. Whether it is a vaccine, a tattoo, an implant, Big Brother wants us lock, stock and barrel. The "mark" will ensure him that we are faithful and loyal subjects. Those without the "mark" will be enemies of the state, terrorists, criminals, and vagabonds. Great tribulation will ensue and come upon all lands and push mankind to the famous "Battle of Armageddon." Christ will return and finally put a stop to all the violence and enforce peace on earth for a 1,000 years. Will you be part of His Kingdom? Get on board today. It may be later than you think! 

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Polish Minister Chases Police and Health Authoritees Out of Church!

 Dennis Edwards: The Polish Minister, an immigrant to Canada, understands where all this is headed: an antichrist police state with peace and security for all who submit to totalitarian government authority and prison and fines for those who don't. He lived through it under communist Poland and now he sees it slowly but surely coming softly to Canada and USA. Read "Live Not By Lies: A Manuel For Christian Dissidents" by Rod Dreher.

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The Old Rugged Cross

 

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I Know Who Holds Tomorrow

 

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Só em Cristo - Rachel Novaes

 

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