Ohio Lawmakers to Introduce Legislation Prohibiting Mandated ‘Vaccine Passports’


Ohio GOP lawmakers plan to introduce legislation that would prohibit mandated “vaccine passports.” The term “vaccine passport” refers to the concept of requiring citizens to show proof they have received a vaccination for the Chinese coronavirus in order to be allowed to enter an area or establishment.

“Ohio is not New York,” said State Rep. Al Cutrona (R-Canfield) in a statement. “I anticipate introducing this bill to ensure that the liberties of all Ohioans are instilled throughout this vaccination phase of the pandemic.”

New York is the first state to formally launch a “vaccine passport” program — called the “Excelsior Pass” — which allows residents to pull up a code on their phones to prove they have been vaccinated for the Chinese coronavirus, or have tested negative.

Rep. Cutrona went on to say that while he encourages Ohioans to get vaccinated by their own free will, “a vaccine should not be mandated or required by our government for our people to integrate back to a sense of normalcy.”

“We’ve had restrictions on our freedoms for over a year and more restrictions or mandates are not the answer to every issue related to COVID-19,” Cutrona added.

Fellow Ohio State Rep. Mike Loychik (R-Bazetta) echoed these sentiments on Monday, tweeting, “Vaccine passports have no place in a free society.”

Rep. Loychik, who is also a co-sponsor of the upcoming bill, told Breitbart News that “upending society to implement an invasive vaccine credential system will only serve to further slow our economic recovery and deepen divisions in our society.”

“I absolutely encourage everyone who is eligible to get vaccinated to do so as soon as they can, but vaccine passports are not the way to go,” Loychik added.

Rep. Cutrona, who currently holds a position as the Chief Operating Officer for a tri-county infectious disease medical practice in Ohio, told Breitbart News that he foresees a violation of privacy if a vaccine passport were to be implemented.

“It is quite clear that the purpose for these passports go far beyond COVID,” Cutrona told Breitbart News. “A certificate from a physician could establish whether you have had COVID or a vaccine, so there is no need for the passport if that was truly the only intention. Amazon is already discussing using this as a platform to handle financial transactions and tracking people.”

“This is a clear example of what it looks like to slowly steal our freedoms,” Cutrona added. “As a Chief Operating Officer of an ID medical practice, I can confidently say that breaching medical privacy and freedom in the face of what the government decides is best for us will never be acceptable.”

The State Rep. went on to say that “this level of government intrusion would begin a slippery slope for our country.”

“This is the exact opposite of what our founding fathers envisioned for our country and its liberty,” Cutrona affirmed.

“Good intentions rarely justify imposing on people’s freedoms,” Cutrona added. “More frequently, these good intentions result in unintended consequences. If we have learned anything over the past year, it is that more regulations isn’t the answer.”

Cutrona says that he anticipates introducing the bill within the next three weeks.

The Ohio lawmakers are not alone in their stance regarding a “vaccine passport,” as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) recently expressed the concept is a “terrible idea,” adding that a state mandate is “totally off the table.”

“The vaccine passport is a terrible idea. We are definitely not going to require anything from the state’s perspective. That is totally off the table,” DeSantis said.

You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, on Parler @alana, and on Instagram.

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Study: Personal Protective Equipment Causing Coronavirus Litter, Threatening Wildlife


Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), once scarce and now abundant, is morphing into a new wave of masks and glove litter that is threatening wildlife, according to a recent study published on the Brill website.

The study said that the discarded masks and gloves are showing up everywhere around the globe.

The abstract to the study said, in part:

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is massively used, resulting in a new wave of litter: protective face masks and gloves. Here we present the first case of a fish entrapped in a medical glove, encountered during a canal clean-up in Leiden, The Netherlands. We also report the first cases of birds using medical face masks as nesting material, which were also found in the Dutch canals. To place these new findings in context, we collected online reported interactions of animals with PPE litter, since the start of the pandemic. 

This resulted in the first overview of cases of entanglement, entrapment and ingestion of COVID-19 litter by animals and the use of it as nesting material. We signal COVID-19 litter as a new threat to animal life as the materials designed to keep us safe are actually harming animals around us.

The introduction to the study said, in part:

To protect humans against this virus, personal protective equipment (PPE) is being used more frequently. China, for example, increased face mask production by 450 percent in just one month (Bown, 2020). It is estimated that we have a monthly use of 129 billion face masks and 65 billion gloves globally (Prata et al., 2020). Similar to the usage of other single-use plastic items, this also means an increase of PPE littering our environment (Fadare & Okoffo, 2020). 

PPE litter, also referred to as COVID-19 litter, mainly consists of single-use (usually latex) gloves and single-use face masks, consisting of rubber strings and mostly polypropylene fabric. Three months after face masks became obligatory in the UK, PPE items were found on 30 percent of the monitored beaches and at 69 precent of inland clean-ups by the citizen scientists of the Great British Beach Clean (Riglen, 2020). Even on the uninhabited Soko Islands, Hong Kong, already 70 discarded face masks were found on just a 100-meter stretch of beach (Kassam, 2020). 

The Study Finds website reported on the findings:

Biologists Auke-Florian Hiemstra from Naturalis Biodiversity Center and Liselotte Rambonnet from Leiden University are still examining how often and where animals are interacting the most with COVID products humans are discarding. Their samples and observations span the globe, from Brazil to Malaysia, coming from social media, websites, and local newspaper reports.

Researchers note incidents of foxes in the United Kingdom and birds in Canada all becoming entangled in discarded face masks. Hedgehogs, seagulls, crabs, and even bats are all encountering the disposable plastics in the environment.

The scientists also credited photographers, litter collectors, birdwatchers, wildlife rescue centers, and veterinarians who contributed to their project.

“As a result of this, we can learn more about the impact of this category of disposable products on wildlife,” Rambonnet said in a press release on the project. “We therefore ask people to keep sharing their observations so that we can maintain an up-to-date overview.”

People are asked to submit their COVID-19 litter observations online at www.covidlitter.com.

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Girl Raises over $2K to Buy K-9 a Bulletproof Vest: ‘A Really Nice Gift’


An 11-year-old girl in Bellevue, Nebraska, has been working hard to raise money to buy a police K-9 vest.

“He works patrol and narcotics. So patrol being he’ll go out and find bad guys for us and narcotics he’ll sniff for drugs,” Bellevue police officer Jim Bartley told WOWT of his K-9 named Max.

The department’s K-9 unit has four dogs but only two have the vests they need.

“It’s not something we can budget for because the dog’s life, working life is anywhere from 5-7 years. So typically it’s not something we’re able to buy,” Bartley explained.

However, when Izzy Greenfelder learned of the need, she decided to help by selling dog treats through her mom’s company, Dogalicous Dog Treats.

“When we went to their training they said they wanted lightweight, bulletproof vests, so I wanted to help them,” she commented.

In the course of the past year, Izzy raised more than $2,000 to purchase a custom vest for Max that will keep him safe while working with his partner.

“I have a vest on that I always wear to work, and it makes me more confident when I go out and do my job,” Bartley said, adding, “So now knowing that Max has one as well, this is a really nice gift.”

In a Facebook post on Saturday, Dogalicious Treats shared a photo of Izzy and Max wearing his vest, writing, “A special thank you to all of my wonderful customers, family, and friends that helped her goal come true”:

K-9 Max’s vest finally arrived! I am so incredibly proud of Izzy and all of her work to collect money to help protect…

Posted by Dogalicious Treats on Saturday, March 27, 2021

Although it is the first K-9 vest the company bought, it will not be the last.

“Starting this year wear doing dog scarves and now dog seatbelts that we’re putting labels and just different crafts on to keep raising money,” said Izzy’s mom, Brandi Kawula.

“So whether it’s for another dog for Bellevue or maybe one of the other community areas,” she concluded.

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Jen Psaki Says White House Stands Behind Decision To Give In-Person Education To Illegals Over American Kids…


Via DailyMail:

Biden’s press secretary Jen Psaki has stood by the decision by San Diego school officials to provide in-person teaching to migrant teenagers before children return to the classroom.

Parents are angry over plans for teachers providing in-person instruction to migrant children while their kids have been stuck at home slogging through virtual Zoom sessions.

Teachers from the San Diego County Office of Education as well as other nonprofit organizations started providing educational services on Monday to some of the 500 minors who arrived from Texas and Arizona over the weekend – a week before full in-person learning begins.

Keep reading…

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Leftist Chelsea Handler gets torched online over astoundingly ignorant tweet about Derek Chauvin trial

Liberal comedian Chelsea Handler faced the mockery and ridicule of many on Twitter after an astoundingly ignorant tweet about the proceedings in the trial of Derek Chauvin, the former police officer who knelt on George Floyd’s neck.

Chauvin is facing charges of unintentional second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and manslaughter over his role in the death of Floyd, a black man. Chauvin has since been fired from his job as an officer with the Minneapolis, Minnesota, police department.

While the trial is under close scrutiny due to the racially sensitive nature of the charges, Handler decided to chime in with an observation that revealed her lack of knowledge about the U.S. justice system.

So pathetic that there is a trial to prove that Derek Chauvin killed George Floyd when there is video of him doing so.

— Chelsea Handler (@Chelsea Handler)1617127843.0

"So pathetic that there is a trial to prove that Derek Chauvin killed George Floyd when there is video of him doing so," tweeted Chandler.

Critics pounced on the opportunity to fill in the clueless comedian about the right to a fair trial that has been a pillar of anglo-American jurisprudence for centuries.

"If there wasn’t it would violate the constitution. And it would set precedent that the people could throw away trials and punish the innocent. Everyone gets a trial and gets their voice in the courtroom," responded one user helpfully.

"How stupid of them to give due process that’s in the constitution. Smh. Bunch of damn communists. Yes, I think he’s guilty but we have due process and the rule of law in this country!" tweeted Josh Barnett, a Republican congressional candidate, sarcastically.

"Criticizing due process is a bold move for someone who claims to be in favor of criminal justice reform But hey, Chauvin was white AND a cop, so just hang him I guess," tweeted commentator Lauren Chen.

Many others pointed out that her suggestion was not only unconstitutional but very unwise as a policy for the justice system. Nevertheless, she persisted.

"Perhaps we skip trials when there is audio and video footage of the murder," Handler responded to one critic.

Perhaps we skip trials when there is audio and video footage of the murder. https://t.co/MpqAz70OXx

— Chelsea Handler (@Chelsea Handler)1617133277.0

Chandler has been blasted previously on social media many times, including once when she tweeted that the former first lady Melania Trump needed drugs to have sex with former President Donald Trump.

Here’s more on the Chauvin trial:

As Derek Chauvin Trial Gets Underway, First Witnesses Testify | TODAYwww.youtube.com

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Here Come The Most Stunning Base-Effect Charts Since The Great Depression

Here Come The Most Stunning Base-Effect Charts Since The Great Depression

In just a few days, US high frequency economic data will lap March 2020 when the US economy literally shut down and sent all economic indicators in freefall to a degree not seen since the Great Depression (and in many cases, more).

When that happens, while March/April economic data will rise only modestly compared to the previous month, it will be a veritable explosion compared to the shutdown a year ago. This is the so-called "base effect" and while many economists will ignore it, especially when it comes to inflation data, the impact for many will be jarring especially when investors see charts that have gone, for lack of a better word, vertical.

To preview the annual change base effect that is coming in everything from retail sales, to income and spending, to housing data, to jobs and unemployment, we have pulled some of the most representative real-time indicators available from JPMorgan and Bank of America, starting with what is perhaps the most illustrative chart of all: JPM’s spending tracker on the bank’s own consumer (debit and credit) cards.

Here the 65% surge in spending is not because of an actual surge in spending March, but because spending last March imploded. Which is why to normalize for the post-March 2020 shock, banks will likely show not just the Y/Y chart, but also a chart comparing to 2-year ago or, better yet, a pre-covid blended trend as JPM has done in the chart above.

Bank of America published a similar chart, showing a huge jump in Y/Y card spending, especially among households who received stimulus payments – and this time on both a 1 and 2 year basis – while household that did not receive stimulus saw a roughly 30% jump in Y/Y spending due to the base effect, and only a modest increase in 2Y spending.

Here are some other charts showing how the 1-Year, but not 2-Year change, has gone vertical:

… And some more.

… And even more…

But nowhere is the base effect more visible than in the 1-year spending on airlines, where we see a very clear "lift off" formation in progress.

Tyler Durden
Tue, 03/30/2021 – 19:05

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“Allegations Against Me Are as Searing as They Are False” – Matt Gaetz Responds to Scurrilous Hit Piece by New York Times

The New York Times published a hit piece on popular Trump-supporter Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) saying the Florida Congressman was under investigation for dating a 17-year-old girl.

Representative Matt Gaetz, Republican of Florida and a close ally of former President Donald J. Trump, is being investigated by the Justice Department over whether he had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old and paid for her to travel with him, according to three people briefed on the matter.

Investigators are examining whether Mr. Gaetz violated federal sex trafficking laws, the people said. A variety of federal statutes make it illegal to induce someone under 18 to travel over state lines to engage in sex in exchange for money or something of value. The Justice Department regularly prosecutes such cases, and offenders often receive severe sentences.

It was not clear how Mr. Gaetz met the girl, believed to be 17 at the time of encounters about two years ago that investigators are scrutinizing, according to two of the people.

The investigation was opened in the final months of the Trump administration under Attorney General William P. Barr, the two people said. Given Mr. Gaetz’s national profile, senior Justice Department officials in Washington — including some appointed by Mr. Trump — were notified of the investigation, the people said.

 

The Gateway Pundit spoke with a source close to Matt Gaetz who told us this report is completely false. Gaetz is not the target of the investigation.  We were also told none of the women he was seeing were underage.

It’s not a surprise the left is after Gaetz since he is such an effective communicator and staunch Trump supporter.

Axios reported:

What he’s saying: “The allegations against me are as searing as they are false,” Gaetz said in a 13-minute phone interview with Axios. “I believe that there are people at the Department of Justice who are trying to criminalize my sexual conduct, you know when I was a single guy.”

  • Axios reported earlier Tuesday that Gaetz has privately told confidants he’s seriously considering not seeking re-election, and possibly leaving Congress early for a job at Newsmax.

The big picture: Gaetz, 38, said the specifics of the allegations are “unclear,” and he said he’s been told “very little.” But the New York Times reported late Tuesday afternoon that the Justice Department is investigating Gaetz “over whether he had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old and paid for her to travel with him.”

  • “The allegations of sexual misconduct against me are false,” Gaetz told Axios. “They are rooted in an extortion effort against my family for $25 million … in exchange for making this case go away.”
  • Gaetz sent Axios screenshots of text messages, emails and documents outlining the alleged extortion scheme, which he claimed was being run by a former DOJ employee. The Justice Department declined to comment.

Sounding shaken, Gaetz said that for weeks, he and his father been working with the FBI in the Northern District of Florida on the extortion case. Gaetz said his lawyers were informed by the Justice Department that “I was not a target but a subject of an investigation regarding sexual conduct with women.”

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ABC Reporter Calls Out Stelter’s Immigration Lies Right to His Face

CNN’s Brian Stelter, a man whose program often relies on hyperbole, speculation and selective omitting and reporting, was kept honest on Sunday by ABC News reporter Jonathan Karl, of all people. Karl joined Stelter on his weekly show, “Reliable Sources,” as did other left-wing reporters, to speak about Biden’s first formal solo media briefing. Stelter…

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Maxine Waters Pushes Extreme Anti-Police Rhetoric, Speaks as if Slavery Just Ended Yesterday

When Maxine Waters puts willful ignorance on display, she doesn’t go halfway. As a Democratic California congresswoman who now chairs the House Financial Services Committee after 30 years as a federal lawmaker, it might seem Waters would know better than most Americans how much different the country is since the Civil War ended slavery more…

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While School Remains Closed for Americans, San Diego Teachers Provide In-Person Instruction to Migrant Kids

Teachers in San Diego will instruct illegal immigrant children in-person despite the fact that their own students are being denied in-class learning amid the coronavirus pandemic. The San Diego Convention Center has been repurposed as an overflow facility for unaccompanied migrant children flooding the border in response to the Biden administration’s open-borders rhetoric. The operation…

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