Author: Jon Miltimore

On February 7, 1968, after American military forces rained rockets, napalm, and bombs on the village of Ben Tre in South Vietnam, killing hundreds of civilians, Associated Press reporter Peter Arnett quoted a military officer’s justification of the event. “It became necessary to destroy the town to save it,” a US major was quoted as saying. Arnett, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter who’d go on to become one of the last western journalists in Saigon until its capture in 1975, never revealed the source of the quote, which some US officials doubted was authentic. Nevertheless, the quote—which eventually morphed into the…

In August 2021 Science Magazine, a peer-reviewed academic journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, highlighted groundbreaking research out of Israel that upended the public health establishment. The research, which relied on a database enrolling some 2.5 million Israelis and was led by Tal Patalon, head of the KSM Research and Innovation Center at Maccabi Healthcare Services, and deputy Sivan Gazit, found that previous infection from Covid-19 conferred considerably stronger and longer-lasting protection against the Delta variant than vaccines. “The newly released data show people who once had a SARS-CoV-2 infection were much less likely than never-infected,…

News reports say the Biden administration is currently weighing a plan that would allow all adults to receive a second Covid-19 booster, citing concerns from White House chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci about the spike in hospitalizations “fueled by the extremely contagious omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5.” Currently second booster shots are only offered to individuals over the age of 50. Meanwhile, discussion of a potential fifth shot is already underway. During a recent television appearance, CNN host Don Lemon asked CNN medical analyst Jonathan Reiner if such a scenario is likely. LEMON: “That was my next question, I’m…

A growing body of scientific evidence suggests that mask mandates did little to nothing to curb the spread of Covid-19. The latest research further undermines the controversial policy. A new study analyzing a pair of schools in Fargo, North Dakota—one which had a mask mandate in place in the fall of the 2021-2022 academic year and one that did not—provides more evidence that mask mandates are ineffective public policy. “Our findings contribute to a growing body of literature which suggests school-based mask mandates have limited to no impact on the case rates of COVID-19 among K-12 students,” researchers at the…

The rise in consumer prices has rightly received a great deal of attention, as inflation hovers around 40-year highs. Everyone can see that virtually everything is getting more expensive, but fewer have noticed that many items are also getting smaller. On Wednesday the Associated Press ran an article under the headline “No, you’re not imagining it — package sizes are shrinking.” The AP spoke to one shopper, Alex Aspacher, who does a lot of shopping for his family of four in Ohio. He noticed he was still paying $9.99 for Swiss cheese even though the package had shrunk from a…

Throughout the pandemic, few things incited more discord than the mandated use of facemasks as a preventative measure to reduce the spread of Covid-19. At various times, merely questioning the effectiveness of masks or mask mandates could result in a social media suspension, as when Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) received the boot from YouTube for citing research that suggested cloth masks were ineffective at containing Covid (something CNN admitted months later). A badge of honor . . . leftwing cretins at Youtube banning me for 7 days for a video that quotes 2 peer reviewed articles saying cloth masks don’t…

Sometimes I have to remind myself how good we Americans have it because—let’s face it—there is a lot of bad news out there, particularly on the economics front. Inflation, which hit 8.5 percent in March, gets the most attention, and rightly so. Less attention has been given to financial markets. The Nasdaq just had its worst month since 2008 (the year of the financial meltdown). The S&P 500, meanwhile, is having its worst start to a year since the Great Depression. And then there’s food and energy prices. There’s no way to sugarcoat the data—which is a shame, because there’s…

Early in the coronavirus pandemic, I asked a simple question. Could Sweden’s laissez-faire approach to the coronavirus actually work? Unlike its European neighbors and virtually all US states, the Swedes had opted to not shut down the economy. The country of 10 million people took what was at first described as “a lighter touch.” While other countries closed schools and businesses, life in Sweden stayed pretty normal. Kids went to public pools and libraries, while adults sipped wine and had lunch in local bistros. Though mass gatherings were prohibited, children kept going to school, though students older than 16 were…

On Feb. 25, the CDC made its expected announcement that it was updating its framework to monitor and contain COVID-19. “We’re in a stronger place today as a nation with more tools to protect ourselves in our communities from COVID-19, like vaccination, boosters, broader access to testing, availability of high quality masks, accessibility to new treatments, and improved ventilation,” said CDC Director Rochelle Paula Walensky. Most media headlines focused on the CDC’s relaxed mask guidelines, which advised that most Americans could ditch masks. How the CDC arrived at this conclusion has received little scrutiny, however. Changing Its COVID Risk Formula…

Russian soldiers flooded into Ukraine Thursday under orders from President Vladimir Putin, threatening to obliterate a peace that has existed on the European continent for more than 75 years. News reports say cities were bombarded by land, air, and sea, and Ukrainian forces were struggling to hold ground surrounding Kiev, Ukraine’s capital, against tens of thousands of Russian soldiers. Prior to the attack, Ukrainian officials took steps to help Ukrainian civilians protect themselves. “Ukraine’s parliament on Wednesday voted to approve in the first reading a draft law which gives permission to Ukrainians to carry firearms and act in self-defense,” Reuters…

At a “ladies night” fundraiser in Toronto in 2013, an up-and-coming politician was asked which nation’s administration he admired most in the world. Wearing a pale blue shirt and a smile, the fresh-faced Liberal Party leader answered Communist China. “There is a level of admiration I actually have for China because their basic dictatorship is allowing them to actually turn their economy around on a dime and say we need to go green, we need to start, you know, investing in solar,” Justin Trudeau told the group of women. “There is a flexibility that I know [Prime Minister] Stephen Harper…

It takes incredible arrogance for lawmakers and bureaucrats to assume they know what’s best for us. But that quality—arrogance—is precisely what we’ve seen since the start of the pandemic.

On Wednesday, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provided new research showing that, during the recent Delta wave, individuals who had previously contracted COVID-19 had more protection against the virus than those who had been vaccinated. “Before the Delta variant, Covid-19 vaccination resulted in better protection against a subsequent infection than surviving a previous infection,” CDC epidemiologist Benjamin Silk told the Wall Street Journal. “When looking at the summer and fall of 2021, when Delta became predominant in this country, however, surviving a previous infection now provided greater protection.” Both vaccinated individuals and those who had recovered…

The NCAA on Thursday released its new COVID-19 guidance for winter sports, and the guidance contains some important news. As ESPN reports, the NCAA’s COVID-19 Medical Advisory Group updated its definition of “fully vaccinated” to account for various new vaccinations, boosters, and immunity factors. “Fully vaccinated individuals now include those within two months of receiving the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, five months of receiving the Pfizer vaccine series or six months of receiving the Moderna vaccine series;” reports ESPN staff writer Jeff Borzello, “and individuals who are beyond the aforementioned timeline and have received the booster vaccine.” But perhaps the…

Elon Musk made a bold claim on Twitter on Tuesday. The Tesla founder said he would “pay more taxes than any American in history this year.” Is the claim true? Only the IRS knows for certain who the largest taxpayer in US history is, but Forbes says Musk appears to be right. “The eccentric billionaire (and the world’s richest person) likely owes the federal government at least $8.3 billion for 2021,” Forbes reports. Business Insider projects Musk’s tax bill is even higher when state taxes are included. “Taxes on his stock, nearly a billion in Net Investment Income Tax, and…

It’s hard to know what’s real and what’s fake on the internet these days. So when I stumbled on a Twitter post that claimed automobile drivers in Slovenia were forbidden from pumping gas without a COVID certificate, I was skeptical. All the tweets I found were screenshots of a single story published by TV N1 Zagreb, a news partner of CNN. Attempts to find information of this alleged regulation on the Slovenian government’s website didn’t go well (I don’t read Slovenian!), but I was able to find another story published by a separate Slovenian news organization. Unfortunately, it appears the…

On Monday, US Education Secretary Miguel Cardona touted new academic research to show that masks have been effective at reducing the spread of COVID-19 in schools. The study focused on seventeen schools in Wood Country, Wisconsin that were analyzed from August 31 – November 29, 2020. Researchers concluded that mask-wearing was high and COVID-19 transmission was lower in the school than in the general population. “A Wisconsin study found that schools that required masking had a 37% lower incidence of COVID-19 than the surrounding community,” Cardona claimed on Twitter. “Let’s be data-driven and follow the science when it comes to…

A newly published medical study found that infection from COVID-19 confers considerably longer-lasting and stronger protection against the Delta variant of the virus than vaccines. “The natural immune protection that develops after a SARS-CoV-2 infection offers considerably more of a shield against the Delta variant of the pandemic coronavirus than two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, according to a large Israeli study that some scientists wish came with a ‘Don’t try this at home’ label,” the Scientific American reported Thursday. “The newly released data show people who once had a SARS-CoV-2 infection were much less likely than vaccinated people to…

The ACLU on Tuesday announced it is bringing a lawsuit against South Carolina over its mask policy. The Palmetto State is one of seven states—along with Texas, Iowa, Oklahoma, Arizona, Utah, and Florida— that have policies in place banning schools from having mask policies. Thirteen states, meanwhile, have laws that mandate masks in schools. The majority of states (30) allow school districts to determine their own mask policies. “We’re suing to end South Carolina’s ban on mask requirements in schools, with Disability Rights South Carolina, Able South Carolina, and parents,” the ACLU said. “Students with disabilities are effectively being excluded…

Jennifer Bridges knew what was coming when her director at Houston Methodist hospital called her up in June to inquire about her vaccination status. Bridges, a 39-year-old registered nurse, responded “absolutely not” when asked if she was vaccinated or had made an effort to get vaccinated. She was terminated on the spot. “We all knew we were getting fired,” Bridges, 39, told CBS News. “We knew unless we took that shot to come back, we were getting fired today. There was no ifs, ands or buts.” Bridges was one of more than 150 hospital workers fired by Houston Methodist hospital.…

Over a recent 12-day period the Milwaukee Brewers had nine players test positive for COVID-19. While we don’t know the vaccination status of all the players, the team disclosed that most of the players were vaccinated for COVID-19, including former MVP Christian Yelich, who tested positive after experiencing mild flu-like symptoms. “He did the right thing and reported those mild symptoms,” Brewers GM David Stearns said when it was announced Yelich was heading to the disabled list. “We got him a test … .The test returned positive and we got a confirmation test, which also came back positive.” The Brewers…

Last week I received a letter from my children’s school district. “We will start the school year this fall – in-person, five days a week – strongly recommending that all students and staff in our buildings, regardless of vaccination status, wear face coverings,” Lisa Sayles-Adams, superintendent of Eastern Carver County Schools in Minnesota, wrote. “At this time, we are not requiring face coverings.” This was welcome news. My children—like most, I imagine—have expressed their dislike for wearing masks all day long, which was the practice last school year (when school was open). They struggled all year with COVID-19 protocols. This…

On March 1, facing the highest COVID-19 infection rate in the world, the Czech Republic’s Prime Minister Andrej Babis introduced what was described as the strictest lockdown in the nation to date. “People are banned from travelling within the country, between districts, and cannot visit one another,” Al Jazeera reported. “All retailers, except essential shops such as supermarkets, are closed.” The coronavirus has been hard on everyone, but it has been particularly hard on the Czech Republic. The landlocked Central European nation has the highest COVID mortality rate of any country in the world with more than a million people,…

On March 2, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced he was lifting all government restrictions aimed at limiting the spread of COVID-19. “I just announced Texas is OPEN 100%, Abbott tweeted. “EVERYTHING. I also ended the statewide mask mandate.” I just announced Texas is OPEN 100%. EVERYTHING. I also ended the statewide mask mandate.— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) March 2, 2021 Abbott’s decision caused a stir among politicians and public health experts, though numerous other states had been operating without restrictions for months. “Governor Abbott’s failure to listen to science and medical advice will cost Texans their lives,” Rep. Joaquin Castro warned…

With thousands of schools still closed or partially closed across the country, millions of American families are struggling to find work-life balance while educating their children at home. One part of American society may be receiving their own special COVID-19 relief package, however. In Forbes, Adam Andrzejewski writes that a provision in the $1.9 trillion House bill—“the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021”—would allow federal employees to make up to $1,400 a week without working. Buried on pages 305-306 of the legislation, the provision creates a $570 million fund for disbursements to federal employees who are not working because they…