Wheres the Justice in Repeated Lockdowns?
Share the truth                In Charles Dickens novel, Oliver Twist, we find the oft-quoted phrase: the law is an ass. Article by Rocco Loiacono from our partners at The Epoch Times. In his view, the law no longer served the purpose of promoting justice and fairness but became corrupted by arbitrariness so that it served the interests of the few and not the many. In other words, what is deemed legal may not always be lawful. Indeed, it may be immoral. I could list many instances over the last year and a half where some of us have been more equal than others or where laws have been arbitrarily applied, leading to unjust and tragic outcomes. Take, for example Victorias Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton travelling to Canberra for the annual dinner of the National Health and Medical Research Councilwhile Melburnians were prohibited from travelling more than 25km from home and couldnt leave the state other than for work reasons. Only after several requests, followed by a public outcry, were they granted an exemption to leave hotel quarantine. Many politicians or health bureaucrats have been slow to produce evidence of the benefits of repeated lockdowns and border closures, especially when the number of COVID-19 related deaths in Australia this year is, wait for it, zero. Add to this the secrecy about the science. The Morrison government has refused to release the Treasury departments assessment of the costs of measures such as border closures, lockdowns, and schools being shut. On this point, one of Australias foremost economists, Saul Eslake, wrote recently in the Australian Financial Review that it is outrageous that the government wont share with the public any of the basis for the decisions it has made. Professor Peter Swan of University of New South Wales is almost certainly correct in his assessment of what the government is hiding: It would seem highly likely that the government has ignored advice from Treasury and elsewhere that [the] lockdown is almost entirely unproductive and ineffective, as well as being economically crippling.  Furthermore, research released just this month by the National Bureau of Economic Research in the United States confirms, after an examination of data from all U.S. states plus 43 countries around the world, that there is no evidence of the foretold impact of lockdowns on reducing excess deaths, but there is evidence of excess overall deaths rising in the weeks following the inception of lockdowns. In his most recent book, Enduring Ideas, Professor Gabril Moens argues that there are instances of governmental arbitrariness which can be remedied only by means of civil disobedience, especially when some groups have entrenched power positions in society and use their power to impose their will on weaker and vulnerable classes of people. In such circumstances, civil disobedience may be protected by Articles 18 and 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, particularly when the opportunities for change that are provided by the legal system are deficient. This is an issue for Australians who uphold the noble ideal of respect for the rule of law. To be clear I am not advocating any form of lawbreaking. However, with a federal election due in the next year, we need to let our parliamentarians know if we Australians think differently about how they are running the country. Lets not forget that both major parties are on a unity ticket when it comes to public health orders. In each state, the Public Health Acts pursuant to which these orders are madewith all their side-effectswere passed with bipartisan support. As our longest-serving prime minister, Sir Robert Menzies said prophetically:  We need constantly to remind ourselves that democracy can produce tyranny just as readily as any other system of government unless the individual democrat has learned to attach supreme importance to individual freedom.  Rocco Loiacono is a senior lecturer at Curtin University Law School in Perth, Australia, and is a translator from Italian to English. His work on translation, linguistics, and law have been widely published in peer-reviewed journals. New Conservative Network Seeks Crowdfunding Help  They say we have to go big or go home. Were trying to go big and bring the patriotic truth the the nation, but we need help. Readers may or may not realize that over the past year, weve been bringing more conservative news and opinion outlets under our wing. Dont take our expansion as a sign of riches; all of the acquisitions have been through sweat and promises of greater things to come for all involved. As a result, weve been able to bring together several independent media sites under a unified vision of preventing America from succumbing to the progressive, woke, Neo-Marxist ideologies that are spreading like wildfire across America. The slow and steady reopening of America is revealing there was a lot more economic hardship brought about from the Covd-19 lockdowns than most realize. While we continue to hope advertising dollars on the sites go up, its simply not enough to do things the right way. We are currently experiencing a gap between revenue and expenses that cannot be overcome by click-ads and MyPillow promos alone (promo code NOQ by the way). To overcome our revenue gap and keep these sites running, our needs fluctuate between $3000-$7000 per month. In other words, were in the red and hemorrhaging. The best way you can help us grow and continue to bring the truth to the people is by donating. We appreciate everything, whether a dollar or $10,000. Anything brings us closer to a point of stability when we can hire writers, editors, and support staff to make the America First message louder. Our Giving Fuel page makes it easy to donate one-time or monthly. Alternatively, you can donate through PayPal as well. As the world spirals towards radical progressivism, the need for truthful journalism has never been greater. But in these times, we need as many conservative media voices as possible. Please help keep NOQ Report and the other sites in the network going. Thank you and God Bless,  JD Rucker  Bitcoin: 32SeW2Ajn86g4dATWtWreABhEkiqxsKUGn  Share the truth