{"id":99714,"date":"2022-02-03T19:31:22","date_gmt":"2022-02-04T00:31:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/?p=99714"},"modified":"2022-02-03T19:31:27","modified_gmt":"2022-02-04T00:31:27","slug":"the-daily-gouge-archive-wednesday-february-2nd-groundhog-day-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/?p=99714","title":{"rendered":"The Daily Gouge Archive, Wednesday, February 2nd, Groundhog Day 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s Wednesday, February 2nd, Groundhog Day 2022…and like Bill Murray’s character in the movie, California’s Liberal elite just can’t change their behavior, as, once again, despite his own statewide indoor mask mandate…<\/strong><\/p>\n

Governor Newsom Violates State Mask Mandate at NFL Playoff Game<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/h1>\n

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“California governor Gavin Newsom was photographed without a mask on Sunday at the Rams\u201349ers playoff match at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, along with Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti and San Francisco mayor London Breed, despite a state-wide indoor mask mandate<\/span><\/em>.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

SoFi Stadium also requires<\/em><\/span><\/a>\u00a0guests to wear masks except while eating and drinking<\/em><\/span>.<\/span> California currently has a mask mandate for all indoor public spaces until at least February 15.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The three politicians\u00a0posed for photographs<\/a><\/em><\/span>\u00a0with former Los Angeles Lakers player Magic Johnson<\/strong><\/span>…”<\/p>\n

Newsom offered the following in defense of his latest act of hypocrisy:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ll see the photo that I did take, Magic was kind enough, generous enough, to ask me for a photograph and in my left hand\u2019s the mask and I took the photo,” he explained. “The rest of the time I wore it as we all should<\/em><\/span>, um \u2014 not<\/em><\/span> when I had a glass of water \u2014 and I encourage everybody else to do so.<\/span> And, uh, that\u2019s it.<\/strong><\/span>\u201d<\/p>\n

Except he didn’t…<\/strong><\/p>\n

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…so it isn’t.\u00a0 Or at least wouldn’t be were he a Republican.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Now, here’s The Gouge<\/em>!<\/strong><\/p>\n

First up, writing at Townhall.com<\/em>, Scott Morefield tells us how…<\/strong><\/p>\n

This Must-Read Book Obliterates the Mask Cult<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/h1>\n

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“…Sadly, the difficult-to-counter \u2018iT WoULd hAvE BeEn WoooOrSe\u2019 response has become the reliable Branch Covidian go-to when attempting to defend their useless interventions. But would it<\/em><\/span> have been, really<\/em><\/span>?<\/span> Enter Ian Miller, an entertainment industry content manager who, like many of us, quickly began questioning the establishment Covid narrative<\/em><\/span> when it didn\u2019t seem to line up with the actual facts on the ground. But instead of surrendering to defeat, Miller promptly put his day job experience dabbling in data analysis to work creating and distributing eye-popping charts that soon made him a Team Reality celebrity and a Branch Covidien foil.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

You\u2019ve probably\u00a0seen them on Twitter<\/a><\/em><\/span>\u00a0being shared by prominent conservative politicians, media figures, and Team Reality proponents, or in posts on large news sites like Fox News, City Journal, and TheBlaze. Indeed, Ian\u2019s charts – which list each specific coronavirus restriction implemented in a specific geographical area on a dateline which also devastatingly includes the rate of virus spread during that time period – have become THE go-to way to show the absurdity and unworkability of our overlords\u2019 failed Covid policies.<\/span> If a picture is worth a thousand words, these charts – each one of them – are worth at least<\/em><\/span> a million.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Of course, as we unfortunately know, censorship of ideas they don\u2019t like is alive and well.<\/span> All Twitter has to do to erase evidence like this from the annals of Twitter history is to delete Ian Miller\u2019s account, an action that could happen to any of us<\/em><\/span> at any time<\/em><\/span>. Such is the risk of daring to go against the established Faucian Covid narrative.<\/span> Thankfully, Ian has minimized the damage of that possibility by giving all of us an amazing gift in his\u00a0new 217-page book<\/a><\/em><\/span>, titled, \u201cUnmasked: The Global Failure of Covid Mask Mandates.\u201d In it, the author combines his famous charts with unflappable analysis that devastatingly rips the veil off the misleading pseudo-science surrounding masking we\u2019ve been force fed for two years to reveal the forbidden truth – that masking and mask mandates<\/em><\/span> have done absolutely nothing to mitigate the spread of Covid-19 worldwide<\/em><\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve looked at data from all over the world, from the granular county level to entire countries, and have yet to find examples showing clear and sustained benefits to mask mandates,\u201d Miller writes. \u201cThere has simply been no discernable pattern or correlation with mask mandates and better outcomes<\/em><\/span>.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

From analyzing pre-Covid mask studies showing unequivocally that mask usage does not stop contagious respiratory viruses from spreading, to ripping apart \u201cthe experts\u2019 new science\u201d (including mask-use \u2018studies\u2019 from Arizona and Kansas with \u201csignificant flaws\u201d), to highlighting real world data from places like Florida, California, Sweden, and countless others – with the charts to back it up – Miller devastatingly indicts, tries, and convicts the mask cult of misleading a gullible, frightened public into not just using a useless non-pharmaceutical intervention, but forcing it on others, including defenseless children, for years<\/span><\/em>. (While we get Morefield’s point, we don’t believe the WuFlu vaccine to have been “useless”, simply unnecessary for the vast majority of the population, particularly children.<\/em>)<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Think about it.<\/span> If face masks \u2018worked\u2019 to stop or even slightly curb<\/em><\/span> the spread of Covid-19, they should<\/em><\/span> be able to point to place after place showing when the intervention was employed and how case numbers were affected<\/em><\/span>. In other words, they should be able to do<\/em><\/span> what Ian Miller has done in reverse<\/em><\/span>.<\/span> They can\u2019t<\/em><\/span>, obviously, because masks, and especially mask mandates, don\u2019t work<\/em><\/span>. At all<\/em><\/span>.<\/span> Not even a little bit<\/em><\/span>.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Those of you who have followed my columns over the past two years know my position well.<\/span> There are few things more diabolically evil than forcibly covering the face of another human being, especially a child. If there is any justice in the world, years from now society will look back with utter horror<\/em><\/span> on what we did with lockdowns, masks, vaccine coercion, and all the rest, including and especially instilling the kind of fear and paranoia that never matched the actual death rate from this virus.<\/span> When it does,\u00a0Ian Miller\u2019s book\u00a0– and<\/em><\/span> his charts – will be seen as key deciding blows that helped obliterate the mask cult for good.<\/span><\/strong>“<\/p>\n

Case in point, as The Hill chronicles COVID coming to Kiribati<\/em><\/span><\/a>, despite every effort to prevent it.\u00a0 Think about it: An island nation of only 113,000 in which 5,000 jobs and some 20% of its GDP depends upon tourism voluntarily shuts itself off from the world for months<\/em><\/span>, only to wind up exactly<\/em><\/span> where they’d been if they’d done nothing<\/em><\/span> to combat COVID in the first place…other than shelter the vulnerable.<\/strong><\/p>\n

All of which makes this<\/em><\/span> deranged Dimocratic dingbat’s personal WuFlu restrictions<\/em><\/span><\/a>\u00a0at this point in time…<\/strong><\/p>\n

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…seem even more ignorant and “anti-science” by comparison.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Turning from deranged dingbats to cold, calculating Communist con artists, in a forward from George Lawlor, the Washington Examiner<\/em> exposes…<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Black Lives Matter scam<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/h1>\n

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T<\/span>he Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation did not raise a single penny<\/em><\/span> for the first six years of its existence<\/em><\/span>. It couldn\u2019t<\/em><\/span>.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The foundation wasn\u2019t even registered with the Internal Revenue Service as a charity. But after George Floyd\u2019s murder in May of 2020, tens of millions of dollars<\/em><\/span> were given to this organization from major corporations and celebrities.<\/span> And now, no one even knows<\/em><\/span> where all that money has gone. Even worse, there doesn\u2019t appear to be anyone in charge of the organization who can provide that information.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Founded in 2013 after the death of Trayvon Martin, Black Lives Matter was little more than a hashtag and a website that loosely coordinated activism in communities across the country to \u201cintervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

For years, there did not appear to be a lot of outside resources directed to the organization. But that all changed in 2020.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Unable to accept the avalanche of money sent its way, BLM channeled donations through Thousand Currents and the Tides Foundation until the IRS approved its application for nonprofit status in December 2020.<\/span> Around that time, Thousand Currents transferred $66.5 million to BLM<\/em><\/span> \u2014 a transaction personally signed off on by BLM co-founder Patrisse Cullors<\/em><\/span>. (She of the now well-into-7-figures net worth and a small real estate empire<\/em>.)<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Cullors later issued the organization\u2019s first-ever \u201cimpact report\u201d in February 2021<\/em><\/span>, claiming that the organization had raised over $90 million in 2020, spent $8.4 million on operating expenses, and given out $21.7 million to local BLM chapters and affiliated organizations.<\/span> But these were just top-line numbers in a flashy communications product. No details<\/em><\/span> were given on who<\/em><\/span> was specifically paid what<\/em><\/span>.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Just three months later<\/em><\/span>, Cullors left<\/em><\/span> BLM, claiming that she wanted to focus on other projects<\/em><\/span>. She adamantly denied charges that she left the organization due to media reports that she had recently purchased millions of dollars’ worth of real estate for herself.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

When Cullors left BLM, she announced that activists Makani Themba and Monifa Bandele would replace her as senior executives. But Themba and Bandele later released a statement that they \u201cwere not able to come to an agreement<\/em><\/span> with the acting Leadership Council about our scope and work authority.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/span>Asked who is now in charge of BLM<\/em><\/span>, Themba told the\u00a0Washington Examiner<\/i>, \u201cWe never actually started in the position, so we never received any detailed information.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Donors to BLM should<\/em><\/span> have received some much-needed insight into how their money was being spent this November<\/em><\/span>, when BLM was required by law<\/em><\/span> to file a Form 990 tax return.<\/span> It is now January<\/em><\/span>, and there is no evidence<\/em><\/span> that BLM ever filed its form<\/em><\/span>.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

CharityWatch Executive Director Laurie Styron described BLM as \u201ca giant ghost ship full of treasure drifting in the night<\/em><\/span> with no captain<\/em><\/span>, no discernable crew<\/em><\/span>, and no clear direction<\/em><\/span>.”<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

According to Candid, a website devoted to tracking nonprofit donations, groups like BLM<\/em><\/span>, which claim<\/em><\/span> to be devoted to racial “equity,” have raised over $25 billion<\/em><\/span> since George Floyd\u2019s death.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

What exactly have these billions accomplished?<\/span> Are black lives any safer<\/em><\/span>? Quite the opposite.<\/span> Thanks to activism from groups like BLM, police budgets have been slashed in major cities across the country, and the number of arrests has plunged by 24%. As police were being defunded, murder rates skyrocketed<\/em><\/span>, with black lives hardest hit<\/em><\/span>. (By…wait for it…other Blacks<\/span>!!!<\/em>)<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

In 2019<\/em><\/span>, before<\/em><\/span> the \u201cdefund the police\u201d movement, 7,777<\/em><\/span> black people were murdered, making up 53.5%<\/em><\/span> of all homicide victims. That was already bad, but in 2020<\/em><\/span>, both<\/em><\/span> of those numbers rose; 9,941<\/em><\/span> black people were murdered the year George Floyd died, accounting for 55.8%<\/em><\/span> of all murders.<\/span> That is an additional 2,000 black lives lost<\/em><\/span> to violent crime last year. In contrast, only 60<\/em><\/span> unarmed men were killed by police in 2020, and only 18<\/em><\/span> of those were black.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The people who donated to BLM deserve to know where their money went. (Not to mention have their heads examined!<\/em>)<\/span>\u00a0So do the people who live in communities that have been devastated by violence.<\/span> Congress should investigate, and perhaps it will<\/em><\/span> starting next January<\/em><\/span>.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Patrisse Cullors, and race hustlers like her, puts the “L-I-E-S” in Black Lives Matter<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Next, a sextet of items specifically selected with inquiring Conservative minds in mind:<\/strong><\/p>\n

(1). Since we’re on the subject of racial scam artists, also courtesy of George Lawlor, FOX reports Stacey Abrams group paid over $1.2 million to private security firm last year<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/span>.\u00a0 Yes, this is the same Fat Stacey who supports defunding the police, stricter gun laws and opposes the “privatization of justice.”\u00a0 No hypocrisy to see here, America…please move along…and order her a Dave’s Triple, large fries, 20 oz. Coke and extra-large Frosty from Wendy’s; She’ll order dinner later.<\/strong><\/p>\n

(2). NRO<\/em> informs us f<\/em><\/span><\/a><\/strong>ormer Seattle mayor Jenny Durkan\u2019s administration drafted legislation in June 2020 that would have transferred the police department\u2019s East Precinct building to Black Lies Matter<\/em><\/span>.\u00a0 “The legislation was drafted by the Department of Finance and Administrative Services around the same time that protesters calling to defund the police\u00a0converged on the East Precinct<\/a><\/em><\/span>\u00a0in the wake of riots over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.”\u00a0 Total and complete capitulation to The Mob.<\/strong><\/p>\n

(3. Maryland Gov.\u00a0Larry Hogan\u00a0is pushing back on the liberal media’s description of him as solely a moderate Republican and critic of The Donald<\/em><\/span><\/a>, “a narrative trumpeted since Hogan became a more nationally known figure following the onset of the\u00a0coronavirus\u00a0pandemic.”\u00a0 Hells bells, Hogan isn’t a “moderate Republican”, he’s a RINO!!!\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

(4).\u00a0<\/strong>Some scientists have begun speaking out about efforts to silence researchers who raised concerns about the possibility that\u00a0COVID-19\u00a0could have originated in a\u00a0Chinese\u00a0lab<\/em><\/span><\/a><\/span>. “It shot from every direction from people who we now know were actually thinking exactly the same thing but have chosen to say the opposite, which is extraordinary,” Australian Dr. Nikolai Petrovsky, a Flinders University Medicine professor, told Fox News of the backlash he received for voicing concerns that the pandemic may have originated in a lab.<\/strong><\/p>\n

(5). NRO’s Alexandra DeSanctis tells us the REAL reason The Mob is out want to cancel Joe Rogan is\u00a0<\/strong>Progressives cannot abide free speech because it prevents them controlling what you think<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

(6). Does anyone else find it odd the 46* clown car has ordered billions of dollars of “free” WuFlu tests<\/em><\/span><\/a>\u00a0from the very same country which not only created this virus, but then released it…without warning…upon an unsuspecting world?!?\u00a0 Seriously, Biden is buying test kits from the same ChiComs who made masks so shoddy even his own Administration was forced to reject them, whose vaccine was so ineffective it was declined by the entire world…and who have funneled tens of millions of dollars<\/em><\/span> to the “Big Guy” and his family.\u00a0 Hey, what could go wrong?!?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Which brings us, appropriately enough, to The Lighter Side<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Then there’s these from the lovely Shannon…<\/strong><\/p>\n

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…along with three more from Balls Cotton:<\/strong><\/p>\n

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And in “Just a minor update (as Jeffrey Epstein used to say)”, we’re sincerely grateful the great Stilton Jarlsberg found the time to grace us once again with his wit:<\/strong><\/p>\n

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For those who’ve recently joined us, Stilton is an incredibly gifted Conservative cartoonist<\/em><\/span><\/a> we regularly feature in The Lighter Side<\/em>.\u00a0 However, for some months Stilton’s time has been occupied helping his wife Kathy who’s been battle leukemia, as well as his daughter who required abdominal surgery.\u00a0 Daughter Jarlsberg is recovering nicely; And while Kathy continues to make slow but steady progress, it’s been painfully slow (with the emphasis on “pain”), and anything but nice.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Please remember the entire Jarlsberg family in your prayers.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Finally, we’ll call it a Groundhog Day…Groundhog Day…Groundhog Day…Groundhog Day…<\/strong><\/p>\n

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…with a very sad story pulled from the pages of The Crime Blotter<\/span><\/em>, as a…<\/strong><\/p>\n

California firefighter is shot and killed while battling dumpster fire<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/h1>\n

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“A\u00a0firefighter\u00a0was\u00a0shot\u00a0and killed in Stockton,\u00a0California, on Monday morning while battling a dumpster fire, officials announced.\u00a0<\/strong>Captain Max Fortuna, 47, was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced deceased.<\/span> He leaves behind a wife and two grown children.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The Stockton Fire Department responded to a call of a dumpster fire at 4:45 a.m. on Monday morning and shots rang out as they worked to extinguish the blaze, striking Fortuna.<\/span>\u00a0<\/strong>A 67-year-old man was apprehended and a gun was recovered from the scene<\/strong><\/span>…”<\/p>\n

Turns out the shooter, one Robert Somerville…<\/strong><\/p>\n

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…lived in the warehouse adjacent to the dumpster and had operated a hand truck business in the area for decades.\u00a0 Somerville’s son issued a statement<\/em><\/span><\/a> in which he expressed condolences for the deceased’s family while claiming the shooting was an unfortunate accident, as his father had been the victim of multiple break-ins and somehow confused the firemen putting out the dumpster fire with yet another burglary.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yeah,…firemen putting out a dumpster fire…<\/strong><\/p>\n

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…or a burglar:<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Sorry, but we anticipate a lot of prospective jurors having a hard time with that one.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Magoo<\/strong><\/p>\n

Video of the Day<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Courtesy of James Nichols, coming soon to a theater near you. Though we wonder, if D’Souza’s source material is irrefutable, why wait to release it in a movie?<\/strong><\/p>\n