“China eats weird animals disease”

An academic working paper released in the spring outlining the failures of pandemic lockdown policies has been largely ignored by media, says its author.

Douglas Allen, an economics professor at Simon Fraser University, says his study went viral after he posted it in April and he received positive feedback, leading to interviews on podcasts in Canada, the United States, Europe, and Australia. Even a few politicians reached out, he says.

A growing chorus of health experts and business groups is questioning the recent decision by the Ford government to allow large venues to return to 100 per cent capacity while leaving strict limits in place for bars, restaurants and gyms.

The announcement, which came into effect Friday at midnight, means that large venues where proof of vaccination is required — including movie theatres, concert halls and arenas — can now fill every seat. Masks are recommended but are not required for patrons who are enjoying a cold beer or hot dog in the stands, perplexing many who say such venues are less safe than restaurants where patrons can also remove masks to eat and drink.

After weeks of insisting Quebec would go ahead and impose a vaccination mandate for health-care workers and suspend those who don’t comply without pay, the province’s health minister, Christian Dubé, has backtracked and is now giving them an extra month to get adequately vaccinated.

Health-care workers now have until Nov. 15 to get the necessary shots. The original deadline was this Friday.

Catholic U.S. troops should be allowed to refuse the COVID-19 vaccine based solely on conscientious objection and regardless of whether abortion-related tissue was used in its creation or testing, the archbishop for the military declared in a new statement supporting service members who are seeking religious exemptions.

“No one should be forced to receive a COVID-19 vaccine if it would violate the sanctity of his or her conscience,” said Archbishop for the Military Services Timothy P. Broglio, in a statement released Tuesday.

“I don’t feel that this [the vaccine] was the one and only solution. I think we went for it with a complete disregard about the freedom of choice, and then imposed it,” Chantale Hébert, a nurse who works at a long-term care residence in Rouyn-Noranda, Que., told CBC in an interview Tuesday.

“Now we’re getting sanctions just for believing in what we believe. I’m angry.”

Southwest Airlines canceled more than 2,000 flights Friday through Sunday, and hundreds more on Monday because employees called in sick, or refused to sign up for overtime hours over the holiday weekend, a Southwest Airlines pilot told American Greatness.

Southwest blamed “air traffic control issues” and inclement weather for the cancelled flights, but the problems were actually a direct result of the airline’s announcement on October 4 that all of its 56,000 U.S. employees were required be vaccinated against COVID-19 or face termination.