Yeah, pretty sure similar objections were raised when mandated seat belt use was introduced. Its a "removal of our liberties" that's never gone away; mask use, curfews and shutdowns will all end, unlike seat belt laws. Its hard to imagine what benefit the government would gain by keeping people masked and businesses shut once the pandemic ends. Maybe you could explain that part.

Three groups - Republicans, Trump supporters and Trump cultists. Its good to know that supporters do have limits, its the cultists who remain in some alternate universe. In the case of some of them, like my sister, its almost literally an alternate universe.

No. Similar actions by authorities resulted in similar conspiracies being floated by some portion of the public during the Spanish flu. Fines and arrests of people who refused to follow public health orders happened, same as today. Once the pandemic ended, public health orders ended, and life returned to normal. This is what will happen this time too - governments want their economies to grow, create tax revenue, get themselves re-elected - paying or forcing people to stay at home is not a viable option for government.

Every conservative forum I've ever run across bans contrary opinions. They're kinda the same as Muslim forums that way. So conservatives have this message - "Free speech! Free speech! But only if its conservative" Also, it seems that the attack on the Capitol was the tipping point. Can you imagine if antifa, BLM or ISIS were posting on Twitter/Parler/Facebook/Instagram/Reddit pics and descriptions of themselves invading the Capitol and their plans to disrupt the inauguration how quickly these Trumpists would want them shut down on social media? But you know what they say: one man's terrorist is another man's patriot.

The proper way to use a mask is to wash hands, put it on, leave it on without messing with it till you are done your business, wash hands again and then remove and discard (or wash) the mask. The "hysterical" people you see alone in the car, or out on the street, are using the mask properly; the ones who remove it in their car or on the street, between stops or activities where they'll be amongst others, are using the mask incorrectly.

Investments go up and down all the time. I wouldn't even think about cashing out at the beginning of a pandemic, since it's a temporary situation. Also, if I were thinking about it, I'd ask what the loss would be now, vs later before going ahead. While there is no fiduciary relationship automatically created between a bank and its customers, courts have found that such a relationship can exist in some circumstances In your case, the bank could be expected to give you accurate information regarding your investments. Depending on certain factors, an investment advisor could hold a fiduciary responsibility to their clients. I certainly agree that the interest charged by banks and credit cards, vs the interest paid out is completely out of whack.

So every limitation imposed on us is against the charter? Wearing clothes in public, wearing a seatbelt, having kids in special car seats, wearing a helmet on a motorcycle, stalking people, assaulting people - these all contravene our charter rights? What about forbidding the wearing of religious apparel - turbans, hijabs, niqabs, kippahs, the cross? Isn't that limiting our personal rights and against the charter too, then?

@taxmeMore restrictions for BC - maybe time to move? BC Premier John Horgan to ban all liquor sales starting December 17.

Yeah, that's going nowhere.

Bookings South Dakota had the highest rates of infection in 5 counties. Bucking the State trend, mask mandates were introduced in September; Bookings now has the lowest infection rate.

Someone we know lost both her parents to Covid. But I guess if it hasn't happened to you...

If someone needs a ventilator, they'll die before they can get transferred to a ventilator or one can be brought to them. Yeah, the government could have been more prepared, but they weren't, and now we have to deal with the reality of a pandemic in our country. The reality is that we're treading water at this point, and the public health guidelines are there to keep us from drowning.

1. Who has said masks "prevent" the spread of the virus? 2. Yes, exactly the goal in order to (hopefully) prevent the hospitals from being completely overwhelmed with Covid patients in a short period of time. 3. Don't we all? Unfortunately, the virus controls that.

"If we don't test, the infections won't exist."? That makes no sense - these people are infected, whether tested or not. Subtracting a subset of them so that the data doesn't look as bad would be dishonest. Not to mention hospitalizations and deaths are increasing; artificially reducing the number of infections would make the virus look more serious and deadly.

Thats cause Biden supporters aren't cultists.

1. Clearly you have me confused with some other poster. 2. This topic is about business closures, not race or criminals.

I am privileged, yes. I have family and friends who are not as privileged as I am who agree with me. I have family, as privileged as me, who disagree with me. So what is your point about privilege?

When did our fear (of a temporary loss of business) stop us from caring about people permanently dying? And it's not so much people dying, from the government's point of view, its the collapse of the health system from so many people getting sick. If enough people get sick at the same time, the hispitals will be full of Covid patients. If the hospitals are full of Covid patients, where will auto crash patients go? Where will heart attack parients go? Where will overdose, attempted suicide, assault victims go? Our medical system is designed for a somewhat consistent number of patients with various ailments to be treated, numbers based on data collected over years. To suddenly add dozens or 100s or 1000s of additional patients to a hospital, a region or the country throws this balance completely off. And, what happens if medical staff get sick and are off for days or weeks? Or they die? The remaining have to work longer hours and harder. And life-saving work is stressful, so there's burn-out of medical staff. Where is your concern for these people? The same bunch who downplay the seriousness of this virus, who laugh at mask-wearing, who complain about business closures are the same ones who'll complain if their mother dies of a heart attack because the hospitals were full of Covid patients, and understaffed because medical professionals were too sick, too burnt out or too dead to treat her.

Christians put it a bit differently: "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." (Hebrews 11.1)

1 + 2 = 5? Not sure how I can be both judging people and letting them off with a hug.

Of course governments should be able to limit business activity. Else the meth dealer would be free to deal meth, cause it's his "business". I guess what the OP really means "In the choice between public health and public commerce, should public commerce prevail?". In 1918-1921, businesses were also shut down, people stayed home in droves and mask wars played out in the media and on the street. Amazingly, once the pandemic ended, the economy improved, people got back to work, busineses thrived - there's a reason the decade after was called the "roaring 20s". Its true, during the pandemic and the preceeding war years, people suffered - dying, losing loved ones, losing businesses and income. But as a society, we survived. And we will this time, too. So in my view, money and jobs and the economy are all "fixable"; death is not. So if temporarily closing down businesses helps save lives, I'm ok with that - because death is permanent in a way job loss is not. We've been dealing with this pandemic for less than a year and already have a solution on the horizon. We really are such snowflakes when compared to what our grandparents went through.

1. That's true. Most likely because I suspect there's more to the story than an anti-immigrant proponent would care to know, and don't feel like researching it for you. 2. I have expressed my opinion on sentencing which you didn't agree with. A hint: I don't think white men are homicidal maniacs, I think the justice system gets some things wrong, but most things right, and that my son's attacker got the right sentence.

You have more faith than I do.