Are you ready for this week’s absurdity? Here’s our Friday roll-up of the most ridiculous stories from around the world that are threats to your liberty and risks to your prosperity.
Today, we are starting with some stories that are not amusing, but simply tragic.
Unborn baby dies due to absurd Covid lockdown rules
This one highlights the sad reality of crushing people’s basic rights.
An Australian woman was in childbirth a few weeks ago when it became clear she needed highly specialized medical care.
Unfortunately her small town of Ballina, located in the Australian state of New South Wales, did not have sufficient medical care options to treat her pregnancy complications.
Ballina is very close to the border of the neighboring state of Queensland, where two much larger cities– Gold Coast, and Brisbane– are fairly close by.
And prior to Covid, the woman would have simply been quickly transported to one of those two cities in the neighboring state for a multitude of top quality medical options.
But now Australians are no longer able to travel across their own state lines without special permission from the government.
The woman was told that she would have to undergo a 14-day quarantine, simply for crossing the state line, before she could access medical care in Queensland. Incredible.
This was obviously unacceptable. So her next best option was to fly to Syndey (which is at the opposite end of New South Wales, a state that’s bigger than Texas). Except that the next flight was SIXTEEN HOURS later.
Needless to say, she didn’t receive the care she needed in time, and one of her twin babies died as a result of the travel restrictions.
They say all the lockdowns are worth it if it saves just one life.
What about the lives the lockdowns take?
Click here to read the full story.
American facing $569,000 fine and six months jail for sightseeing in Canada
Canada is currently closed to most Americans due to COVID.
But an exemption allows Americans to drive through Canada to reach Alaska.
The rules state that the traveler must take the most direct route to their destination, and only stop for essentials like food and gas.
But one criminal mastermind did not take the most direct route, and instead decided to check out a national park along the way
He was arrested after his car with Ohio plates was reported to police at a sightseeing gondola at Sulphur Mountain.
So clearly some brave hero spotted this nefarious terrorist, and saved his fellow Canadians by ratting the man out to authorities.
And now he is facing a $569,000 fine, plus six months in jail. Because he stopped at a park.
Click here to read the full story.
University professor cancelled for watching a pro-police rally
Students at Skidmore College are boycotting an art professor, David Peterson, and demanding he be fired.
His crime? Watching a “back the blue” pro-police protest for about 20 minutes.
Peterson was not actually attending the rally, holding signs, or wearing a pro-police shirt. He simply listened to the pro-police protesters (AND the counter protesters) in his own community for a bit, and then went out to dinner with his wife.
So, simply just listening to an unwoke opinion is now a thoughtcrime. And that is all it takes these days to lose a career.
Click here to read the full story.
Court awards unmarried woman $50,000/month in alimony
An Ontario court granted a woman $50,000 per month for the next decade in spousal support.
The strangest part though, is that she didn’t have a spouse. There was no divorce, because she was never married to the man who must now pay her alimony.
This woman and the wealthy businessman she fleeced dated for years, but they were never married.
They never lived together, and have no kids together.
But the court said they were “common law married” anyway.
Ironically, the court used the fact that he had spent so much money on her during their time as a couple as proof that he should be forced to continue his support.
Click here to read the full story.
US Customs & Border Patrol seizes ‘counterfeit’ Apple earbuds
Relax and breathe easy, your government is on the case protecting you from evil dangers lurking around the world.
According to an official press release from US Customs and Border Patrol, “officers seized 2,000 counterfeit Apple Airpod Earbuds from Hong Kong destined for Nevada at an air cargo facility located at John F. Kennedy International Airport [in New York City].”
CBP went on to brag via their Twitter account that these ‘counterfeit’ earbuds would have been worth nearly USD $400,000.
But it turns out that the earbuds are, in fact, NOT counterfeit. In fact they’re not even Apple earbuds.
These earbuds are specific to another mobile phone manufacturer called OnePlus. You’d think that the CBP officers would have been able to figure that out given that the earbuds actually have “OnePlus” Buds” printed on the freaking boxes!
It’s unclear whether the officers who seized these earbuds are completely illiterate, or cannot imagine a world where there are other mobile phone companies besides Apple.
(OnePlus is actually a pretty good sized company and generated $1.4 billion in revenue last year…)
But rather humorously, OnePlus responded to CBP’s Tweet earlier this week saying “Hey, give those back!”
You’d think the story would end there, and CBP would admit its mistake. But no.
Now CBP is saying, in its sole discretion, that the earbuds violate Apple’s trademark, so they’re keeping the seized product.
This is completely ridiculous, and I’m not sure if this agency even understands what a trademark actually is. And if ‘trademark’ was even the issue here, then the agency’s initial press release would have stated so. But instead they called the earbuds counterfeit.
It’s also rather interesting that there has been no court injunction against OnePlus, no warrants, and not even a lawsuit.
Yes, not even Apple (whose ‘trademark’ has supposedly been violated) thinks this is a problem. Apple has earbuds. OnePlus has earbuds. Big deal.
