Pirate's Cove

We’ve seen lots of stupid things from the time of the Chinese coronavirus. A guy arrested for paddleboarding in the ocean (which, don’t blame Crazy Gavin Newsome, his outside exercise orders allowed that). All the people getting thrown off planes for refusing to wear masks. British cops going nuts. This takes it to a new level, rather like in Fascist Australia where the cops showed up at people’s homes simply for attempting organize a protest

Man Banned from National Parks For Organizing 139-Person Grand Canyon Hike

A Washington State man faces probation and a multi-year ban from several United States national parks after he pled guilty to misdemeanor charges stemming from a 139-person group hike he organized in the Grand Canyon in defiance of park guidelines.

Joseph Don Mount, of Chehalis, Washington, pled guilty to violating park rules limiting group size to 11 people on the October 2020 hike. He will serve two years on probation and will be banned from entering national parks in northern Arizona including the Grand Canyon during that time.

The National Park Service first became aware of Mount’s plans in September 2020, when the Grand Canyon’s permit office received a tip that a large group of more than 100 people was planning to hike the canyon on October 24. The pseudonymous tipster sent a screenshot of a post by Mount in a private Facebook group noting that he had “112 COMMITTED HIKERS COMING FROM 12 DIFFERENT STATES!!!” and talking about the importance of taking precautions so that they wouldn’t draw attention to themselves. Grand Canyon National Park has limited sizes for under-the-rim groups to 30 since 2014, and further lowered the limit to 11 after the Covid-19 pandemic began. When Mount spoke to the park’s permit office, however, he said he was bringing a group of 12 people; when advised that his group was slightly over the limit, he asked about the possibility of splitting it up to comply with the park’s rules, and was informed that was not allowed.

Cutting to the chase, 139 people showed up to hike that day, and there were rangers waiting for them. They were all outside, and planned on hiking in smaller groups. Other than the government and unhinged COVID cultists, anyone of rational thought see a problem? They were outside in the fresh air getting exercise. Government did not like this, hence, he was actually prosecuted for this.

Ryan Stevens, Mount’s attorney, told the Associated Press that his client had only good intentions in organizing the event, and intended it to be a respite from the solitude imposed by the pandemic.

Things were opening up in October of 2020. Gyms were opening. Things were becoming freer. Last time I checked, there were no laws against hiking, even in big groups, as passed by the federal Congress and signed into law by the President. Just Executive Orders, and sometime simply orders from agency heads. Or park rangers. It’s insane. Too bad he plead guilty, but, fighting the feds is expensive.

Meanwhile

(NBC News) Twenty-one states on Tuesday sued the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other federal agencies to end the country’s much-debated mask mandate on public transportation.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, argues that the federal mandate exceeds the CDC’s authority and interferes with state laws banning forced masking.

“Florida has led the nation in standing up to misguided federal government policies and fighting back against heavy-handed mandates that have no scientific backing,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said in a press release announcing the action. “If politicians and celebrities can attend the Super Bowl unmasked, every U.S. citizen should have the right to fly unmasked. It is well past time to get rid of this unnecessary mandate and get back to normal life.”

We’ll see if this goes anywhere.