Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan (who took over from Andrews after he resigned in disgrace) has announced a series of measures to crack down on protests, following a series of antisemitic attacks in Melbourne.

This is exactly how freedoms get eroded. Take it from the government that set a bunch of world record crackdowns during Covid. Selectively platform a scary Devil Image, then enact laws to keep us safe from that. Which always involve freedom curtailing.

The lead story is how certain flags will be banned. Pretty sure the Nazi flag was already banned, so what's the latest crackdown on protests from Vic.Gov really about?

(F)ace masks and balaclavas at protests will also be banned because people are using them to conceal their identities and "shield agitators from crowd control measures like capsicum spray", a statement from the Victorian government said.

We were joking on the CEO Murder thread that we might be looking at a total flip-a-rooney to the point where Covid masks are banned. To keep us safe. It's no surprise that Vic.Gov, having gone harder than any government in the known universe to enforce mask wearing (lockdowns, vax mandates, vilification of dissenters, etc), is now the first in the world to introduce a law to ban them.

Meanwhile, Covid happily rolls on, still killing the over 85s with co-morbidities in their droves, same way it always was, but nobody gives a shit now, coz we needed to move on (lest the cause became public).

The take-away is - Covid masks do seem to fuck up facial-rec-tech. The irony is delicious. Part of the highly successful globo-control op, enforced wearing of masks, has now become a bug in the system to be stamped out coz they can "shield agitators (including those protesting The War on Freedom) from crowd control measures".