Maggie's Farm

B. Hammer: You would think that a law passed by the legislature would need to go back through the legislative process to be changed; you are wrong.

The Virginia legislature has granted the governor emergency powers under Virginia Code § 44-146.17. Emergency powers are subject to judicial oversight.

Another guy named Dan: It is a strange use of the English language when a situation which has existed for over 18 months constitutes and emergency that requires immediate and extra-legislative action.

Well, B. Hammer appealed to Virginia law, which grants the power to the governor to declare an emergency and specifically includes the power of quarantine. Wide discretion is given in the law to the governor's judgment, but keep in mind that the governor's emergency powers are still subject to judicial review.

Delegation of authority from the legislature to the executive with judicial oversight is intrinsic to government.

B. Hammer: this statuette comes nowhere close to changing election laws.

The court found that it was “fair, adequate, and reasonable” to not require signatures during the November 3, 2020 election. Whether courts will make the same finding during the current phase of the pandemic is not known, but it's certainly not out of the question.

B. Hammer: . . . the emergency is over. Maybe there is an honest judge, somewhere in Virginia.

Your original argument was that it would require a change in Virginia statute. In fact, Virginia law grants the governor vast powers during a declared emergency, but any emergency orders are subject to judicial review. In any case, the Commonwealth of Virginia has ended its state of emergency, but the locality still remains in under emergency orders. Nor has the governor issued a waiver as yet.

Z: to not require {witness} signatures. Voter signatures would still be required.

B. Hammer: No, my original argument is that democrats are corrupt.

Your position was based on the misleading premise that "You would think that a law passed by the legislature would need to go back through the legislative process to be changed; you are wrong." The Virginia legislature has already granted the governor emergency powers.

feeblemind: How Amish Communities Became The First To Achieve Covid "Herd Immunity" Without Higher Death Rate, Shutdown, Masks, Or Vaccines

It's not certain the communities have reached herd immunity, especially with the new variants. Meanwhile, there was a surge in deaths. See Stein et al., Closed but Not Protected: Excess Deaths Among the Amish and Mennonites During the COVID‑19 Pandemic, Journal of Religion and Health 2021: "The excess death rate for Amish/ Mennonites spiked with a 125% increase in November 2020."

indyjonesouthere: Where is this article posted.

Stein, R.E., Corcoran, K.E., Colyer, C.J. et al. Closed but Not Protected: Excess Deaths Among the Amish and Mennonites During the COVID-19 Pandemic. J Relig Health 60, 3230–3244 (2021).
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-021-01307-5

indyjonesouthere: Around central Missouri I know of no Amish or Mennonites that even had Covid much less died from Covid and we are around them at auctions and the Amish/Mennonite stores.

The whole point is that they are a closed society.

indyjonesouthere: Closed society or not this is trashy research of which estimates are based on 2015-2020 OBITUARY DATA to determine excess deaths that they say MAY signal Covid 19 outbreaks.

Notably, the surge in deaths is coincident with increases in deaths due to COVID elsewhere. While we never have perfect data, the study is stronger evidence than "Is not!"

indyjonesouthere: That piece is not data...

Of course it's data. The study specifically tells you how they collected the data. Indeed, you could actually collect the data independently to verify their findings.

indyjonesouthere: Their use of "MAY" is personal opinion and not fact.

It's a reasonable deduction from the data, including because the excess death trend line follows the COVID death trend line from the broader community.