When the State tells you it’s safe to go to Home Depot to buy a sponge but dangerous to go and buy a flower, it’s not about your health.
When the State shuts down millions of private businesses but doesn’t lay off a single government employee, it’s not about your health.
When the State bans dentists because its unsafe, but deems an abortion visit is safe, it’s not about your health.
When the State prevents you from buying cucumber seeds because it’s dangerous, but allows personal lottery ticket sales, it’s not about your health.
When the State tells you it’s dangerous to go golf alone, fish alone or be in a motor boat alone, but the Governor can get his stage make-up done & hair done for 5 TV appearances a week, it’s not about your health.
When the state puts you IN a jail cell for walking in a park with your child because it’s too dangerous but lets criminals OUT of jail cells for their health – it’s not about your health.
When the state tells you it’s too dangerous to get treated by a doctor for chiropractic or physical therapy treatments yet deems a liquor store essential – it’s not about your health.
When the State lets you go to the grocery store or hardware store but is demanding mail-in voting – it’s not about your health.
WAKE UP PEOPLE… If you think any of this BS is about your health, you’re
a fool!! Please open your eyes & stop being lead like blind sheep."
Amen.
I would add to the point about abortions, when the government shuts down Church services and religious celebrations but leaves abortion clinics open.
As I post this, cops arrest two women for trying to keep their business alive from their home.
Cops go home and still get a pay check and get to pretend they 'saved lives'.
If this was a test by government, we failed miserably because I can't understand how this pandemic justifies this irrational madness.
I find myself extremely jaded about humanity at the moment.
If this is all it takes to make sheep out of people God help us.
*******
This has been one of the greatest abuse of civil liberties in my lifetime.
In Italy, the South is still in lockdown despite the fact the cases have been TINY from the beginning (I was in Rome/Naples in March). In Calabria where my father was from – 1000 cases. My mother’s family comes from Molise…..296 cases. Lockdown. The South has about 25 000 cases in roughly a population of 20 million if we go with the Kingdom of Naples as the demarcation Mezzogiorno line.
But apparently we’re “following the science.”
I want to know what’s going on? Is it blind stupidity? Something more nefarious?
How did we arrive, with all our apparent knowledge and wisdom, to allow our fears of a virus to the point of QUARANTINING THE HEALTHY AND SHUTTING THE DOWN THE ECONOMY?
I can't believe we're not sending high school kids back to school. I can't. My daughter will have been home from March to September. Let that sink in.
The reason? Kids use public transportation.
A poor decision in my view. Just from a mental health perspective.
And again like usual just arbitrary. Elementary and daycare kids have to go back citing mental health but not high school?
None of this is rooted in science, rhyme or reason. Same with the arbitrary progression protocols and the theatre of wearing masks and gloves. None of that will make a difference. The virus is out there and the best thing to do is just go on with our lives, take the precautions and let it ride its course.
Everything beyond that point is just politics and giving the illusion of doing something. My hunch is a lot of this barely moved the needled but I could be wrong.
Sometimes it's hard to not think something else is at play.
And we take it all in like sheep.
Go draw more rainbows and get those singers back. #CanadaTogether!
******
We keep hearing how 'we're following the science' from politicians explaining whatever measures they have in place.
But are they?
It's looking less and less so and more and more foolish as more accurate data is proving the point this blog has been making all along: We were over reacting to faulty data.
As time moves on, people will begin to realize the shut down and all its unintended consequences was unwarranted and not backed by science at all.
All we did was sacrifice portions of our society and economy while others didn't share in the pain. We idiotically attempted to choose between "essential" and "non-essential" businesses much like how we pick winners and losers for bail outs.
It's a fool's game made for and by fools.
As if the preposterousness of shutting an economy down wasn't enough, we then took the added measure to quarantining healthy people.
The thinking, again completely devoid of what we have learned over centuries about infectious diseases, was to implement the precautionary principle as a means to an end.
What did we get as a result of these two stupid measures?
Secondary social malaises in the form of ruined businesses, bankruptcies which itself leads to the silent killer of stress and other diseases, divorce, domestic violence and now I've read stories of child molestation on the rise. Some of these will leaver permanent scars.
We did this 'following the science'.
The media, led by possibly the least intelligent class of people, will frame it as 'the virus has led to domestic violence'. Because, you know, the virus takes human form like in The Thing and forces people to commit acts of violence.
A more astute and sober mind will understand it's not the virus itself that did this. It's our reaction and decision to consciously cease economic activity that is the culprit. So if you supported it and called people 'yahoos' for daring to challenge the authoritarian orders of our masters, then you played your part in creating this sorry situation. Just like a person can spark a fight by going to a party where they weren't invited, people who cowered in their homes not exercising their skeptical senses listening to vapid shows like #CanadaTogether gave their tacit consent for the government to run over civil liberties.
If this wasn't a troubling and glaring example of how easily government can just take over our lives, I don't know what is. I suppose to someone who was gripped by fear the government's actions was appropriate. And perhaps early on it was as they tried to make sense of the virus.
But now we know much more about it and there's no reason to keep doubling down.
None.
If you indeed 'follow the science' then the science is telling us the shut down was overkill and unjust.
While you were baking your bread enjoying your paid vacation were you just taking orders like sheep or were you actually researching and asking questions about what's going on?
For example, did you not find it peculiar that you can go shopping a store with plenty of people but a small business was shut down? Did you actually think 'social distancing' had a meaningful impact or was it just theatre? How would we know? The sad part is we may never know and even when the studies come out (and I'm betting our scorch and burn approach will show was wrongheaded) it will be long after this passes and people won't learn a lesson. When it was clear the hospitals weren't being over whelmed and that no one speaks of 'flattening the curve' bur became a 'stay home, save lives' spin, did you notice this slight shifting of goal posts? Why was a 'one-size fits all' approach being used? Why did we think one approach in one jurisdiction was applicable in another? South Dakota isn't New York and Alberta isn't Quebec. Why were people not allowed to go into parks or go to the beach but go shopping? The idea we arbitrarily set 'maximum persons' is another example of letting fear triumph over reason.
Did any of you stop for a second and not question the hero-worshipping? The bizarre love of a medical bureaucrat who basically was wrong all along the way? Why can't we bring into question the competence of Dr. Fauci or Dr. Tam? How can you not conclude Tam wasn't compromised by the fact she seemed to take all her cues from the WHO and decided to go political when she alleged it was racist to close air travel from China?
Why didn't we isolate the vulnerable and compromised? Why didn't we use a much more surgical and efficient way of mobilizing society? Why would we ask people to weaken their own healthy immune system to stay home? Micro-Biology 101: Eat dirt. Get your vitamins. Be active.
Especially for kids which is why Quebec should have allowed all schools to re-open.
My concern is now we're allowing all these people out and there's a spike. Then what? Well, I say keep your head down and plough ahead. The coronavirus isn't murderous. It acts right in line with the flu. Influenza kills people every year and while it's true this virus has strange characteristic the bottom line is the bigger the list of people who have it, the lower the death rate.
That's why the idea of a gradual re-opening is silly. Either you open up or you don't. And quite frankly, a true and free society wouldn't have let itself be pushed around so easily. We saw pockets of places in America push back but not enough. Yet, they were still mocked by people.
If they tell your to wear a mask and glove, maybe it's a sign you should question that? These are tools of false sense of security. Not saying they're ineffective but this should be for people who are unhealthy. Those who are need not fear.
Where did our sense of toughness go? Are we this easy to break?
Instead, we hid behind 'Ca va bien aller' rainbows in a sophomoric attempt to soothe kids we frightened.
The entire West dropped the ball on this. Except Sweden. Germany pivoted quickly enough.
Quebec was on pace to be along those lines but I was disappointed today.
We had a chance to send a message to future politicians to not go down this route. My fear is we set a precedent and will learn all the wrong lessons and draw the wrong conclusions. If the government is going to go authoritarian then you go full authoritarian so as to not lose the plot on credibility. None of this half-ass garbage we saw which was obscenely unfair.
I learned we're divided along those who are sheep and those who aren't with the former forming a majority and wiling to mob it up to bring into line the latter.
I learned that there were people all too willing and happy to let the 'other person' pay the price for their fears as they sat at home with a paid vacation.
A really vibrant and healthy democracy will ask, 'what have we done'?
I know one thing.
We didn't follow the science.
*****
I think it's pretty rich Canadians go around on American website and mock Trump's handling of the virus while our own record wasn't exactly stellar. Outside Alberta and B.C. that did an excellent job and Quebec doing a solid one for the most part, the Federal Liberals have been a failure.
At each turn when they weren't playing identity politics, they misread the flow of other nations as they seemed to take their cues from the WHO.
They give the impression they're being run elsewhere rather than here. The perception the Liberals aren't acting in good faith and on our behalf is out there.
And what's with Moist's new voice? What's wrong with this guy?
*****
Quick word on Quebec. The disgrace of how we treat the elderly is a black mark here. Whether this leads to real changes I don't know but it should.
This travesty pumps up our numbers which strengthens the case for a full re-opening.
'Stay home, save lives' will go down as one of the most misguided health recommendations of our times.
*****
Politics operates by pandering to the lowest common denominator.
*****
I look at Sweden and compare it to Norway and Canada.
Just based on those raw numbers. Do you still think it justified a total shut down?
Now let's point out one key point. Sweden didn't shut down while the other two did. So the next question we can ask is, is the difference between significant enough so as to have a shut down?
Dunno 'bout you but Sweden comes out the clear winner here.
Now we're starting to see the results of a forced lockdown on the macro-social level.
Gee, you mean people seeing their lives ruined for little reason isn't going to lead to bad result?
But leave it to politicians and media to get it backwards. The virus is not the one causing social angst in the form of domestic violence, suicides, bankruptcies etc.
It's US. It's our reaction to the virus and the forced lockdowns that led to it.
Blaming a virus is just about the most ignorant and absurd thing you can espouse.
Looks like our politicians are that stupid and myopic. They looked at this through a single prism which is why they undertook the extreme measures they did. Now, I can live with 6-8 weeks just to reign things to get it under control (if possible), get people used to it and just feel around what the virus is.
But as I've been cautioning since day one, provided we keep in mind this can't go on that much beyond that point. It's basic human behaviour. And what concerns me was the stringing along and before you know you lost one year of your life and income. The longer it goes, the more difficult it is to get people out. In the beginning I wondered if we opened up if pent-up demand would lead to a quick turn around but by now I think the 'fear' has settled in people and they will be more cautious and judicial in their habits. For example, it may take time fo restaurants to see their locals full again. I could be wrong.
But that should encourage the government to open up. Quite frankly, I personally think the government is now in illegal activity territory if they insist on using this strategy. It's time to let people learn to adjust to living with this virus because hate to break it to you, as noted below, the chances of a vaccine are low - at least not in the time frame they suggest. Hence, the longer we stay closed the currency we give to doctors and people who will argue we stay closed until we find a vaccine 'just in case'.
This is where the precautionary principle loses its mind. This is where you may as well live in your own private nightmare.
A true leader with vision doesn't call people names and double down on lockdowns (I'm gonna bet studies and research will show this will have had a negligible effect. I base this on the fact we're realizing we've been living with it longer than first thought. I think we're going to be talking about our over-reaction for a generation. Will we learn from it?)
A true leader stands up and starts to prep people to get them back on their routines of life.
Later Legault is expected to speak and give his 'plan'. I truly hope it's a logical plan with the eye to open up before end of May. I'm very cautiously optimistic he will.
I already have mine. I'm going to work where I belong. At some point, the population has to just put on its pants and lead the politicians if they won't.
I think we now know more about this virus and quite frankly the shut down is not justified.
*****
I watched those doctors on the week-end. Then I heard about Californians heading to the beach despite orders from that quack-retard Newsome and was proud for my fellow man.
Also saw Boyce read what Youtube was asking of their content creator. Pretty shoCking even by their standards. At this point I have to wonder if Youtube can hide ‘muh private company’ anymore. Even private companies have to adhere to laws set by government.
Youtube is conducting a Reign of Free Speech Terror.
If this keeps up, we're gonna have to devise a whole new language just to keep the Blue Caps off our trail.
And that CEO can go fuck herself.
That Boyce got only 7 300 views for this is telling?
*****
This is interesting. It really is shocking how people willingly believe Trump said to invest Lysol when it was pretty clear to me that's not what he said at all. You see, Trump is a pretty poor speaker and when he conveys something poorly, the media pounces. But in this case all he did was basically say 'disinfectant kills in one minute and so will UV light do the same thing?' That's it.
To believe otherwise is to just believe what you want to believe.
Of course, the idea of UV light is not jink science as the people 'who follow the science and fucking loves science' seem to think.
Come you asshole celebrities! Go raise money for the WHO!
The idea that these jerk-offs think they raised money out of principle for Global Citizen is laughable when we know it was because Trump (rightly) withheld money from the WHO.
This Tara Reade and Biden thing. Wow. The naked and stark hypocrisy of the left. And the silence....it's more deafening than when Obama started wars and led the most scandalous administration in history.
*****
What's that song again? There's something going on here....
Our economy slow burns to the ground with millions of people and thousands of businesses facing uncertainty or permanent closures, and how do Canadians react?
With rainbows and anthems.
And as I just saw as my wife changed channels, a 1 1/2 hour Stronger Together cheese-ball showcase of musicians drooling on about being 'stronger together'.
This is a show for one group of people in a bubble entertaining another group of people in a bubble.
I highly doubt a person who lost his or her business or job is watching this nonsense. I doubt they will find solace in Michael Bubble or Hayley Wickenhockey.
Every Sunday at noon we're invited to sing 'O Canada' (and its revised lyrics to which I will protest to my grave) in an empty gesture of solidarity.
It's all a bunch of people who can afford to stay home and engage in such a tone deaf exercise. The reality is the people who are doing the 'raw, raw, raw' spiel are likely not feeling a single inch or pain in all this.
Government workers are still getting paid. As are people working in the corporate world. That's a good chunk of people who have the luxury to play 'Stay home, save lives'.
Wanna be in this together? I mean, if you're serious.
Share the pain. 20% PAY CUT FOR EVERYONE. That way next time this happens you think twice before blindly accepting someone else pay the price for your comfort.
No, you say?
Then we're not in this together.
Simple.
*******
Never mind, the fatality rate of this weird and serious virus has fallen close in line with the flu (and not ten times as Dr. Hero (Fauci) posited). Never mind all we see now are conflicting reports and new studies trying to figure this out. Never mind that a good chunk of the problem in Canada is in Quebec and specifically in the disastrous old folks home system.
But boys, let's burn this down!
Stay home, save lives!'
The government is gonna pay us all to survive!
Bah, bah, bah.
And they say the people who are protesting wanting to go back to work because they see their lives slowly falling apart are crazy?
It takes some kind of sociopath to not realize at this point the unintended consequences of our ill-thought actions are already starting to show.
Let's take a quick peek shall we? This is an engage on Twitter regarding Britons stating to lose patience. One area that hits home is when a loved one passes.
Do you really think 6 is acceptable when most councils are saying approx 10? Most crematoriums host over 100 normally, so 10-15 is surely more realistic! For goodness sake..dont make a bad situation worse than it already is!”
“Roger Harmer
Yes I do. Its 6 family, but you also have the celebrants and the funeral staff so its more like 10 – 12 at the funerals in most cases. Push that up to 15 or 20 and you increase the risk of more people dying from picking up the disease at the funerals. It’s as stark as that.”
So a family of seven is screwed and Roger thinks it’s ok.
‘Sorry Brenda. You can’t come to see mom. Could you prepare the sandwiches since you’ll be stuck mourning at home because fuckheaded pant shitting turds like Roger said so?”
But as if Roger isn't bad enough someone chimes in with this beaut:
"We’re not in a state of normality. The public have to flex with that, no matter how painful. A close friend passed 2 weeks ago. He would have had 200 at his funeral but instead 5 close family members attended and the rest took part over video. Spirituality isn’t a physical thing."
To which someone replied on another site to this comment: "Christ, what an asshole. Spirituality? I don’t think you know what that word means. The formal grieving process (wakes, funerals, sitting shiva,…) is about offering whatever comfort you can give to those in mourning. One of my neighbors lost his 27 year old daughter a few months ago (probable suicide). Though we’re not close, we attended the wake out of a sense of obligation. When I approached him to offer condolences, he burst into tears and embraced me. This, from someone who is effectively a stranger. The only reason this happened is that I was physically present – this is precisely the point. Cut off that ability to be there and you are depriving the survivors an essential means of grieving."
Don't forget closure. In death, we feel it's necessary to be close to one another but yet somehow all these basic human emotions are being asked to be suppressed. To me, this is just about as depraved we can get. The coronavirus is not smallpox. It's not a murderous virus. We're letting our fears drive our decisions.
I think he's right. We're losing all sense of perspective over this. And clearly as those comments show, a common sense of human decency.
'Oh shut up and take your medicine-Ann Frank did it for tow years-You can't live without a haircut' types who say these things are borderline sociopaths with no soul.
Cue up those 'What we did wrong!' articles in the media.
******
There are doctors are having a field day with this. Their calculus is simple. 'We don't know much about this virus, there's no virus, ERGO SOCIAL DISTANCE INDEFINITELY AND IF WE MUST KEEP IT SHUT DOWN!'
One doctor even claimed to not re-open sports for kids.....until a vaccine is found. Which is preposterous because, tell you what, I don't think one is gonna come any time soon - if at all.
In fact, I don't think the Coronavirus can be eradicated. We're going to have to learn to live with it. At least be glad it's not a killer virus. So spreading false hope is damaging. It's not helping people. The sooner we accept the reality, the better.
A union rep for teachers in Quebec said schools shouldn't open until September and even then only progressively. September to December is just three months. Yeh, real smart there.
What are people thinking? Doing it this way is just prolonging the inevitable. I say, like removing a band-aid in one shot, you have to get things rolling again. By her way and logic, t's going to take two years thinking (wrongly I believe) doing it slowly we can somehow manage around it. It's out there. Whether you do it gradually or not it's going to do what it does. It could be an 'all or nothing' scenario'.
In other words, learn quickly the adapt like we do the flu. Yes, there's no vaccine but neither does the cold. And yes, I know it's much worse than the cold but what choice do we have? Keeping isolation and shut downs is far more dangerous. Might I add teachers (like all government workers) may be ok for now as they continue to get paid but the economic fall out will get or touch everyone in some way or another and to some degree. In their case, if we end up in a deep depression, be ready for pension cuts, frozen wages and stagnant RRSP growths. Unions are out of their minds and doing a disservice if they think they're going to negotiate better pay while millions who produce the wealth and income used for taxes to fund the bureaucracy are out of work siphoning tax dollars on welfare to survive.
In my opinion, this is why it's imperative to reopen in May. We need leadership that leads; not follows. That means taking very uncomfortable decisions.
If parents are too scared to send their kids to school, so be it. Don't set up petitions forcing others to follow your lead. Let the rest of us go on with our lives and don't dare try and pull this 'you're not saving lives' shit with me.
*****
I'm not an expert but I'm a pretty astute observe of politics, history and how human nature works and it doesn't take a genius to know you can't get people hooked on this 'new normal' because it's not an event that should demand we uproot things. It may call for some changes (and don't expect any type of action that can be construed as enlightened and productive from the Liberals - or even the diluted Conservative party for that matter - who are still playing identity politics) including habits. However, it's worth noting our entire urban planning and social landscape isn't built on 'social distancing'. Think public transportation. A service the left absolutely sees key in the fight to fight climate change.
Fun times ahead.
******
I keep hearing about how Korea does things. Here's a shocker: We're not Korea. Not in social mores, not in temperament, and not in culture. In the West, by and large save for a couple of countries, we're drama queens.
We go from one extreme to the next. We're not disciplined and can't seem to self-moderate (and those who keep a balance always pay the price for the actions of fools, who then with usual self-absorption not rooted in any self-awareness, lecture the rest of us on what to do. Think the celebrity class here. Have they not shut the fuck up since this thing began?).
In Korea, they were sufficiently sober enough to learn from SARS/MERS (this includes ignoring anything the liars in the CCP in China say) and adjusted quietly.
Here? Even a simple task of producing and how to wear a mask becomes a trendy Broadway production. I was listening to a Danish and Korean doctor reveal how those countries did things and what Canada could learn from it. Count me in as one of those who isn't confident we can. Some of the ideas needed to be implemented mean putting your nation first and this won't happen until the poison of identity politics ceases in North American politics. Just go read the vile comments of the head researcher looking for the vaccine in the USA on her Twitter account - if she hasn't deleted them.
The second a scientist goes political, they should either have the decency to resign, if not be fired.
I'll finish with the point that while we should learn from Korea, places like North America and the Mediterranean will never be like Koreans. So keep this in mind.
*****
This is the reality. The media is going to string people along with 'A possible vaccine?' and 'Bill Gates is on the case!' articles but don't buy into it.
At this point, even the dopiest of dopey people should be able to understand our reaction was borne out of incompetence and fear and now we're finding out how hard it is to 're-open' because one of our most primal emotions is FEAR.
And boy did we do a job on people. It boggles the mind how we can suspend all independent thought and exercise personal discretion and bow to authority figures.
Newsflash: Right now, all moves are to protect their own asses.
Everyone has lost the plot in their effort to control the narrative. Now they should all shut up and do their damn jobs.
*****
A friend of mine was telling me how he's been in virtual meetings all week for his company. They're having all sorts of 'famous experts' (is there any other kind? Everyone listens to the 'best' expert) come in and talk about how to deal with lying in isolation. They'll tell you everything that should be obvious to a rational person. But apparently, there are enough nervous nellies with no hobbies outside their work to justify insufferable pointers.
I agree with the premise that Covid actually reveals the anti-science stupidity of the left. They keep claiming how 'scientific' they are. When they say that they mean the marching orders they get from selected talking heads like Degrassi-Tyson, Nye, Suzuki, Gore (just typing those names I can smell the stagnant stench of sophistry) etc. They don't mean exploring science on their own and exercising free thought and skepticism. Hence why they call everyone a denier or 'anti-scientific'. They're projecting.
I digress.
Then again, (my friend) is a passionate guy who can't seem to self-moderate so he needs to listen to others to get some direction. What was helpful to him was strange to me.
'I was drinking too much alcohol. Did you know alcoholism is on the rise?'
Just last month we had a heated discussion about the potential unintended consequences as I threw out at him several examples likely to happen and now he was acting like I was on his level. Of course I knew, it was literally one of the first things I told him! If you shut down everything but leave liquor stores open even the modest drinker is going to increase consumption. Duh. And so on.
Now we know people aren't getting surgeries performed, private hospitals like Mayo Clinic reporting $9000 million short falls, life-saving tests aren't being performed etc.
Not to say nothing of a black market forming around those services ridiculously shut down. Hello. Is this thing on?
Despite my pleads, I was told I lacked humanity. But to me, I'm actually considering the trade-offs and cost-benefits that affect EVERYBODY.
My opinion? By the time, we get around to examining the macro-economic impact of all this, we'll likely be in Great Depression territory and with it will come all sorts of social malaise. It will be far worse in second and third world nations.
It's vital we understand this if you keep pushing for a shut down. If you think it's not worth it, then we must begin to reverse course. The second the economy was shut down, rather than tell people a vaccine is right around the corner or that the tests aren't perfect or continuing to report 'scary' numbers cautioning people to accept all this as a means to an end, we should have understood the potential implications of such actions that way we weren't going to wing this in two-week slivers.
We will have a left a trail of anti-human destruction.
******
If this persists, we cross over into immoral territory. We only allow the fear that was only fluttering around the mind to settle and entrench itself into the mind set.
You will not be able to pull people back into rationalism.
We've taken away their right to earn a living. We've thrown them into the welfare system awash with programs that the entire country will pay a price for. We already have the NDP - being the clueless hacks of human nature - calling for the CERB to be permanent. Sure, let's incentivize people to not work just like illiberal ignoramuses like AOC and other socialists calling for a general strike.
Where is the money going to come from? Do they literally believe money is literally just printed and not a result of wealth creation that gives weight, credence and cadence to the value and production of it?
Have we become this illiterate and shockingly stupid?
******
So back to this together and unicorns thing. You don't get to stay home, save some money because your Starbucks outings have been cut in half, and shout at people for being 'irresponsible' while calling for an indefinite set down as you shit in your Huggies. There's nothing brave or humanist in this stance.
It's in fact cowardly. And singing anthems to try and hide this cowardice only makes it pathetic because I guarantee you, the people suffering aren't singing the anthem.
They're busy trying to figure out their next move in life while you get to be assured yours stays in tact.
By understanding the true dictum of 'walking in someone else's shoes' only then will I take you seriously.
*****
The cure is already worse than the disease. Never in history have we been foolish enough to put healthy people in lockdown while shutting the economy down.
And if you truly love your fellow Canadian.
You understand we need to get up and running.
ASAP.
I was willing to give a month or two. Now, if you force this beyond what is necessary, it's an immoral disgrace. *****
In short? The trade-off has been problematic.
The raw numbers, including the infectious fatality rate (around .1 and .2 I believe putting it on par with the flu) and the reality this virus has been around longer than first thought thus likely making the quarantine ineffective, aren't justifying what we've done to not just our economy but our mental health.
For one or two months, I can understand the shut down but now that we know that while it's still a precarious and serious situation we are better informed (as testing evolves) allowing us to move forward without necessarily 'overwhelming the system'.
Speaking of testing, we can do it without being invasive. I'm hearing about all these apps that monitor what people go in order to track Covid and even the potential of mandated micro-chips with a vaccine.
Resist this temptation. People who consent to this stuff have no idea what they may be consenting to. Disease tracking can be done by compiling data like we do economic data. This takes vision, organization and an agency mandated to run it.
******
I saw way too much politics get in the way. We need to be spared of 'it's racist' to do this or that and quite frankly, where Canada is concerned, we need to rebuild our health infrastructure for infectious diseases perhaps without Dr. Tam. She compromised and betrayed her scientific credentials the second she played politics with the race card. She also likely is too closely aligned with internationally agencies like the WHO.
Scientists need to be scientists and stay in their lane.
Sometimes I wonder if the powers that be over shoot the numbers on purpose knowing it won't reach '44 000 deaths' so as to hide their incompetence behind a cynical mask of 'See? We had to shut it down! We saved lives!'
Ah. But at what cost?
This is going to be the magic question.
******
My Speech to Canada
******
I find it pretty rich Canadians keep laughing at Trump when our response hasn't been exactly world beating. Trudeau, despite his ineptness and weird concept of leading, continues to play identity politics while in Quebec the state of the facilities for the elderly has been a national disgrace.
He who lives in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. Period.
******
Ontario - the province that put Trudeau back in power - is keeping schools closed until May 29. Which is basically an insulting way of saying until September.
Very disappointed with Ford. And if even less impressed with his 'Yahoos protesting' quip. Here's the thing Doug, you're trampling on civil liberties for something that may be working. I happen to think anyone still pushing lockdowns are behind the curve.
Oh well. The Conservative party of Canada is more interested in a safe and syrupy brand Michael Chong and Andrew Scheer bring. Toast and jam politics. Boring and not inspiring.
It's a Red Tory party. They're the New Liberals' while the Liberals have scootched over to the Progressive Party.
The People's Party is where true conservatives have gone.
Anyway if you want to see how sheep think just read the comments here at Global News.
Oh, I'm sorry. I thought this was a democracy. You do realize in a free society with ostensibly free mind and people with agency people will challenge authority right?
That means the democracy you putzes so revere is HEALTHY.
A people who don't rebel is dead one inside.
Rather than mock, why don't for once set aside your parochial view and understand where they're coming from?
Which is why I'm thoroughly disappointed with Stan Shmenge and politicians like him who call out people. This is on the level of 'deplorables'.
I say give 'em all the finger.
This song I dedicate to all the people who got a nerve. How bitter do I feel about people who don't seem to take a moment for all the lives ruined because of this continued lockdown? Worse speak as thought they should just take it? Like Bob Dylan bitter.
You've got a lotta nerve to say you are my friend When I was down you just stood there grinning.
You got a lotta nerve to say you've got a helping hand to lend You just want to be on the side that's winning.
You say I let you down you know it's not like that If you're so hurt why then don't you show it.
You say you've lost you faith but that's not where it's at You had no faith to lose and you know it.
I know the reason that you talk behind my back I used to be among the crowd you're in with.
Do you take me for such a fool to think I'd make contact With the one who tries to hide what he don't know to begin with.
You see me on the street you always act surprised You say, "How are you?" "Good luck" but you don't mean it.
When you now as well as me you'd rather see me paralyzed Why don't you just come out once and scream it.
No, I do not feel that good when I see the heartbreaks you embrace If I was a master thief perhaps I'd rob them.
And I know you're dissatisfied with your position and your place Don't you understand it's not my problem.
I wish that for just one time you could stand inside my shoes And just for that one moment I could be you.
Yes, I wish that for just one time you could stand inside my shoes You'd know what a drag it is to see you.
Speaking of screech inducing cringe, let's turn to noted intellect and illiberal jester Patton Oswalt.
In defending the lockdowns and in the process - naturally - mocking people protesting them (because there's a serious clusterfuck of unintended consequences) because they're watching (particularly in the case of small businesses) their lives permanently damaged, he attempted to make a false analogy about how Ann Frank hid from the Nazis for two years.
How cowering in your room mandated by a clueless government and bowing to appeals to authority is totes the same as hiding against your will because literal murderers were out to literally kill you can only be something an illiberal progressive can think of. Only progressives can read history and completely miss the point.
The 'Ann Frank hid for two years' trope is just about the most absurd analogy they've come up with.
Wouldn't surprise me if Patton was around he'd snitch on her.
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Actually, if Twitter was around during the American Revolution people like Patton and Charles Pierce would be mocking the revolutionaries and Founding Fathers.
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The power of the precautionary principle is that it can be applied in perpetuity. Here, we're watching a hysterical application of it as a means to an end.
When wars end, a country surrenders and we have a finality to it. With the virus it only ends when the authorities say it is. And this is highly problematic particularly in this situation given we've already shut down the economy and people just took it. So it's very easy to go from 'we're doing this to not overwhelm the system' (even though ironically we're doing exactly that by over working health workers while furloughing other. In the USA, private hospitals like Mayo are struggling. These are just some examples of the immeasurable damage caused) and 'flatten the curve' (I noted the second jargon enters the calculus and countries all use the same lingo, watch out. Both have been essentially achieved and yet....we're still in lockdown?
Oh right, now it's 'stay home, save a life'. We have our celebrity masters just sprouting government propaganda at this point on TV.
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Speaking of insufferable bull shit, I can't possibly be the only one who thinks signing 'O, Canada' is just about the most unproductive and cheeses thing you can do. On this alone we should open up if not to spare us from one silly and vapid activity after another.
No, we're not 'Together'.
And I the only anthem I recognize is the version with 'All thy sons command'.
I will never submit to the revised version rooted in identity politics.
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But it looks like Montreal is in trouble if these two have their way.
"We really want to bring together the winning conditions so the deconfinement is safe," Plante said.
As for when Montreal will be open for business, the regional public health director, Dr. Mylène Drouin, said it's "pretty difficult to give a date."
Notice now it's 'winning conditions'. What the fuck does that mean? Is the Habs winning the Cup part of those 'winning conditions? As for Drouin, her quote is even more troubling. She just basically said 'you belong to us and we'll decide'.
Tell you Mme. Plante. I will be advocating for civil disobedience if you keep this preposterous charade up longer than it has to.
It troubles me to no end how easily public health officials can exert such power on our economy. Not to mention they seem to be unhappy their dire predictions (which as you know I was skeptical about from the get-go) aren't coming to pass yet they keep the warning us that it can still get worse!
Are people really willing to sit down and take this? Are they really that scared?
When all this is over, people like Plante and Drouin will be patting themselves on the back for having saved mankind. They will ignore their role in the destruction of other parts of our society. They will have accomplished their goal.
Me? I will see them and their ilk in an opposite light. *****
"....And despite the fact that the subway system in New York City, an obviously analogous disease vector in the hotbed of COVID-19 in the U.S., has not yet been shut down, every gym in NYC and New York State (where you can wash your hands) is closed until further notice. In other words, until the government decides to “allow” their owners to use their property as they see fit, they are closed, along with bars, restaurants, and all other retail that must be conducted in a building – except for some businesses that must be conducted in a building, like Walmart, Home Depot, and Lowe's. (As of now, I am aware of no plans to alter the taxes on these properties that are obviously affected by a government taking.)" A must read. Tell you what, the second I get a chance to sell my business I will. What just happened here? This is a precedent that will happen again. Now who in their right mind would put down hundreds of thousands of dollars on a business if now they have to consider the government going quasi-communist and shutting you down for an infectious disease? The ramifications of this are irrevocable.
"....In consideration of this, how likely is a bank or an investor to lend money to anybody contemplating the silly idea of opening a “non-essential” business? How likely is a commercial landlord to lease to a business that cannot afford to pay its rent every other winter? Is a nice sit-down restaurant or any bar a viable business under these circumstances? Will all food be take-out from now on, or will Walmart and Home Depot, with their now-incalculably-valuable “essential” status, move into the food-service sector, with restaurants inside their essential stores? The questions boggle the mind."
We just took the wrong turn and we're not going back.
This is a catastrophe of our own making. We have responded to a bad situation in a shameful way. Some of us have given up liberty for perceived safety, and some of us have seized power in this undeniably rich opportunity to abuse cowardice. It will be interesting to see how the market responds to such an insult. And it will – it always does.
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Also ironic is the longer politicians hide behind medical bureaucrats the more damage we do to our society at large. This is getting serious. People are being denied surgeries and now we're hearing stories of health care workers losing custody of their kids.
We've completely lost the plot.
And if you can't be bothered to look around and insist on the lockdowns being 'necessary' while claiming others lack 'compassion', I think it's you that needs to pay closer attention, get your ass out of your head and rethink your own humanist vision.
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Where are the usual progressive sauce that demands everyone be hauled in front of a court in The Hague for crimes against humanity? Tedros and the CCP basically perpetuated a crime against humanity and people aren't angry? Oh right. They're busy being the useful myopic idiots they are focusing on Trump. ***** Listend to Philip K. Howard on The David Webb Show. The power of the bureaucracy and how it impacts society is a serious issue. It's so bad the U.S. has a Red Tape Relief Project (Canada has the CFIB and CTF who focus on this issue) and even during the pandemic where things need to move quickly, bureaucrats applying red tape rules continue to operate slowing up any responses or decisions to reach people in a timely and efficient manner. It was pretty clear to me Trump navigate through a dystopian disaster of obsessive and absuvie red tape governed by a swamp of incompetence. Doest' take a genius to see this. Alas, much easier to attack a leader as opposed to a corrupted system. You know the saying, it's easier to fire the coach than trading or firing all the players. ******
If you can't put your political differences aside during an episode that clearly points to China as the culprit and the WHO being at fault, then you're a useful idiot. *****
Government is ok when the society is healthy, self-reliable and blessed with a strong family unit. This is when an honest co-existence can serve the people who maintain their sovereign power.
It's dangerous when responsibility and accountability is off-loaded to the state as well as a society that has eschewed family and Christianity full stop because we become a slave to it completely striped of our agency.
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TV pitches:
Mike Science v. Deborah Science. A heartwarming custody battle story for a transgendered cyclop. A family broken by white privilege finds redemption in smashing the patriarchy. But whatever becomes of poor Chico – the cyclop – who must choose between a world divided by social constructs championed by retards and the unsettled science of normalcy. Karen is cast as a bureaucrat or nosy neighbour who sleeps around and drives around texting in her Land Rover. Why not? Will & Grace and Samantha Bee are on TV. ***** Tedros gonna terror. Did you notice his recent presser about how the worst is yet to come with a ‘trust us?’
‘And the virus is gonna form into a big monster and it’s gonna make noise like this ‘Ryeeeearggh!’ and ‘Reeeeeeeee!’ and it’s going to then morph into a big blob drinking the blood of white kids and Israeli’s because of what they did to Palestine. And then it’s going to mutate and take human form….”
CNN reporter (interjecting): Like in The Thing?
Tedros (snaps finger): YES! Like in The Thing. And it’s gonna go around French kissing everyone so that its people will take over and this is why the WHO must take over all properties! WE’RE HERE TO SAVE EVERY SINGLE HODGY AND HICK!
Stands up. Takes towel and clips it with clothesline clip.
Oh the horrors! They can't think for themselves. Every single one of those people and their outlook is exactly how you get gulags.
If you dare think the economy shouldn't suffer for this, somehow you're an ignorant, maniacal Trumpster.
Yet, they can't even fricken see the science isn't going to get this straight for some time so are they suggesting everyone stay put and do nothing?
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World Health Organization Motto: You fucked up! You trusted us!
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I wonder if those who prey on the fears of people during a pandemic must read Lovecraft.
"...Seething, stewing, surging, bubbling like serpents' slime it rolled up and out of that yawning hole, spreading like a septic contagion and streaming from the cellar at every point of egress - streaming out to scatter through the accursed midnight forest and strew fear, madness and death."
The state of Missouri has filed a lawsuit against China.
While this may be symbolic and the Chinese reacted in their usual insolent way but perhaps we need a snowball effect here to send a serious message to what China has done.
To this day they've refused to accept culpability (as has the WHO) and continue with their 'What, me Worry?' shtick.
What must happen is a global inquiry where civilized nations band together and get barbaric communist China to account for putting the world in peril.
It's rather disheartening and shameful more people aren't angry (to be honest, I have little faith Canada would even partake given the sad bunch running Ottawa at the moment) at China but we need to forge on.
Remember, the lockdowns were mandated to flatten the curve and for the most part things have stabilized.
So why are the heavy restrictions not being lifted and in some case leaders are doubling down? Why are in a situation whether we should keep things closed through the summer?
Now the narrative has shifted to 'saving lives'. Fine. Save them but why are we being prevented from earning a living? The spread of the infection was NEVER the reason. The social distancing came after and by all accounts is working.
Again. Why are politicians acting like they won't re-open with some going as far as to intimate 'no normalcy' until a vaccine will be found? The likelihood of this happening any time soon is remote and what if it never does? Flu vaccines don't guarantee getting a flu after all.
So 'cui bono?'
Is this some sort of social experiment now to see how far the government can push people into submitting?
We know a good chunk of people get sufficiently scared and we know the media and celebrity classes will absolutely do as they're told because they lack critical thinking skills, but to the rest of us.....what's going on?
The governments of North America are playing with the fire of unintended consequences.
People supporting this madness will never have to face the consequences in society for their self-absorbed thinking. 'Together as one' is just hollow bull shit that helps no one.
Funny how only the WHO and the 'new heroes du jour' they want to help.
Small business owners and people who lost their jobs? Yeh, they can fuck right off and if they don't like it 'they old people and science'.
Wikipedia has been a great source for quick information. However, like everyone points out, it shouldn't be used as a final arbiter or means to an end.
Then comes the little games they play that became apparent.
In short, the entries clearly lean left just like the media.
Let's just take but one mere example (just to highlight. I invite people to do the exercise themselves. Just take someone you know is conservative and another liberal. Then go read their entry. You will see conservatives will generally be labeled as 'right-wing'. Liberals or progressives do not. That's done on purpose to give the impression liberals are moderate or centrist).
Today I was looking up 'Larry Klayman' and found this:
(Klayman) is an American right-wing[1][2] activist lawyer[3][4] and former U.S. Justice Department prosecutor.[5] He is the founder of Judicial Watch[6] and Freedom Watch." I found this interesting. So I decided to look up another activist lawyer and remember Gloria Allred and this is how she's described: (Allred) is an American women's rights attorney known for taking high-profile and often controversial cases, particularly those involving the protection of women's rights And you see this across the board with groups, organizations and individuals. You rarely see liberals being called 'left-wing' because this conjures up images of socialists and gulags. Wait. It gets worse. Much worse. I didn't want to do it for fear of my hunch being confirmed. It was. Bill Ayers: "William Charles Ayers (/ɛərz/; born December 26, 1944)[1] is a former leader of the Weather Underground[2] and American elementaryeducation theorist. During the 1960s, Ayers participated in the counterculture movement that opposed US involvement in the Vietnam War. He is known for his 1960s radical activism and his later work in education reform, curriculum and instruction." Wikipedia can't even bring itself to describe him as 'left-wing. Of course he's more than just left-wing. He's an extremist. A communist terrorist and a criminal. He's bad person who isn't contrite about his anti-American actions. "Although the bomb that rocked the Pentagon was itsy-bitsy—weighing close to two pounds—it caused 'tens of thousands of dollars' of damage. The operation cost under $500, and no one was killed or even hurt." He's also an immoral coward. But hey, he got his sweet digs and gigs thanks to an academic system rotting with left-wingers. There's your no-nonsense entry. That's why I laugh my ass off whenever I see Wiki beg for money. Fuck 'em.
