We have some Dr. T. Tam and Dr. B. Henry fans on this blog. I do not wish to offend them. But I am not one of their fans, myself. Not on this pandemic, anyway. I kinda liked Fauci a bit (a very short but very good basketball player) but I totally disliked Birx from the get-go. That doctor was the definition of a spineless do-nothing. I do not think any of them did a very good job, tho. But that is just a tiny part of the topic today.
To be fair, hindsight is easy and, with the exception of New Zealand and some Asian countries, no nation has done very well…well, Australia, too, has done better than us, I think. Because of our being right next door to the Covid Cowboys, some of whom still refute the seriousness of the disease (even as they die), Canada was simply destined for more trouble. Mind you, the Maritimes did rather well. But Quebec and Ontario have multiple, frequent and many undisciplined interactions with the US every day, the eastern snowbirds-to-Florida being amongst them. And Alberta is well, Alberta. That we are not the best nation is no surprise.
But, really? We are not even close! And, despite what they are telling you, it is NOT getting much better. The way I see it, Covid culled the weak and the elderly, the poor and the tight-groupings, the religious and the poor first – low hanging fruit for the virus. But it is NOW going to work at mutating. Of course, anybody past puberty knows that viruses mutate but that seemed to have been a bit of a surprise for our leaders, too.
Put succinctly, we have all been more reactive than pre-active and any pre-activity was weak and, I think, just gave the virus more time. We enabled this pandemic! Trump actually aided and abetted it!
Anyway, I am still not yet on topic. The topic is ‘When Does This Thing Go Away?’ Answer: quite possibly never. This is a virus that may, at best, just linger around the weak and the poor all over the world while it mutates up more virulent and/or lethal strains than it has already. Reason: we took too long to get to a controlled stage and, in fact, we are not there yet. We are now officially in the race but the opposition is so much faster and now has more mutant players on the team. The pace at which we are responding to this pandemic is just enough for some stats to improve but the basic one – the infection rate – is still climbing and, with the exponential expansion of the mutations, we won’t catch up unless….
…….unless the vaccines can still cover ALL the different strains that I fear have had too much time to evolve.
Had we had vaccines within the first few months, even 50% effective, we might have nipped it in the bud. If we have efficacious vaccines for ALL the strains discovered so far, we may still have a chance. I think the window on that opportunity is closing and, while it is still partially open, too many people are still ignoring the threat. Logic suggests that we are lacking in logic, pace and behaviour. Covid is winning.
It has been a whole year of victory for the virus. Canada is hurting. The USA is culling themselves at an even greater rate. Our dear leaders are lying to us. “Everyone vaccinated by September” ain’t gonna happen at the rate we are going. And, as some writer put it: ‘Trudeau and the Liberals are proving daily their gross incompetence’.
I would not be so harsh on just-Justin even tho I kind of agree with the accusation. There is little less frustrating than listening to the so-called experts parroting the party line virtually every day. And, amazingly, Alberta, Ontario and a few other places are suggesting NOW might be a good time to open the economy. Schools are open. We chose those imbeciles. We pay them gobs of money. They have degrees up the wazoo. And their pathetic efforts might have, at best, mitigated the effects of the virus – but I say that only because half the ‘Mericans actively denied and resisted their CDC mitigation efforts and their results speak for themselves. We are dumb but they are dumber.
The point of this ‘thought’ being shared is this: if C-19, C-20, C-21 through to C-30 continues, how will you cope? How will you live? Will you just chase the latest vaccine? Will you hunker down and become a recluse? Will you try to relocate to New Zealand?
I am 73 and was considered in the high risk group at the beginning. Now? Well, now I am about four or five tiers down the list. High risk has been redefined. Indigenous people, healthcare workers, politicians-of-course, police, the very elderly, the weak and infirm, CEOs-of-course and so on. How did I drop so low on the priority list? Well, I’d like to think it was common sense (seems Indigenous peoples are more susceptible to catching and spreading the virus) but the real reason is that there is so little vaccine actually out there and being applied, they had to re-prioritize.
I should care. But I do not – not for me. I am a bit hesitant to take the shot anyway. Something about having to keep some of the vaccines at below zero-zero the whole time…I dunno…I just do not have as much faith in this accelerated-and-botched effort as I really need to confidently let them stick me in the arm. Not yet.
So, that is the thought…….if this goes on (and I think it will) and the disease evolves (and it already is) and our response is as pathetic as it has been (and I do not see any indication otherwise), how y’all gonna change what you do, how you do it and who you do it with?
Jus’ sayin’………………
Our Off the Grid Home 
What an interesting card to play, “the cancellation card or the call out card” against two female doctors part of a team fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. I’m sure these human beings have flaws and deficiencies like some of us other fellow travelers. Worldwide pandemics are by nature infrequent and stuff happens…hindsight amplifies it.
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I’ll stand by what I wrote but, to be fair, the ball was really dropped by the politicians. Some time ago, some doc suggested that a virus might drop by (maybe prompted by SARS/MERS?). And then that same high-priced advice would include ‘maybe we need a lab or two….just in case?’. The politicians in Canada replied, “Nah, we’ll just buy the vaccine from China. So much easier, ya know? Like gensets and t-shirts and all your basic cheap crap, right?”
Wrong. Like so many things, Canada is too dependent on others. I know, I know…we are a small country in a large world and the global economy is real and good for all…..but, but, but….shouldn’t we have some basics? Like feeding our own people? Vaccine for our own people? Oooooooohhhhhh….I do NOT want to get started……
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Who authorized the sale of the publicly owned not for profit Connaught labs of Canada thirty years ago? Hint he sang with Ronald Regan.
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Conservative crook Mulroney….fitting….so familiar….how was that in the public interest? I wonder who he knew (to pander to) and how much that person paid for it?
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Correct! It was thought to be a bad move thirty years ago and today its sale continues to be a folly. To the doctors who fought SARS or COVID-2 and the Ebola Virus, I am deeply indebted. Never wanted to bleed from my eyes.
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Well.
My 2 cents.
The two doctors are forced to play with the hand they were dealt.
The bureaucrats control all.
Trudeau, Tam, Henry bow down to the incompetent bureaucrats that have been in place before they arrived and will still be in place long after they , and we, are gone.
These people hand Trudeau a speech to read. And he dutifully reads it.
They were telling us they had vaccines , lined up, in the bag, arriving next week/month.
They either lied or are incredibly incompetent.
But no one is fired. No one goes to jail.
The bureaucrats stumble on.
I’m currently reading a book about the Cultural Revolution in China from 1966 to 1976.
Called the World Turned Upside Down.
The insanity started in the universities with thousands denounced, arrested , purged, killed.
Then they moved to the military where thousands were denounced, purged, imprisoned, killed.
Then they moved to the bureaucrats that ran the trains, factories, power plants, food, etc etc etc.
Total anarchy.
And that’s when it stopped.
If a ruthless communist chinese dictator like Mao cant crush the bureaucrats….what hope does an incompetent, man child like Trudeau have.
We will survive.
Hopefully after Trudeau wears this fiasco.
Life will carry on.
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Just finished “Life and Death in Shanghai” by Nien Cheng, about the same era. Brutal!
What I find amazing is that they have transformed from ‘Primitive’ to the state China is today in less than 50 years.
Amazing!
Maybe there is some hope that the West may do the same?
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Maybe…but not the same way. Sal and I were in China in 1980. BEFORE the transformation. We were in a city of 12M. I remember saying, “Sheesh! There are more electric lights in a big McDonalds restaurant than there are in this entire city!” It was 3rd world primitive in the 80’s. Mexico was far more modernized and even more efficient. But then the genie of ‘free enterprise’ was released from the bottle and China exploded (and polluted, poisoned, killed, arrested and crushed all dissent). The Chinese know how to work, know what it is like to be hungry, cooperate, act in harmony and highly respect their leaders. Us? Not so much. If we bounce back, it will be in a different way…..and I do not see that happening in any way.
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same story all over the world. Doctors/virologist give their professional opinion about how this crisis should be dealt with, but the politicians decide, sometimes wisely, most of the time not so wise because they are afraid to kill economy even more. Our deficit (as a very small country) went up in 1 year from 5 billion€ to 54 billion €. Guess who will pay that bill the coming 25 years.
We still have not succeeded in beating the virus, and like in Canada, we are just chasing facts and a mutating virus. By the time we have beaten C-19, there will probably already be another deadly virus. Maybe that is what reality will be in the future. And let us hope that we learnt something, like to be less dependent from China for about most everything (from masks to vaccines and everything in between).
I hope life will return to normal soon, be able to do things, meet people, maybe do some travel to this super nice spot I have in my mind to meet some nice folks, drink some scotch, maybe eat a steak, help chopping wood, you know
It’s getting hard…seems like the only “hobby” we have lately is take the dog out for a walk, binge watch on Netflix or watch stupid things on my laptop
That’s not life….but yes, I am afraid that it will NEVER return to normal, not for any of us.
And if you are already living remote, maybe the change will not be that big.
As NonCon says, life will carry on, question is how?
I am not as confident as he is
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A blog cannot be too long or else people won’t read it. But that topic could have gone on and on and on. There is the Covid topic, the mutant topic, the politician topic and the bureaucrats just to name the obvious four. But then there is us, our changing circumstances, our ‘division’ and our lack of alternatives. We have done much of this to ourselves. Pretty boys get elected, people of colour get elected, more women get elected, space travelers get elected….but they all ride their label and/or connections to parliament rather than their CV of merit and a history of competence. And, in my life, it has ever been thus – we elect people for all the wrong reasons. The worst reason is that ‘belong to the party’ of the charismatic pretty boy or the noble-but-tough woman. May as well elect sheep if that is your criteria.
“Who’d you vote for?” “Trudeau.” “Oh, I didn’t know you lived in Montreal and the Papineau district!” “Huh?”
Why can’t we elect people who can do good work and gender, colour, race and ‘label’ are irrelevant? I have lots of friends who ‘can get stuff done’ and they include all the labels….but what made us friends was their competence combined with honesty and human compassion, NOT their label.
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We can elect such people but soon cancel culture will discover some deficiency like wearing a Mr T costume on Halloween as a six year old. Then… OMG.
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Well lots of low hanging fruit in the government bureaucracies a lot of easy targets but by God them pogey cheques that dole better be on time. Now that’s ironic expecting competence out of the slagged off. The Ebola Virus or hemorrhagic fever was kept out of Canada by incompetent bureaucrats? Or so the narrative goes. In the advanced stages of Ebola the body stops blood clotting and the victims bleed to death internally and externally through the eyes, ears, nose, and all other openings. Our incompetent doctors halted Ebola’s spread? Hardly. Canadian Doctors Without Borders work in Ebola hot spots fighting this virus. Now enter the rapidly mutating COVID-19 virus from all over the world and measures to fight it are hearing from the “Cancel Culture”!
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Don’t get me started on the hollowing out of our respective economies. The political masters will do what they will do regardless of the advice, not that the advice is ever that brilliant since the political masters also set the policy parameters under which that advice is given.
Personally I will take any vaccine that is offered. I’ve decided to take one for the team. If it kills me, it is no more than what the virus would do anyway. Then I’ll have whatever boosters come along. I doubt the boosters will arrive fast enough so I’ll most likely become even more anti-social.
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In some ways, delegating some things to trade partners makes sense. But NOT vital products and services. NOT life-sustaining production. Geez, we couldn’t even make N95 paper masks and we grow trees and have pulp mills and know how to do it. Instead we ship our trees unprocessed to China and then wait with open hands to get some masks back. That’s as insane as the vaccine, the building of ferries and the list just goes on and on.
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A little bit of hyperbole perhaps for emphasis? Check current lumber prices and you might find milled and dressed boards are selling for over $800. per Thousand board feet. Raw log shipments are down.
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Of course, a little hyperbole for emphasis….that’s my style….but, but, but, it is NOT about lumber or ferries or even face-masks. It is about having the infrastructure required for meeting the basic needs of our society. Food production would be nice. We can’t just eat meat, grain, apples and farmed fish washed down with milk or mediocre wine. Even if you top it off with Maple Syrup. We need to re-invigorate national and provincial ‘basics’….yes, like mask and vaccine production, like leading the world in the better use of petro-chemicals and plastics, like massive greenhouse complexes up north, like re-establishing a modern, highspeed VIA rail across the country, building up the TransCan highway, leading in healthcare, NOT following, leading in education, NOT following. Leading in policing and political reform, NOT bleating along like the cattle we are. Most of all Canada should LEAD in quality of life and NOT the way they are measuring it now. Families should NOT be required to have both parents working to buy a home that becomes their ‘life-savings’. Students may have to pay some for higher education but student loans with anything as interest is wrong. We need to stop buying ships and subs that don’t float or sink right. We need to stop buying used planes and crap when we have the capacity to do it here. C’mon, you KNOW what I am saying……
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That is crazy, Dave. Very similar here.
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Meanwhile, we’ve all but forgotten that other insidious threat to our well being – Climate Change!
News release: COVID DEATHS REACH 50 MILLION!!!
Does that not grab your attention? The pandemic and it’s mutants certainly seem to be advancing faster than our attempts to curb it. Is it not possible that it will outrun our efforts?
When it overtakes the Health Care Workers capacity to provide relief, what then?
After wiping out the most compromised, the elderly, the poor and the rural isolated, will it start to diminish the ranks of truckers, food suppliers and other essential workers? Will the survivors then be able to demand an increase in wages to fill the vacancies?
Who will manage the (closed) borders to ensure the climate migrants don’t compromise our remaining vulnerable society?
Is this Mother Nature’s double pronged approach to reducing the population? Scary!
I’m in Phase Two, scheduled to receive my first jab in February. I’ve resigned myself, much as Reflections has, to take one for the team. If the vaccine don’t get me, the virus probably will.
I just hate the thought of missing out on Mendoza!
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Well, the world is currently approaching 2.5M and, with the progress (or lack of it) we are making, I think we can expect to see 5M but 50M seems a bit defeatist…..mind you, if the virus continues to outperform us, then 50M may be low. My plans are still on hold and that means I am NOT EVEN planning…let alone doing. Still, I am optimistic about one last foray into the wilds of the Mendoza wineries….never say never….
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John you make a very compelling case. We are in dire straights and some of the “Cancel Culture” crowd conceptually choose to attack some of the “Woke” difference makers. We will needed the problem solvers as John points out.
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Log exports are related to milled lumber prices. Once the domestic lumber prices improve then raw log exports became uneconomical and decreased. After SARS Ontario stock piled 55 million M95 masks which expired thirteen years later. Was stocking these M95 facts a folly or not? Some might claim planning for future pandemics is a fools errand?
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And some fools might say why plan? Masks that expire 13 years later is foolish? It is not foolish for the 13 years is it? Term life insurance can be shorter than that…what are you saying? Planning is stupid? You a Millenial Justin Liberal? Living in the moment, are we? Fine. Just don’t run for political office.. Their main job is to plan, prepare and preserve…and they aren’t very good at it, are they
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I like planning and so do you. That is why you are wrangling logs for your winter wood supply. The “Cancel Culture” looks at those expired masks stored by a provincial health department…and OMG.
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