UPDATE: Step Right Up

 

Here in Ontario, things are moving at a fast pace - if you  happen to be a senior in a hospital but have been deemed medically fit for discharge.

This is thanks to the undebated passage of Bill 7, called the More Beds and Better Care Act. As with so much else that pertains to the Ford government, there is far less here than meets the eye.

While the bill's ostensible purpose is to free up beds in our overburdened hospitals, its abject indifference to the lives of affected seniors is egregious. As it now stands, those awaiting placement in one of their five preferred long-term care homes can now be sent anywhere within certain certain geographic limits: 70 kms in larger urban areas, and 150 or more kms if residing in the north. The logistical challenges for elderly caregivers should be obvious. And if patients refuse to go, a levy of $400 per day can be applied by the hospitals.

As someone who has navigated the health-care system on behalf of my brother, a Parkinsons Disease sufferer, I know well the  perils that exist in some long-term-care facilities, but I won't bore you with the details. All I will say is that the rosy picture being painted by the government is wholly inaccurate, including the claim that many currently '"blocking hospital beds" can go home with the proper supports, as if arranging for home care were a simple and expeditious process. Experience with my brother showed that to be a myth.

Like a carnival barker inviting everyone to step up and take in the world of cruel illusion on offer, Doug Ford and his fellow travellers are hoping you will not scrutinize the situation and realize the hoax they are perpetrating.

- They are giving the illusion of making progress on our quickly-unravelling health-care system

- They are doing this in a way that costs the taxpayers 'nothing'.

The reality is somewhat different, in that Bill 7 does almost nothing to help solve our problems, the majority of which are caused by overworked doctors, nurses and technicians, many of who are either off sick, burnt out or leaving their respective professions. Add to that the fact that the province is villainizing a sizable part of an older demographic by suggesting they are the real problem.

Closely related to the above is the effect of Bill 124, which severely limits pay increases (to about 1%) in the public sector, including much-needed nurses, many of whom have reached their limits and are leaving in large numbers:

Morgan Hoffarth, the president of the RNAO, cited statistics that said nursing vacancies in Ontario have more than quadrupled over the last five years, adding there was a 56-per-cent increase in vacancies during the first half of 2021.

So for those who stayed home in the last provincial election or voted for Mr. Ford and his crew, as the old saying goes, "How's that working out for you?" 

You'll find out, sooner or later.

 UPDATE: Despite the rush to get oldsters into LTC homes that may be dangerous to their health, Press Progress reports that proactive, unannounced Resident Quality Inspections to determine their quality, will not yet resume:

While, in Summer 2020, Premier Ford promised “We are going to do surprise inspections right across the province, so my message to all long term care homes is to get your act together” that did not materialize.

Ontario Health Coalition Executive Director Natalie Mehra noted ... “Going into the homes and asking residents if they feel safe is how you find out about abuse,...It’s how you can tell if the resident is declining, or losing weight or have bruises or that they’re staring up at the ceiling because no one has positioned them to even watch TV. If inspectors don’t go into the home, they don’t see that.”

 

This Is Us

Increasingly misanthropic, I'm not sure I needed this video, sent to me by my friend Dom. It's been around for awhile, but if you haven't seen it, or would like to see it again, please enjoy this spectacle of our species at "our finest".

Considering the current state of politics and people's ongoing credulity, the above should serve as an object lesson for all 

The Latest From Moudakis

Although my medium, for better or worse, is words (sometimes too many, I know), I have long admired the brilliant succinctness of  some editorial cartoonists; while there are several whose work I savour, preeminent in the pantheon is Theo Moudakis.

This illustrates why:

Putting Things Into Perspective

With the passing of our beloved Queen, an icon of selfless dedication we fondly thought would go on for much longer than her 96 years, mortality is on the minds of many - especially if they have 'achieved' a certain stage of life.

A friend sent me the following, which puts things into perspective, I think.

The Cowards Who Walk Amongst Us

In my view, there are few things more vicious, contemptable and cowardly than directing threats and abuse at journalists. That viciousness and cowardice is compounded by the fact that most send their vitriol via encrypted, anonymous email services, and the majority seem directed against women and reporters of colour. 

Clearly, these miscreants lack the courage of their 'convictions'. Yet the damage they do is severe.

Here are a few examples of that damage:

Prior to fleeing to Canada as a refugee, Saba Eitizaz worked for the BBC in Pakistand. She left after fielding a number of death threats from the Taliban, and landed a job at the Toronto Star, but her newfound feelings of security proved to be ephemeral:

An Aug. 4 message, using a fake name and the encrypted email service Mailfence, said several men were looking at the photos of female reporters, who were described in racist, misogynistic terms. Eitizaz was singled out as the men decided “which ones need to be silenced first.”

“So I’m just waiting for a gunshot or for somebody to show up at my place or with a firearm,” Eitizaz said. “It takes just a little bit more anger or a little bit more of a feeling that you can do this with impunity for online violence to become real-life violence.”

 Eitizaz is one of several Canadian journalists — nearly all of them women, many of whom are Black, Indigenous, and women of colour — targeted by an escalating hate campaign using encrypted email services. The emails drip with racial hatred and include threats of violence and rape. In at least one case, threats were directed at a reporter’s family.

Presumably because she is a woman, a Global News reporter has also been repeatedly targeted with a variety of threats and obscenities. One of the mildest is this one:.

In Ottawa, Rachel Gilmore of Global News was told in an email that “Judgment Day is coming, sweetheart. You had better make peace with your god.”

Over at one of Torstar's sister papers, things are not any different. 

After two and half years of covering the COVID-19 pandemic and receiving an avalanche of hate mail laced with anti-vaccine conspiracy theories (and more references to the Nazis than she can remember), The Hamilton Spectator’s health reporter, Joanna Frketich, had come to believe nothing could surprise her anymore.

She was wrong.

The author of the email was playing at being cryptic, but it was only that. Playing.

It was filled with references Frketich knew well. The school her child went do. Her husband’s business. Their home address.

“Someone was threatening my children and my husband and my home. So that was something I’ve not really experienced ever in my journalism career,” Frketich said. “That took things to a whole new level for me. I pretty much try to ignore the personal attacks but that one did stop me in my tracks.”

Young journalists with limited time in the industry are feeling especially vulnerable:

The Spectator’s Fallon Hewitt, having been working in the industry only since 2018, has spent nearly half of her career working in an ecosystem of harassment.

Like Frketich, Hewitt said the pandemic radically and rapidly changed the tone of the kind of emails she received.

“It all seemed to actually relate to coverage I was doing about the pandemic,” she said. One particular story about a business that violated COVID-19 public health rules triggered a response so vitriolic that Hewitt joined the ranks of reports who wanted to avoid pandemic coverage.

The business owner fired off a message dripping with vulgar and sexist language.

“When this is all over, I honestly hope you rot in hell you sleazy piece of s--t. God forbid we ever cross paths,” the message said. “You should be f--king ashamed of yourself ... I hope you live a lonely miserable life!”

I won't reproduce some of the filth that has been directed at these people, but outside of the affront to human decency these cowardly notes represent, there is an even higher cost. According to an IPSOS survey, some 33 per cent of respondents have or are considering leaving the profession. As well, 

[t]he vitriol has left some journalists avoiding story subjects that they fear could worsen the harassment.

It is not hard to understand how all of this has developed. Egged on by people like Donald Trump in the U.S., who labelled the press "the enemy of the state," and echoed by Trump wannabes like Pierre Poilievre and Maxime Bernier in Canada, what has become know as rage farming has found especially fertile ground amongst the disaffected, the gullible, and the just-plain stupid, all supreme cowards for the tactics they employ because they cannot accept views that run contrary to their own.

However, probably the biggest victim in all of this is democracy. While I realize there are many who disdain the MSM as being mere toadies for their owners, the fact is that newspapers, as opposed to self-selected stories on social media, provide a much larger array of news and sense of the larger world than can be found by simply following our online biases. And when journalists begin to limit the stories they cover out of fear of reactionary blowback, we are all the poorer, and less-informed, for it.

 

 

 

 

UPDATED: What Is Wrong With People?

 It is a question I have asked myself on an almost daily basis these past few years, and it is the question TizzyEnt asks here:

UPDATE: Here is the link to an update posted by TizzyEnt. The only thing that has changed in the video is the location where this atrocity apparently happened.

Creepy

Wasn't Socrates executed for corrupting the youth?

Courting a child wearing Minnie Mouse ears sets my 'Spidey sense' tingling.

H/t The Salamander Horde

We've Been Warned

With the NDP hinting that their pact supporting the Liberals until 2025 could be under strain, a timely reminder from de Adder about the alternative:

Rage Farming And Hypocrisy Come So Easily To Him

While political hypocrisy is hardly rare, in my view Pierre Poilievre 'elevates' it to an entirely new level - new at least in Canadian politics. And while his blind followers will no doubt fail to see this, rational, reflective citizens will.

By now, most people will have heard about or seen the video in which deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland is viciously verbally assaulted by Alberta miscreant Elliott McDavid. If you haven't, I placed it on a previous post. While one cannot draw a direct link between McDavid's disgraceful behaviour and Poilievre, it is clear that the kind of reckless, divisive rhetoric favoured by the soon-to-be-crowned new leader of the CPC emboldens such heinous harassment.

A story in The Tyee  quotes McDavid as saying he is proud of what he did:

“Why did I do that? Because I want the rest of the country to wake up and realize that she is a traitor to the country. She is selling out the country,” Elliot McDavid said in a phone interview Saturday.

 University of Alberta political scientist Jared Wesley told the Tyee

 he expects aggressive attacks on politicians to increase in Canada as right-wing politicians continue to engage in “rage farming” by advancing false and misleading conspiracy narratives.

But, of course, the most dangerous rage farmer, Mr. Poilievre, refuses to take any responsibility for the current rancourous landscape that he so willfully cultivates and exploits. Indeed, until he was confronted by a reporter about the Freeland incident, he offered no denunciation of it. His 'repudiation' of it, as you can see in the following video, was completely self-serving:

He refers in the above to the online abuse his wife, Anaida, has experienced, so perhaps she deserves some scrutiny. Clearly a fellow traveller and soulmate, she reminds me a bit of Lady Macbeth, Macbeth's perfect partner-in-crime:

""But screw your courage to the sticking-place and we'll not fail!"

That the rage-farmer's wife is all in with Pierre's pursuit of power at any price is evident in a recent Tweet she sent, recommending Canadians visit an extremely right-wing site trafficking in sensational headlines, love of 'freedom' and hatred for Trudeau.'

Oh… 7 times Trudeau met with pedophiles, terrorists and extremists | True North

tnc.news

7 times Trudeau met with pedophiles, terrorists and extremists

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has a long record of hob-knobbing with individuals who have been convicted or accused of committing heinous crimes such as possessing child pornography or even attempted...

This kind of scurrilous recommendation by the wife of a possible future prime minister is unprecedented in Canadian politics, as far as I know. That she panders like Pierre to an angry and reactive rabble does not bode well for a return to a more civilized discourse, but perhaps helps explain some of the putative reactions she has stoked.

It is said that behind every successful man stands a woman. In this situation, it might be more accurate to say that behind every unscrupulous politician stands an equally unscrupulous wife.

They make quite the power couple, eh?

Annoy A Nazi

I was going to write about Pierre Poilievre this morning, but then Brittlestar's latest popped up; as a consequence, I now have a new, catchy personal theme song:

In Good Company

Given the unhinged crowd Pierre Poilievre cultivates, it would seem that Patrick Corrigan has pierced the heart of the demagogue's mystery.

And for those who would like a graphic reminder of that crowd, there's this:

 

Then Again, More Often Than Not ...

 ....justice does not occur, but police brutality does.

Sometimes, Justice Really Does Happen

The following is self-explanatory; there is no need to watch TizzyEnt's original video posting, as the one below reveals all we need to know about the crimes, and the arrest of the woman who perpetrated them:

A Window Into Their 'Minds'

 

If you read this blog with any regularity, you probably know that I hold the crazed right in abject contempt. Their eagerness to embrace conspiracies, their elevation of 'Queen' Romana Didulo to other worldly status speaks to both the weakness of their minds and their extreme credulity. As well, the fact that they continue to protest against non-existent vaccine mandates suggest they live in a fantasy-fueled world of their own. 

I applaud Peterborough mayor Diane Therrien's assessment of them. And rather than treat them with kid gloves or pander to them a la Pierre Poilievre, more political leaders need to strongly denounce them and their disruptive, illegal tactics. I want nothing to do with them.

And I will lump these people into the results of a recent Abacus poll. When asked the question, All things considered, which is a better place to live - Canada or the U.S.? 91 % of Canadians polled preferred Canada, of course, The other 9% did not.

Looking into how they answered the other questions, reveals that the plurality of younger men [those under 45] think they would be better off financially and enjoy life more if they were living in the US.

Conservative voters also tended to be less keen on Canada.

Only 60% think they have better health care than they would have in the US, and only just over a third think Canada is a better place to earn a living and enjoy life.

Those who are unvaccinated against Covid, of which the deranged are a large part, also have reservations about our home and native land.

Only half of this group think living in Canada means being safer from violence or having better health care.  A plurality thinks they would be better off financially and enjoy life more living in the United States.

Now I realize that I am conflating the 9 % with the crazies, but it seems to me that they all have something in common: an unwillingness or an inability to see things as they really are. By objective standards, there really is no basis to argue that life in the U.S. is better, unless one thinks the freedom to engage in violence, to carry and use guns at will,  to support insurrectionists, and elevate cult-like movements as legitimate expressions of democracy is preferable to life here at home.

In which case, all I can say is, Don't let the door hit you on your way out.

 

 

UPDATED: This Is Gonna Hurt

 

I have a friend whose daughter recently started her career in healthcare as an occupational therapist in a facility where people are awaiting placements in LTCs, and already she is feeling burnt out.

- burnt out over the fact that she cannot do her job properly in assessing people for their needs, as she is being called upon to perform much more basic functions, such as changing patients' diapers.

- burnt out over having to do the paperwork her job entails on her own time at night, without additional payment.

- burnt out over the fact that her facility keeps accepting new patients, which leaves her even less tome to assess the ones she already has.

She is just one of thousands of  healthcare workers toiling under stressful conditions across the province, and thus far, despite the proclamations of Doug Ford and his health minister, Sylvia Jones,, little relief seems pending. 

Other people as well are losing faith in a system that is supposed to be there, up and running well, when we need it. Thus far, Ford's 'vision' is not inspiring confidence:

‘Just a code word for privatization,’ Aug. 18

The unconscionable and heartless directive by the Ford government to free up hospital beds by having “elderly” patients transferred to long-term care (LTC) facilities far removed from their families and communities, follows the same scheme the McGuinty-Wynne Liberals hatched, which brought the same outrage that families and others are expressing now.

The Conservatives have blatantly put ageism forward by discriminating against people of a certain age as “elderly.”

Where do those other adults waiting for nursing home placement fit into the government’s solution of clearing hospital beds?

To label those of any age waiting in hospital for accommodation in a long-term facility as “bed-blockers” shows a disturbing indifference to them. 

The chaos in hospitals is not the fault of Ontario seniors, but government has shamefully placed the blame on some of our most vulnerable people.

Ellen Watson, Aurora

Privatization does not work, Aug. 12

Remember how former Premier Mike Harris “created a crisis” in education with the goal of privatizing?

Well, today Premier Ford has created a crisis in health care and, surprise, surprise, he is talking about privatization, which has already wreaked havoc in long-term-care (LTC) homes.

Ask yourself if education is any better for Mike Harris’s heavy-handed disruption tactic?

I submit that things are much worse.

If anyone thinks privatizing healthcare will make things better, look to the past, then think again!

As George Santayana once wrote, “Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

Jonathan O’Mara, Whitby, Ont. 

Privatization does not work, Aug. 12

While I am not schooled in the intricacies of economics, it does seem to me that any model of privatization means profit, by which the provider must charge more, through extra billing, not covered by OHIP, or reduce costs, such as offering staff less money and benefits, and/or reducing the number of staff, and thereby lower the quality of service.

It only makes sense that privatization results in greater costs to the tax-payer and consumers, and less quality to those unable to pay for enhanced services.

While privatization advocates claim that fewer people will be waiting in the public system, they fail to state that a private tier would syphon off professionals (already in short supply) from the public system, contributing further to the strain on our public system.

We must maintain the integrity of our universal heath care system.

Norah Downey, Midland, Ont.

Sylvia Jones warns ‘status quo’ in Ontario health care is not sustainable, Aug. 17

It apparently was not bad enough the Ford government opted for mass institutionalization of our seniors in long-term care facilities in defiance of their stated wishes to age in place.

Now to fill empty LTC beds in the white elephants his government has funded to the tune of over $6 billion of taxpayer’s money? They plan to ship our seniors, like cattle, from one community to another so they don’t “block beds” in hospitals. Remove them from all that is familiar at the most vulnerable time in their lives to a place they don’t know, to be cared for by strangers, where it is difficult for family to visit?

In other words, abandon them after a lifetime of helping to build this province.

Could this government possibly have a more contemptuous view of older adults? Is this really what Ontario voted for?

Patricia Spindel, Ajax, Ont.

UPDATE: Let's give the final word to Brittlestar:

UPDATED: The Inmates Run Amok

One of the people I follow religiously on Twitter is Caryma Sa'd. A Toronto lawyer and satirist, her online presence is largely devoted to video she shoots of the unhinged amongst us, i.e., those Canadians obviously infected by the American disease whose symptoms include uncritical acceptance of conspiracy theories popularized by groups like QAnon.

Sa'd's brilliance lies in the fact that for the most part, she merely documents their madness, letting their words and actions indict them. Because they appear so clearly foolish and deluded, it is fair to say they strongly dislike, even hate, her. Such people rarely enjoy having a mirror held up to their delusional behaviour.

The following CBC report makes use of some footage Sa'd recently shot in Peterborough, where a group went to make citizen arrests of its police force. It did not go well:

As in the United States, these inmates seem to think they are in charge of the asylum. How to get them on much-needed medication eludes me. Perhaps some Thorazine or Haloperidol in their water bottles would be a good start?

UPDATE: To add insult to injury, now the Americans are starting to notice:

H/t TizzyEnt

The Devil In Ms. Jones

To those 57%  who couldn't rouse themselves to vote in the last Ontario election, please do not make sounds of outrage over the likelihood that Doug Ford will introduce more privatization into our healthcare system. You didn't participate, so I really have little regard for your thoughts on the matter. Electoral silence, in my view, gives consent.

Sylvia Jones, our new Minister of Health, is starting to use the word innovation a great deal, which many see as code for privatization. Indeed, one can well-imagine that one of her early innovations will benefit the many private operators of long-term care facilities including, of course, the Chair of Chartwell Homes, the infamous Mike Harris.

Here is one of the brilliant ideas Ms. Jones is sharing:

Jones and Long-Term Care Minister Paul Calandra will outline a spate of “operational” reforms Thursday morning at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto.

One move, first reported by CityNews and confirmed by the Star, is to make permanent a pandemic emergency measure that allows the moving of patients in hospitals awaiting a long-term care bed to nursing homes in other communities.

Progressive Conservative sources said the decision to transport elderly people to an available bed elsewhere would be left up to doctors and could free up some 250 hospital beds by year’s end.

A bloodless solution, eh, unless you happen to be an essential caregiver to the relocated senior, likely a senior yourself.

I won't bore you with the details of how, despite the mantra that private enterprise always does things more efficiently, the private model is more a shell game than a solution; you probably already understand it is merely rearranging those deck chairs on the Titanic and ultimately confining many to the steerage section to await their doom.

I'll let the always entertaining and infinitely more witty Brittlestar speak for me.

Revised: Sometimes, All You Can Do Is Feed The Birds

I have revised slightly my original post. With lunta's comments I realized my point was not entirely clear, that sometimes we have to "just feed the birds," whose meaning I had hoped was clear.

I hope the revisions clarify my point.

For many years, there was a popular saying that everyone seemed to know: "Think globally, act locally." Basically, it was a call to consider the global environmental implications in every decision we make. Not a bad sentiment, but I find myself living by something quite different in these latter days of my life.

In my backyard, which is perpetually sun-challenged, I have an array of drought-resistant perennials ranging from Hostas to Black-eyed Susans to Purple Coneflowers. Unfortunately, I have never had any luck with my Milkweed efforts, but at least the 'garden' offers something for pollinators.

Also in the backyard I keep a birdbath and two bird feeders, both of which I replenish regularly. Seeing the birds come and the bees collecting pollen offers me a small measure of comfort in these dark days. Because, when you think about it, sometimes all you can do is feed the birds.

The above  essentially encapsulates what has become my philosophy of life. Recognizing that the big issues like war, famine, drought, massive climate change, to name but four, have little likelihood of remediation, I was forced to change my outlook in order to keep even a semblance of hope and positivity.

Feeding the birds both literally and metaphorically allows me to maintain my humanity. Metaphorically, it means doing a little good, usually locally, when I can. Such acts do not have a world-shaking impact but perhaps might make someone else's life just a little bit better or at least reduce their suffering in a small way.

I will not bore you with details of how I try to practise this philosophy, but opportunities to help abound: community refrigerators, hot-meal programs, foodbanks, mentoring, helping a neigbour, providing a sympathetic ear to someone in distress, etc. Because some people enjoy a graphic, l bring to your attention, and only as an example, the situation of a young boy whose family is facing real challenges in living with and accommodating his rapidly deteriorating condition. I am not advocating for them, but only offer this as one example of how all of us, in our way, in our own communities, can "feed the birds." 

Here is Brodie's story:

In my life, I have much to be thankful for. I accept the goodness in my life with gratitude, knowing that days of grace are guaranteed to no one, nor are they really ever merited. As grateful as I am, if I can do even a little to show monetary/emotional support for individuals who are suffering, I feel called to do so.

We sometimes really do underestimate what a kind word, a sympathetic voice, a show of support or a small donation can achieve in someone's life.

They Walk Amongst Us

Most of the world is rightfully decrying the attempt on Salmon Rushdie's life. A cowardly effort to silence a voice that some find blasphemous, his near-death experience is a potent reminder that there are those living amongst us who attack the views of those they find objectionable, often in tandem with hatred for their ethnicity or gender.

We should not be surprised to learn that this reactionary behavour is happening in our own country as well. Journalists are often the target of such odious attacks, one of them being Rachel Gilmore, a reporter who covers federal politics for Global News. At this point I would normally post a video showing the kinds of abuse that is heaped upon her by men who feel threatened by her, but I do have certain standards for my blog and will not promote their bile. However, if you have a strong stomach and want to know more about what she has to endure, check out her Twitter feed.

Donovan Vincent, a veteran reporter and the Star's new public editor, writes about this disquieting trend:

... a rise in hate — fuelled in part by political polarization, divisions over mask mandates and vaccines, economic and employment shifts and other factors — has resulted in a torrent of racist, homophobic, misogynistic and violent messages being directed at journalists, often women and women of colour.

In the past week alone, a horrible message was sent to Toronto Star podcast host Saba Eitizaz, a journalist of South Asian background. The filthy, cowardly and pathetic note — the sender didn’t leave a real name or contact info and hid behind an encrypted email address — also mentioned Hill Times columnist and podcast host Erica Ifill, a Black woman, and Rachel Gilmore, a reporter for Global News who is white.

I can’t repeat much of the content of the note because this is a family newspaper. But the personal attacks were meant to unnerve these women.

Make them feel fearful, humiliated. Make them doubt themselves. Silence their smart, confident voices.

The letter infers the women are on a hit list, and need to be “silenced” and “retired.”

There is no doubt that racism plays a part in some of these gutless comments.

Others in my newsroom, mainly young, non-white journalists or those with ethnic backgrounds, have also been recent targets.

“They are trying to silence us, intimidate us and play on our anxiety. They’re trying to keep minorities oppressed. That’s how I feel,” said one of my young colleagues, who didn’t want to be named to avoid receiving more hate.

Reading some of their messages, I was struck by instances where similar language and terminologies popped up. For example, some of the letters refer to the female targets needing to be “boogaloo’ed the f…k out of Canada” — i.e. escorted out of this country.

If you go to this link, you will see the efforts Erica Gilmore made to bring to the authorities' attention the threats she and others were facing. The results were less than satisfactory. This has prompted some action on the part of news-gatherers.

These past few weeks, the Star, the Hill Times, Global News and the Canadian Association of Journalists, along with the journalists impacted and others, have decided enough is enough. The parties came together to pen a letter that is being sent to the chiefs of police in Toronto and Ottawa (the three women span those cities) and federal Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino. It’s also being sent to the heritage minister — who is looking into legislation and regulations to address online hate — the justice minister, the minister for women and gender equality, the commissioner of the RCMP, and Ontario’s attorney general.

 The letter points out that incidents of online abuse directed at the three women — “targeted, vile threats of violence” — made them fear for their safety and prompted them to file a number of police reports. The lengthy letter includes demands that the chiefs and safety minister take steps to address the incidents and work with the media organizations to combat the abuse of journalists, and fight online hate and the harassment of all victims.

A key point of the letter is that the harassment seems to be part of a campaign against journalists, and that police and the law often treat these cases as separate. But that’s a fundamental misunderstanding that misses the “connections among cases and the connections to extremist groups,” the letter points out.

Despite the fact that the MSM is routinely denigrated in social media, I, for one, have a deep respect for what journalists do.  Are they perfect? Of course not. They are, however, our best hope of staying informed, much-needed ballast in the sea of misinformation we now must habitually navigate.

They have my deep respect and full support.

 

 

Who Benefits?

 

Some time ago, I read an excellent book by Michael Lewis called The Premonition: A Pandemic Story. In it, the author follows a group of dedicated researchers and a public health officer who fearlessly follow the science of the emerging pandemic, frequently facing obstructions and even threats to their very careers. Their heroism stands in sharp contrast to the careerists who lead entities like the Centers for Disease Control, utterly failing to fulfill their mandate of protecting and keeping the public adequately informed on the emerging virus. To say that such people are political whores is the gentlest way to describe them.

I was therefore not entirely surprised that the CDC has now loosened its guidelines around COVID-19. Here are some of them, with emphasis added:

The changes shift much of the responsibility for risk reduction from institutions to individuals. The C.D.C. no longer recommends that people stay six feet away from others. Instead, it notes that avoiding crowded areas and maintaining a distance from others are strategies that people may want to consider in order to reduce their risk.

People who are exposed to the virus no longer must quarantine at home regardless of their vaccination status, although they should wear a mask for 10 days and get tested for the virus on Day 5, according to the new guidelines. Contact tracing and routine surveillance testing of people without symptoms are no longer recommended in most settings. 

...the guidelines note that schools may want to consider surveillance testing in certain scenarios, such as for when students are returning from school breaks or for those who are participating in contact sports.

Unvaccinated students who are exposed to the virus will no longer need to test frequently in order to remain in the classroom, an approach known as “test to stay.” The C.D.C. no longer recommends a practice known as cohorting, in which schools divide students into smaller groups and limit contact between them to reduce the risk of viral transmission. 

Not everyone is onboard with the new guidelines: 

Dr. Saskia Popescu took issue with the CDC removing the quarantine recommendation for those who have been exposed, particularly those unvaccinated. She also questioned the feasibility of people wearing masks in small offices where they will have to take them off for eating and drinking.

Additionally, Popescu said discouraging routine testing ignores the "high levels of asymptomatic cases."

"We should be providing people the resources to stay home if they're exposed, especially if unvaccinated and [without] vaccine-induced protection, not doing away with the quarantine guidance [altogether]," Popescu said.

Dr. Judy Stone called the CDC's guidelines "capitulation" in a tweet.

"What would be welcome to me and many others would be masking until rates are down and a focus on improving ventilation," she said. "Immunocompromised/elderly people have been devalued and discarded."

So, as I often ask about suspicious actions and decisions, "Who benefits?" 

Clearly, those disruptive elements of society who have made a fetish of their opposition to masks and mandates benefit. But if appeasement of such people is part of the motivation here, they will surely be on about something else in short order.

Perhaps the biggest winners are to be found in the world of commerce. The past two years have been admittedly very difficult, with shut-downs, staff absences, etc. But, as Rick Salutin has asked on more than one occasion, "Does the economy exist to serve us, or do we exist to serve the economy?

The new guidelines also serve to weaken calls by workers to provide more sick days, another cost to business, along with the expenses of  hiring temps in many instances. The strongest suggestion in the guidelines is that people who test positive should stay at home for five days. 

As well, the new CDC direction pays no heed to the dangers of long-Covid. If anything, they will facilitate the spread of a virus about whose long-term effects we still really understand little.

Ultimately, everything is up to the individual in the new guidelines. And if the past two years have taught us anything at all, it is that individuals, and groups of individuals, make some pretty poor, even dangerous, choices.

A Cogent Rebuttal To Privatized Healthcare

Here in Ontario, the newly re-elected Conservatives under Doug Ford are making oblique sounds about private health care as a way to help solve our hospital crises. While we do have private clinics, etc. in this province, it would seem that they are suggesting much more than that. 

One needn't be a particularly deep thinker to see some of the flaws in that logic, the most egregious being that private entities exist to make profits, and that anyone working for a private healthcare entity is bled off from the public system.

The following is Brittlestar offering a clear explanation to those who react ideologically instead of thinking critically. I also include a couple of comments from his followers:

Geez..you nailed this! My sister has a doc who runs a private clinic in TO. She pays $5,000 a year to see her doctor. When she had a heart attack this doc actually said she couldn't treat her as her annual fee was due. She suggested my sister find an OHIP doc. Private Healthcare!

.................

My daughter was in the hospital for 4 months due 2 complications from brain surgery. Nine years ago i had cancer. I could not imagine having 2 pick & choose what healthcare 2 get based on our income. My daughter & i are still alive thanks to universal Healthcare.