Tis The Season

I love being able to disseminate cheer at this time of the year.

A holiday poem for the kids: "'Twas the Night Before Impeachment." pic.twitter.com/5JecwETnkC

— Mrs. Betty Bowers (@BettyBowers) December 10, 2019

Time To Lighten Up

Often we can be so weighed down by the woes of the world that we forget there is much humour to be found in it. Indeed, I don't think it is an exaggeration to say that frequently, people take themselves far too seriously, mounting as they often do that white steed to proclaim outrage against some perceived wrongdoing. If you will bear with me for a few moments, I hope to show the lighter side of that outrage.

You are probably familiar with the following Peleton commercial which has garnered quite a frenzied, even rabid, response from those sensitive souls who are always eager to proclaim their truth as universal, and happy to foist it upon the rest of us:



As reported by the New York Times, many were deeply offended:

Many social media users criticized the commercial for being sexist and classist. A Peloton Bike retails for $2,245, and membership for the company’s signature interactive classes costs $39 a month.

The woman in the commercial, many users pointed out, was already fit.

Such carping criticism, it seems to me, misses the point of exercise in general, and of the commercial specifically, perhaps best summed up in this Tweet:

The ad revolves around her (implied) greatly improved mental well-being rather than her physical fitness. Committing to regular exercise made her happier. I saw no implication about weight loss in the ad.

— Tommy Leonardi (@LeonardiTommy) December 3, 2019

In any event, I have no use for such extreme political correctness. It suggests to me that some people have far too much time on their hands.

Which is why I was delighted to see this send-up by the always irreverent Ryan Reynolds (he of Deadpool fame) in a commercial for his new gin:

In an ad for Reynolds’ Aviation Gin called, “The Gift That Doesn’t Give Back,” we see Peloton Girl once again, same intense but unreadable expression, a wider shot cuts to her friends, looking as puzzled [and] concerned as anyone who has seen the ad feels.

Time for folks to lighten up and save their outrage for matters of real import, like climate change, neoliberal politicians, and the general state of the world.

Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled

According to this group of crazed evangelicals, all is well in the world thanks to God's chosen one occupying the White House. My suspicion is there was a full moon out.

Thank you @realDonaldTrump @VP for hosting #FaithSummit inside the White House Complex today with leaders from across America!

We worshipped, prayed & learned all this admin. is doing to promote religious freedom across the world!

What an honor to pray inside the Oval Office!

— Sean Feucht (@seanfeucht) December 7, 2019

IN CASE ANYONE OUT THERE IS WORRIED ABOUT THE FUTURE OF AMERICA TODAY.... 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

WE’RE INSIDE THE WHITE HOUSE RIGHT NOW 🔥🔥🔥🔥#WorshipTakeOver #DontLoseHope pic.twitter.com/9oknH9nkc4

— Sean Feucht (@seanfeucht) December 6, 2019

Things Fall Apart

The idea of entropy comes from a principle of thermodynamics dealing with energy. It usually refers to the idea that everything in the universe eventually moves from order to disorder, and entropy is the measurement of that change.
-vocaulary.com

The above is one definition of entropy. Here is another, perhaps more germane to this post: a doctrine of inevitable social decline and degeneration.

While I am not sure of the inevitability of such decline, it seems to be a perfect definition for the disorder that has plagued Ontario since Doug Ford and his crew were elected to 'govern' Ontario. And the latest reports show that things are growing worse by the day. In this self-proclaimed "open for business" province, workers are suffering:

Just 1 per cent of workplaces across the province are being proactively inspected to ensure they are safe — and the Ministry of Labour’s enforcement efforts are failing to prevent employers from repeatedly violating safety protections, according to this year’s auditor general report.

In reviewing health and safety initiatives in Ontario, the auditor general looked at companies that had been inspected by the ministry at least three times in the past six years. It found many employers were ordered to fix the same hazard year after year, citing details reported by the Star on a North York industrial bakery where five temporary help agency workers have died.

“The concern is they’re really not enforcing as they should be,” said Patty Coates, the newly elected head of the Ontario Federation of Labour. “They’re not strong enough with employers and that’s what they really need to focus on.”

“This government needs to put some money into prevention but also to properly investigate, as well as lay charges and fines,” Coates said.

But wait. There's more! In addition to the present chaos in education, brought on by a leadership that is intent on devaluing education, are the following:

- Premier Doug Ford’s climate change plan is based on faulty calculations and will fall well short of the Paris Agreement targets to reduce greenhouse gases by 2030.

- 67,000 of the 1 million patients discharged from hospitals annually have suffered some type of harm.

- Nurses are “repeatedly” fired or banned by hospitals for incompetence are rehired by other hospitals, posing risks to patient safety.

- Wait times for addictions treatment, emergency department visits for opioid emergencies, and addiction death rates continue to rise despite increased funding.

- Nursing home menus are alarmingly high in sugar — contributing to heart disease, stroke, diabetes and cancer — as well as sodium, and low in fibre.

Thermodynamics may dictate an inevitable trend in the physical world from order to disorder. There is no such law in the realm of human behaviour. That is entirely on us.

A Creeping And Very Real Threat

I am currently reading Linda McQuaig's latest book, The Sport & Prey of Capitalists: How the Rich Are Stealing Canada's Public Wealth. As with most of her books, despite her very clear, accessible writing style, I am having a hard time with it, disturbing as it is in so many ways. While I am not prepared to discuss it at this point, its thesis, not exactly startling, is that our government is ceding more and more of our formerly proud public institutions to the depredations of rampant capitalism.

I came across the following video on The Guardian today, about threats to the British National Health Service by Boris Johnson as he prepares to negotiate bilateral trade deals, perhaps the most impactful one being with the U.S. It addresses the sort of mentality that McQuaig talks about in her book. You can read the article here, and watch the disturbing claims being made by Labour's Jermeemy Corbyn below:

It Can Be Done

I was surprised that the concept of the New Green Deal has been around for over a decade. Far more ambitious than the Green Shift once proposed by Stephan Dion, it is very much doable, but of course the usual suspects (captured governments, the fossil-fuel industry, etc.) fight it all the way.

Although the following short documentary by The Guardian is directed toward U.K. action, the ideas in it are applicable worldwide.

Looking Toward Liberation

I have regular telephone conversations with my friend Dave, who lives in Winnipeg. Like me, he has a very jaundiced view of those elected to 'serve' us, and part of our routine is to compare and bemoan the atrocities committed by our respective provincial governments. While things are bad under the 'leadership' of Brian Pallister, I always maintain that our suffering under the Ford government is more acute and embarrassing. Ontario's shame in electing a bully and blowhard ill-equipped to deal with the complexities of life today is one we must collectively bear, at least until the next election.

The latest cause for cringing comes from our Energy Minister, Greg Rickford, who recently had a very peculiar justification for the cancellation of almost 800 green energy project in the province, a cancellation that could ultimately cost the taxpayer well in excess of $231 million (with some suggesting it could top $1 billion).

Ontario Energy Minister Greg Rickford is taking heat for quoting from an online magazine — which denies the scientific consensus on climate change — to justify scrapping more than 750 renewable energy projects at a cost to taxpayers of $231 million.

For the second day in a row, Rickford referred Tuesday to an article in the U.S.-based Climate Change Dispatch headlined “Germany pulls plug on wind energy as industry suffers severe crisis,” as the NDP raised concerns about the Ontario government’s cancellation of wind turbine and solar projects.

Rickford claimed the periodical is one of his favourities, and that as a well-educated person, it is incumbent upon him to always look at both sides of an issue, an assertion that drew derision from the Opposition:

Opposition parties jumped on Rickford for relying on the magazine, whose website says it “does not believe in consensus science” and describes “global warming alarmists” as “those who believe man is wholly or largely responsible for any fluctuation in the planet’s overall surface temperature.”

“It’s shocking,” said New Democrat Leader Andrea Horwath, slamming the Ford government for cancelling the Liberal cap-and-trade program aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions, firing the independent environmental commissioner and scrapping programs to promote electric vehicles.

“Everything they’re doing is falling in line with people who would be denying climate change.”

Happily, outrage is not confined to the legislature, as the following letter to the editor make abundantly clear:

Ontario’s minister of energy, Greg Rickford, characterizes himself as a “well-studied man” and a lawyer, yet he quotes from a fringe climate change denier website. Perhaps Rickford is not as well studied as he purports to be.

Neither is he employing logic, a mode of thinking which is to be expected of a lawyer. While it is commendable to hear both sides of any issue, sometimes, when there is overwhelming scientific proof, as is the case with the anthropogenic climate change position, the “other side” does not stand up to scrutiny at all. Climate change is not a matter of opinion any more than the fact that gravity is keeping us from flying off into space is an opinion. Perhaps the minister would seriously entertain arguments from flat-earthers, anti-vaxers and Creationists as well, evidence to the contrary notwithstanding? Science is evidence based, not opinion based. Facts are facts. No amount of posturing or proselytizing can change that. To paraphrase astronomer Neil DeGrasse Tyson, it’s your prerogative to think what you like about the world around you, but that doesn’t change the facts. Climate change is cited as the single most urgent issue facing our planet.

While Minister Rickford claims he is not a climate change denier, his behaviour says just the opposite. To have a minister of energy who rolls back green energy initiatives, tries to stop the federal carbon levy and quotes from fringe websites is just beyond the pale and highly irresponsible.

Pandering to his voter base, rather than pursuing positive action to reduce greenhouse gases, does all of us a huge disservice. We should all expect better from our elected officials.

Jonathan O’Mara, Whitby

I, and I am sure countless others, look forward to the day we will be liberated from this rambling, ridiculous and retrograde regime. It cannot come quickly enough.