I doubt that I have ever used the word piffle before in writing. Yet it seems the appropriate choice in this instance.
I am extraordinarily embarrassed for those in the mainstream media who think this is news and tantamount to a scandal.
Thankfully, we have in Brittlestar the one to set things to rights with an ingredient we all need more of: a sense of humour.
Just one more thing, from Moudakis.
It is ugly, and it is real.
H/t Aaron RuparEspecially chilling are the hand gestures of the faithful
That was apparently not good enough for PP. A friend of mine, who joined the Conservative Party in order to vote in its leadership campaign and follow it more closely (he is neither a Conservative nor did he vote for PP), received the following from the newly ensconced leader after the Atkins event.
Ray,
You won’t believe this. I couldn’t believe it, and it happened to me.
Today, I was delivering a statement about how Trudeau’s inflation is hurting everyday Canadians when someone started shouting.
First, they hurled obscenities and then started shouting at me.
Was it some left-wing protestor? Maybe it was a Liberal MP or staffer?
No, it was a member of the media.
That’s right. David Akin from Global News was swearing, shouting and heckling. He wasn’t interested in hearing what I had to say, and he certainly wasn’t interested in reporting it in an unbiased way.
This is what we are up against.
It’s not just the Liberals with all the advantages and resources of the federal government at their disposal.
It’s the media, who are no longer interested in even pretending to be unbiased. They want us to lose.
But we have a secret weapon.
You, and hundreds of thousands of other Conservatives across this country. People who want inflation to go down, the out-of-control spending to end, the CBC to be defunded and all the hurt caused by Trudeau turned into hope for a better future.
We can’t count on the media to communicate our messages to Canadians. We have to go around them and their biased coverage. We need to do it directly with ads, mail, phone calls and knocking on millions of doors. And to do all that we need your help.
Chip in to help us go around the biased media.
Thank you,-Pierre Poilievre
PS. We can’t take on the Liberals and the media and win without your help. Chip in here: donate.conservative.ca
If the above looks familiar, it should. It is a ploy taken directly out of the Trump playbook, the one in which the media are demonized as repositories and promoters of 'fake news,'' their avowed aim to tear down elected officials in order to advance an unholy 'woke' agenda.
Much is being written these days about the perils to democracy in our country. At the top of the list should be the threats posed by demagogues like PP and his ilk, whose motives in their rants have nothing to do with promoting our most cherished political principle.
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.”
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
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:
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.
