It's All So Simple

 ... if you are a devotee of Fox News and its ilk.

I talked to this lady who says drugs will be handed out tonight for Halloween by “illegals” because she saw it on an “episode” of Fox News. Happy Halloween and stay safe out there.

H/t Davram

Cool And Rational

I was talking to a friend of mine the other day, and I suggested to him that people like us (we who strive to be rational, critical thinkers) are an endangered species and becoming largely irrelevant in the world today.

It is good to know, however, that there are passionate and articulate people who refuse to go down without a magnificent fight. Politics Girl, an American voice of sanity, is one of those people. And, by the way, her observations are relevant to our country as well, especially given that many simple-minded people blame #justinflation for all of our economic woes.

Just Because I'm In A Mood

Make of the following what you will. If you view it, be sure to watch right to the end. 

H/t Annie

About Canada's Much-Vaunted Reputation On Human Rights

Despite our politicians' proud proclamations, there is actually much less to them than meets the eye:

From The Land Of Make Believe

That would be Ontario, though I suppose, in truth, it is far more widespread: a rising number of deaths from Covid (this week was the worst since last May, despite three days missing from the weekly data) in the province. Nevertheless, our political overlords and their minions continue to do little to dispel the delusion that the pandemic is over. 

That, presumably, would be bad for business.

True, Ontario's medical officer of health, Kieran Moore, has made some mewling sounds about mask-wearing and booster shots, chiding us for the low rate of -fourth-booster uptake among those 70 and up (a mere 16% , which he deemed "not acceptable"). Yet he seems strangely reluctant to really address the issue:

While a return to mandatory masking is not yet being recommended, Moore called on people to consider [italics mine] wearing masks indoors as cases rise and said he would not hesitate to recommend a stronger measure if necessary.

“If there is any significant impact on our health system where we can’t care for Ontarians appropriately, I will absolutely have the conversation with government (around) whether we have to mandate masking for a set period of time,” Moore told Global News.

Huh? Hasn't he heard about the current crises of overcapacity and staff burnout in our hospitals?

Perhaps his pusillanimous response is the inevitable outcome of working for the Ford government. The message seems to be: normalcy no matter what the cost. 

And the cost could be substantial. New immunity-evading variants are of growing concern.

The increasing concern around these emerging variants has earned them unofficial Twitter hashtags that spare users from constantly typing awkward combinations of letters and numbers. BQ.1.1 is known as #Cerberus; its parent BQ.1 is known as #Typhon; BA.2.75.2 is being called #Chiron; and XBB has earned the moniker #Gryphon.

Whether or not these new immune-evading variants will lead to worse health outcomes than previous variants is the key question.

Dr. Peter Juni, former head of the Ontario Science Table, says thanks to vaccines and previous infection, the new kids on the block may not be as deadly as previous iterations. However, he admits of the possibility

that a variant that is both very good at evading the immune system — and also more virulent than existing strains — could one day arise. 

Of course, the chances of new and deadlier variants increase with each new infection. Undeniably, vaccines are of tremendous importance in preventing serious illness and death, but so is masking. While neither confers absolute protection, statistics show significant reductions in infections and thus significant reductions in the chance for endless mutations to arise when both are embraced.

So why the increasing stigma and public repudiation of masking? I suppose some see the mask as a very visible constraint on what they regard as their freedom, binary thinking being very popular amongst the simple-minded. And, of course, as alluded to earlier, government sees it as a reminder that the pandemic isn't over, and that is surely viewed as an impediment to the economic imperatives that drive government.

It has been said that we get the government we deserve. Perhaps that observation needs to be updated to include the diseases that can decimate us.

Meanwhile, On The Other Side Of The Pond

One can either be appalled by the clown show that is now British politics, or one can cultivate and embrace a wry sense of humour.

M.G. Duggan chooses the latter:

A new door has been fitted at number ten.

Seems About Right For The Times We Live In