FROLITICKS

Satirical commentary on Canadian and American current political issues

May 5

Impact of Robotics on the Workplace Increased With the Pandemic and Won’t Stop Any Time Soon

by bcurry

For some time now, I’ve been following the use of robotics when it comes to various forms of employment.  Obviously, we have seen the emerging use of robotics in manufacturing and assembly operations, such as in the automotive industry.  However, now we are increasingly seeing the use of robotics in the health care sector, the retail sector as depicted by Amazon’s newest warehouses, the construction industry, and even in the restaurant sector.  The pandemic resulted in even more robotics use as a means to better ensure the health and safety of workers from contact with other workers, patients and air-born viruses in workplace environments.  Experts see organizations adopting robotics increasingly to perform otherwise unsafe or stressful workplace tasks, such as caring for patients in a hospital who are in quarantine or isolation.  They also argue that the use of robotics is not about replacing employees who would traditionally be performing certain tasks, but rather providing an overall enrichment of safety in these environments.  For example, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), over the past two years, more than 1 million American healthcare workers were infected with COVID-19 and more than 4,000 of them died.

Now, enter the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) and its application to the field of robotics and automation.  AI will allow various forms of user-friendly robotics, including for example advanced remote-controlled humanoid nursing robots in the health care sector.  AI will enable the robot to learn repeated tasks.  Once a robot has repeatedly performed a task, such as removing a blanket from the patient’s bed or retrieving specimens, it will be able to do these tasks without being given step-by-step instructions.  Advances in robotics and AI will see other uses in not only so-called blue collar work, but also in various forms of white collar work.  In the past two years, automation and AI tools have become sophisticated enough to influence professionals and white collar work.  Administrative assistants, radiologists, financial advisers — and now lawyers — have all become the targets of such software.  McKinsey & Company, a global management consulting firm, estimated back in 2017 that 35 percent of all professional tasks can be automated these days.  JP Morgan has already marshalled an army of developers to build software that can do in seconds what it took lawyers 360,000 hours to do previously.

The fact of the matter is that future workforces will work hand in hand together with robots and processes using artificial intelligence.  The implications for workers are varied and enormous.  The current and next generations of workers will have to fully educated, trained and comfortable with this new reality.  As in the past, along with new technologies comes a demand for new skills and knowledge.  There is no sector that is immune to advances made in robotics and AI, some obviously more than others.  As we are already seeing shortages of skilled workers in certain sectors, there will be greater pressure placed on organizations to compensate through the use of automated processes.  Also, whether by design or accident, many of the countries with the most rapidly aging populations already have the most robots.  According to the International Federation of Robotics in 2016, the nations with the highest density of industrial robots included South Korea, Japan and Germany.  At that time, the U.S. ranked eighth among the countries.  With their ageing populations, the use of industrial robots will no doubt increase in both Canada and the U.S. if they are to effectively compete on the global scene.

The pandemic has increased our awareness of our vulnerabilities when it comes to maintaining productivity and private and public services.  One can certainly expect that most sectors will be examining the future ways to avoid the negative impacts of pandemics and climate change on their workforces.  One means to dealing with the changing labour force demographics will be to investigate potential other uses of robotics and AI.  It’s happening now, and there is no stopping the changes that will come about.  Emerging demands will require fresh, dynamic solutions.

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Apr 29

Like in Australia, the Problem of Gambling Addiction in North America Comes to a Head

by bcurry

Back in 2005, a study in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry found provinces that have casinos and large numbers of video-lottery terminals (VLTs) per capita also had some of Canada’s highest rates of problem gambling.  What reminded me of this issue was a very recent article by Samuel Tuck in Addiction News Now about the current situation in Australia.  He notes that Australia, while it is home to less than half a percent of the world’s population, has 20 percent of the world’s VLTS — further noting that 80 percent of VLTs are located outside casinos.  The result is a nation with the world’s worst average gambling losses: About $1,000 per adult each year.  In addition, as with many gambling addicts, easy access to VLTs can fuel suicides, domestic violence, insolvencies, employment loss and financial crimes.  Apparently, the VLTs, called “pokies” in Australia, are everywhere: in pubs, corner stores, restaurants, sports facilities, entertainment centers, etc.  Of course, the gambling industry says that VLTs are legal, regulated and enjoyed responsibly by millions of Australians.

Of course, gambling is big business, and VLTs are no exception.  As in Canada, thousands of Australian jobs depend on the gambling industry and it brings in billions of dollars to state governments and retailers.  Samuel Tuck compares the power of the gambling industry in Australia to that of the gun lobby in the United States.  As reported by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation last year, he notes that that the gambling industry had donated at least $60 million to the three major political parties over the past two decades.  In Canada, provincial governments have gambled big on gaming and lotteries, collecting almost $14 billion in revenue each year.  However, a 2016 poll by the AngusReid Institute found that one-in-four Canadians (26%) reported they were personally affected by problem gambling – either because they’re struggling with this addiction themselves – or because they have a close relationship with someone who is.  Most say necessary help for this problem has not been forthcoming. Canadian studies have also found three to four percent of teenagers and adolescents in their early 20s have a serious gambling problem compared to 0.8 to two percent of the adult population.

To top it off, companies and businesses are going after the growing youth market.  They are introducing a new class of machines, aimed at attracting younger players who grew up with more skill demanding video games.  Adding an element of hand-eye coordination, however simple, is just one way slot makers are labouring to broaden the appeal of the insistently bleating devices that have proved so popular among older players.  Besides new devices that provide an extra payoff for game-playing dexterity, manufacturers have developed communal games that link clusters of machines — which are proving popular with people under 40. Coming soon are VLTs with joysticks, which the industry expects to be particularly popular. Others machines will allow users to play in tandem or against one another, much as they do in many Internet games.

Although experts recognize gambling addiction, it is not usually treated as an illness in the same way as alcoholism and drug addiction.  Limiting access to gambling sources, such as VLTs, is a first step.  However, persons with addictions to gambling may be harder to detect as their symptoms are not so obvious.  The costs of gambling addiction to society and families are great, often the result of employment and productivity losses and mental-physical impairment.  The fact is we do poorly in providing support/counselling services for gambling addicts and their families.

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Apr 16

Tackling Systemic Racism Which Continues to Exist in American and Canadian Schools

by bcurry

School segregation in the U.S. is defined as the separation of students based on their race to the extent that an institution can be racially predominant by black students or white students.  Currently more than half of all students in the U.S. attend school distracts with high racial concentration.  Racial segregation in schools has a long history that leads up to modern times.  Although enforced racial segregation is now illegal, American schools are more racially segregated now than in the late 1960s, especially in the Northeast U.S.  Much of de facto segregation between Black, Hispanic and White students is the result of where public schools are located and their respective tax base in support of the schools, often referred to as ‘residential segregation’.  Many of the underlying problems of segregation haven’t been solved, even if it’s no longer legal.

Unlike in the U.S., the vast majority of Canadian public schools are financially supported by the provinces, given that each province is responsible for education under the constitution.  While property taxes do support a portion of funding for schools, the province guarantees that additional funding is allocated based on the number of students.  This reinforces the need to ensure adequate funding intended to provide equal access, teaching and curriculum in each school district.  However, this does not preclude the issue of systemic discrimination occurring in schools where visible minorities, including Black students, are in attendance.  Most boards of education don’t deny there is systemic racism in their schools, and have introduced measures in the last few years aimed at dealing with it.  In Ontario, the Ministry of Education conducted a recent review that showed a disproportionate number of Black students are streamed into applied courses — meant for students seeking to go to college instead of university — regardless of academic performance.  This is referred to as ‘streaming for students’ which led to implicit biases whereby a disproportionate number of Black students were prevented from going to university instead of community colleges.  As in the U.S., the review also disclosed that many more Black students received suspensions than White students relative to their proportion of the student population.

Many American schools are segregated by ethnicity and poverty, and for some minority students — particularly the soaring Latino population — the segregation is also by language.  As a result, even the highest-achieving Black and Hispanic students are often denied access to advanced math and science courses in the later grades, although such access is more commonplace for their White peers.  In Canada, the same can be said for new immigrants in particular who, because of their presumed ability in English and their accents, are often forced into remedial classes despite good academic capabilities. Thus, they are being unfairly held back.

Some students believe a key solution is to hire more Black and other teachers representing visible minorities in both countries.  As the population becomes more diverse, it seems only too obvious that such teachers would be in a better position to understand and appreciate the daily challenges that non-White students face on a daily basis.  For example, in a 2016 census of teaching staff, one Ontario school board showed seven percent of staff members identified as Black, while 67 percent identified as White.  That’s in contrast to a student census, which showed 10 percent of its students were Black, while 13 percent were White.  The lack of ethnic diversity among teaching staffs can do nothing but accentuate the prevalence of systemic racism in the eyes of Black, Hispanic and other visible minority students.

While things have improved somewhat in both American and Canadian schools, a lot more needs to be done to deal with systemic racism in the education systems.  In order to ensure equal opportunities for all young people, more funding and resources are needed to raise the standards for public education in each country.  There is an evident need to ensure that school board members, administrative and teaching staffs are sufficiently educated themselves about systemic discrimination and its resulting effects on the future of these young people.  No issue could be more important as there will be even greater population diversity in the coming years.

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Apr 7

Is the Separation of Church and State Still Possible in the U.S. and Canada?

by bcurry

In both the U.S. and Canada, several religious groups attempted during the pandemic to have certain public health restrictions thrown out by the courts, but to no avail.  They argued that governments were infringing on their rights of assembly and religious freedom, which they felt were guaranteed by their respective constitutions.  However, the courts ruled that there was no such violation of rights since the broad-based restrictions were not specifically directed at religious gatherings, but were directed at places where normally the public would gather, often involving mandated lockdowns. 

Now, I’m no constitutional expert, but under the circumstances the imposition of health-based restrictions appeared to be more than reasonable.  Indeed, many churches, synagogues, mosques and other religious entities were more than happy to comply with the restrictions in their places of worship.  They did so out of concern for the safety and health of their congregations in light of the real dangers attributed to the pandemic.  No one’s specific religious beliefs were placed in jeopardy, and no constitutional rights were violated.  Let’s face it, no one was being persecuted, and churches found alternative ways to effectively serve their parishioners and communities.

Despite all of this, there is little doubt that religious fervour has been heightened among some Christian movements in particular, as evidenced by the growing political involvement of such groups.  Increasingly, right-wing political movements are taking advantage of many believers who are importing their worship of God, with all its intensity, emotion and ambitions, to their political life.  Politicians like Donald Trump had jumped on this band wagon, waving a bible back in June 2020 in front of St. John’s Church in Washington DC for a photo opportunity.  Talk about someone who is obviously irreligious wanting to garner support for his own political ambitions.  For some of his supporters, right-wing political activity itself is becoming a holy act and is often evident at his rallies.

Both the U.S. and Canadian constitutions are designed to prevent any one church or religious institution from having undo influence in the daily act of governance.  This of course is based on the fundamental principle governing the separation of church and state in each country.  However, this does not mean that certain religious groups will not attempt to influence which political parties or candidates are elected.  As in the case of their opposition to government mandates during the COVID pandemic, they spear head other causes such as the ‘right to life’, opposition to gay marriage, and the promotion of conspiracy theories.  Their attitudes are largely framed by an apparent desire to build a nation that actively promotes a particular set of Christian beliefs.

I firmly believe that many of these religious right-wing groups are feeling threatened by what is happening within both countries.  Immigration and high birth rates are moving the population to one of greater cultural and religious diversity, such that within the next decade white Americans and Canadians of Christian faiths will be outnumbered.  They believe that the predicted changes will undermine their Christian values, such that one often hears them, many of whom attend charismatic or evangelical churches, talking about ‘taking back the country.’  With over a hundred million evangelicals in the U.S., their voices make it hard for many politicians to ignore, especially Republicans, seeking election or re-election in many states.  Many are also attracted to populist movements wherever they may emerge.

Just as some churches attempted to support certain political entities in the past, their leaders and parishioners will do so in the future.  The danger is that the abyss between those who promote a state religion and those who support the separation between church and state will continue to grow.  As history has shown, such conflict could eventually lead to dangerous influences on public policy.  Policy which after all results from governance that reflects the current values of the majority of Americans and Canadians, regardless of their particular secular or religious beliefs.

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Mar 28

What both Canada and the U.S. have in common when it comes to the Artic and Russia

by bcurry

Back in 2016, a report to Congress by the U.S. Department of Defense appeared to call for American ships to challenge Canadian claims in the Arctic.  The U.S. has had three active marine disputes with Canada in the Arctic, including over 21,000 square kilometres in the Beaufort Sea and two smaller areas of the Dixon Passage, between British Columbia and Alaska.  In addition, in the past the U.S. Coast Guard has sent ice breakers through the Northwest Passage without seeking Canadian permission.  Then came issues surrounding access to minerals and fossil fuels located on the Arctic sea floor, especially as climate change and melting sea ice were helping to open up these waters to year round navigation and maritime shipping.  In 2017, this in turn led to President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau jointly signing a moratorium on new oil and gas leasing in Arctic waters.

However, now enters Russia who we all know are very active in opening up their Arctic waters.  In the past, Russia has made it clear it intends to control the so-called Northern Sea Route off its northern shore, a route that significantly shortens the shipping distance between China and Northern Europe.  U.S. officials have complained that Russia is illegally demanding that other nations seek permission to pass and threatening to use military force to sink vessels that do not comply.  Two years ago, Moscow brought its own war games barrelling through the Bering Sea, with Russian commanders testing weapons and demanding that American fishing boats operating in U.S. fishing waters get out of the way — an order the U.S. Coast Guard advised them to comply with at the time.  In addition, Russia has repeatedly sent military aircraft to the edge of U.S. and Canadian airspace, leading U.S. and Canadian jets to scramble to intercept them and warn them away.

Russia is far ahead of both Canada and the U.S. in creating ice-breaking capacity and particularly in the building of large nuclear-powered icebreakers.  Their nuclear propulsion systems allow them to smash through much thicker ice than conventionally powered vessels giving them a full winter capacity to push through the up to three-metre ice encountered at that certain times of the year. In 2019, the American government began pondering the construction of three heavy icebreakers and three medium-sized vessels.  The Trump Administration ordered an overview of the nation’s icebreaker fleet, with an eye toward fielding a new, rejuvenated fleet by 2029.  The current fleet of Canadian Arctic Offshore Patrol Ships, now under construction, will still have limited icebreaking capacity, and to date little progress has been made toward the actual construction of a planned heavy polar icebreaker.  Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, concerns over Russia’s military capability and intentions in our Arctic waters have grown.  All signs indicate that Russia is reinvesting in its military capabilities and presence in the region.

Canada’s Defence Minister Anita Anand is pledging to modernize the alliance protecting Canada’s North particularly in terms of our Arctic sovereignty.  Hopefully, the Russian threat may actually now lead to Canada and the U.S. to finally reaching agreement on the status of the critical Northwest Passage between the North Atlantic and the Beaufort Sea.  However, some observers will argue that the European Artic waters — comprised of Norway, Denmark and Iceland — are more vulnerable to Russian shipping and military initiatives in the North.  One has to remember that these countries are part of NATO, and we are then, of course, obligated to go to their defence in the event of any military incursion.  Since the Russian threat is also an aerospace one, there is an urgent need to strengthen the current capabilities of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).  First created during the Cold War to protect against a Soviet attack, NORAD is a joint military command between Canada and the U.S. that provides airspace surveillance.  America’s strategic air command’s bombers fly over Canadian aerospace on a daily basis.  However, the technology of NORAD’s north warning system was only last modernized in 1985, and requires an immediate modernization designed to counter imminent dangers of the day — long range bomber threats from the Soviet Union.

What all this means is that Canada and the U.S. had better get their acts together to protect their Arctic maritime and aerospace regions.  The sooner the better!

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Mar 26

Sorry Folks, But COVID Is Not Done With Us Just Yet!

by bcurry

You don’t have to be an epidemiologist to predict that COVID is not finished with us just yet!  Another wave is expected in the U.S. and Canada this spring, mainly because of the Omicron variant known as BA. 2, which appears to be more transmissible than the original strain, BA. 1, and has been fuelling outbreaks overseas.  According to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Research Center, the United Kingdom had a seven-day average of over 65,000 cases and 79 deaths as of March 16th.  Unfortunately, the lower vaccination rate in the U.S. is very likely to be of major concern as BA. 2 spreads farther in the States, especially in regions where vaccination rates are significantly lower than the national rate.  U.S. health authorities estimate that about 65.4 percent of Americans are fully vaccinated and just 44 percent have received a third booster shot.  Indeed, recent news media headlines note that COVID vaccinations — including boosters — have fallen to their lowest levels since 2020. 

What is indefensible is the fact that these vaccines have proven to be very effective against Omicron, leaving fully vaccinated people with milder symptoms and fewer hospitalizations.  In addition, vaccines greatly reduce the health care costs associated with COVID.  In a December 2022 study, the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation, which tracks U.S. health policy and outcomes, estimated that between June and November of 2021 unvaccinated American adults accounted for $13.8 billion in “preventable” COVID hospitalization costs nationwide.  However, simply because the number of related hospitalizations has steadily gone down in recent months, does not mean that the number of Omicron cases have also gone down.  One can expect that with more and more public health restrictions being removed, more people will become infected, with the unvaccinated most likely to suffer more severe health symptoms.

Federal reports show that the U.S. has spent billions to get vaccine shots into arms, including more than $19.3 billion to help develop vaccines.  Still, the U.S. has one of the largest COVID vaccine holdout rates among highly developed countries.  Particularly, as some question the need for getting the shots, especially boosters, or bristle at government or workplace mandates.  Needless-to-say, there are also costs associated for unvaccinated individuals themselves, often in the form of increased health premiums under employer health insurance plans.  In addition, the biggest financial risk vaccine holdouts have faced is getting laid off from their jobs due to employer imposed vaccine mandates.  A Kaiser Family Foundation nationwide survey in October 2021 found that about a quarter of workers said their employer required proof of vaccination, or faced dismissals, suspensions or regular COVID testing.

The U.S. is on the verge of unfortunately recording one million COVID-related deaths over the course of this pandemic.  What makes this statistic even sadder is the fact that the non-profit Kaiser Family Foundation estimated vaccinations could have prevented 163,000 U.S. deaths between June and November of 2021 alone.  Anti-vaccination and vaccine hesitancy remains a serious problem, despite the evidence that COVID vaccines are safe and reliable.  With the emergence of BA. 2, vaccines, particularly for those seniors 65 and over and for those who are immune-compromised, remain the first line of defence against hospitalization and death.  Yes, current vaccines do not prevent someone who is fully vaccinated from actually getting the COVID.  However, according to Public Health Ontario figures for example, the data shows that unvaccinated people over 60 were 15 times more likely to end up in the ICU with COVID than the fully vaccinated.  According to Ontario’s science advisory table, in January 2022 the rate of unvaccinated people in ICUs in the province of Ontario adjusted or “standardized” for age was 254 per million, compared to 22 fully vaccinated — a significant difference.

As of this March, Reuters reported that costs of going unvaccinated in America are mounting for workers and companies.  The same can be said for Canada, although over 80 percent of Canadians were fully vaccinated and a significant number have received a third-dose COVID vaccine.  Whether one agrees with vaccine mandates or not, they have proven to be effective where they were instituted.  There is little doubt, based on on-going emergence of COVID variants, additional vaccines will be required in the future to finally put an end to this pandemic.

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Mar 17

Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine Has Forced American and Canadian Political Parties to Unite on Several Issues

by bcurry

In both the U.S. Congress and Canada’s Parliament, the Russia invasion of the Ukraine has brought governing and opposition parties together in their support for the Ukraine.  When Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed these governing bodies this week, he received a standing and emotive ovation from both sides of the aisle.  Parties on the left and on the right have suddenly been galvanized in support of their mutual and strong opposition to Vladimir Putin’s war on the Ukrainian people.  One has not seen this kind of unified alliance in many years.  While there may be minor differences in the nature of support for the Ukraine, the general approach has been to provide more military and humanitarian aid to that country and to punish Russia with more and more economic sanctions.

In addition, both the U.S. and Canada have moved to strengthen their support for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in its resolve to support the Ukraine in this horrendous war.  In addition, the Russian threat has led to leaders in both countries and in Europe to revisit their defence spending.  As Jonathan Weisman in the New York Times notes: “On the left, Democrats are acquiescing to higher military spending and dropping a bid to pull back rapidly from fossil fuels.  On the right, Trump-era isolationism and attacks on the trans-Atlantic alliance are being relegated to the fringe in Congress.”  The current Canadian government has also indicated that it will be moving to increase defence expenditures particularly in light of the Russian threat to Canada’s Artic region.  Canada has been reluctant to increase these expenditures in the past, but both liberals and conservatives now see such an increase as necessary due to the recent events and the need to better support NATO.

Also, both the U.S. and Canada now support an increase in a joint North American energy approach, including an increase in the production and transport of fossil fuels.  Both countries still believe that a reduced reliance on non-renewable energy sources is necessary to combat the impact of climate change, but are more willing to use fossil fuels as a bridge to the increased use of renewal energy sources and green technologies.  This may encourage the Democrats to revisit their anti-pipeline policies in order to facilitate the flow of Canadian crude oil to the U.S., something the Republicans have supported in the past.  Both administrations firmly believe that Europe will need to reduce its dependence on Russia for fossil fuels.  However, this approach will take years to implement and will require the continuing support of future American and Canadian governments.

Canada has one of the largest populations of Ukrainians in the world outside of the Ukraine, forcing governments to support the Ukraine militarily and through sanctions on Russia.  Politically, no government can ignore the impact of the Russian invasion on these Canadians.  One should expect that all political parties will continue to support foreign policies in opposition to Vladimir Putin.  One can also expect that support for the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), implemented by a pact made in 1957 at the height of the Cold War, will increase.  NORAD has been placed under the joint command the air forces of Canada and the U.S., and is the key means for both countries to reinforce our mutual defence of North America.

All in all, we should look forward to greater unity of both left and right leaning political parties when it comes to foreign policy, defence policy and energy policy.  This may be one of the few benefits derived from our reaction of the unfortunate and tragic situation in the Ukraine.  Time will tell!

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Mar 12

Why Limited Social Movements Such As The Truckers’ Convoy Fizzle Out

by bcurry

The “People’s Convoy”, which recently numbered about 1,000 vehicles, arrived in Maryland on March 5th.  The convoy had signs and messages referencing far-right political views, pro-Trump  and conspiracy theories, including calls to “arrest Fauci,” referring to White House medical adviser Anthony S. Fauci, and ridiculously equating the mandates to slavery.  Convoy organizers intended to drive the minimum legal speed and increase the number of loops around the Beltway each day to pressure lawmakers and public officials, but not to actually enter the core district of Washington, D.C.  Given what happened during the so-called “Freedom Convoy” illegal occupation in Ottawa, Canada, which lasted over three weeks, police agencies from D.C., Maryland and Virginia are closely monitoring the group.  In addition, hundreds of National Guard members are on stand-by should they be needed to control the protest.

The truckers’ protest is a spin-off of the Canadian version, which has so far fizzled out following the removal and arrests of several protest leaders.  Like the Canadian situation, there are many different complaints and factions among the protesters, some of whom are more radical than others and often represent far right fringe groups.  While the primary protest in Canada appeared to be against vaccine mandates related to the pandemic and other public health measures, there also appeared to be a segment that simply wanted the current federal government to step down and be replaced by some form of alternative governing body.  There was a good deal of American influence on the Canadian convoy as evidenced by pro-Trump and Confederate flags.  In addition, a good deal of funding in support of the protest came from the U.S.  As observers note, what’s already clear is that that success begets imitators.  The Ottawa occupiers’ ability to attract massive financial support and international media attention — while suffering few serious consequences — inspired copycats across Canada, the U.S. and around the world.

While there is little debate over the fact that both the Canadian and American populations have seen even more political division during the pandemic, one has to ask how these intense expressions of anger, sometimes legitimate, will be reflected in the future?  Most enduring social movements tend to focus on single issue causes.  Take for example, the “right-to-life” and “pro-life” movements which have been around for years in both countries.  Then there is the women’s movement for “equal pay and equal opportunities”.  However, there have been those movements which portrayed a scattered issue protest, such as the early 2000’s Occupy movement in the U.S., Canada and other countries.  Started with the Occupy Wall Street in 2011, it primarily focussed on what it referred to as income and wealth inequality between the wealthiest 1 percent and the rest of the population which became the 99 per centers.  The Occupy movement’s goals came to include a vast number of issues including: a reduction in the influence of corporations on politics, more balanced distribution of income, more and better jobs, bank reform, forgiveness of student loan debt, more affordable housing or other relief for indebted students.  Without organized formal leadership, which the Occupy movements deliberately shied away from, the movement soon fizzled away into the history books.

The same outcome could be expected with the recent convoy protests, especially as governments remove more and more public health restrictions and vaccine mandates as a result of declining cases related to the pandemic.  However, this does not mean that the anger of a significant portion of the population will simply disappear.  Some have suggested that the current mistrust of government and the authorities will continue into the future, hopefully to be reflected through the ballot boxes in both countries.  The economy will be the next big issue, notably the impact of hyperinflation, including high gas prices, on the average American and Canadian.  Employment issues surrounding the economic recovery from the pandemic and a possible recession will stand out as major issues for governments and businesses.  Lower income and blue collar workers have been particularly affected and wages have not kept up with the current cost of living increases.  Whether a new protest movement results from the new socioeconomic and political circumstances, only time will tell?  Given past history, I would see future protest movements as being entirely inevitable, in one form or another.

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Mar 9

Who Declared That COVID Vaccines Don’t Work Should Check Out Hong Kong

by bcurry

If there was ever a concrete example of the effectiveness of COVID vaccines, it is the current situation unfolding in Hong Kong.  Today, Hong Kong — a wealthy and modern financial center — now has the highest COVID-related death rate in the developed world.  Overwhelmingly, the elderly, unvaccinated residents, including toddlers and children too young to be immunized, have been hit hardest by the most recent Omicron variant outbreak.  This past January, less than 1 in 5 Hong Kong residents above the age of 80 had been fully vaccinated with two doses, and almost none had three.  That percentage has risen since then, but experts say it is still too little, too late, especially compared with Singapore, South Korea and Japan, where the elderly were a priority for vaccinations.  I find this statistic incredible given that public health officials in both the U.S. and Canada recommended late last year that anyone over sixty-five should get a booster vaccine shot in light of the Omicron variant, bringing the total to at least three doses.  In Ontario, Canada, for example, seniors in long-term care and in senior residences were even given a fourth shot to ensure that their immune systems could better resist the Omicron variant.  As a result, the number of deaths among seniors has significantly and steadily declined since the vaccines were first introduced in both countries.

Since the air-born Omicron variant is highly contagious, almost 90 percent of elderly care facilities in Hong Kong have COVID cases, and to date about 4,700 care home workers have tested positive.  On the other hand, the number of new COVID cases in Ontario remains low, especially as residential staff had been mandated to have at least two doses of the vaccine since the summer of 2021.  Workers in long-term care homes are currently required to have two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine to stay on the job, and they have until March 14th to get third shots.  For obvious reasons, this is the only sector in which the Ontario provincial government has made COVID-19 vaccination a requirement for employment.

When it comes to children aged between the ages of 5 and 12, both the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Canada Public Health Agency recommended that COVID vaccines be given.  Both public health agencies concluded that the benefits of protecting children against COVID-19 are seen as far outweighing any risk.  Yet, here you have Florida’s Surgeon General, Dr. Joseph Ladapo in a recent press conference, recommending that healthy children not receive the coronavirus vaccine.  Florida became the first state to officially recommend against COVID-19 vaccines for healthy children.  Dr. Lapado however did not outline any specifics or rationale behind this recommendation.  Of course, such positions have been behind the COVID-related policies of Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis, who has previously resisted the implementation of several public health measures.  Even officials in the state’s Department of Health and Human Services have asserted that unvaccinated teenagers are much more likely to end up in the hospital with COVID-19 than are vaccinated ones.

Interestingly, Florida ranked 19th among states in terms of the share of people receiving at least one vaccine shot, with about 78 percent of its residents at least partially vaccinated.  According to the CDC, the national vaccination rate is 76.5 percent.  However, when it comes to COVID-related deaths per 100,000 population, Florida ranks fifth in the country, just behind West Virginia, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and South Carolina.  In the past week ending March 6th , Florida reported 1,207 deaths from COVID-19.  In the week before that, 888 deaths were reported.  In total, Johns Hopkins University data shows that almost 71,000 Floridians have died from the disease since the pandemic began or 330 for every 100,000 people.  To date in the U.S., 958,621 people have died since the pandemic began, with the national COVID-19 death rate standing at 288 per 100,000 Americans.

Although the Omicron variant appears to have peaked, the virus is still spreading.  In Florida, the infection rate is still far higher than the national average.  It’s one thing to prevent children from wearing masks in school, but it’s another for the Governor of Florida to suggest that there is no need to vaccinate children!  Maybe, the Governor should spend some time in Hong Kong?

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Mar 6

Truckers’ Convoy in U.S. Aspires to be More Calm Than Canadian “Freedom Convoy”

by bcurry

On February 23rd, taking its cue from demonstrations that paralyzed the downtown of Canada’s capital city of Ottawa for over three weeks, U.S. truckers embarked on a 2,500-mile (4,000-km) cross-country drive towards Washington, D.C., to protest coronavirus-related mandates and restrictions.  Having arrived in Maryland, organizers of the so-called “People’s Convoy” say they are planning to circle their armada of trucks, cars and SUVs around the Beltway on the morning of March 6th and into the following workweek at the minimum speed limit to slow traffic and get their message out to lawmakers.  The convoy, which recently numbered about 1,000 vehicles, intends to repeat that ritual each day this week until the group’s demands are met.  Organizers have proclaimed that they are law-abiding citizens who are simply exercising their rights to protest.  Unlike in Ottawa, they don’t want to shut anything down and they’re not planning to come into downtown Washington.

However, as in the case of the so-called “Freedom Convoy” in Canada, it’s not exactly clear just what are the ultimate goals of the American protesters.  As in the Canadian case, the convoy also involves a number or representatives of fringe groups, often with far-right links and other unrelated causes.  It seems apparent that there are a number of Trump supporters still asserting that the presidential election was stolen, as well as those from the anti-vaccine movement.  As in the Canadian case, many of the signs and messages can be seen referencing far-right political views and conspiracy theories.  A list of organizations supporting the convoy include those led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a leader in the anti-vaccine movement, Gen. Michael Flynn, the former Trump administration national security adviser, and Rob McCoy, a Republican politician and Southern California evangelical pastor.  In general, the convoy participants do push for an end to government health rules requiring masks and vaccinations, a move that has already begun by governments as new COVID-19 cases have ebbed.  However, as in the case of Canada where provincial governments were responsible for implementing most public health restrictions during the pandemic, many of the mandates were implemented by individual states in varying degrees.

Given what happened in Canada, the Defence Department authorized deployment of about 700 unarmed National Guard personnel from the District of Columbia and neighbouring states to help manage the expected traffic.  Capitol Police said that plans were being drawn up to reinstall the temporary fence that was erected around the Capitol after last year’s January 6th riots in the Capitol.  Like the Canadian protesters, the organizers claim that they just have a message that they want heard and they’re not going anywhere until it’s heard.  Unlike the Canadian truckers’ convoy, they have not also stated clearly any specific protest against the American and Canadian vaccination mandate requirements for truckers crossing the U.S.-Canada border.  The Canadian protest included blockages by vehicles of the Windsor-Detroit and Coutts, Alberta, border crossings that occurred in late January and mid-February.  The negative economic impact of the blockades on trade contributed to the Canadian federal government invoking the Emergencies Act in order to pressure the protesters to remove their vehicles and reframe from further illegal activities.

In Canada, many arrests of leaders and protesters were made both in Ottawa and at the affected border crossings.  In the case of Coutts, Alberta, several guns, body armour and ammunition were seized by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).  The seizure is attributed to militia-style right-wing fringe elements.  In the case of the American truckers’ protest, it is hoped that the organizers will maintain a more peaceful stance.  In light of the decline in new COVID-19 cases and related hospitalization rates, the irony is that both protests against government public health mandates are occurring at a time when many of the restrictions are in the process of being removed.  If the American protest resembles its Canadian counterpart, one will probably see no clear plan and a hodgepodge of multiple and diverse grievances.  Many grievances will once again reflect the general malaise within a large segment of the population, often compounded by a growing mistrust of government and the authorities.  Unfortunately, as illustrated in the Canadian truckers’ protest, these grievances can lead to illegal and sometimes violent actions.

Canada Coronavirus COVID-19 Extremism Extremist Groups Federal Government Federal Government Populism U.S. Canada Border US

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