FROLITICKS

Satirical commentary on Canadian and American current political issues

Dec 20

With Omicron, Are We Losing The War With COVID-19?

by bcurry

Back in February of this year, I blogged about COVID-19 (Why Hasn’t COVID Rapid Testing Been Done in Canada? | FROLITICKS (wordpress.com)).  I noted at that time that: “We are in a veritable war to contain the spread of COVID-19.  One would think that we would employ all the weapons at our disposal to combat spread of this virus.”  This was all before the Delta variant, and now the newer, more contagious Omicron variant.  Back then we had no vaccines for COVID, and relied heavily on various forms of strategic lockdowns and individual prevention measures in the form of masking and physical distancing.  We put restrictions on the numbers of people who could gather in their homes or who could visit hospitals and long-term care residences.  We recognized that seniors were the most vulnerable as evidenced by the rate of hospitalizations and deaths among the elderly.  Schools were closed to students and more on-line learning was introduced.  Various testing for COVID was introduced, including rapid antigen tests.  A collaborated attack, led by governments and scientists, was implemented to develop vaccines to combat the coronavirus.  Having successfully developed COVID vaccines, a mass inoculation was undertaken to vaccinate as many adults (18 and over) as possible.  In Canada, this resulted in over 75 percent of the adult population being vaccinated by last summer.  In the U.S., due to greater vaccine hesitancy, about 60 percent of adults are vaccinated.  As of November, we began vaccinating children (5 to 11 years), hoping that we could keep kids in schools and prevent the spread.  Both American and Canadian governments introduced mandated vaccination policies, not only for government employees, but also for federally-regulated industries.

Slowly with the majority of Canadians and Americans being fully vaccinated, restrictions on businesses and schools were lifted by the spring.  Life seemed to be happily moving back to normalcy, as a number of battles with COVID had been won and hospitalizations had plateaued.  Then the Omicron variant arrived.  Having been seriously hit by the predominant Delta variant since last spring, the Omicron variant is now reportedly about four times more infectious than the Delta variant.  What is more disconcerting is the evidence that COVID vaccines may not be as effective against Omicron, with many more breakthrough cases among vaccinated persons.  For the unvaccinated, Omicron may be just as serious as the Delta variant resulting in more hospitalizations and deaths among the infected.

In Canada and the U.S., as in Europe, Australia and elsewhere, new positive cases for COVID are exponentially increasing as a result of Omicron.  Reports are now indicating that a new wave is hitting the hospitality, retail, entertainment and travel industries.  As for restaurants who were hoping for an upsurge in business prior and during the Christmas season, many are being forced to close due to workers testing positive for COVID and customers who are cancelling their dining plans out of fear of exposure to Omicron.  The problem is that many people have yet to get vaccinated, risking getting seriously ill as a result.  In one example, I was amazed to read that Walmart, which had mandated vaccines mainly for its corporate staff, had not done the same for front-line workers.  According to data compiled by the Shift Project at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, only 66 percent of Walmart’s roughly 1.6 million U.S. employees are vaccinated.  Like in numerous businesses, the numbers of unvaccinated workers remains a serious problem, more so now with the emergence of the Omicron variant.

While we have won a number of battles with COVID-19, the war is not over.  However, we have been carrying on as if this war was over.  Large sporting events took place with full crowds in attendance, many without masks.  Fortunately, being fully vaccinated was a requirement for participation in such venues.  Unfortunately, medical experts are pushing us to get booster shots for those already vaccinated in order to deal with Omicron.  This still leaves millions of Canadians and Americans, including the majority of our children, who have not yet been vaccinated for COVID-19.  Should the case loads increase as projected, we can expect that more severe restrictions may have to be put in place, including lockdowns which none of us really want.  If we choose not to consider such measures, it could lead to us to losing the global war with COVID.  Or perhaps I’m just being overly pessimistic and alarmist!

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Dec 19

As We Deal With Another COVID Wave, Impact on Young People May Be Worst

by bcurry

North Americans, like many others globally, are now having to cope with yet another COVID wave — this one involving the more highly contagious Omicron variant.  Once again, increased restrictive measures are being implemented to reduce peoples’ contact, especially where crowds and groups are involved.  However, what is of particular concern are those measures which are shutting down our schools, whether primary, secondary or post-secondary, due to outbreaks.  It has become evident that young people are great spreaders simply because of their exposure in schools and in communities, especially where they have yet to be vaccinated as in the case of most children under eleven years old.  Many young people unfortunately are having to revert to on-line learning, deemed a poor substitute for in-class learning.What is most disconcerting is what these measures are doing to the mental health and wellbeing of young people. 

Without the structure and routine of attending classes, researchers and teachers have noticed a significant change in behavioural patterns of young people.  Violent and inappropriate behaviours are more prevalent among primary and high school students in particular.  This has become notably visible at high school sports events, where inappropriate sexist and racist remarks have been made with respect to minority participants.  In some reported incidents, physical violence has even broken out.  Teachers have reported a noticeable increase in verbal and physical abuse towards them by students.  Promoting discipline has become a greater part of a teacher’s time in the classroom and of school administrators.

It’s not that we and especially parents are not aware of the issue, it’s just that we are having a harder time dealing with the impact of COVID and health measures.  On the one hand, there is a clear and growing physical threat to young people, with many more likely to end up being hospitalized then before.  On the other hand, there are the lockdown measures that mainly affect young people and their normal interaction with their peers.  The entire normal ‘socialization’ process has been turned upside down.  Regardless of when we return to some state of so-called ‘normalcy’, eventually the impact of COVID could be irreversible when it comes to young people, their mental health and their futures in society.

In the past, there has been a significant lack of mental health services available for and accessible to young people in most communities.  One does not have to look far for the evidence.  All one has to do is check the waiting lists for those seeking mental health services for their children.  The impact of COVID has significantly increased the urgent need for such services.  Similar to what we now have in expanded available resources in the form of ‘grief counselling’, we will need to greatly expand mental health services given the traumatic impact of the pandemic on our youth.  Governments need to begin to more fully resource these services today.  We cannot afford to wait until the pandemic is considered to be finally under some form of control.  The impact on mental health is already here!

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Dec 9

Freedom of Ideas and Information and the Role of School Boards

by bcurry

When I was in high-school so many years ago, I was a slightly above-average student.  However, I particularly was interested in learning about history and those who made it.  Let’s face it, it was not long after the end of World War II, the middle of the Cold War, the emergence of the Soviet Union as a world power, and the height of the Civil Rights movement in the U.S.  I remember reading “Das Kapital” by Karl Marx to better understand the thinking behind Communism.  I also read “Mein Kampf” to better understand the thinking behind Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler.  As you may have guessed, I never became either a Communist or a neo-Nazi.  I also read books about slavery and race relations in the U.S. to better appreciate the history behind the American civil rights movement.  Unfortunately, we did not have much material in our school library about the history of indigenous peoples of North America, and their treatment in society.  Unlike today, there were no materials what-so-ever on matters dealing with sexual orientation.

In recent months, I have become concerned about the pressure on school boards by members and parents alike regarding what is being allegedly taught in schools and what books are available to be read.  In some counties in the U.S., certain parent groups have been in full attack mode over such topics as colonialism, Zionism, Maoism, slavery, freedom, sexual orientation, the Holocaust, and something referred to as “critical race theory”.   According to those who track book censorship, conservative rallying cries of “parental rights” have helped fuel a new wave of challenges and legal threats over even the most celebrated of titles.  Teachers’ heads have even been put on the chopping block if they dare discuss the history of race relations in America.  A spokesperson for the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom noted that it is profoundly disturbing that we’re accepting so easily the idea that books should be banned and burned and taken away.  In Canada, school boards are having to answer to criticism about anything that might be considered as “anti-semitic”, even that which involves the history of Israel and the Palestinians. 

The fact is that young people need to know about the history and current events that have shaped the world to become what is today’s reality.  They need to be able to research and intelligently discuss the historical basis for the thinking and principles behind our development as societies, whether good or bad.  No one intends to put our youth on some kind of “guilt trip”, but it makes no sense to deliberately attempt to hide from them certain historical truths.  Democracies thrive on the ability of informed citizens to debate issues in an open and free manner, without fear of threats and punishment.  Yes, one recognizes that social media and modern avenues of communication unfortunately can advocate hate and promote misinformation.  However, the best way to counter hate advocates and conspiracists is by encouraging the availability of informed sources and reliable education.  This approach is the one that school boards, trustees and parents groups should be supporting, rather than attempting to dictate what social issues can or cannot be taught in schools based on their version of “right thinking” and political correctness.

Ultimately, the only way that we can better inform and satisfy the learning needs of our young people is to provide compelling reading materials and discussions that are relevant and available to all kinds of students.  As a society, we place our children in the care of trained and educated administrators and teachers, complemented by researched guidance for the development of meaningful curricula.  Sensitivities aside, parents have to let educators do their jobs.  Parents are accountable for the well-being of their own children and have a right to deal with specific issues concerning their children when in school.  Banning or burning books is not something that people in a democracy should be advocating, whether by parents or administrators.  School boards should be standing up for freedom of expression and informed debate.  Oversight is needed, but micro-management is not.  Let’s give our school principals, librarians and teachers the benefit of the doubt when it comes to classroom learning.  Each school population is different and the curriculum needs to be adjusted accordingly.

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Dec 6

With More Extreme Weather Occurrences, Governments Will Have To Act Faster

by bcurry

With the recent forest fires, hurricanes and severe floods, both Canada and the U.S. are being forced to increasingly provide support to provinces and states for immediate assistance and longer-term recovery initiatives.  However, Canada does not have any federal agency equivalent to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in the U.S.  However, recently there has been more interest in Canada to potentially creating a similar federal agency to FEMA given the recent destructive and massive flooding of regions in British Columbia.

FEMA is an agency of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), initially created under President Jimmy Carter in 1978 and implemented by two Executive Orders in 1979.  FEMA’s primary purpose is to coordinate the response to a disaster that has occurred in the U.S. and that overwhelms the resources of local and state authorities. The governor of the state in which the disaster occurs must declare a state of emergency and formally request from the President that FEMA and the federal government respond to the disaster.  FEMA also provides funds for training of response personnel throughout the U.S. and its territories as part of the agency’s preparedness effort.  While on-the-ground support of disaster recovery efforts is a major part of FEMA’s charter, the agency provides state and local governments with experts in specialized fields and funding for rebuilding efforts and relief funds for infrastructure repair.

However, even FEMA has incurred criticism in recent years, particularly in relation to the impact of hurricanes Katrina that hit New Orleans in 2005, Harvey that hit the Houston area in 2017, Laura that hit Louisiana in 2020, and Ida that hit Louisiana this past summer.  Among the criticism about FEMA is that it takes an inordinately long time to place every displaced resident in temporary housing, sometimes months and sometimes years as in the case of Katrina.  More than three months after Hurricane Ida tore through coastal Louisiana, thousands of residents of the hardest hit bayou communities remain displaced.  This raises the question as the whether supplying temporary or replacement housing for disaster victims is an appropriate role for government?  Most people would agree that it is.

Public Safety Canada helps Canadians and their communities protect themselves from emergencies and disasters related to all kinds of hazards – natural, human-induced and technological – through national leadership in the development and implementation of policies, plans and a range of programs.  The Department maintains a loose network of partnerships with other federal government institutions, provincial and territorial emergency management organizations, first responders and voluntary organizations, and other stakeholders and communities, supporting a whole-of-society approach to emergency management that leverages resources and capacities at all levels across the country.  However, the federal government relies heavily on providing immediate assistance through the Department of National Defence and non-profit organizations such as the Canadian Red Cross as requested.

Given the nature of recent disasters often associated with the impact of climate change, the Canadian government needs to seriously rethink how it handles such future disasters in an efficient, timely and effective manner.  There is a real need for a central agency to do pre-planning in order to prepare for future emergencies.  Preventative measures to deal with climate and environmental related causes will have to be developed and implemented on a long-term basis.  National coordination of such initiatives is a must, and more than sufficient funding needs to be allotted as soon as possible.  After all, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.  National, provincial and local infrastructure needs to be immediately assessed to determine its capacity to withstand imminent future natural disasters.  Providing the means to immediately support displaced individuals and quickly provide temporary housing is essential to the well-being of both Canadians and Americans.

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Dec 5

Two Top News Topics in 2021: The Global Pandemic and Climate Change

by bcurry

Anyone who has been closely following the main street news media will highlight the fact that the two most written about news topics during the past year were the global pandemic and climate change.  The main difference between these two topics is that the impact of climate change was foreseen for some time, and the global pandemic came out of nowhere.  On the one hand, the impact of COVID-19 was immediate and introduced serious economic consequences in the short-term.  On the other hand, the impact of climate change is expected to be more long-term and will affect different regions in different ways at different times.

The big news was that several vaccines were quickly developed for COVID-19 and appeared to offer an effective means to ending the pandemic, especially in the more industrialized countries.  There is however no short-term fix to tackle the consequences of climate change, including the needed reduction in greenhouse gases.  The World Health Organization (WHO) is the one primary body that can address pandemic issues for both industrialized and emerging countries.  The WHO is leading the charge to get vaccination rates up in the emerging and poorer countries.  There really is no primary international body that can speak to climate change, with individual countries having to develop their own initiatives.  The agreement coming out of the COP26 conference in November does not achieve the most ambitious goal of the 2015 Paris accord — to limit Earth’s warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels.  Instead, delegations left Glasgow with the Earth still on track to blow past that threshold, pushing toward a future of escalating weather crises and irreversible damage to the natural world.

However, the differences between industrialized and emerging countries are quite stark for the socio-economic impact of both the pandemic and climate change.  In both cases, the lesser developed countries in Africa, Asia and the Americas will suffer greater consequences from any failure to adequately address both issues.  What is common about both topics has been the extensive use of statistics by news outlets and government bodies to track such consequences, including fatalities and economic impacts.  Moreover, politicians and heads of state have had to take a back seat to climate scientists and epidemiologists when it came to the development and implementation of policies and initiatives.  For the most part, science took the lead over current and future efforts.  Repeatedly, politicians were forced to rely on the results of scientific study and research, a novelty in some countries. 

Of course, there are always the deniers and conspiracists who oppose the conclusions of scientific research as it applies to COVID-19 and climate change.  Unfortunately, among the first deniers on both issues were such political leaders as U.S. President Donald Trump and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.  Initially, both the U.S. and Brazil had had what was arguably the worst pandemic policy response in the industrialized world.  Under both administrations, environmental laws and initiatives were negatively affected.  President Bolsonaro, who has pushed to open more of the Amazon rainforest to mining and agriculture since taking office in 2019, has been criticized at home and abroad for increased deforestation under his government.  Interestingly enough and ironically, both Presidents became sick with COVID-19 while in office.

Something tells me that by this time next year, both of these major issues will continue to dominate the global news.  There are still further economic, social and political consequences that will attributed to these two issues.  The pandemic most likely and hopefully will evolve into a more localized endemic problem.  More extreme weather will continue to plague several regions of the world, including in the U.S. and Canada.  Unless there is the unleashing of a Third World War, the headlines will no doubt continue to focus on the issues surrounding climate change and COVID-19.

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Nov 29

Massive U.S. Foreign Military Aid to Israel Could Be Used To Improve Treatment of Palestinians

by bcurry

According to the Congressional Research Service, as of November 2020, Israel was the largest recipient of U.S. Foreign Military Financing.  For Fiscal Year 2021, President Trump’s request for Israel would encompass approximately 59 percent of America’s total requested Foreign Military Financing worldwide.  For decades now, the U.S. has had several Memoranda of Understanding consisting of tens of billions of dollars in its military aid package to Israel.  As a result of U.S. financial assistance, Israel also has been allowed to purchase 50 F-35s fighter jets in three separate contracts and missile defense systems.  In all, these annual military grants to Israel significantly represent approximately 20 percent of the overall Israeli defense budget.

Needless-to-day, the above appropriations suggest that the U.S. government should have some clout in terms of dealing with Israeli interactions with Palestinians.  Indeed, in May of this year, President Biden made an unusually blunt demand that Israel de-escalate its military attack on Gaza, creating a bit of a rare rift between the two countries.  Then there is the issue of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem where nearly three million Palestinians are living.  Nearly 140 unauthorized settler outposts were built there in recent decades in the West Bank, taking over lands lived on by Palestinians for centuries.  Much like former Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, the new right-wing Prime Minister, Naftali Bennett, appears once again to support the settlers.

What is troubling over recent months, it has recently been disclosed by the Israeli military at the defense ministry that Israeli settlers have dramatically increased their attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank.  They further note that violent incidents by settlers are up about 150 percent in the past two years.  Remember that the Israeli army is in charge of security in areas of the occupied West Bank where Israeli settlements are located.  However, observers, including Israeli human rights groups, have testified that soldiers frequently do little to intervene during the hate incidents against Palestinians.  Advocates also claim that crimes by Palestinians are aggressively prosecuted while settler violence typically goes unpunished.  By making life difficult for Palestinians who have lived in the these territories for generations, whether or not settler violence is part an overall strategy of expanding Israel’s presence is hopefully far from the truth.  Some suspect that it may not be.

Yes, anyone studying the history between Israelis and Palestinians recognizes that the issues are fairly complex.  However, with the evident clout that the U.S. has with respect to supporting Israel’s military, you would think that the Americans might do more to pressure the Israeli government to do more immediately to protect Palestinians in areas under their control.  Settlements that are illegal under Israeli law should be dismantled and greater protective measures should be implemented for the Palestinians.  Failure to do so could prove to be a blemish on human rights not only in Israel, but also for U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East.  When it comes to improving relations between Israelis and Palestinians, the Biden administration should attempt to revive America’s former role as a more neutral mediator in the Middle East’s most protracted conflict. 

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Nov 27

Tale of a Young American Vigilante Becoming an American Hero

by bcurry

As a young 17 year old American teenager, I can become an American hero by pursuing a vigilante course of action.  First, I will need to travel thousands of miles from my home to another city to defend others’ property from protesters creating disorder in the city’s streets.  After all, local officials would have declared a state of emergency amid mass protests and street unrest over the shooting of some black man.  These same officials will need my help, so I then illegally choose to pick up an AR-style semiautomatic rifle from a friend on the way.  With my rifle, I will begin to patrol the city’s streets in order to help protect property from the unrest on the streets.  The local police will appear to welcome my help.  However, I would then notice multiple people converging upon me because of my actions.  I will react justifiably by shooting several people in self-defence.  Unfazed, I then will walk away to the police with my hands up at times.  All of this, of course, will be caught on video.  However, I will not be immediately arrested by the local police at that moment, but will instead turn myself in to police back in my hometown shortly after.  Naturally, I will end up going to jail and being charged with reckless homicide, intentional homicide and recklessly endangering safety.

During the trial, my defenders will declare that I was simply exercising my right to bear arms, in defence of liberty.  The prosecution on the other hand must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that I did not act in self-defence, even though I believe that my life was being threatened at the time of the shooting.  When it comes to the 20-person jury, my lawyers will attempt to pick a mainly white jury made up of mostly women and a few men.  Given my age, women would most likely be influenced by my youthful appearance, personality and testimony.  My defence will allow me to testify on the stand which isn’t the norm, but will probably work in my favour by personally telling my story.  During my testimony, I will break down sobbing in forlorn tears which will very likely have an impact on the jury, emphasizing that I had fired upon the protesters in self-defence only after having been attacked.  After all, I’m just a scared kid, although I’m being tried as an adult.

Before the deliberations began, by reaching into a tumbler, I curiously will even get to select the 12 jurors needed for the deliberations.  In the end, I will be judged to be not guilty of all charges, although not to have been found innocent — for no one would deny that I had fatally shot protesters.  Subsequently, I will be a hero for those people supporting gun rights and the right to defend one’s self and one’s property, including several militia groups.  Following my acquittal, one gun rights group will even award me a brand new AR-15 for my actions in ‘Defence of Gun Rights’.  Next, a Republican representative in Congress will introduce a bill to award me the Congressional Gold Medal for “protecting the community”.  Two other Republican representatives will offer me internships within their offices.  Shortly after my acquittal, I will also meet with my hero, former President Donald Trump, at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.  President Trump will be one of my biggest supporters.  Of course, the media will not end its coverage of my future endeavors anytime soon.  In the end, I will just want to get on with my life.  Or so I would hope?

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Nov 26

When It Comes to COVID-19, We’re Not Out of the Woods Yet

by bcurry

Global health leaders are urging caution as the holiday season gets underway, pointing to a 23% spike in coronavirus cases across the Americas in the past week, a surge that follows similar spikes in Europe.  In the U.S., new daily reported cases have increased 8% in the past week, and deaths have grown 9%, according to tracking by the Washington Post.  The U.S. is closing in on a total of 800,000 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.  In Canada, compared with the previous two weeks, there was a 5% increase as of November 24th in new confirmed cases recorded over the past two weeks.  Some states and provinces have higher numbers of COVID-related hospitalizations and deaths than others.  Again, over ninety percent of those hospitalized are among the unvaccinated in both countries.

What one has to understand is that these horrific numbers have occurred even before the end of the festive season and the end of this year.  No one can actually determine when Americans and Canadians will arrive at what is called “herd immunity”.  Experts are now stating that we may need to reach over 90 percent in full vaccination rates to do so.  This includes the vaccination of children aged five to eleven which has just begun in both countries and will not be completed until early in 2022.  Even then, there is still a fair amount of vaccine hesitancy among certain groups, especially when it comes to vaccinating younger children.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is now assessing the emergence of a new COVID variant in South Africa and several other African countries.  The concerns are such that the United Kingdom has banned flights from those countries, and it can be expected that other European Union (EU) countries and the U.S. and Canada will follow suit.  Indeed, COVID outbreaks have occurred in most EU countries, leading some like Austria to re-introduce a full lockdown of the country. 

Throughout Central and South America, the vaccination rates have remained low, especially in rural remote regions of each country.  For example, as of November 25th, Mexico has a full vaccination rate for the coronavirus of about 49%, the majority of which is in and around Mexico City.  The Washington Post notes that: “Containment measures in Latin America and the Caribbean have been uneven and largely lackadaisical as governments have had to grapple with financial devastation and poor health infrastructure, and have long wanted to jump-start the languishing economies.”  Moreover, countries like Mexico are open for business, especially tourism, much of which comes from the U.S. and Canada.

The WHO is expressing concern about a “false sense of security” when it comes to the lifting of COVID prevention measures and the apparent increased complacency among people.  Sorry folks, we are nowhere near being back to “normal”!  Epidemiologists, health and other science experts agree that there will be a fourth wave in both Canada and the U.S. early next year.  We can only hope that, with increased vaccination rates and control of any new variants, both countries can eventually arrive at a sense of normalcy sometime in 2022.  Until then, we are not out of the woods when it comes to this global pandemic.

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Nov 22

Mandated COVID Vaccination May Temporarily Affected Rights, But Statistics Offer Justification

by bcurry

After more than a year and a half of the pandemic, one has to question the rationale of anti-vaxxers and libertarian spokespeople over their stance on COVID vaccination and other government-imposed restrictions.  When it comes to protecting public health and our communities, the amassed data from legitimate sources appears to me to objectively justify most of these preventive measures.  There is no attempt to cherry pick the data in order to defend one’s position in support of these measures, no matter how draconian one thinks they are.  Take the data coming out of the U.S.

According to data by Johns Hopkins University, COVID-19 has killed over 750,000 Americans, including about 50,000 announced since the start of October, and infected about 46.5 million in the U.S. since last January.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that as many as 1 in 3 people in the U.S. have been infected, more than three times the official count.  For the month of June, the coronavirus was responsible for 337 deaths a day.  For comparison, the historic average deaths from gunshots, car crashes and complications from the flu add up to 306 a day.  According to data from a CDC study released in October, men overall were 1.6 times likelier to die of the disease caused by the coronavirus than women.  The study further indicated that men aged between 45 and 64 were more than 1.8 times likelier to die of a disease caused by COVID-19.  In addition, the study concluded that for the most vulnerable groups, Blacks and Hispanics or Latinos, death rates are six times higher than those for white people.

Since the start of November, recorded coronavirus case levels have remained stable, with around 70,000 new infections reported daily.  Thanks to the vaccine, hospitalizations and deaths have continued to decline.  It is estimated that seventy percent of American adults are now fully vaccinated.  In July of this year, the CDC reported on preliminary data from several states over the previous months which suggested that 99.5 percent of deaths from COVID-19 in the U.S. were among unvaccinated people.  According to a recent analysis published by researchers at Yale University and the Commonwealth Fund, COVID-19 vaccinations in the U.S. have already prevented roughly 279,000 deaths and 1.25 million hospitalizations.  The same report goes on to suggest that without vaccines, COVID-19 would still be topping cancer and heart disease as the leading cause of death in the U.S. today.

All of the above are not just statistics, for each number unfortunately represents individuals affected directly by COVID-19.  One can argue about measures taken to prevent further new cases, hospitalizations and associated deaths, but one cannot dispute the facts.  As a former analyst, data and information gathered from reputable and verifiable sources is one’s bread and butter.  By analyzing the data, one begins to build an inventory of knowledge about the issues being researched.  This analysis provides the basis for understanding the key facts surrounding those issues, and in turn helps decision makers to develop the appropriate policies.  Being a mostly objective process, one always attempts to limit the impact of any subjective values and prevent “confirmation bias”.  Moreover, verifiable and objective data doesn’t lie.

There will always be those who will attack public health policies for a variety of reasons, including arguments based on libertarian values.  However, they cannot dispute the continuing realities of the real human impact caused by the pandemic.  We can only measure whether the negative impacts are being reduced or increased by our policies.  This is why decision makers need reliable, valid and consistent data as soon as it becomes available in order to justify their policies.  In the case of COVID-19, such data now exists.

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Nov 20

U.S. and Canada Unlikely to Boycott 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing

by bcurry

The unknown whereabouts of Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai once again has raised the spectre of multiple human rights issues in China.  Peng, one of the country’s most recognizable tennis stars, has not been seen publicly since November 2nd, when she accused a top government official of sexual assault.  Back in 2020, the Australians exposed the fact that a network of nearly 40 internment camps had been constructed or were under construction in China’s far west, used to detain Uighurs and people from other Muslim minorities.  Chinese authorities said that the camps were part of their “re-education” system, which they claimed was about to be phased out.  Then of course, there was the forced closure of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy newspaper the Apple Daily in June 2021, just eight months after the Communist Party of China (CPC) leadership imposed a new national security law on Hong Kong.  The new law was aimed at quelling pro-democracy rallies that started in the summer of 2020 in response to China’s proposed extradition law.  Then there was the arrest of two Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig who were imprisoned in China on trumped up charges for nearly three years, as part of China’s retaliation for the arrest in Canada of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou for possible extradition to the U.S.  Of course, in each and every case the Chinese authorities have denied accusations of human rights abuses.

Make no doubt about it, all powerful President Xi Jinping and the CPC desperately want the winter Olympics to go ahead, putting China once again on the world’s stage.  Now we hear that President Biden is considering a U.S. diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympic games in Beijing to protest China’s treatment of its Uyghur Muslim minority and other human rights violations.  Some experts suggest that Canada would most likely follow his lead.  Nevertheless, the games would no doubt proceed with the full participation of American and Canadian Olympians.

Six times in the past, countries officially boycotted the Olympic Games, with as few as three countries refusing to compete in 1964 and as many as 65 nations in 1980, led by the U.S., staying away from Moscow, Russia, as a result of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.  Just as Adolf Hitler tried to use the 1936 Olympic games in Berlin to raise the stature of Nazi Germany and Aryan race, President Xi Jinping and the CPC are anxious to use these Olympic Games to highlight China’s achievements.  Politically, Xi’s expected to break precedent and secure a third term to extend his indefinite rule and certainly doesn’t want to be embarrassed by any boycott.

In light of the current situation involving Peng Shuai, there is increasing political pressure on both the U.S. and Canada to at least promote a diplomatic boycott of the winter games.  However, Canadian lawyer and International Olympic Committee (IOC) member Dick Pound notes that implementing such a boycott won’t make any difference to China if only one or two countries are involved.  Certainly, no one wants to penalize the athletes who have trained and competed for years to participate in the Olympics.  Given China’s international initiatives, especially those in developing countries, it would be next to impossible to obtain widespread political support for any full-blown boycott.  As the world’s second most powerful economic entity, China has a tremendous amount of clout.

For this reason, Xi Jinping will have his day in the Chinese winter.  Once again, concerns about human rights will take second place to economic and political matters.  For what it’s worth, this past week, the Washington Post reported that the White House is expected to announce that neither President Biden nor any other U.S. government officials will attend the Beijing Games.  I this is the cases, one can expect that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau would shortly follow the President’s lead.  However, China will proceed with the games and its athletes will prevail in many sports.  Americans and Canadians can be expected to watch in awe as China displays its culture, technologies and athleticism.   As an avid China watcher, I’ll be looking forward to the show!

Canada China China's Relations US

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