FROLITICKS

Satirical commentary on Canadian and American current political issues

Dec 31

After Battle With Omicron Variant, We May Be Nearing War’s End With COVID-19

by bcurry

Yes, we are seeing new daily case records being broken since the start of the pandemic.  However, the latest variant, Omicron, may actually be a harbinger of better things to come.  While more highly contagious than the Delta variant, it has shown signs of not being as severe in symptoms as the Delta variant.  Some experts now believe, based on evidence from the U.K. and South Africa, the expected peaking of the surge would eventually lead to a stage where the virus becomes ‘endemic’.  By endemic, one means that this coronavirus would become a less major event, similar to the seasonal flu virus and could be dealt with and controlled through annual flu shots and medical treatments.  Moreover, we would simply have to live with the COVID virus as we now do with other coronavirus, including the common cold virus.  With the latest infections and availability of vaccines, experts now believe that we would be optimistically back to some form of normalcy by the spring at the earliest.

The predictions do bring hope for the New Year once we get through this current fourth wave, expected to peak in mid-January.  However, in the meantime, most of us will have to once again endure certain restrictions and health measures needed to combat the spread of Omicron in the immediate future.  Yes, we have an increasing degree of ‘pandemic fatigue’, but we need to not let our guard down.  We need to respect these restrictions in order to once again mitigate the terrible impact that the pandemic has had on hospitals and long-term care residences.  Since Omicron is so highly contagious, many more health care workers will be affected and test positive, thus leaving fewer workers to care for COVID patients.  After battling this disease over the last two years, front line workers are truly exhausted and demoralized.  Some have even left the health care profession.  In order to help them, some health experts are proclaiming that there is currently a need to overreact rather than underreact.   

Eventually, in order to end this global pandemic, world organizations and industrialized countries will have to ensure that vaccinations are made available to all Third World countries A.S.A.P.  This is no longer an option, but is a necessity to prevent future COVID variants and their spread.  In addition, we need to stop politicizing government imposed restrictions and health measures, including masking and social distancing.  We are in a health crisis and health care systems could collapse under the strain.  British Columbia’s Provincial Health Officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, said in a recent CBC interview that: “ … the virus will eventually become endemic as the season shifts to spring, more children get vaccinated and the spread of infection slows.”  However, she also said that there are still many unknowns ahead.

In conclusion, if we are going to win this war, all of us have to play our parts.  Let’s think about our communities, our seniors and our children.  This way, perhaps we will have a healthier and safer New Year.

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Dec 27

Biden’s Push For Solar Energy In California Contradicted By Fossil Fuel Leases in Gulf Of Mexico and on Public Lands

by bcurry

In August 2021, California regulators voted to require builders to include solar power and battery storage in many new commercial structures as well as high-rise residential projects.  It is the latest initiative in the state’s vigorous efforts to hasten a transition from fossil fuels to alternative energy sources.  According to the Sierra Club, many California cities have building codes that restrict or ban natural gas in new construction.  Using California’s move to reduce or eliminate a dependency on fossil fuels for electricity production, the Biden administration recently announced that it has approved the installation of two new major solar farms in the California desert.  The Biden administration has promised to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by around half of 2005 levels by 2030 and ween the electricity sector off of fossil fuels by 2035.  In the spirit of this target, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has gone on record as to its commitment for addressing climate change.  The BLM supports Congress’ direction in the Energy Act of 2020 to permit 25 gigawatts of solar, wind, and geothermal production on public lands no later than 2025.

However, while the administration moves forward with developing the renewable energy potential of public lands, it has had less success at halting fossil fuel exploration.  Last November, after a judge ruled against a moratorium on oil and gas drilling lease sales, the Biden administration oversaw the largest offshore lease sale (worth $192 million) in U.S. history in the Gulf of Mexico.  The legal challenge against Biden’s campaign promise to halt oil and gas drilling on public lands that paved the way for the lease sale was mounted by several Republican attorneys general in states bordering the Gulf.  In addition, the Biden administration has so far issued more permits for oil and gas drilling on public lands than the Trump administration did during its first three years.  Environmental advocates argue that the administration could do a lot more to prevent drilling on public lands.  Unfortunately, much of the increase from more Gulf oil will also flow to markets in foreign countries, which in turn will result in increases in green house emissions overseas.

According to the organization Earthjustice, given the fact that 25% of U.S. carbon emissions come from federal oil, gas and coal, there is no way the U.S. can meet its climate obligations by continuing to operate the national program with business as usual.  At the recent COP26 conference in Scotland, President Biden promised to reduce emissions by around 50 percent of 2005 levels by 2030, but the Associated Press noted it could take years to develop the Gulf of Mexico oil and gas leases, meaning they could still contribute greenhouse gas emissions long after that date.  It appears that the U.S. has got itself into a ‘Catch-22’, whereby it shows promise in the area of increasing the sources of renewable energy, while giving in to large fossil fuel companies such as ExxonMobil, Shell, Chevron and British Petroleum when it comes to oil and gas drilling on public lands and in the Gulf of Mexico.  No matter which way one looks at these recent developments, there is now definitely a contradiction between what the current U.S. government is saying about combating climate change and what is actually being done.

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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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